1 Peter 5:5-7
In today’s passage, we are instructed to clothe ourselves with humility.
As we look at this passage, we will see first that the younger are to submit to the older, and second, we are to submit to one another. So we show humility by submission. Second, we will see that we are to submit to God. So we understand that we demonstrate humility by trust.
First, we will consider how submission shows humility.
A literal translation of 1 Peter 5:5 is:
1 Peter 5:5 (YLT) In like manner, ye younger, be subject to elders, and all to one another subjecting yourselves; with humble-mindedness clothe yourselves, because God the proud doth resist, but to the humble He doth give grace.
“Younger,” in this case, does not refer to biological age. This scripture addresses those who are young in the faith.
Years of life are not enough to qualify a person to lead in the Church. One must be mature in the faith. The Apostle Paul gives the following instruction about church leaders.
1 Timothy 3:6 (CSB) He must not be a new convert, or he might become conceited and incur the same condemnation as the devil.
A new convert, or a novice, does not have the knowledge or experience to lead.
A common mistake is to assume that since a person is successful in business, they will bring success to the Church. We need people with gifts for administration, managing money, and finance, and these gifts tend to make a person successful in business. However, a person must have other characteristics without which God cannot bless the Church. The Church operates on faith and trust in God, not on the cleverness of men. Jesus said:
John 15:4–5 (NKJV) 4Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
A person who has not learned to “abide in Christ” is what Peter is calling “young.” And, as Jesus says, unless we abide in Christ, we can do nothing.
When we think of young, we think of physical age. However, many great Christian leaders have started at a young age. In 1 Timothy 4:12, we learn that Timothy was young, but we cannot put a number on it. Paul encouraged Timothy not to let people look down on him because of his youthfulness. King David was young when he started leading men. The British preacher C.H. Spurgeon was 21 when he became pastor of a large Baptist church in London. I found the following account online, and it is an account I have heard before from more than one source.
On one occasion, a lady who was shaking his hand at the door at the end of the service said, “Mr. Spurgeon, your ministry is so helpful, and it does my soul good to hear you preaching the gospel with such power, but, oh, you are so young!” Spurgeon listened carefully to the lady and then is reputed to have replied, “Well, madam, I suppose if you give me time, I will grow out of that!”
John Calvin published the first edition of the “Institutes of the Christian Religion” when he was 26. However, he revised it throughout his life, publishing the final update, greatly expanded and which he called a new work, just before his death at age 54.
Young men may qualify as leaders, but they must continue to grow. If they do not continue to grow, they are likely to fall into temptation and the condemnation spoken of in 1 Timothy 3:6, which is pride. A successful church leader must be careful lest he becomes arrogant.
Just like any leader, young or old, young men must meet the qualifications that the Scriptures give. For example, 1 Timothy 3:2-4 says:
1 Timothy 3:2–4 (NLT) 2So a church leader must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be able to teach. 3He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money. 4He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him.
(Just a quick note of clarification here. If he has children, they must be respectful, and a child is a little one who is fully dependent on the parent, i.e., not a grown child.)
Being able to teach is crucial to the leader, which implies that the leader must be knowledgeable in both Scripture and doctrine. Since the elders are charged with shepherding the flock, including protecting them from false teaching, it follows that elders also must be knowledgeable in Scripture and doctrine.
It is possible to be a Christian for many years and yet have little knowledge of the Bible and be unable to distinguish good teaching from bad. So, neither years of life or years of being a Christian are what distinguishes between the older and younger. Instead, it is the anointing of the Holy Spirit and the evidence of a walk with the Lord that marks the difference.
1 Peter 5:5 says:
1 Peter 5:5 (NKJV) Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders.
Since we have spent some time considering who is younger, we need to understand what is meant by “likewise.” The plain meaning is “in the same manner,” but the question is “in the same manner as what?”
We find the answer in the preceding verses, where Peter says:
1 Peter 5:2 (NKJV) not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly;
These instructions for elders answer the “likewise” in verse 5. As believers, our attitude is crucial to our growth and our testimony. Hebrews 13:17 makes this clear when it says:
Hebrews 13:17 (NLT) Obey your spiritual leaders and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.
Humility is needed to recognize we are “younger,” and we need instruction. It takes a humble person to listen to correction, especially when the correction comes from one younger than oneself. The Bible says:
1 Timothy 5:1 (NKJV) Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father.
We cannot force someone else to be humble, nor should we show any disrespect, regardless of age or position. Humility is required for both the leader and the led.
Some, who are proud of their success in the world, do not recognize that they are but babes in Christ.
Humility is essential!
The Scriptures say:
Romans 12:3 (NKJV) For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
We all have places where we are “younger” and need to grow and learn. As 1Peter 5:5 says, we must submit to one another and be clothed with humility. Recognizing where we are younger is a necessity that requires humility.
So far, we have been speaking about humility in our relationships within the Body and have not addressed the necessity of humility in our relationship with God.
One would think that we would be humble in approaching the Almighty Creator of the Universe, but such is not the case. Mankind is full of pride by nature, and pride is the source of much of our sin. (I did not say all of our sin. Our desires and lusts are also a large factor in our sin.)
Peter addresses the need for humility before God, saying:
1 Peter 5:5–7 (NKJV) 5God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
6Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
The end of verse 5, “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble,” is a quote from Proverbs 3:34 that is also quoted in James 4:6. Repeated three times and presented in other ways, this is a crucial concept. Several times God says:
Isaiah 57:15 (NKJV) For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
The Scriptures are clear, “God values humility!”
However, mankind is far from being humble. Psalm 2 shows the arrogance with which men face their Creator.
Psalm 2:2–3 (NKJV) 2The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, 3“Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us.”
It is not just the kings of the earth who are too proud to acknowledge God. Psalm 14, along with other Scriptures, says:
Psalm 14:1 (NKJV) The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
Before man sinned, we used to walk with God in the cool of the evening. But ever since sin entered the world, we have tried to live without God. We have tried to do it on our own. We have felt the need to be in control.
If someone is sick, we try to fix it. If someone is wrong, we try to correct them. No matter what the problem, we try to solve it. This is not bad in and of itself. However, as long as our self-sufficiency interferes with our trust in God, it is disastrous. Jeremiah says:
Jeremiah 2:13 (NKJV) For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.
God says that people choose to try to fill themselves and do not recognize that He is the source.
We work hard every day for success, comfort, and happiness, not realizing that everything we want and need is found in God.
When life gives hardship, what is your first reaction?
Look at what 1 Peter 5:6-7 says:
1 Peter 5:6–7 (NKJV) 6Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
Humility in these verses is pictured as “casting all our care upon Him.” Pride is what usually keeps us from seeking God and His help for every situation.
Since God is sovereign, He could stop every bad thing from ever happing. But, for His own reasons, He chooses not to. Many have rejected God because they cannot see the point of what He is doing. Questions like, “Why should a child die,” are plentiful. We learn from the book of Job that thinking we have a right to demand an answer from our creator is arrogant. Does He answer to us? NOT HARDLY!
Therefore, Peter says, “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God.”
This requires trust, and trust is what God asks of us. Faith is all that God asks of us. But believe it or not, before we can trust Him, we must humble ourselves before Him. We must acknowledge that He is God and we are not.
Deceiving us and getting us to think that we are more than we are is a trick of the devil. The grace of God saves us from such deception. Humility only comes by grace. To walk humbly with our God is to walk in victory. Without God’s grace in granting us humility, we can never know the joy of God exalting us.
Grace Means…Humility.
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