1 Peter 5:9

1 Peter 5:9. Whom resist, stedfast in the faith. The ‘stedfast' means stable or firm. It is translated ‘sure' in 2 Timothy 2:19, and ‘strong' in Hebrews 5:12; Hebrews 5:14 (its only other New Testament occurrences), while its verb is rendered ‘establish' in Acts 16:5, and ‘receive strength,' ‘make strong,' in Acts 3:7; Acts 3:16. By ‘the faith' here is meant not the objects believed, but the subjective conviction, the power or principle of faith (cf. 1 John 5:4-5). The spiritual adversary is neither to be fled from nor to be supinely regarded, but to be withstood. He will be faced, however, to little purpose where he is met by weak and wavering conviction. Only he who is strong in the faith which makes him a Christian, is strong enough to vanquish this foe in the assaults which he makes with the engine of persecution. Compare James 4:7, and above all, Paul's view of the shield of faith and its efficiency in Ephesians 6:16.

knowing that the same sufferings are being accomplished in your brotherhood who are in the world. The phrase ‘the same sufferings' means, literally, ‘the same things of the sufferings,' or ‘the identities of the sufferings.' The construction of the sentence is also otherwise peculiar. Hence it is variously rendered, e.g., as = considering that the same sufferings are accomplishing themselves in your brotherhood, etc. (Huther); or as = knowing that ye are accomplishing the same sufferings with your brotherhood, etc.; or as = considering how to pay the same tribute of suffering as your brethren in the world; or simply as = knowing that the same sufferings are being inflicted on your brotherhood, etc. (Wilke). The idea in any case is sufficiently plain. Their courage in withstanding, with a firm faith, the devil's attempts to seduce them through their sufferings, should be helped by the consideration that they occupied no singular position (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:13). They suffered only as the whole Christian brotherhood suffered. The same dispensation of tribulation was fulfilling itself in them and in the brotherhood, the same tribute of suffering was being paid by them and by the brotherhood, and for the same reason. They were both ‘in the world.' On the phrase ‘the brotherhood' see on chap. 1 Peter 2:17. Compare Gray's lines:

To each his sufferings, all are men, Condemned alike to groan; The tender for another's pain, The unfeeling for his own.'