Establish (2311) (themelióō from themélios = foundational, fundamental, describing that which lies beneath, foundation (stone), base and reference is always to something secure and permanent in itself) means to lay a foundation or provide with a foundation, to place on a firm, secure foundation. The radical notion of themelióō is to ground securely. Figuratively, it refers to providing a firm basis for belief or practice establish, strengthen, settle (place so as to stay, establish or secure permanently), cause to be firm and unwavering. Themelioo is used 5x in the NT (Matt. 7:25; Eph. 3:17; Col. 1:23; 10" class="scriptRef">Heb. 1:10; 1 Pet. 5:10) and is translated in the NAS as: establish, 1; firmly established, 1; founded, 1; grounded, 1; laid the foundation, 1. There are 40 uses of themelioo in the Septuagint - Josh. 6:26; 1 Ki. 5:17; 7:10; 16.34" class="scriptRef">16:34; 8.16" class="scriptRef">2 Chr. 8:16; 31:7; Ezr. 3:6, 10; 7:9; Job 38:4; Ps. 8:3; 24:2; 48:8; 78:69; 87:5; 89:11; 102:25; 104:5, 8; 119:90, 152; Prov. 3:19; 8:23; 18:19; Song 5:15; Is 14:32; 44:28; 48:13; 51:13, 16; Amos 9:6; Hag. 2:18; Zech. 4:9; 8:9; 12:1 Vincent writes that The radical notion of (themelióō) is, therefore, to ground securely. (Vincent, M. R. Word studies in the New Testament. Vol. 1, Page 3-672) In masonry the "foundation" refers to the underlying base or support or the whole substructure of a building, providing a stable base for any superstructure. Peter says that the God of all grace Himself promises to place suffering, storm tossed saints on a firm foundation. Unlike the second term ("confirm", "establish") which refers to supports put around, themelióō refers to the secure foundation on which something rests, in this verse referring to the solid spiritual foundation on which God will establish Christians. The picture conveyed by themelióō is that of a house which is so firmly fixed on a foundation that it is not moved by winds or floods or figuratively by the stormy waves of suffering or the loud howling roar of our adversary, the devil. The refrain of the great hymn, My Hope is Built, beautifully describes the meaning of themelióō, the refrain declaring On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand. The "aggregation" of four promises from the God of all grace in this single verse, all four unconnected by conjunctions, indicates a strong predisposition by God Himself and forms the ground for an unshakeable confidence in the believer who by faith lays hold of these great promises. One way to "lay hold" of these truths is to memorize this section of Peter (1 Peter 5:8-11) and then periodically "chew over" these truths in your mind (meditate, see the benefits of this spiritual discipline in Psalm 1). Commenting on themelióō MacDonald writes that This verb is related to the word “foundation” in the original. God wants every believer to be firmly planted in a secure place in His Son and in His word. (Believer's Bible Commentary) Doug Goins - Finally, Peter says God will settle us. He uses an architectural term in Greek. It means "to lay a foundation for a building." Suffering will drive us to the bedrock of our faith, to our foundation which is Jesus Himself. In suffering we figure out what's superficial in life, what's unnecessary, we're stripped of all the excess baggage and driven to the one thing that we can really build our lives on, Jesus Christ Himself. In that sense, suffering does us all a great service. It evaluates for us what's superfluous and what is essential." (Ref) Barclay - Through suffering God will settle (establish) a man. The Greek is themelióō, which means to lay the foundations. When we have to meet sorrow and suffering we are driven down to the very bedrock of faith. It is then that we discover what are the things which cannot be shaken. It is in time of trial that we discover the great truths on which real life is founded. Suffering is very far from doing these precious things for every man. It may well drive a man to bitterness and despair; and may well take away such faith as he has. But if it is accepted in the trusting certainty that a father’s hand will never cause his child a needless tear, then out of suffering come things which the easy way may never bring. (Daily Study Bible Series) Ritchie - God will...will lay in your lives a foundation of truth--a new set of values. In 2Corinthians 1, the apostle Paul wrote that suffering produced in him the knowledge that he should not trust in himself, but in God who raises the dead." Jesus summed up His Sermon on the Mount, teaching Therefore everyone who hears (so as to heed) these words of Mine, and acts (present tense - as a way of life) upon them (hearing is not enough - we must obey), may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock.25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded (themelióō - pluperfect tense - this tense emphasizes permanence or continuance of the founding) upon the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house (externally this house looked secure) upon the sand.27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell (severe testing revealed the true quality of the builders’ work), and great was its fall. (see notes Matthew 7:24; 7:25; 7:26; 7:27) The house founded on the rock withstood the storm. Wiersbe - The foundation in this parable is obedience to God’s Word—obedience that is an evidence of true faith (James 2:14-26-note). (Bible Exposition Commentary) Ye call me the “Way” and walk me not, Ye call me the “Life” and live me not, Ye call me “Master” and obey me not, If I condemn thee, blame me not. Ye call me “Bread” and eat me not, Ye call me “Truth” and believe me not, Ye call me “Lord” and serve me not, If I condemn thee, blame me not. —Geoffrey O’Hara Speaking of the Creation of the universe by the Lord Jesus Christ in order to substantiate the immutability of the Son, the writer of Hebrews (quoting Ps 102:25) states that God Himself declares that "Thou, Jehovah, in the beginning didst lay the foundation (themelióō) of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Thy hands" (Heb 1:10-note) Note that in this passage, God the Father addresses His Son as LORD, Jehovah, which leads one to the inescapable conclusion that Jesus of the NT is Jehovah of the Old. Paul prayed for the saints at Ephesus (a great prayer for us all to pray for our brethren) For this reason (because our new identity makes us the dwelling place of God), I bow my knees before the Father,15 from Whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man;17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded (themelióō - perfect tense - speaks of the permanence or continuance of this strong foundation of love, here an attitude of selflessness - as a consequence of the strengthening of the Spirit and of Christ’s indwelling) in love. 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fulness of God. (see notes Ephesians 3:14;3:15; 3:16; 3:17; 3:18; 3:19) As a result of a believer's permanent union with Christ his or her position before God is holy and blameless and beyond reproach, if (this "if" is a first class conditional = emphasizes that they will continue = it could be translated "since") indeed you continue in the faith (not the Christian system of doctrine but their faith as exercised in the gospel message) firmly established (themelióō - having been firmly placed upon a foundation, well-grounded like a building on the firm foundation of the Rock, the Lord Jesus - perfect tense speaks of permanence - ) and steadfast and not moved away (not shifting - Colossae was in a region known for earthquakes) from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister." (see notes Colossians 1:22; 1:23) Paul is not saying that our salvation depends on our continuing in the faith. That interpretation would counter the truth of "firmly established" which in the perfect tense speaks of having been founded in the past with the present result that they are still founded, which speaks of the permanent condition of their foundation! This verse is not teaching that loss of salvation is possible. The proper interpretation is that a person who has been genuinely born from above is a new creation with a new power (the Holy Spirit) and a new desire (God in us willing and working to God's good pleasure cf Php 2:13 [note]) to persevere in faith which obeys. In other words, we are not saved by continuing in the faith. But we continue in the faith and thus prove that we are saved. Continuance is the proof of the reality. Of course there is always the danger of backsliding, but a Christian falls only to rise again (cf Pr 24:16). He does not forsake the faith. Every true believer will endure to the end, for our Lord declared "I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand." (Jn 10:28) Peter himself is a perfect illustration of the truth of this passage, for even though he temporarily denied His Lord, ultimately he endured to the end and by extra-biblical account was martyred by being crucified upside down! Wuest - In the case of those Colossians who professed to be recipients of this work of God, and who followed the Colossian heresy, this would only go to prove that their profession did not accord with the facts, namely, that they were never placed on that foundation, the Lord Jesus." ( Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament) Themelióō is used some 35 times in the Septuagint (LXX, Greek of OT Hebrew), for example we read that King Solomon "commanded and they quarried great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation (LXX = themelióō) of the house with cut stones." (1Ki 5:17) "Thus all the work of Solomon was carried out from the day of the foundation (LXX = themelióō) of the house of the LORD, and until it was finished. So the house of the LORD was completed." (2Chr 8:16) Jehovah asks Job "Where were you when I laid the foundation (LXX = themelióō) of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding." (Job 38:5) David declares "When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, The moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained (LXX = themelióō) 4 What is man, that Thou dost take thought of him? And the son of man, that Thou dost care for him? (Ps 8:3-4) (Spurgeon's notes - Verse 3 Verse 4) Beloved, this same God of all grace, Who flung the stars into the sky is able to set your feet on a firm foundation! In a description of the rebuilding of Solomon's destroyed Temple, Ezra records that "when the builders had laid the foundation (LXX = themelióō) of the temple of the LORD, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD according to the directions of King David of Israel." (Ezra 3:10) This last verse is an interesting parallel to this section of 1 Peter, as Peter likewise follows up the truth about God laying a firm foundation with a beautiful doxology of praise to Jehovah. This is a good practice to develop "For it is good to sing praises to our God, for it is pleasant and praise is becoming." (Ps 147:1) MacArthur sums this section up with the observation that "to perfect means to bring you to wholeness, to confirm means to set you fast, to strengthen means to make you strong, to establish you means to lay you as a foundation. They all speak of strength, resoluteness. And that's what God wants to do in your life through the spiritual battle. They ought to encourage you, those four words, in the spiritual battle. God Himself is there battling and through the battle you become perfect, confirmed, strong and established." Tom Constable - What Peter has done is pile up a number of closely related terms that together by their reinforcing one another give a multiple underscoring of the good that God is intending for them and even now is producing in their suffering.” (1 Peter 5 - Expository Notes) Some commentators such as Calvin feel these four verbs are somewhat redundant "there is not much importance with regard to the meaning. Besides, Peter intends the same thing by all these words" Hiebert - "the use of those four verbs is not redundant rhetoric; there is an orderly thought development. The first assured the readers that God would keep on perfecting His suffering children so that no defect would remain in them. The remaining three verbs suggest different aspects of His work. God will supply believers with the needed support so that they will not topple and fall, impart the needed strength so that they will not collapse, and set them upon an immovable foundation so that they will not be swept away." (Hiebert, D E. First Peter. page 319-320. Moody). Bengel thus sums up the whole - “Shall perfect, that no defect remain in you: shall stablish, that nothing may shake you: shall strengthen, that you may overcome every adverse force. A saying worthy of Peter. He is strengthening his brethren.” (Vincent, M. R. Word studies in the New Testament. Vol. 1, Page 3-672) Lacey - "The inevitable suffering of the Christian life always yields the same blessed result in the character of believers; it will refine the faith, adjust the character, establish, strengthen and settle the people of God." (Lacey, Harry. God and the Nations, p. 92) Wiersbe - "When an unbeliever goes through suffering, he loses his hope; but for a believer, suffering only increases his hope. “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope” (Ro 5:3, 4, niv). God builds character and brightens hope when a believer trusts Him and depends on His grace. The result is that God receives the glory forever and ever." (Bible Exposition Commentary) MY HOPE IS BUILT (Click to play) My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name. Refrain On Christ the solid Rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand; All other ground is sinking sand. When darkness seems to hide His face, I rest on His unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, My anchor holds within the veil. His oath, His covenant, His blood, Support me in the whelming flood. When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my Hope and Stay. When He shall come with trumpet sound, Oh may I then in Him be found. Dressed in His righteousness alone, Faultless to stand before the throne