<p>5:12 <i>By Silvanus, our faithful brother, as I account him- </i>The sheer complexity of human persons means that we cannot ultimately judge them. We see our brother&rsquo;s various personas, sometimes his true, reborn self coming out; and our images of others derive as much from ourselves as from them. It amazes me that we humans succeed in accurately communicating with each other as much as we do. The more one perceives the complexity of the person and the personas whom we meet, the more apparent it is that we cannot claim to be their judge. And the more evident it is that the judgments which human beings constantly make about each other are so superficial and often inevitably false. Further, if we truly believe that we ourselves are in Christ and &ldquo;impute&rdquo; His person as being the essence of our real self, then we must likewise impute His righteousness to our brethren. Thus Peter could say that he &lsquo;imputed&rsquo; Silvanus to be a &ldquo;faithful brother&rdquo; (1 Pet. 5:12). If only we could consistently live out this truth, then all friction between brethren would be a thing of the past.</p><p><i>I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it</i><i>- </i>The whole letter has spoken of God's grace / spiritual gift at work in us, seeking to move us onwards towards final salvation. And we are to realize that this is indeed the ultimate truth of life.</p>