In the Greek, this verse is still part of the previous 2 verses, but for clarity of meaning, and conformity to natural English style, the Good News Translation has made this into a separate sentence, and They are for you is simply a device in accomplishing this.

It may be important to indicate clearly what is implied by the pronoun They, for example, “these rich blessings are for you.” In some instances the nominal phrase rich blessings must be transformed into a verb expression, the rich way in which God blesses you “or the way in which God greatly blesses you” or “… is so good to you.”

The verse is literally “Who by the power of God are guarded through faith into a salvation prepared to be revealed in the end of time.”

In much the same way that God “keeps” the rich blessings in heaven, so he guards the believer here on earth until the time that he receives those rich blessings stored up for him. The word “guarded” (Good News Translation kept safe; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “keep and protect”) is a military term, used to describe the act of protecting a city from its enemies, and here it is used of God securely protecting the believer from all dangers (compare Moffatt “protects”; Knox “affords you safe conduct”). What keeps the Christian safe is God’s power. It is, of course, God himself who guards, and he does so because he is powerful, and therefore is able to protect the Christian. For Peter’s readers, this has tremendous significance, for they were at that time facing trials and difficulties, which according to Jewish traditional belief, would necessarily come before the world finally comes to an end.

The passive expression are kept safe by God’s power may be made active in some languages simply by translating “God’s power keeps you safe,” but the means expressed by the phrase God’s power must be expressed as a cause in some languages, for example, “because God is powerful, you are kept safe” or “because God is powerful, he keeps you safe.” In some languages the only equivalent of power is a word which literally suggests physical strength, but in contexts such as this it must refer to broader aspects of God’s capacity to guard his people.

But another element in the Christian being kept safe is his faith. Some commentaries take faith here to be equivalent to that found in Hebrews 11, especially verse 1: To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see (Good News Translation). Taken in this way, faith then is the firm conviction and assurance that God is and continues to be faithful to his promises, and despite all the present problems, he will triumph in the end. Most commentaries, however, understand “faith” here not simply as belief in some theological or religious truth, but a vital and close relationship with either God or Jesus Christ, characterized by commitment to and trust in him. It is this vital relationship which makes it possible for God to protect the Christian. One can speak of God’s power as the objective aspect of being kept safe, and of faith as the subjective. Here as elsewhere in the New Testament, the relationship between what God does and what the believer does is not always made clear; it is nevertheless made clear that whenever God acts, there is always an element of human response for God’s action to be effective in the life of the believer. So here, God’s power can be understood as the instrument whereby the Christian is protected, and faith as the cause of, or reason for, the effectiveness of this protection.

The phrase through faith suggests a secondary element in the process of being kept safe. The primary agency is God’s power, but through faith may be expressed as a contributing cause, for example, “because you trust” or “because you trust in Christ.”

What the Christian is being kept safe for is the salvation which is ready to be revealed at the end of time. Some commentators take “salvation” here to be synonymous with the rich blessings in verse 4; others, however, take it to mean much more than that, referring not only to the individual’s present experience of already being in union with Christ, together with all its results (right relationship with God and with others, deliverance from demonic and ungodly powers, the possession of eternal life, etc.), but also to the final consummation of all of God’s plans for people and for the whole world, including the final triumph of truth and goodness, and the final enthronement of God as king and ruler over the whole universe. The salvation is ready to be revealed, indicating that for Peter, as well as for his readers, the time of making this salvation known, and of the Christian coming into full possession of it, is indeed very near. The time of “revelation” is described as the end of time. The Greek word for time here is kairos, the appointed time (as contrasted with chronos, or chronological time). Most commentators agree that what is being referred to here is the second coming of Christ, during which time all the promises of God will be fulfilled and he himself will reign as king. This first letter of Peter affirms that this very significant event is about to happen.

One of the complications involved in rendering verse 5 is the proper relationship of salvation to the preceding statements about faith, being kept safe, and God’s power. There is obviously a purpose involved, and therefore one may say in some instances “kept safe in order that you may experience the salvation.” A further and more serious difficulty in rendering the second part of verse 5 is the manner in which one may speak of salvation as a noun referring to an event which is to be revealed. In a number of languages salvation must be expressed as a verb or as a type of participial phrase, for example, “in order that you may experience being saved” or “… being rescued.” It is this event which must then be related to the act of revealing, but since God is obviously the agent of any such revealing, it may be necessary to translate the final clause of verse 5, namely, which is ready to be revealed at the end of time, as “God is ready to reveal this at the end of time” or “God is ready to reveal how he will save at the end of time.” Since the salvation spoken of in verse 5 is a kind of cosmic salvation, it may be appropriate in some instances to speak of “how God will rescue all things” or even “how God will save everything.”

In a number of languages one cannot really speak of at the end of time, for time is not regarded as having an end. Furthermore, as indicated above, the Greek term specifies a particular event or the time of a particular event and not simply extended time. Some persons want to translate at the end of time as “at the end of the age,” but a more satisfactory and idiomatic expression in some languages is “at the last day” or “on the final day.” One should not, however, suggest by such a translation that this is the end of the world, for in reality it is a reference simply to the end of one epoch and the beginning of a new order of things.

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The First Letter from Peter. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .