2 Peter 1:1-2 Every Word Counts
Good morning!
2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Since every word of Scripture is breathed out by God Himself every word of Scripture counts, every word is God’s Word.
With this in mind we are going to look at just a few words, the few words found in 2 Peter 1:1-2, page 1018 in the pew Bibles.
Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
Let’s pray.
So, as you may remember from last week, and as I hope is clear from a plain reading of the text, that the author of this letter is Peter, the Apostle Peter, originally named “Simon,” or, “Simeon,” but renamed Peter by the Lord Jesus after his confession of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
The Catholic Church teaches that Peter is the rock upon which Jesus was going to build His church as the first Pope, the reality of course that it is the confession of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God that His church is built on.
It’s certainly not that Peter isn’t important, he truly is, but the things he writes in these two verses share a little bit more of the reality of Peter’s standing and ours.
Peter calls himself, “a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ.”
This phrase, used by Peter and also Paul, “servant and apostle,” was one of both humility and dignity.
The Greek word, doulos, translated servant, means slave, one compelled to serve, someone who was completely subservient to someone else. Peter recognized his relation to Christ and his total dependence on Him.
The word for Apostle, means a special messenger, one who is sent. This term was not limited to the Twelve Apostles as we call them but also applied to Paul and Barnabas and other people in the church sent out to proclaim the gospel and plant churches. Peter’s mention of this office was a reminder of the dignity that was his as an eye witness and one who was sent to proclaim the gospel by Jesus Himself.
I tend to give Peter a hard time, especially when I read the accounts of his early life in the Gospels, mostly because he made it pretty easy, he was a numbskull. But after the Holy Spirit fell on the day of Pentecost he became the kind of man that we can all look up to and emulate. He boldly preached the gospel without fear, even across cultural boundary lines, and wrote these wonderful letters to remind us of all that we have in Christ.
And it’s important for us to remember how important Peter was in the life of the early church so that his next statement can have its full effect.
Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
Simon Peter, THE Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, one of the originals, witnessed the transfiguration, walked on water, was there at the empty tomb Easter morning, saw Jesus ascend to the Father, preached at Pentecost, brought the gospel to the Gentiles, THE Peter!
To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of out God and Savior Jesus Christ…
Obtained a faith of equal standing with ours… equal standing!
First of all, the word that Peter used that is translated, “obtained,” is a grace-oriented word. It excludes any kind of work or merit, it’s related to divine favor, by grace independent of man’s control.
We, like Peter, have received faith by the grace of God. We don’t deserve it and neither did Peter.
That faith that Peter obtained, that the original recipients of this letter obtained, that we obtained, is the truth of Christian doctrine, the ability to believe and trust Jesus Christ and receive forgiveness, justification, sanctification, and future glorification, is given by God’s grace alone.
Ephesians 2:8-9, says, “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Peter could have boasted, look at all he did, think about all he saw! But here he clearly states that all believers for all time, by God’s grace, have a faith of equal standing with his and all the other Apostles as well.
The simple truth is that no matter how much we like to elevate other people and hold them up as higher or better or more loved by God than us, in God’s sight, by faith, we are all the same. Peter, Paul, James, John, Calvin, Luther, Billy Graham, Joel Brown, me and you, by faith we stand equal.
Billy Graham said, “The ground is level at the foot of the cross.”
Paul said in Galatians 3:28, There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
John Calvin said, “All possess by faith the same Christ with His righteousness and the same salvation.”
Their faith, our faith, Peter’s faith, is all equally precious in the sight of God. There are no secret circles, there are no higher levels, no separate classes, we are all one by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.
His righteousness is what is important, not who we are, but who He is!
Jesus satisfied the justice of God which demands the death of the sinner. He did so Himself by paying a sufficient ransom for all mankind, he gave His own perfect, sinless, and holy life for ours.
Romans 3:22-26 says,
For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
2 Corinthians 5:21 says,
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
By faith in Jesus Christ, we, along with Peter and countless others, have the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, its value added to our accounts. When God looks at us, He sees only Jesus.
And what is Peter’s wish for those of us who have obtained a faith of equal standing with his own?
2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
It’s been said that knowledge is the vehicle of the multiplication of grace and peace.
But the word that Peter used for knowledge means more than to just know something or someone, that word is gnosis. The word Peter used is epignosis, to know fully.
Paul expressed this idea beautifully when speaking of the return of Christ in 1 Corinthians 13:12,
12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
Now we know the Father in part, we know Jesus in part, when He returns we will know Him fully as He knows us fully.
And though we only know Him in part, that part can increase, getting to know Him better through the way that He has chosen to reveal Himself to us: by studying His Word, and our perception of His grace and peace increases as our knowledge of Him grows.
If you want God to speak, read His Word, if you want Him to speak audibly, read it out loud!
To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
Amen.
