2nd Peter 1:1

2^nd Peter 1:1

“Simeon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ^a,
to those who did obtain a like precious faith with us^b
in the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ^c”

^A) Simeon Peter described himself as a bondservant, slave or servant of Christ. The Greek word for this is doulos (δοῦλος), which takes its root from the word deō, (δέω) bind or tied to. The life that Peter lived was tied to Christ’s. He was subject and submitted to the will of God, no matter what the cost. A rightfully made declaration that Peter made about himself, even though he rejected Christ three times, and was being used by Satan himself when he was defending the ways of man rather than God. (Mark 14:66-68, John 18:15-18, Matthew 26:71-75, Matthew 16:23) For a man to walk away from Christ and not look towards the plans of the Lord, and still declare that he is a slave of Christ is truly the work of the Holy Spirit. For who draws a man away from the world and towards the Lord, besides Himself? By his actions in the Gospels, it seems as though Peter was not tied to Christ, and even tried to sever those ties. But the irresistible grace of Christ can never be severed, for God is sovereign and will always succeed. Peter tried three times to untie himself from being next to Christ but never once did he separate himself from the presence of God completely. God is always willing to forgive our trespasses and make us clean. We are never but one prayer away from being back in His presence.

^B) Peter writes to the same group of people he wrote to in his first epistle. These epistles aren’t written to a certain church like Paul did in his letters, but to a multi-national group of people all over the Middle East. (1 Peter 1:1) There is no reason to believe that Peter wrote these as the Bishop of Rome, or as the first Pope as Catholicism believes. Interestingly enough, Peter was never meant to be the apostle, or messenger/diplomat of the Gospel to the Gentiles, but to the Jews. (Galatians 2:7)
Peter tells these Jews that they obtained a precious faith that he and the other apostles have received. All too often people read the Bible and pray they could live a life like the apostles. They look at their faith and consider it petty, or a lesser-grade faith. As if Christ gave out a varying degree of certifications of faith to His followers. This is only a lie that we are told to believe so we strive for something that is a figment of our imagination. Peter tells us plainly that we have the same precious faith that they have! The simple reason why it is precious is because Christ shed his innocent, precious blood for sinners who deserved nothing but a wrathful judgment. (Romans 3:23) The faith that was instilled in the apostle’s hearts is the same one that saw Christ during the Transfiguration and hearing God speak from the Heavens that this was his Son. (Luke 9:28-36) We can no longer wish we were like the apostles and had their faith, because the truth is we do.
Why don’t we see the amazing things we read about in the Old Testament then? There are a lot of reasons why, and one I would like to express deals with planting the seeds of righteousness. Hosea 10:12, God tells Israel to start planting seeds of righteousness in fallow ground. This fallow ground that he speaks of is the areas in your heart that you have not given to the Lord. John Gill, an 18th century commentator wrote this regarding Hosea 10:12, “which were like ground unopened, unbroken, not filled and manured, nor sown with seed, but overrun with weeds and thistles; and so were they, hard and impenitent, destitute of grace, and full of sin and wickedness, and stood in need of being renewed in the spirit of their minds.” We all have fallow ground that has become so hard towards sin that only by the Word itself can it be split apart. (Hebrews 4:13) The common faith that has been given to us by Christ is not being cultivated by many. This leads to a stale faith, much like the lukewarm one depicted in Revelations. (Revelations 3:16) As followers of Christ, we are given every chance to break up all fallow ground and have the fruits of the Spirit grow exponentially. How can we have a crop if we do not endure the labor of breaking the land up? If you do not tear up the dry land of your heart, do not expect to have a faith like the apostles, nor a faith that Christ would accept.

^C) The righteousness that Peter speaks of is actually the act of justification that Christ displayed on the cross. By being the blameless sacrifice that God poured His wrath into, Christ took the ransom of our sins. This faith we are given, that enables us to do all of which is equal to it, is because Christ laid down his life for us. The most interesting thing about this verse is the last thing that Peter says in his greeting. He says, “…of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.” The correct translation of this verse, shows how the Trinity is ever present in the Bible. The way this verse is correctly read, shows that Peter is actually calling Jesus, God and Saviour. Adam Clarke wrote, “his is not a proper translation of the original του Θεου ἡμων και σωτηρος Ιησου Χριστου, which is literally, Of our God and Savior Jesus Christ; and this reading, which is indicated in the margin, should have been received into the text; and it is an absolute proof that St. Peter calls Jesus Christ God, even in the properest sense of the word, with the article prefixed.”