ES2PeJ02: 2 Peter 1:1-4
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1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:
2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
1 Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James,
To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:
2 Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 1
Verse 1
Last week we started an introduction to two letters: 2 Peter and Jude.
We got to know Peter quite a bit better where we learn that after his greatest failure he was restored back to fellowship and was reconciled again to Jesus who gave him the task of feeding and tending His lambs, His sheep. We briefly looked at the Apostolic claim of Peter which is what gives him the authority to write this letter. But Peter does not lead out with the word ‘Apostle’ but with the word ‘servant’.
Now anyone of you who follows me when I am reading the Scriptures note that sometimes I interchange the word servant with another word, and that is slave. I especially do this in Philippians chapter 2 where it talks of Jesus becoming a bondservant, as it says in the NIV. I always translate this as slave. I think that we often think of period-dramas on our TVs and think of the butler or someone in Pride and Prejudice who happens to be the servant. The servant here is never this kind of servant. Servant in the New Testament is always a slave. They are bound by law to a master. The kind of master you had depended on pure luck. Slaves were bought at a street market or they continued on with the one who caught them at war as defeated enemies. A slave is totally possessed by the master.
Not only Peter leads out with this but so does Jude in the letter we are also looking at along with other writers of letters in the NT. Let’s hear what these two men were saying in particular about their own situation.
They were slaves not of an earthly master but of Jesus. They had been purchased and possessed by Christ. Now I said earlier the kind of master you get is sheer luck but in this case they were chosen when Jesus bought them from the slave market of sin and redeemed them.
The slave only existed for his master and had no other reason for their existence which means there were no personal rights. They were at the master’s disposal to do whatever He said to do at any time. They completely belonged to the Master and was submissive and obedient to Him. But these slaves whose Master is Christ were honoured to wear the name of slave. These slaves had many privileges, promises and responsibilities in serving the King of kings.
And, by the way, we should also own the name of slave as we find elsewhere in Scripture:
18 I will even pour out my Spirit
on my servants in those days, both men and women
and they will prophesy.
22 For he who is called by the Lord as a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called as a free man is Christ’s slave.
6 Don’t work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, do God’s will from your heart.
24 And the slave of the Lord must not quarrel, but be kind toward everyone, skillful in teaching, tolerant,
We are not our own to choose what to do or not to do: we have been bought at a price. We are either slaves to this world and its desires or slaves to Christ and His will.
Now I know that I spoke of the character of Peter last week but he did not always get it wrong, you know. What was Peter’s name before he was known as Peter? There is a key here in the first verse: his Hebrew name was Simeon and his Greek name Simon. So, how did he become Peter? Well, it was Jesus who gave him his name.
It was at Caesarea Philippi when Simon declared to Jesus ‘you are the Christ’. At that very moment he was given a new identity, from then on he was known as Peter – no longer shifting sand but stable as rock. Of course, this did not work out entirely in his lifetime but he gradually moved towards it.
Later on in the first verse Peter says our faith is precious which means it is priceless, beyond value for it gives us citizenship of Heaven. This has come at a great cost, as Peter in his first letter puts it:
19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
We have not achieved anything by our own righteousness but that which comes to us through ‘our God and Saviour Jesus Christ’. We are clothed in His righteousness Divine. We all have the same faith and righteousness that comes from God whether apostles or ordinary people like us. How come? For this righteousness is a gift to us who would receive by faith. The apostles and us were in the same boat prior to being saved, that is,
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
And now we are all in the same boat by faith in Christ:
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We can trust Christ who gives us eternal life because He is God. Did you catch that here in this verse? Our God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. The Greek here is very clear – it cannot be any other way. Jesus is equal with God and co-equal with the Father.
Preaching the Word: 1 & 2 Peter and Jude—Sharing Christ’s Sufferings Our Faith—God’s Righteousness (v. 1b)
Our ability to stand before God someday as rescued and reclaimed persons depends entirely on the righteousness of Jesus Christ. He alone has flown through this world without falling. He alone can and did make atonement for sin. Thus he alone can bring us home. Ensuring that we remain in the faith is one of the main ideas this letter will pass on to us.
Verse 2
Verse 2
I’ll get to the introduction of Jude another time for there are key things to pick up there as we work through both letters together but for today I am staying with 2 Peter.
Peter continues in verse 2: Grace and peace. These can only come to us with the right knowledge of God and of Jesus. Without faith, without knowing God there can be no grace or peace. The more we grow in this knowledge the more we will be aware of the grace and peace that comes to us in Christ. Let us be clear about what grace is: It is the unmerited, undeserved favour and blessings of God.
Man does not deserve God’s favour; he cannot earn God’s approval and blessings. God is too high and man is too low for man to deserve anything from God. Man is imperfect and God is perfect; therefore, man cannot expect anything from God.
Man deserves nothing from God except judgment, condemnation, and punishment. But God is love—perfect and absolute love. Therefore, God makes it possible for man to experience His grace which is only available through Jesus Christ the Son. And peace is to be assured, confident and secure in the love and care of God.If we turn from this knowledge or do not grow in it then we are liable to be deceived by the false teachers that the Church is full of and of which this letter warns about. Continuous study of Scripture should equip us to deal with such things as they arise. Walking daily with our Lord in growing our personal relationship with Him should be our priority.
We have to remember that this is Peter’s purpose. That we grow in our knowledge of God in mind and by experience with firsthand relationship with God that can only come through knowing Jesus.
J I Packer said, in his book, Knowing God:
Preaching the Word: 1 & 2 Peter and Jude—Sharing Christ’s Sufferings Knowledge of God
What were we made for? To know God. What aim should we set ourselves in life? To know God. What is the eternal life that Jesus gives? Knowledge of God. “This is life eternal, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). What is the best thing in life, bringing more joy, delight, and contentment than anything else? Knowledge of God. “Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let not the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me” (Jeremiah 9:23)
Peter later claimed that if we add to this knowledge we shall never fall. He does not want us to experience what he experienced when he failed. He wants to prevent that from happening and why he has written this letter. We are to give our full obedience to God. Yes, Peter fell, but he still managed to finish the race. His faith did not fail throughout it all and we have a Saviour who is praying for us. Let us learn from him and learn how to finish well ourselves.
Verse 3
Verse 3
But let us not think that somehow we can do it all in our own strength but instead we have been given all we need by God in His divine power. And who is more powerful than God? And His power is on hand to help us. What a relief! Not in our strength but His we will finish the race. This divine power is already ours as His people. He has made everything that we need for life and godliness available to us.
CSB Study Bible: Notes Chapter 1
“Life” is eternal life, whereas “godliness” is godly living; the latter cannot be obtained without the former.
We heard in the Great Commission this morning that Jesus has promised to be with us and we have His authority and power to achieve that which He has given us to do. We can see this in other places in Scripture too.
We can hear Paul giving his approval in another book we studied recently:
13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
And how is this available except through the knowledge of God in Christ Jesus. The greater we know Jesus the greater we will live the life given to us by God. And it started the moment we put our trust in Christ. A life of godliness or as Paul puts it:
3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality;
We have been called by His glory which is how amazing God is in His being, His character and soul, and His virtue which is His goodness:
18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
We have everything we need to live a life of holiness pleasing God, to overcome temptations and to persevere to the end. His Spirit is at work in us to change us from glory to glory into the likeness of Jesus. One day we shall be like Him but all because of His goodness toward us.
Verse 4
Verse 4
We grow in Christ by the knowledge and power of God and here in verse 4, by His promises. The promises are not specified here but what is meant is the fulfilment of them. These are exceedingly great and precious promises, the value of them is beyond calculating, which is understandable when it comes from God’s mouth for He never lies. We don’t have to go far in Scripture to find some promises such as the promise of forgiveness, the promise of eternal life, the promise that He will never leave or forsake us, and many more besides for every situation in this life and the promise of pleasures forevermore in the next. You will see in every week’s bulletin a promise of God that we can claim for ourselves. And it is necessary to grasp these things, to find out who we are in Christ and what we have in Christ for these will help our spiritual health, our mental health and our emotional health. But these promises are leading somewhere – it is leading to partnership with God. This first happened when the Holy Spirit came into our lives. The moment we became Christians that grand promise of Scripture says:
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
God’s nature became ours when we became Christians.
Of course there is still a battle between the old and new which is why the second part of this verse is valuable to us for it says we have already escaped the corruption in the world of lust which is the desire that exists to have more, more sexual partners, more money, more possessions, more of this world. For us escape is possible if we hold onto the promises of God and abide in Jesus. He will make us grow into God’s nature. Our natural life and spiritual life are at war: but we can live and walk in the power of the Spirit:
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
God is faithful and will bring us through, for His Son prays for us – we will make it! We have been given the power of God for this life with its problems and we have been given power for godliness - power to overcome – we need no longer sin or follow worldly lusts – along with the power we are also to hold onto the promises of God for we are new creatures, the old is gone, the new is come.
Preaching the Word: 1 & 2 Peter and Jude—Sharing Christ’s Sufferings Assertion: God Has Given Us Everything We Need (vv. 3, 4)
You will need to cultivate your experiential knowledge of God and a willingness to hold on to his promises in this world that tempts you to grasp other things.
Therefore let us submit to His will and become His slaves for it is here that there is true freedom for life.
Communion
Communion
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Jesus is our supreme example, remembering that He came from Heaven’s glory and setting aside His majesty and power became like us and became a slave contained within a body. And submitted Himself to torture and crucifixion at the hands of enemies and died. His example is so extreme but He did what he did to save us and free us from slavery to sin by redeeming us. We have been bought by Him. We are now His. Let us hear the words of the Institution:
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
Benediction
Benediction
9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Bibliography
Bibliography
Anderson, C. (2007). Opening up 2 Peter. Leominster: Day One Publications.
Barton, B. B. (1995). 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Pub.
Elwell, W. A. (1995). Evangelical Commentary on the Bible (Vol. 3). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
Blum, E. A., & Wax, T. (Eds.). (2017). CSB Study Bible: Notes. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
Helm, D. R. (2008). 1 & 2 Peter and Jude: sharing christ’s sufferings. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Leadership Ministries Worldwide. (1996). 1 Peter–Jude. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.
Exported from Logos Bible Software, 07:38 05 May 2019.