2Pe 1:1-2 “Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,”
Peter identifies himself in the beginning of his second letter as a servant (slave) of Jesus Christ. Peter’s “slavery” to Jesus is born out of his faith in Jesus. This is not just a matter of blind trust; Peter has walked with Jesus; Peter has been both rebuked and encouraged by Jesus. Peter has been a recipient of a love that he knows he did nothing to deserve. Peter wants to be a slave to Jesus, to love and serve and be submissive because he knows that Jesus can be trusted in all things and every situation.
He also identifies himself as an apostle of Jesus. He is declaring that he has been sent with a purpose. He is an ambassador of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He has been imbued with the authority of his Master to speak the things of God through the working of the Holy Spirit. God lives and moves in Peter’s life. Peter says he is writing to people with whom he has fellowship in this faith; people in whose lives God lives and moves, just as he does in Peter’s.
Notice that Peter does not say that his audience obtained this faith from him or the other apostles. Rather, they obtained this faith with them. Although Peter and others had testified of this faith, that testimony did not give faith to the hearers. Today, our preaching does not give faith. It communicates the truth of the Gospel to those who have obtained like precious faith.
It is a simple truth that this faith is precious because of its source and the avenue by which we receive it. Do we esteem this faith as being precious? Our immediate cry would be “Yes!” However, if we not living according to our faith in God through His son Jesus, then we are declaring for all to see that there are things more precious to us than our faith. This is the same faith that was delivered unto the apostles. This is the same faith that caused Stephen to prefer stoning over denying the Lord, Jesus Christ. This is life-changing faith, and it comes to each of us from the same source.
We do not go out and get faith. Faith is obtained through the righteousness of God and our Savior, Jesus! The very nature of faith is heavenly and therefore not something man can conjure up for himself. God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) are the only source of faith. This is about more than just believing really hard. This is the substance of our confidence in God and our proof of the invisible. It is something we have in common, even with the apostles.
Peter makes recognition of the fact that those of like precious faith have grace and peace. Is there such a thing as too much grace or too much peace? Peter’s desire was that they would enjoy these things in abundance. We recognize that there is a measure of grace and peace in our life; otherwise it could not be multiplied. We learned in elementary school that to multiply something you have to have something to begin with. The grace and peace we have as a result of the precious faith we are given through the righteousness of God and Jesus is increased in our lives through the knowledge of God, and Jesus our Lord.
This word translated as knowledge carries the idea of recognition and acknowledgement. It is not enough that we “know” from an intellectual standpoint the source of our precious faith. To see it multiplied, we need to make recognition of the work of God in our lives. We need to stop crediting “luck” or “fate” or “karma,” and talk about the providence and purpose of our Creator. In making recognition of God’s providence and purpose, we need to manifest the power of this precious faith in our lives. As grace and peace are multiplied unto us, so we grow and mature to the point of being willing servants; brothers and sisters who count it great joy to serve the Living God!
May we honor God for the faith that comes through Him and the grace and peace that are multiplied through our knowledge of Him!
