2 Peter 1:1

2 Peter 1:1 ‘Simon Peter,. bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received. faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:'

‘Simon Peter' -The two names are often used together (Matthew 16:16; Luke 5:8; John 1:40; John 6:8; John 6:68. etc…). ‘Simon'-which means ‘God has heard'. This would be Peter's Hebrew name. ‘Peter'-his Greek name.. synonym for the Aramaic name ‘Cephas', meaning rock or. stone (John 1:42). Hamilton notes, ‘If the author is. pseudonymous one who wrote the epistle as some argue because of the use of the double designation, then it would appear to be out of character for. forger or an impostor. Would not he have used the same name “Peter” as is the case in the first letter? The double name appears to have more weight on the side of Peter's writing the letter than it does that. pseudonymous writer penned it.' (p. 3)

‘bond-servant' -A common designation for Christians (Romans 1:1; Colossians 4:12; 2 Timothy 2:24; James 1:1). ‘one who gives himself up wholly to another's will' (Thayer p. 158). ‘devotion to the utter disregard of one's own interests' (Woods p. 147). The Christian is one whose life is to be given wholly over to God (Romans 6:16; Galatians 2:20).

Points to Note:

Consider Peter's humility. He is simply. servant of Jesus Christ, as any other Christian. He isn't the head of the Church nor the vicar of Christ. 2. Barclay notes that when Christians are called servants of God, this means: a. We are to be completely at God's disposal. b. Our obedience to God is to be unquestioning and prompt, even when such obedience would bring suffering upon us. ‘In any situation the Christian has but one question to ask: “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?”' (Barclay p. 346) c. All of our time belongs to God. d. God always comes first (Matthew 6:33). 3. Peter isn't. servant of men (1 Corinthians 7:23), and neither is he. servant of sin (John 8:34; Romans 6:17; Romans 6:20). 4. We all serve something or someone.

‘apostle' -‘lit., one sent forth' (Vine p. 63) Not the only representative of Jesus Christ, but one of the ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20).

‘to those who have received. faith of the same kind as ours' -‘a faith as privileged as ours' (Gspd); ‘a faith of equal standing with ours' (RSV); ‘a faith as valuable as ours' (Phi). ‘Received'-‘obtain' (Arndt p. 462). ‘Same kind'-‘equally precious, equally honored' (Thayer p. 307); ‘equal in value, also simply of the same kind' (Arndt p. 381)

Points to Note:

Peter's faith wasn't more important than the faith of any other Christian. All souls are equally precious (Matthew 16:26). 2. God doesn't place. greater priority upon the faith exercised by certain individuals. Rather, God equally values the obedient faith of all who render it to him. 3. This also implies that all can believe! For all are given the chance to believe (Mark 16:15). And all can see the same evidence (Romans 1:20; Psalms 19:1). 4. ‘he (Peter) writes to reassure them that despite their remoteness from the gospel events, they (and we) are as privileged as the apostles.' (Lucas/Green p. 34) 5. ‘The central idea conveyed is that the faith of Christians is equal to that of Peter and the apostles. There is no distinction to be made between the faith of these two groups. It is produced in the same way (Romans 10:17) and can be described in exactly the same way (Hebrews 11:1) and produces the same character and conduct when it is demonstrated (Romans 1:5; Romans 16:26; Galatians 5:6; 1 Thessalonians 1:3).' (Hamilton pp. 5-6) (Acts 15:9; Acts 15:11)

‘by the righteousness' -The fact that all can believe, is. proof that God is fair! In addition, God has made it possible, by His own grace for people to have plenty of evidence in which to believe (Mark 16:15).

‘our God and Savior, Jesus Christ' -‘According to the strict grammatical construction of the passage “God” and “Savior” are both predicates of “Jesus Christ”, as in Titus 2:13.' (P.P. Comm. p. 2) ‘Grammar demands that one person be meant' (Robertson p. 148) Jesus is called ‘God' in many other passages (John 1:1; John 20:28; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 1:8).