We’re going to spend the next several weeks chewing on 2 Peter 1:1-11. Peter packed a lot into the opening paragraphs of this letter, so we’ll take our time and savor each bite.
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: May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. – 2 Peter 1:1-2 ESV
Look at how Peter describes those he’s writing to: “those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours.” Peter’s talking about a saving faith in Jesus to rescue me from my unrighteousness (my sin and my stubborn desires to have my own way). How wonderful to think that I have obtained this faith! But it’s not something I got by hard work, like things we obtain in the world (a job promotion, for example). This saving faith is a gift from God by His grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). Because of His great love, He gives me salvation that I don’t deserve through the righteousness of Jesus.
Peter also says that my faith is of equal standing with his. Everyone who believes in Jesus and accepts Him as Lord is that same in God’s eyes (Colossians 3:11). I’m saved by Jesus or I’m not; no one is more saved than someone else. That’s the equal standing that Peter is talking about.
The thoughts that I cannot work hard enough to obtain this saving faith and that I can’t be “more saved” are so freeing to me. I sometimes fall into the rabbit hole of thinking too hard about what I didn’t do as well as I wanted or dwelling on missed opportunities to serve. If I can’t get it on my own, then I can quit trying so hard. And I need to resist the temptation to compare how I serve God to how someone else does it; this usually makes me feel I should do more and more, which can send me down the rabbit hole again.
Being reminded of God’s gift of saving faith always restores my focus on Jesus and what I have in Him.
Thank you, Lord, for saving me, for doing the work that I could not.
Reflect:
How does 2 Peter 1:1 speak to you today?
Have you obtained saving faith by the righteousness of Jesus?
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