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 Saviour Jesus Christ. (ESV)
It has been said before but it bears repeating, we so often
gloss over the greetings as mere formalities but as they form part of God’s
Word they are full of richness of meaning and this is no exception, we need to
repeatedly ask ourselves when reading scripture, why did the author write these specific words, when enquiring
like this we can dig out a lot more application than just taking them on the
surface value.
So why does Peter start off by recalling to our minds that
this is Simeon or Simon that became Peter, one of the main reasons is to
establish his authority as a witness to Christ, as we will see later this will be important
when the question of the true gospel is
raised in regard to false teachers. I think also there is an element of
identifying with the readers that there was a change that took place in his
life which stems not from his own work but that by the righteousness of our God
and saviour Jesus Christ. He was Simon, which means ‘hear’, who Christ made
into Peter which as most know means rock. He heard Christ and believed and was
given the Christ’s nature as a solid rock, a foundation stone, we all receive
Christ’s nature when we hear and believe. He is showing us that he is also just
an ordinary man empowered by God, no different in quality from anyone else,
highlighted in the phrase ‘faith of equal standing’. His authority and
righteousness stem not from himself but from Christ, and when we believe the
same applies to us we become a stone that others can build upon in their belief
or that those who refuse to listen will stumble over.
The next words confirm his authority as a servant and
apostle of Jesus Christ’ but again raises the recognition that being an apostle
whilst of significant importance is not a reason to be a dictator or considered a superior standing, more
importantly the emphasis is on himself
being a servant of Jesus Christ. And who does Jesus Christ serve, well
as Christ himself pointed out he serves believers by becoming the scapegoat, by
taking on human flesh, and facing temptation as we do, by washing the disciples
feet, and ultimately being the sacrifice that takes the penalty in our place.
This is the picture of biblical leadership we see pictured in every God
designed relationship - that of servant leadership, we lead by considering
other needs above our own and serving, we love one another by obedient service
to our leaders, the biblical shepherd does not herd the sheep by frightening,
cajoling and chasing them, but by going first, preparing the way, and calling
them to follow, which when they recognise the voice those who belong to him
will do. Likewise we are to be one anothers servants. Given the recognition or
title or job of elder, or deacon, or Sunday school teacher, or youth leader or
treasurer or whatever is not an entitlement to lord it over others but a
privilege and responsibility to serve others, and ultimately to serve God
through acts of ministry he enables us to do.
‘A faith of equal standing’ shows also that there is no
difference in the readers faith to that of Peter, the basis of that faith is
the same, there was not anything in Peter’s experience that made him better or
made it more sure. Our faith is just as sure, our faith is based on the same
infinitely stable and solid ground of Christ, it is not based on how we feel,
or how we think, or how we behave though these are indicators and evidence of
our faith, it stands on Christ alone.
I’ve already said it but we can never hear the story enough
that it is not by anything we do that makes us righteous in God’s eyes, it is
the work of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ, it is his righteousness that
clothes us, the very word translated ‘obtained’ in greek ‘lang-khan'-o’ denotes
the casting of lots, not something that we can earn by our effort or even reach out and take but rather something
is given to us due to circumstances beyond our control, in this case the
implication being it is God’s choice. (sneaking a look ahead at vs 3 ‘who called us to his own glory and
excellence’)
So in summary Peter points out that we can have confidence
in the words he writes because they come from God and not from him, that
our faith is of equal standing which is based on Christ work and God’s own
choosing and therefore we can have
confidence in it and that this faith works itself out in us being servants of
Christ and of one another.
