Our Precious Faith – Evansville Bible Church

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2 Peter 1:1-2, Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind (NKJV like precious faith) as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: [2] Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

Peter begins his second epistle focusing on our precious faith and the effective grace of God in our lives. He wants God’s grace and peace to be multiplied to every believer. He ends his epistle with this.

2 Peter 3:18, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

THE GRACE OF GOD

Grace is such a beautiful truth in the Bible – usually God’s sovereign and unmerited favor to sinners. Paul begins and ends every epistle with grace. If you have the “Literal Word” Bible app, search “grace” and then just read your way through the 114 New Testament references to grace. Here are just a few.

John 1:16, For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.
Romans 3:24, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.
Romans 5:2, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.
Galatians 2:21, I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.
Ephesians 1:7, In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.
2 Timothy 1:9, Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.
Revelation 22:21, The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.

The gospel is the message of the abounding grace of God to unworthy, “wretched” sinners, as John Newton put it in his hymn “Amazing Grace.”

GROW IN GRACE

Here in 2 Peter chapter 1, Peter urges us to diligently add to our faith godly virtues so we won’t be useless or fruitless (v. 8). Peter calls us to keep growing spiritually. I knew a respected biblical counselor who has gone to be with the Lord who observed, “Very few men over 50 keep aggressively growing and changing in their faith.” Are you growing? This challenges us who have some high mileage on these earth mobiles. But Peter in his senior years (he may have been in his sixties or seventies) did not lose his edge. Tradition says he was crucified for Christ in his mid-sixties in Rome under Nero’s persecution but asked to be crucified upside down because he didn’t feel worthy to be crucified the way his Lord and Savior was.

Peter tells us why he wrote this epistle in verses 12-15.

2 Peter 1:12-15, Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you. [13] I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, [14] knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. [15] And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you will be able to call these things to mind.

Here’s a simple outline of 2 Peter.

Chapter One: Grow in deeper assurance of your faith.
Chapter Two: Grow in greater discernment in your faith. Peter warns us of the wolves that Paul warned the church about in Acts 20. Paul said they are coming; Peter says they are here!
Chapter Three: Grow in stronger expectation of the coming of our Lord. God is patient, still saving His elect, and He is coming again.

PETER’S IDENTITY

Let’s zero in on 2 Peter 1:1-2 this morning.

Peter introduces himself as “Simon Peter.” Simon was Peter’s name before his brother Andrew brought him to Christ. In John 1:42 Jesus immediately changed Simon’s name to Peter, the stone. Now here’s Peter, many years later, identifying himself not just as Peter, but as Simon Peter. Peter never forgot how Jesus saved him out of his lost and ignorant days, his Simon days as a fisherman.

In his little book Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners John Bunyan wrote, “It is profitable for Christians to be often calling to mind the very beginning of grace with their souls.” Do you remember your BC days? What were you living for when Christ saved you? Along with Peter, how thankful you should be for God sovereignly arranging for someone to bring you the gospel, for God opening your heart to believe in Christ, and in mercy and grace appointing you to eternal life. There should be a BC and AD in every believer’s life – a time before you knew Christ as Savior and a time when you understood the gospel, believed it, and your life changed.

Peter identifies himself in two ways: as a bondservant (or slave, doulos) and an apostle. He gladly identifies as a slave of Jesus Christ, a willing, happy, joyful slave but a slave nonetheless. That’s exactly what every believer is – a slave of Christ called to do His will. Christ came into the slave market of sin and purchased us with His own blood. He redeemed us to be His own possession.

Peter was a capital “A” apostle, which meant that Christ personally chose him in that first century to be one of his official representatives for the foundation of the church. You see him in Acts preaching powerfully on the day of Pentecost, healing that fellow born lame, disciplining Ananias and Sapphira, and taking the gospel to the Gentiles. He was a great leader in the early church, affirming in Acts 15:11 both Jews and Gentiles are saved by the grace of God. However, he was never given supremacy over the other apostles. He never assumed supremacy and the others never conceded him supremacy.

So was Peter the first pope? The Roman Catholic Church teaches that Peter became the bishop of Rome and then passed his apostolic authority to the next bishop and presto, they have popes to this very day, even one from Chicago. They think Jesus told Peter he was the rock on which the church was built. Before you know it the papacy claims infallibility and the right to determine if teaching is true or false, even stirring up the persecution of those who rejected the church’s teaching. In the 1500s Luther finally snapped the chains of papal authority, repeatedly called the pope the antichrist, and launched the Reformation and the great truth of sola Scriptura. That truth makes it clear that the foundation of Christianity is not what the church teaches but what the Bible teaches!

OUR PRECIOUS FAITH

2 Peter 1:1b, To those who have received a faith of the same kind (NKJV like precious faith) as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ…

Our faith is the exact same faith as Peter or any of the apostles had. It is precious, highly valued, cherished, and priceless. There’s only one precious faith in one powerful message for the first century and the twenty-first century. It hasn’t changed one iota since the first century. So what is faith? It’s not the product of the depraved human heart or will. It’s not just believing Jesus existed or that He is God. Demons believe God is one, but they aren’t saved (James 2:19). True faith includes three things and I’m giving you the Latin as well, right out of the Reformation.

Knowing – notitia First there’s knowledge. You must know Jesus is the God-Man. Peter in vs.1b gives us one of the proof texts of the deity of Christ when he refers to Jesus as, “Our God and Savior Jesus Christ.” You must know Jesus came into this world through the virgin conception to live a perfect life, and through His death on that cross He paid for the sins of all who would believe in Him. Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” Faith is based on knowledge, or in the Latin notitia.

Agreeing – assensus The second element of true faith is agreeing, or the Latin assensus. You must agree that the gospel message is true and that you need Christ. You realize you are guilty before God because you have sinned and come short of God’s glory (His standard of holiness), and you are in trouble with God. You know and agree that Christ came into the world to save sinners and He is your only hope of forgiveness and eternal life.

Trusting – fiducia This is the third and most important element, fiducia, meaning trust or submission to Christ as your Lord and Savior. You must trust Him, placing all your confidence (fiducia) in Christ to save or deliver you from the great trouble you are in before the holy God. You come to Christ submitting to Him on His terms, and you begin to follow Him. You turn in your heart from going your own way and make a 180-degree turn around, trusting and following Christ as your Savior or Deliverer from the penalty of your sins. I like to picture saving faith as a wedding in which you know the one you are marrying. You agree to the terms of marriage. And you trust yourself to this person you are marrying. You don’t walk out the aisle the same person. You are now married. You’re in a new relationship.

A PRECIOUS FAITH WE RECEIVE

So how do you get this faith? Peter says, “To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours.” You receive faith. You did not figure it out on your own. You didn’t generate this precious faith out of your own sinful, spiritually dead heart. Faith is a gift God gives you by His grace.

Ephesians 2:8-9, For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; [9] not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

God gives faith by His rich and plentiful grace. This is why grace is so precious. As Jonathan Edwards put it, “There does not exist in the human heart any power by which it may lay hold of God of itself. It’s the work of the Holy Spirit to bring a man to faith in Christ.” You can no more get saving faith out of a natural man’s heart than you can get gold out of an empty bag or a rabbit out of an empty hat. It’s simply not possible. Man’s natural heart is at war with God. God must intervene and give the man a new heart, and it is that new heart that is then able to believe to salvation. That’s one great reason faith is precious. It is purely of God’s grace, given to us by God, a faith we receive, and God gets all the glory. When Luther realized salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone, not by works of any kind, he said he felt as though he passed through the gates of heaven into paradise itself. That’s how many of us felt as well.

So how do you receive this gift of faith? You hear the gospel, which Paul said is the power of God to save sinners. You hear the gospel of Christ and the Spirit of God takes the Word of God and so works faith in our hearts that we willingly bow our hearts to Christ. That’s regeneration, or the new birth. Charles Wesley put it beautifully in his song.

Long my imprisoned spirit lay Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;

Thine eye diffused a quickening ray, I woke, the dungeon flamed with light.

My chains fell off, my heart was free;

I rose, went forth and followed Thee.

When you realize God gave you that power to believe, you will give God all the glory. You don’t have to understand all the mysteries of the faith. However, you do need to know you need Christ and you must come to Him. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom you and I are chief. Entrust your eternal soul into the arms of a receiving Savior, Jesus Christ. This is our precious faith.

Listen to this great verse from John’s gospel. It was John Bunyan’s favorite verse.

John 6:37, All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.

Who comes to Jesus? All the Father gives Him. Why do they come? Because the Father gave them to His Son. How many come to Jesus? All, every single one the Father gave to Him. Are you one of those “ones?” What do you have to do? Come. That’s faith. What does Christ promise? He will certainly not throw you out. Every believer is a love gift from the Father to the Son.

Salvation doesn’t start with you; it starts with the triune God. The Father chooses you to give to His Son who came to redeem (purchase) you from your sin, and then the Spirit comes into your heart and gives you a new heart to enable you to embrace Jesus, and the triune God gets all the glory! But this sounds like salvation is all the work of God. Ironside told about an older gentleman who was asked to give his testimony, so he told how God sought him, called him, and saved him. Afterward a fellow came up and said, “You’ve told us all about what God did, but what was your part?” “Oh, I apologize,” said the elderly believer, “I should have said something about my part. My part was running away from God and His part was running after me until he caught me.” That’s the grace of God in salvation.

WHY YOUR FAITH IS PRECIOUS

What does Peter mean our faith is precious to us? Ladies and gentlemen, think about it. Your faith is the most precious thing you have. What else do you have that can save you from your sin, guilt, and condemnation? Your faith brings you to God, to heaven. Your faith is precious because it guards you from Satan’s missiles – the shield of faith quenches all the fiery darts of the evil one (Ephesians 6:16). Your faith is precious because while you’re the one believing, God has promised to keep you by His power (1 Peter1:5). Jesus told Peter that Satan was going to sift him like wheat but then promised, “But I have prayed for you, that your faith fail not.”

Your faith, if it is genuine and therefore precious, is grounded firmly and absolutely in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Look at the end of verse 1.

2 Peter 1:1b, To those who have received a faith of the same kind (NKJV like precious faith) as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ…

This is Peter’s way of teaching justification by faith alone. Our faith is not grounded in our righteousness but Christ’s righteousness. And you’ll notice Peter speaks of the deity of Christ, “Our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” That’s one Person – Jesus Christ was truly God and truly man. And that’s what makes Christ’s righteousness the gold standard of heaven. This is that righteousness Luther described as “extra nos” or outside of us. Jesus, being God and man and living that perfect life and dying that substitutionary death, gives us His righteousness. He clothes us with His righteousness and God declares us righteous! The sinner who deserves judgment is declared righteous by faith alone in Christ, alone by grace, alone to the glory of God. That’s why our faith is precious!

Multiplication of the Treasures of Your Precious Faith

2 Peter 1:2, Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

Grace and peace are the treasures, the blessings that flow into your life through your precious faith. Grace is God’s rich working in our lives, motivating us to grow and change. Peace is that wonderful stability and steadiness that your faith works in you, keeping your hearts and minds in Christ. And Peter wants them to be multiplied. Multiplication is so much more powerful than addition. 10+10=20, but 10×10 = 100! How are grace and peace multiplied to you? They are multiplied through getting to know your God and Lord Jesus better and better. This is more than just academic knowledge. It’s an effective knowledge that grips and gets traction in your heart and moves your will and desires to follow Christ as God’s glorious Savior for you. It’s a knowledge that feeds your faith to esteem Christ above all. Peter calls us to keep growing in grace and the knowledge of Christ and never stop until we meet Christ face to face.

SO WHAT?

How do you know if God has given you this precious faith? There is only one way and that is by your response to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved! Is your faith in Christ the most precious thing in your life? If not, make it that today.