(Chapter 1)
The Salutation
Vss. 1-2—Peter introduces himself as “Simon Peter.” Simon was his old name that he had as a man in the flesh (John 1:41-42). Oftentimes, when he would act according to his old nature, he is called “Simon” (Mark 14:37; Luke 5:4-5; 22:31-32; John 18:10; 21:2). It is significant that in having to write about the failure of the Christian testimony, as Peter was led to do here, that he would use his old name. This shows that he was conscious of the fact that he himself had failed, and that in speaking of the collective failure of the Church, he was in no way doing it disparagingly.
He calls himself “a bondman and an apostle of Jesus Christ.” He was an apostle by the Lord’s choosing, but it was of his own volition that he was a bondman. The Lord has never asked or commanded anyone to be His bondman; it is something that the believer chooses to be, voluntarily, when he realizes that he has been “bought with a price” (1 Cor. 6:20; 7:23). The process of exercise that leads the believer to this surrender his life comes through first understanding what Christ’s work on the cross has done. It makes the believer “the Lord’s freedman” (1 Cor. 7:22a). As such, we have been set free from the judgment of our sins, from sin as a master, from Satan, and from the world. But when the cost of our freedom comes home to our souls, and we realize that the Lord has paid such a great price to redeem us, we will resolve to no longer use our freedom for our own interests, but for the furtherance of His interests. We, therefore, voluntarily enlist ourselves in His service as “Christ’s bondman” (1 Cor. 7:22b). Thus, the Lord’s work on the cross, received by faith, makes us freedmen; but we, by our own choice, make ourselves His bondmen. By Peter’s stating that he was the Christ’s bondman, he was indicating that he had gone through this exercise and had put himself at the Lord’s disposal in the Lord’s service.
By stating that those to whom he was writing had “obtained [received] like precious faith with us,” he meant that these believers had received the Christian revelation of truth from God—Christianity. It has been “delivered unto the saints” through the apostles and is the common possession of all believers (Jude 3). Peter was not speaking of faith as the inward energy of the soul’s confidence in God, which is in every person who believes, but of Christianity as distinguished from the religions of this world. H. Smith said, “The ‘precious faith’ is the faith of Christianity, in contrast with Judaism with which these believers had been connected” (The Epistles of Peter, p. 44). J. N. Darby said, “The faithfulness of the God of Israel had bestowed on His people this faith (that is to say, Christianity), which was so precious to them. Faith here, is the portion we have now in the things God gives, which in Christianity are revealed as truths” (Synopsis of the Books of the Bible, Loizeaux edition, vol. 5, p. 463).
Peter says that this precious faith has come to the saints “through the righteousness of God.” This refers to God’s faithfulness to His promises in the Old Testament to bring salvation to man through Christ (Gen. 49:18; Psa. 14:7; 67:2; Isa. 12:2-3; 25:9; 45:8; 52:7, 10; 56:1, etc.). Peter adds, “and our Saviour Jesus Christ,” because He is the One who made atonement for God’s glory and for our blessing.
Vs. 2—Peter desired “grace and peace” to be “multiplied” to them. It is encouraging to know that in a day when evil is being multiplied on every hand, God can multiply grace and peace for His saints to meet it. This shows that no matter how dark the day gets, God can meet the challenge. Grace and peace for the Christian pathway comes to the saints “through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” Some seem to think that we need to be versed in the evil doctrines that are in Christendom in order to escape those errors. However, it is not knowing what is false that is going to keep us from error, but rather, knowing, believing, and walking in the truth. Delving into evil, even with good intentions, is potentially dangerous; we could get deceived by it in some way and get tripped up in our Christian lives (compare Deut. 12:29-32).