2 Peter 1:1-4 God Gives Great Gifts! - Bill J Last week, we took a little look back at 1st Peter and ahead to 2nd Peter. 1st Peter looked at trials coming from OUTSIDE the Church. Stand firm in God’s Grace! 2nd Peter looks at trials coming from INSIDE the Church. Stand firm in God’s Truth! Peter was aware that this was going to be his last message. ~ He would soon be martyred for his faith. Jesus had told him it was how he would die! Nero was Emperor and persecution of Christians was rampant. The thing that he wanted to make sure they, and we get is that the church stayed diligent to not allow any other gospel to be preached... NO variation from what they were taught. False teachers and False teaching were already deceiving many... Don’t be deceived!!! 2nd Peter in a nutshell: IF our Faith in Christ is real, and we stay Focused on Him, it will be evident in our behavior. IF we continue to grow and mature in our faith and knowledge of Christ; We are transformed by the Spirit of God and we won’t be deceived by false teachers or false teaching! With that backdrop, let’s jump into 2nd Peter! 2 Peter 1:1-4nlt ~ This letter is from Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to you who share the same precious faith we have. This faith was given to you because of the justice and fairness of Jesus Christ, our God and Savior. 2 May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. 3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. 2 Peter 1:1 ~ This letter is from Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ. Notice Peter refers to himself as Simon Peter. Simon being his birth name, and “Peter” (Gk. petros meaning Rock / Stone) being the name given to him by Jesus. There was significance in his names... It’s like Simon had a permanent case of “Foot in Mouth” disease. He made promises he couldn’t keep. He’d jump into something with both feet, then be the first one to back out... It seems like Jesus changed Simon’s name because He wanted his new name to be a perpetual reminder to him about who he could be. From that point on, whatever Jesus called him sent him a subtle message. If He called him Simon, He was signaling him that he was acting like his old self. If He called him Peter / Rock, He was commending him for acting the way he should. The Lord could correct or commend him just by using one name or the other. Peter used “Simon Peter” to show both his broken side and his rock-solid side. He knew the fullness of His guilt and sin. He knew the weight of shame. But he also knew the sufficiency of God’s Grace! He didn’t pretend or deny his faults... Peter knew it was only by God’s Grace that he was an Apostle of Jesus Christ! Peter KNEW he had denied knowing Jesus ~ THREE times! Shortly after proclaiming he would NEVER fall away... Peter KNEW it was Jesus that restored him! He called Himself a Slave and Apostle of Jesus Christ! A Slave,
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