2 PETER 1

SIMON: The name given Him by His earthly father.

PETER:   The name given to Him by His Lord. The name God knows His children by is significant. Abram became {*1} Abraham, �a father of many nations;� Jacob became {*2} Israel, �Prince with God;� and Jesus said to Simon, �You are
{*3} Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.� Our name signifies that our Heavenly Father knows us and about us; the name of all the saved are written in the {*4} book of life.

A SERVANT:   Peter is always at the {*A} �disposal of God;� in His service.

OBTAINED:   Or who have been allotted or given the faith, they did not earn or deserve it. It is {*5} �the gift of God, not of works.�

LIKE PRECIOUS FAITH WITH US:    Peter is writing to the gentiles who historically had been {*6} "strangers from the covenamnts of promise," but now {*7} �are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints.� They were {*8} �once not a people but are now the people of God.� This is also the position of every Christian today.

OUR GOD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST:   Unlike the King James translation, the New King James, along with Moffatt, the Revised Standard and the New International Versions assume Jesus to be both God and Saviour. It is also an echo of Thomas�
{*9} �My Lord and my God.�
(See also vs3 below.)

John 3:16 is sometimes called, "The gospel in a nutshell." The verses covered here strike me as being a more comprehensive view of what God has wonderfully accomplished for us in Jesus Christ, hence the sub-title.

This is the work of a lay-man with no pretensions to theology. It was written because I like to draw out the meaning and context of scripture more fully than what a cursory reading gives. If reading it gives pleasure to others, I shall be delighted.

Notations such as {*1} are Biblical references. Their index is at the bottom of the each page.
All Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version Bible.

GRACE AND PEACE: Grace; [Strong�s Dictionary- �graciousness of manner or act; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in life, including gratitude.] Peace, the untroubled state of mind that comes from being satisfied and secure. Two great New Testament themes. Peter does not mention here financial prosperity, fame or worldly success, but he desires for then the very essence of what only God gives, and what He gives through Jesus. {*5} �For by grace you have been saved;� and to the saved Jesus says, {*10} �My peace I give to you;.. let not your heart be troubled.�

IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD AND OF JESUS OUR LORD: Grace and Peace are not so much the Gospel, (Jesus died for our sins) as what flows from the Gospel. And these will come, and indeed be multiplied to us, by the knowledge of God. The greek here for knowledge is "epignosis," which may be rendered �full (or expanding) knowledge.� So grace and peace will suffuse our hearts and minds the more we know Jesus. The more we know (and love) Jesus the more we will feel satisfied and secure, thus bringing peace to our hearts. The more also will we become like Him: {*11} "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."