2 Peter 1:1-2 1Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received an equally valued faith in the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Chris, 2grace to you and peace be multiplied in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
This letter is attributed to the Apostle Peter, the second such letter in the New Testament. The spelling of Simeon is a variation of Simon, which some ancient manuscripts give instead. Simeon was his given name. Peter, Greek for “rock” (in Aramaic Cephas), was the nickname Jesus gave him (Matthew 16:18). Peter calls himself a servant (doulos) or “slave” of Jesus. The implication is that Jesus was his Master and Lord. Peter had bonded himself to Jesus to carry out the mission of apostleship that Jesus had given him. As apostle, Peter was one of the twelve specially chosen disciples “sent into” the world as witnesses of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection (Acts 1:8). He became a significant early preacher of the gospel, as indicated by his impactful sermon on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-41).
The rest of the salutation in verse 1 has awkward syntax in the Greek for translation because of the word order. The faith of the recipients was equal in honor to Peter’s faith. Peter experienced and grew his faith directly from Jesus himself, while the readers of the letter began their faith journey secondhand through Peter or other apostles and witnesses. No matter how a person’s faith in Jesus comes or is experienced, it is just as important and valuable as that of the earliest eyewitnesses and even of the apostles themselves. What makes faith of such value is not the person but the object of faith—Jesus Christ.
The goal of this faith is the same for everyone: to receive righteousness (dikaiosynē) from God. This important New Testament word describes how our relationship with God is restored through his grace and forgiveness, resulting in a new life of righteous obedience. The righteous life is the first major topic Peter takes up beginning in verse 3. Often the introduction to letters, like this one, give clues to some of the key ideas to be discussed later on.
The source of this righteousness is given in the phrase of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. The question is whether this refers to one person, designating Jesus as God, or as two persons, like the greeting in verse 2. Technically, the Greek could designate one person, but because of the phrase in verse 2, likely Father and Son are the references. Righteousness comes from both persons. God is the author of salvation and Jesus is the one who brought it to humanity. The description of Jesus as Savior is repeated at the end of the letter in 3:18.
The greeting of verse 2 is typical of New Testament letters. Grace (charis) is related to the Greek greeting (charein), which is a well-wish to people. Peace is similar to the Jewish greeting (shalōm) as a blessing for life to go well. When filtered through the gospel message, these two words have deep meaning. Grace is God’s favor and blessing upon us, resulting in peace with God (Romans 5:1) and peace with other humans. Peter’s greeting is in the form of a prayer that what God had started in the lives of the readers would continue, not just a little, but be multiplied. Grace and peace come with knowing God and the Lord Jesus. This type of knowledge (epiginosko) is not simply factual knowledge but the personal knowledge and recognition that come in close relationship with someone. The word knowledge is repeated seven times in this letter (1:2, 3, 5, 6, 8; 2:20; 3:18). Peter wants his readers to know God and Jesus personally and intimately. The situation of false teachers made this knowledge more urgent and crucial.