"An Obtained Faith of Equal Standing" (Part1)

2 Peter 1:1--"Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:" (NKJV)

There are so many rich truths lined out for us in just this one verse. Peter begins this letter by introducing himself as, a bondservant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, and then says, "I'm witting to those that have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ." It's obvious in this part of the verse that he is writting to believers, those that have been given faith by the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Peter's not telling these people how to get faith, but rather now that they have faith, this is how they should be living their lives.

Before Peter tells them how they should be living their lives he wants them to remember the reality of their faith in Christ. I believe that Peter wanted to remind them of these three things: 1. Faith is a precious gift. 2. Their faith was a gift of equal standing with others. 3. Their faith was of an equal standing with others because of God's imputed righteousness.


1. Faith is a precious gift.

Peter wanted to remind them that their faith was obtained not earned. He wanted them to remember that their faith was a gift from God not something that they had to work hard to attain. I believe Peter was seeking to remind them of the reality of their salvation. The meaning for the word obtained is very significant in understanding what Peter is saying in this passage.

"Obtained"--"in the greek is "langchano".--its meaning is : a prolonged form of a primary verb, which is only used as an alternate in certain tenses; to lot; determine (by implication recieve) especially by lot: his lot be, cast lots, obtain.--"Strongs Concordance

"Precious"--in the greek is "timios"--it means: of great price, precious, held in honor, esteemed, especially dear; "of equal value or honor"-S.Concordance


Ephesians 2:8--"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,"

Peter was refering to saving faith in the context of this verse, in 2 Peter 1:1. This word obtained is only used three other times in--Luke 1:9, John 19:24, Acts 1:17--in the New Testament. By using this word obtained Peter was emphasizing that their salvation was not something they could attain by their own effort or worthiness, but mearly by means of God's grace.

I believe the point that Peter was trying to drive home to them was that they reiceved their faith by divine allotment. Their faith had been allotted to them by God. A synonym for the word "obtained" is recieved. Faith is given to us as a gift from God. It is something that has to be given to us as well as recieved by us. What I mean by this is, that Our faith is something we recieve from God but it isn't something that we can obtain until we have recieved it. Just like any gift someone gives you. If they are holding out their arm to you with the gift in their hand and say," This gift is yours" the only thing you have to do for it to be yours is reach out and recieve it. We are given faith through hearing God's word but we also must accept it and recieve it as truth. By giving us His word God has made our faith possible. Apart from God's word faith is impossible. We cannot recieve faith apart from hearing and accepting God's word as truth.

Romans 10:17--"So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

Peter reminds us that our faith is a gift of precious value. Our faith has value because Jesus Christ gives it, its value. It is only through Christ that we even believe in God. Peter clearly states that we "have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:"

It's not by our righteousness that we come to salvation but only through Christ's righteousness. We don't deserve faith nor can aquire it through any virtue of our own. We had nothing to do with our faith, it was totally initiated by God. It's all, all God not us. God even gives us the faith to believe. The Bible says, that none of us seek after God.

Romans 3:11--"There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God."

Isaiah 64:6--"But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away."

We were not looking for God He was looking for us, therefore we cannot take any credit for our salvation. We did not obtain salvation because we were good moral people or because we go to church but merely because God chose us to recieve it. We can only obtain faith by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Romans 3:[23-24]--"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,"

Our natural tendency is to seek our own interests. Our only hope is for God to seek us. The only way we will seek God is if He does a work in our hearts. This is why after salvation we desire to seek God with our whole heart because He has opened our eyes to see that if our salvation were up to us we would have never wanted it.

We must always remember to be thankful to God for the reality of our salvation. The object our faith--Jesus Christ, God's Son--is what makes our faith precious. Our Faith in God is precious because God Himself places great value on it.

May we never forget that the faith we have obtained from God is a priceless precious gift. The greatest gift we will ever recieve. I thank the Lord for clothing me in Christ righteousness. Our salvation is a divine gift that only God can give us, that was purchased and paid for through Christ's blood on the cross. What an awesome reality!!!!

Lord, Thank You for drawing me to yourself. Help me to stay in Your word so that it will remind of who I am in Christ. Thank You, for the covenant of grace that you have made with me even though I didn't deserve it. Thank you for the priceless gift of Christ. Jesus, Thank You, for paying the price for my sin that I may come into the presence of God Himself and have fellowship with Him. Thank you for opening my eyes up to the gospel. Thank You, for the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. It amazes me that you clothed me with Christ even though I was a filthy, condeemed sinner, and enemy of God. Even though I was unrighteous you placed my unrighteousness on Christ, and then placed your righteousness on me through Christ, and then you gave me the faith to believe that its true. Lord, help me to never forget the reality of my salvation.

Have you obtained faith? Is it yours? Is your faith in Christ alone? Have you been clothed in the righteousness of Christ?

Serving Our Lord Together,
Michelle Harrison