In this message I have the burden to consider further 2 Peter 1:1-4. Let us go back to these verses one by one.
Verse 1 says, “Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have been allotted like precious faith with us in the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” In this long verse we all need a definite and clear understanding of two crucial points. The first concerns the allotment of the New Testament faith. This faith, which is the “like precious faith,” is the same as the New Testament inheritance. The New Testament inheritance is nothing less than the Triune God Himself, the One who has been processed and has become the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit. Hence, the Triune God as the life-giving Spirit is the New Testament inheritance. Faith is actually the reflection of this inheritance. Therefore, faith is one with the New Testament inheritance. If we have faith, we also have this inheritance. Faith is the substantiation of the substance of the inheritance. Therefore, the New Testament faith and the New Testament inheritance are one.
If what God had done was merely to allot a New Testament inheritance to us, we would have something that is too objective, something not only outside of us but also far beyond us. It would, of course, be something that is for us, but it would not be able to reach us, and we would not be able to reach it. For this reason, there is the need of substantiation, and this substantiation is a matter of faith.
Faith is not initiated by us, and it is not something that is out of us. On the contrary, faith is out of God, it is initiated by God, and it is allotted to us by God. In what way is faith allotted to us? Faith comes to us by the word in God’s revelation. When this word is preached to us, it conveys the reality of the New Testament inheritance. Furthermore, as this word is preached to us, simultaneously the Spirit works with it. Actually, according to the Bible, the word and the Spirit are one. In John 6:63 the Lord Jesus said, “The words which I have spoken unto you are spirit and are life.” The word and the Spirit are one. The word is the Spirit, and the Spirit is the word (Eph. 6:17). Therefore, through the spoken word and by the working, the inspiring, of the Spirit, faith is produced within us. This is the way God allots to us the like precious faith. Through the spoken word and by the inspiring Spirit, God infuses faith into our being. Once this faith has been imparted into us, we have our portion of the New Testament inheritance.
The second crucial point in verse 1 is related to the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. According to 1:1, the precious faith has been allotted to us in the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. The Greek preposition translated “in” here means in the sphere of or by means of. In what sphere, or by what means, has this wonderful faith been allotted to us? It has been allotted to us in the sphere of the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. This righteousness implies the righteous deed, the righteous act, of the Lord Jesus (Rom. 5:18). The Lord’s righteous act was His death on the cross. The Lord’s death on the cross was in absolute obedience to God and fulfilled all the requirements of God’s righteousness. Therefore, His death is a righteous deed highly valued by God according to His own righteousness. Christ’s righteous deed of dying on the cross in obedience to God fulfilled God’s righteousness and gave Him, the righteous God, the legitimate position to justify all those who believe in this righteous deed of Christ. This righteousness, the righteousness of God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, is the sphere in which and also the means by which God has the liberty and position to allot Himself to us as our portion. This is the reason Peter says in verse 1 that we have been allotted the like precious faith in the righteousness of our God and Savior.
In 1:2 Peter says, “Grace to you and peace be multiplied in the full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” In this verse there are also two crucial points. The first is related to grace and peace. Because a wonderful portion—the Triune God Himself—has been allotted to us, grace and peace have come to us. Grace is our enjoyment of our portion of the New Testament inheritance, which is actually the processed Triune God. In simple terms, grace is the enjoyment of the Triune God. What, then, is peace? Peace is the condition that results from, issues from, grace. To have grace and peace is to have the enjoyment of the Triune God and the issue of this enjoyment. When we enjoy the Triune God, the result is a tranquil condition or situation with both God and man.