Equal Standing Before God

“Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.”

(2 Peter 1:1-2 ESV)

The above passage is the introduction to the book of 2 Peter. And our tendency is to pay little attention to passages such as these. They come across as a mere greeting as the letter begins.

However, something in the introduction of this book sticks out like a sore thumb. Peter addresses this letter to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with his own. And this tells us that there was no distinction between his faith and theirs.

This is important because we tend to see a distinction between our faith and that of others. Our tendency is to look upon certain people as possessing greater worth than ourselves. We have a tendency to look upon some as more spiritual and others as less spiritual.

We tend to believe that the apostles possessed a faith that was superior to our own. We tend to think that pastors and missionaries have a faith that’s superior to our own. We tend to think that those lay-leaders in the church, who are involved in everything, have a faith superior to our own.

We also let this mindset play out in terms of practice. We believe that the prayers of those with a higher status of faith are more likely to be heard and answered than those with a lower status. We believe that those with a higher status of faith are more deserving of blessing than those with a lower status. We feel that others are far more qualified to minister to others because they have a greater status of faith than we do.

However, Peter tells them, they had a faith of equal standing to his own. Even though he was Jewish and many of them were not, their faith held equal standing to his own. Even though he was an apostle and they were not, their faith held equal standing to his own.

This phrase is worded a little differently in various translations, but it brings home the same point. The NASB says it this way: “To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours…” And the Holman Christian Standard Bible says: “To those who have received a faith equal to ours…”

This phrase means that their faith has the same value. It means that it grants the same privileges. There is no distinction.

There is no difference because the source of their faith was the same. It had been received by the righteousness of Jesus. In other words, the righteousness of Jesus provided for them the same faith and the same standing before God.

It was in no way dependent upon their goodness or virtue. And we tend to think that it is, regardless of the fact that this belief contradicts the gospel itself. Our faith, our salvation, and our blessing are gifts of God given freely to us in spite of our sin.

This, then, is an encouragement to us. We are not of a lesser standing than others in the church. Our faith is not less valuable than that of others. Our faith doesn’t provide lesser privileges when compared to that of others. We share a faith of equal standing. And this is true because the source of our faith is the same.