A Strengthening Greeting

Consider now Peter's greeting.  He immediately touches on the subject of faith, addressing his readers as "those who have obtained a faith, held in equal privilege with ours." (2 Peter 1:1) Here the expression "a faith" likely means "firm persuasion" and refers to the body of Christian beliefs or teachings, which in the Scriptures is sometimes called "the truth."  (Galatians 5:7; 2 Peter 2:2; 2 John 1)  The word "faith" is often used in this sense rather than in the general sense of trust or confidence placed in a person or thing.-Acts 6:7; 2 Corinthians 13:5; Galatians 6:10; Ephesians 4:5; Jude 3.

Peter's greeting must have sounded especially warm to Gentile readers.  Jews had no dealings with Gentiles, even despising them, and prejudice against Gentiles persisted among Jews who had become Christians.  (Luke 10:29-37; John 4:9; Acts 10:28)  Yet, Peter, a Jew by birth and an apostle of Jesus Christ, said that his readers-Jews and Gentiles-shared the same faith and enjoyed equal privilege with him.

Think of the fine lessons Peter's greeting teaches us today. God is not partial; he does not favor one race or nationality over another.  (Acts 10:34, 35; 11:1, 17; 15:3-9) As Jesus himself taught, all Christians are brothers, and none of us should feel superior. Further, Peter's greeting emphasizes that we are indeed a worldwide brotherhood, who hold "in equal privilege" the faith that Peter and his fellow apostles had. -Matthew 23:8; 1 Peter 5:9.

Next time: Knowledge and God's Promises

From the Watchtower magazine, 1997