Power and Progress pt 1 - 2 Peter 1:3-4 - October 31, 2021

 2 Peter 1:3-4 Power and Progress pt1

Good morning! We are returning again to our study of 2 Peter chapter one, verses 3-4, page 1018 in the pew Bibles. 

Last week we looked at Peter’s introduction of this letter and we saw how he used a very powerful phrase in addressing his readers: “to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Peter the great Apostle and those scattered believers in Christ that received this letter originally, as well as all the other believers down through the centuries, and even down to us, all have equal standing before God through faith in Jesus Christ. What a wonderful truth!

Today we are going to look at another powerful statement from Peter in verses 3-4 that applied to Peter, to his original audience, and to all believers in Jesus Christ for all time, in hopes that it will stir us up and remind us of what exactly God has done for us so that we may embrace the truth of what is ours as believers in Jesus.

Let’s look at verses 3-4.

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Let’s pray.

It’s very difficult to separate verse 3-4 from verses 5-8 because they are two sides of the same coin but we are going to have to split them up in order to give them the attention that they deserve while not missing the Patriots game this afternoon. 

So even though we typically go verse by verse through complete books of the Bible, these two sections will be like a two part series.

Part one: What God does for believers in Jesus, and,

Part two: What God expects from believers in Jesus.

The “in Jesus” part there is very important, because if you were to read these verses to your unbelieving friend, they would not be able to apply this truth to themselves without a saving faith in Jesus Christ, they may however be drawn to a faith in Jesus Christ after seeing what would be available to them if they were to come to Him in faith. I guess you’re just going to have to try it yourselves.

Either way, the point is, that these verses are for those who have a saving faith in Jesus Christ, these are things that God has done for you, that God the Father has made available to you.

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness

I’m not sure that I can accurately portray the power of this statement, mostly because I am so poorly practiced in the application of this truth to my own life.

Most days I feel unfit, ill equipped, and woefully inadequate. 

But God’s Word says, right here, that by God’s divine power I have been granted everything I need for life and godliness. So who’s right, how I feel or what God says?

If I have Jesus, I have all I need. If my life ends today, if I have Jesus, I have everything I need to enter into eternity. If my life continues until I’m a hundred, if I have Jesus, I have everything I need to live a godly life.

That’s what God says. And if I feel differently than that, guess who’s wrong: not God.

God can be trusted, God’s Word can be trusted, our feelings cannot be trusted. When how we feel disagrees with God’s Word it is not God’s Word that needs correction, it’s us.

This was supposed to be encouraging…

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness

If we read this and feel like we are lacking somehow in what we need for life and godliness, if it seems like we may need a little more than what we have presently in order to live a godly life, then we need to keep reading!

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence

Last week, in verse two, we read Peter’s words, “may grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Just as knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord is the vehicle or grace and peace, knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord is the vehicle of everything we need for life and godliness.

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence

This is not just information, not just knowledge about Jesus, you can read that in secular history books.  Peter means knowledge of Jesus, to know Him personally. The more we know Jesus, the more we will know the Father, and the more we will see that we have all that we need for life and godliness granted to us by the divine power of God.

As our knowledge of Him grows so will our grasp on reality!

But it keeps getting better!

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises

If you’re anything like me and have been around the church for a little while, you’ve heard about God’s promises. You can even sing about standing on the promises of God. But have you ever wondered what they were exactly? What exactly are those promises, and here can we find them?

The “where” part of that question is the easy part: In the Bible.

But what are some of the promises to which Peter refers? All of God’s promises are wonderful, but let’s look at some of the promises related to Peter’s next words in our text, these are not ALL the promises in Scripture, these are just a few promises concerning the believer’s forgiveness, eternal life, and participation in the divine nature:

Psalm 23:6, “Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Isaiah 1:18, “‘Come now, let us settle the matter,’ says the LORD. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.’”

Ezekiel 36:26, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.”

John 6:37, Jesus said, “All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.”

Matthew 11:28–29, Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Acts 2:21; citing from Joel 2:32, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

John 7:38, Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

Acts 10:43, “Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Acts 13:39, “Through [Jesus] everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.”

John 10:28, Jesus said, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

John 14:3, Jesus said, “I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

John 14:19, Jesus said, “Because I live, you also will live.”

John 6:40, Jesus said, “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

These are not just empty words. They are God’s “great and precious” promises to us in Christ. They are more than words on a page; they are reality.

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

By faith in Jesus Christ we escaped from the corruption that is in this world and now we have godliness in place of sinful desire. And though it doesn’t always feel this way, we have the power to resist sinful desire. 

We have the power to say “no” to the corruption of the world even though at times it feels like we are absolutely surrounded by it.

God the Father is showing us the truth here in His Word, He is showing us the reality that no matter how weak we may feel, or how insignificant we may feel, or how sinful and defeated we may feel, by faith in Jesus Christ, His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted us His very great and precious promises, so that through them we might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

We are citizens of a different kingdom, and God Himself has given us what we need. He has provided the power, and next week in verses 5-8 we will see what He expects: progress.

Paul wrote in Colossians 1,

“…be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Amen.

Every Word Counts - 2 Peter 1:1-2 - October 24, 2021

 2 Peter 1:1-2 Every Word Counts

Good morning!

2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Since every word of Scripture is breathed out by God Himself every word of Scripture counts, every word is God’s Word.

With this in mind we are going to look at just a few words, the few words found in 2 Peter 1:1-2, page 1018 in the pew Bibles. 

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: 2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Let’s pray.

So, as you may remember from last week, and as I hope is clear from a plain reading of the text, that the author of this letter is Peter, the Apostle Peter, originally named “Simon,” or, “Simeon,” but renamed Peter by the Lord Jesus after his confession of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

The Catholic Church teaches that Peter is the rock upon which Jesus was going to build His church as the first Pope, the reality of course that it is the confession of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God that His church is built on.

It’s certainly not that Peter isn’t important, he truly is, but the things he writes in these two verses share a little bit more of the reality of Peter’s standing and ours.

Peter calls himself, “a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ.”

This phrase, used by Peter and also Paul, “servant and apostle,” was one of both humility and dignity.

The Greek word, doulos, translated servant, means slave, one compelled to serve, someone who was completely subservient to someone else. Peter recognized his relation to Christ and his total dependence on Him.

The word for Apostle, means a special messenger, one who is sent. This term was not limited to the Twelve Apostles as we call them but also applied to Paul and Barnabas and other people in the church sent out to proclaim the gospel and plant churches. Peter’s mention of this office was a reminder of the dignity that was his as an eye witness and one who was sent to proclaim the gospel by Jesus Himself.

I tend to give Peter a hard time, especially when I read the accounts of his early life in the Gospels, mostly because he made it pretty easy, he was a numbskull. But after the Holy Spirit fell on the day of Pentecost he became the kind of man that we can all look up to and emulate. He boldly preached the gospel without fear, even across cultural boundary lines, and wrote these wonderful letters to remind us of all that we have in Christ.

And it’s important for us to remember how important Peter was in the life of the early church so that his next statement can have its full effect.

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:

Simon Peter, THE Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, one of the originals, witnessed the transfiguration, walked on water, was there at the empty tomb Easter morning, saw Jesus ascend to the Father, preached at Pentecost, brought the gospel to the Gentiles, THE Peter!

To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of out God and Savior Jesus Christ…

Obtained a faith of equal standing with ours… equal standing!

First of all, the word that Peter used that is translated, “obtained,” is a grace-oriented word. It excludes any kind of work or merit, it’s related to divine favor, by grace independent of man’s control.

We, like Peter, have received faith by the grace of God. We don’t deserve it and neither did Peter.

That faith that Peter obtained, that the original recipients of this letter obtained, that we obtained, is the truth of Christian doctrine, the ability to believe and trust Jesus Christ and receive forgiveness, justification, sanctification, and future glorification, is given by God’s grace alone.

Ephesians 2:8-9, says, “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Peter could have boasted, look at all he did, think about all he saw! But here he clearly states that all believers for all time, by God’s grace, have a faith of equal standing with his and all the other Apostles as well.

The simple truth is that no matter how much we like to elevate other people and hold them up as higher or better or more loved by God than us, in God’s sight, by faith, we are all the same. Peter, Paul, James, John, Calvin, Luther, Billy Graham, Joel Brown, me and you, by faith we stand equal.

Billy Graham said, “The ground is level at the foot of the cross.”

Paul said in Galatians 3:28, There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 

John Calvin said, “All possess by faith the same Christ with His righteousness and the same salvation.”

Their faith, our faith, Peter’s faith, is all equally precious in the sight of God. There are no secret circles, there are no higher levels, no separate classes, we are all one by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.

His righteousness is what is important, not who we are, but who He is!

Jesus satisfied the justice of God which demands the death of the sinner. He did so Himself by paying a sufficient ransom for all mankind, he gave His own perfect, sinless, and holy life for ours. 

Romans 3:22-26 says,

For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

2 Corinthians 5:21 says,

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

By faith in Jesus Christ, we, along with Peter and countless others, have the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, its value added to our accounts. When God looks at us, He sees only Jesus.

And what is Peter’s wish for those of us who have obtained a faith of equal standing with his own?

2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

It’s been said that knowledge is the vehicle of the multiplication of grace and peace.

But the word that Peter used for knowledge means more than to just know something or someone, that word is gnosis. The word Peter used is epignosis, to know fully.

Paul expressed this idea beautifully when speaking of the return of Christ in 1 Corinthians 13:12,

12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

Now we know the Father in part, we know Jesus in part, when He returns we will know Him fully as He knows us fully. 

And though we only know Him in part, that part can increase, getting to know Him better through the way that He has chosen to reveal Himself to us: by studying His Word, and our perception of His grace and peace increases as our knowledge of Him grows.

If you want God to speak, read His Word, if you want Him to speak audibly, read it out loud!

To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Amen.

2 Peter Introduction - October 17, 2021

 2 Peter Introduction

Good morning! We are beginning a new study this morning! 

It has been our pattern for the last eight years or so to study the books of one author in the order in which they were originally delivered. We went all through the letters of the Apostle Paul which are not arranged in chronological order in the New Testament, but rather by length, which can be kind of confusing. 

We’ve now moved on to the works of the Apostle Peter, beginning with the Gospel of Mark which the scholars believe was Peter’s account of the life and ministry of Jesus and, of course, last week we wrapped up 1 Peter.

That must mean that we are on to 2 Peter! And we are!

So let’s pray so we can jump in.

Again, it is our pattern to consider the original author, the original audience, and the original author’s intent before getting too far into our study of any particular text. 

We know that the original author is Peter because his name is the first two words of the letter.

Just as a point of interest, you’ll see as we read this letter together that Peter uses the name Simeon Peter as opposed to just the name Peter as he did in his last letter. Simeon is the direct transliteration of his name, “Simon,” from Hebrew, a nod to his original audience of primarily Jewish Christians, though Gentile believers were included as well.

Chapter three, verse one tells us who the original audience was, who the original recipients of this letter were: it was the exact same audience as his last letter, the elect exiles of the dispersion. 

This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved.

Who are the “elect exiles of the dispersion”? This is a reference to Jewish believers, those who had been dispersed, scattered from their homeland and now living as exiles in Northern Turkey. Peter is often referred to as the Apostle to the Jews just as Paul was referred to as the Apostle to the Gentiles. That doesn’t mean that Gentile believers are not included in the instruction and encouragement included in this letter, by the time this letter was written Jewish and Gentile believers were together in one holy church.

Peter wrote this letter in AD 67-68, shortly before his death, a year or two after his first letter.

Lastly, we have the original author’s intent. What was Peter trying to accomplish by writing this letter?

The crazy thing about this letter is that it could have been written yesterday. I listened to a sermon on 2 Peter from Ray Steadman and he talked about how applicable this letter was to that day and how it dealt with so much that the church was facing and that sermon was delivered in 1968. It still holds up!

Peter was trying to guard the church against error, specifically error brought into the church by false teachers and he did this by encouraging the church to grow in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus.

I said a few weeks ago that counterfeit bills are obvious to those who study the genuine article. Knowledge of the truth is the great solution to error.

AR Fausset wrote, “The grand antidote is ‘the full knowledge of our Lord and Savior,’ through which we know God the Father, partake of His nature, escape from the pollutions of the world, and have entrance into Christ’s kingdom.”

We are faced with all the same difficulties that Peter’s original audience faced and the solution to their problems is the solution to ours, the full knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I’ve put some references up on the screen for you to look up on your own. Peter mentions several different Biblical accounts and I thought it would be helpful to you to have those references so that when we get to those texts in the coming weeks you can be more familiar with what he was talking about.

So enough from me, let’s hear from the Lord through the pen of the Apostle Peter.

Read the text of 2 Peter.

May the Lord Himself act as our interpreter and apply His truth to our lives.

Amen.

Conclusion- Grace, Love, and Peace - 1 Peter 5:12-14 - October 10, 2021

 1 Peter 5:12-14 Conclusion- Grace, Love, and Peace

Good morning! We are continuing our study in 1 Peter this morning with chapter five, verses twelve through fourteen, page 1017 in the pew Bibles.

It was very tempting to just lump these verses in with our text from last week as they are just a brief conclusion of this letter, almost like Peter’s signature at the end. This few verses were most likely written by Peter’s own hand but they carry much more weight than just a signature and so I want to look at them on their own as we close our study on this book.

12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. 13 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. 14 Greet one another with the kiss of love. 

Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

Let’s pray.

In our very first look at the letter of 1 Peter, in our introductory study, we looked at the three major factors in studying any given text, the author, the audience, and the author’s intent.

If you remember from that study we determined that the author was Peter, that’s usually how you get epistles named after you, unless you’re the Apostle Paul.

The difference between this first letter of Peter and all of Paul’s letters is the audience. Paul wrote to specific churches in specific cities as well as specific people and the letters were given the names of those cities and churches and people, Peter, however, wrote to groups of people in various places spread out over what is now northern Turkey.

The first few verses of chapter one give us this exact information.

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, 

To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

And though these introductory verses give us both the author and the audience, and maybe a hint at the author’s intent in writing this letter, it isn’t until we get to our text for today that Peter’s intent in writing to the elect exiles of the dispersion is made clear.

I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.

Peter mentions Silvanus there in verse 12 as well. Silvanus appears elsewhere in the New Testament, you may remember Paul’s companion Silas, they are the same guy. He is mentioned several times as a leader in the church in Acts 15, 16, 17, 18. He accompanied Paul on his second missionary journey and co-authored 1 and 2 Thessalonians.

Peter regarded Silvanus as a faithful brother, which is a high compliment in my opinion, and he most likely functioned as Peter’s secretary in writing this letter down as well as delivering copies himself to the churches in northern Turkey.

Peter, with the help of Silvanus, wrote this brief letter to encourage the churches to stand firm in the true grace of God.

And as I look at our text for this morning, as I often do, I can see three key words Peter used there and grace is the first, stand firm in the true grace of God.

The word grace means, “gift,” an unearned gift. In my mind the verses that best describe grace at work and the Father’s motivation for giving us grace were written by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:4-10.

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

He loves us because He made us, we are his workmanship, even though we were spiritually dead because of our sin and rebellion against Him, in His grace He made us alive together with Christ, raised us up from death, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places. He saved us from the consequences of our sin, not because of anything we had done to earn that saving, but He gave us salvation as a gift through faith in Jesus Christ.

So there is no boasting about being worthy of that gift, there is however, standing firm because the Father will never revoke that gift. Last week we talked about the Legionnaires standing firm, as if fastened to the ground, this grace is the foundation that we are to be fastened to.

In verse 13-14 Peter mentions the other two key words, love, and peace.

13 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. 14 Greet one another with the kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

Before we look at those other two key words we need to deal with “the mysterious lady,” and also Mark. 

First, the easy one, Mark is Mark. John Mark, who wrote the book of Mark, as you may remember it was really Peter’s telling of the life and ministry of Jesus and Mark wrote it down. John Mark was a cousin to Barnabas and joined he and Paul on a missionary journey but chickened out and ran home to Mama. He was later restored and became a leader in the church and obviously quite useful in gospel ministry both to Peter and to Paul, and also to us as it turns out.

“She who is at Babylon,” sounds a lot more mysterious than it actually is. Peter wrote this letter from the actual city of Babylon, the church did not start referring to Rome as Babylon until after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD you can see that in the book of Revelation which was written thirty years or so after this letter.

The mysterious lady is the church, “she who is at Babylon,” simply means the church in and around the city of Babylon. No mystery, no codes, no secret meaning, it wasn’t Peter’s wife or some other noble lady as mentioning an individual in this way is not consistent with Peter’s style of writing, not to mention the fact that he names to other specific people by name on either side of this phrase.

This testimony was to serve as an encouragement to the churches that Peter was writing to, to remind them that they were not the only churches that remained, that they were not alone in the world, that other brothers and sisters throughout the world were suffering as they were but were standing firm in the grace of God.

So verse 14 hold our other two key words and the first builds off this idea that the churches were not alone, “Greet one another with a kiss of love.”

Now before you start thinking that the Bible commands us to go around kissing everybody, “Pastor told us that we have to kiss everybody!” Don’t forget the context and the original audience.

Putting your hands on both shoulders and kissing on the cheek was a First Century oriental greeting, most commonly used by a disciple to their teacher. This is why Judas used this greeting to signal to the soldiers which man in their troupe was Jesus.

Peter exhorted everyone in the churches to greet each other in this way. As you may have figured out the church has done away with this tradition and rightly so. It was misused and abused over the centuries and by the Thirteenth Century was abandoned altogether. Hugs and handshakes, fist bumps, high fives, all will suffice to replace the kiss.

But what must not be replaced in our greetings is the love part.

Remembering, like the churches that Peter was writing to, that we do not walk alone, we do not stand alone, but are united in the love of Christ and love for one another. Our greetings and our meetings should reflect that love.

And finally, “Peace to all of you who are in Christ Jesus.”

Peace is something the world truly craves, but Peter shows us here that true peace is only possible one way, and that is in Christ Jesus.

In order for anyone to be at peace, to know the peace of God, they must first experience peace with God. Paul outlined this beautifully in Romans 5:1-11.

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 

10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

By means of the preaching of the gospel the church has been brought through faith in Christ to the possession and enjoyment of the grace of God, the love of God, and the peace of God.

That was Peter’s desire for the churches of the dispersion and is the Holy Spirit’s desire for the church today.

Amen.