JesusWalk Bible Study Forum: Q1. Equal Faith - JesusWalk Bible Study Forum

Q1. (2 Peter 1:1) What does "received a faith as precious as ours" mean in this verse? How does our faith compare to St. Peter's faith? Is our faith equal to his? Why or why not? How do you explain the discrepancy?

To see the issue of faith as the same as that of Peter in some ways impossible mainly due to the fact that in the Western world the level of persecution is by no means the same. I f we have ever faced real persecution has it been life threatening? In some ways we or I should it be carry on living and witnessing without a sense of real faith expression. It is with out fear that we live thus our expression of faith has comfort zone limitations. Yet that should not be the case. If the precious nature of our faith was expressed in the same way as that expressed by Peter and the church he was writing to then the church would be as dynamic and as powerful as it was in the first couple of centuries and how it is in certain parts of the world today. I am we are to comfortable in the materialism that surrounds our churches today that we are unable to see the power of God and what real faith in him is all about. Yes we do have the potential to have the same faith that Peter showed, yet are we am I prepared to to endure what Peter ultimately wnet on to endure.

The faith of the same kind proclaims Jesus as God and Savior. It is this faith that is received by all believers. Therefore, we all share in this same faith.

The preciousness is not affected by our unworthiness--we don't have anything to do with this gift of faith, except to accept it. It's precious because it's from God. He doesn't change so everyone's faith is equally precious!

[FONT=Times][SIZE=7] When I read "...faith as precious as ours", I initially understood it as a description of the faith shared by the author and the readers, not as a comparison of the readers' faith level with that of Peter.

I agree with Remas. We are distracted and so comfortable with the thing of this world, we rarely see Jesus. This not only effects us but also the churches in America.
What we need is a revival. Revival starts in the hearts of the belivers and them spreads to the church then to the unbeliver. If you want to see what this would look like read about Spurgeon or Finney.

Pastor Ralph, on Jul 1 2004, 09:41 PM, said:

To receive faith is to believe, to believe is to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior; because we believe and so did Peter our faith is equal in our Lord. In Romans 12: 3 we can read, “God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. In as well we have a commonness in our salvation or freedom in the Lord which was delivered once and to all.

The GIFT of faith is just that, a gift. We can't get it if God doesn't give it to us. Romans 12:3 says God has dealt to every man THE measure of faith. Peter was a man like us,with faults and weaknesses but by faith and grace, he overcame to become a great servant of our Lord. We today have the same grace and faith to tap into but the devil strives to decieve us that things were different then. We are the same church....the same body of Christ as then. Our environment is different than theirs but the power of God is the same. The discrepency is therefore in our mind.

Can anyone have faith like another's? Surely our faith is founded on our life experiences and reactions to them, that it seems to me is the whole basis of free will. We can not say that we absolutely have faith like anothers if we haven't had their life experiences, it may be similar and our reactions may be very similar, but the depth of faith that we have accepted (or are able to accept) will vary.

Lost in wonder at His generousity to me.

I believe this means the quality of the faith given to all believers is the same. The quantity (or depth) is not. I think Remas is correct that persecution is a factor in growing faith. But I think persecution acts more as the agent of growth than the means to growth. Without persecution as a motivator, material comforts certainly will dissuade many of us from stepping outside our comfort zones and risking what we have. So without persecution, what then becomes the agent of growth? Jesus' call.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his book "The Cost of Discipleship", links faith with obedience. He wrote, "Obedience remains separated from faith. From the point of view of justification it is necessary thus to separate them, but we must never lose sight of their essential unity. For faith is only real when there is obedience, never without it, and faith only becomes faith in the act of obedience."

Therefore, our faith will grow and deepen only insofar as we are obedient to Jesus' call. Peter was obedient to the point of death. The depth of his faith must have been great. This is not to say we should strive for a martyr's death so that we can have great faith. Following our own calling will never grow our faith. Only by following Jesus can this happen. Whatever Jesus calls us to, if we are obedient then our faith will grow.

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1a.) We have the same faith as the apostles. There are no degrees of faith (in other words, one faith being more special than another.). WE can make full use of the faith provided or no use of the faith. The parable of the talents comes to mind. Remas' comments on persecution I agree with. Just look at the fastest growing church in the world. The house churches of China. But I wonder if the insidious, and subtle nature of idolatry in the good ol' USA makes it harder to keep the faith. Look at the apostate churches which are condoning and glorifying the "right of choice" (abortion), gay marriage. Those that remain true to the Word will face persecution, but not necessarily through physical attack. It will take moral courage and faith to stand up for what is God-given in this country of ours this year. If not for us, then for our children. I heard a pastor in Sweden was just sentenced to thirty days in jail for calling homosexuals abnormal in a sermon of his. He was prosecuted under a hate crime bill. It is just around the corner for us.

I feel that if we want it to be our faith can be equal to St. Peter's. Is mine? I don't think so. Not yet anyway. Although I believe I am not yet at that wonderful place where I can totally trust everything to God. Through prayer and scripture study I am getting closer to when I can fully trust in the wonderful gift of faith that I was given.

I see the emphasis in the verse on the grace of God that gave to the recipients and Peter the wonderful faith that they share. The righteousness of God has been imputed to them and to Peter, not on the basis of any circumstances or merit of their own. The focus of our faith should not be on any measuring stick of our own devising, but on the gift of the righteousness and life of Christ, freely offered to all.

Perhaps knowing Peter was an eyewitness to the life, death and resurrection of Christ could be somewhat intimidating for these people. Perhaps the bold fisherman has learned some humility and gentleness of Spirit when he opens his epistle with the assurance that, in Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile, male nor female, slave or free, (Gal. 3). Rather, we all share in the blessings of our faith in Christ, and are equal in the cross of Christ.

True saving faith is a precious grace. The just live by faith, and faith is agift form God. Faith in whonever it exits can hold on to the same precious Savior, and applies it to the same precious promises. Faith is a gift of God. with faith how can we acknowledge God.

When Peter said, "received a faith as precious as ours" he was speaking of the faith we receive through the righteousness of GOD our Savior. We have been given a standing before GOD, and that standing is in Christ, we are accepted in the beloved. We are given the same measure of faith as that of Peter, it is "like precious faith", equal in honor or value, received from GOD. Our salvation is a gift from GOD.

I would be curious to know what Ralph and other participants of this study think about the issue of faith being a "spiritual gift". Years ago when I took a spiritual gifts inventory, Faith was about middle of the road for me, with other giftings being much higher. Then in 1994 I had a remarkable spiritual experience which brought me "face to face" with Jesus and changed my life. When I have (twice) re-taken the spiritual gifts inventory over the last 10 years, I have found Faith to be at the top and pretty much tied with Administration. In this way, like JohnK responded, it appears that my faith is definitely tied to a "life experience. I am grateful to have had the experience, but also saddened to have friends and husband who say they "lack faith" and don't know how to increase it without a similar radical experience.

Pastor Ralph, on Jul 1 2004, 09:41 PM, said:

Q1. (2 Peter 1:1) What does "received a faith as precious as ours" mean in this verse? How does our faith compare to St. Peter's faith? Is our faith equal to his? Why or why not? How do you explain the discrepancy?

It means simply that our faith is as good as brand new faith that the Apostles received. Faith in no way is quantified. It is the measure of usage that we adopt. Faith is available as given by God. How much of it we put to use depends on our way of life. The Apostles treated faith as a precious possession. That's why St. Peter said the above sentence.
By comparison, we don't stand a chance of being any where near where the Apostles stood. This is because of our way of life. We are not tested and tried as they were. But some Christians in some areas that are not Christian strongholds, do have faith to live by. They are challenging the devil and winning over him because of their faith. But the majority of Christians are comfortable and there is no chance of exercising their faith. When we are faced with trying circumstances, then our faith is tested. In this way, our faith is not equal to the faith of St. Peter.

The discrepancy lies in our utilisation. Peter said to the lame man, in the name of Jesus, rise up and walk. If we are faced with the same situation, I doubt whether we can exercise our authority with such command. Because they were with the Master and every word of His was imprinted on their minds, the Apostles were able to go in faith and do many miracles. Our walk of life with Jesus should be to that standard to be able to exercise our faith with that kind of authority.

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[COLOR=blue][I]We are given the same amount of faith when we accept Christ as our SaviorQ No other faith is as precious as this because no other faith brings the blessing of eternal life with Jesus in Heaven. No other faith is true. All others are false. That is what makes our faith "precious."

Now what we do with that faith is another thing. We can turn our lives over to Jesus as Peter did or we can try to run things on our own and make a mess of things. All too often today we think we are self sufficient and don't need any help. That is where we waver in our faith. The more we trust in Him and give our lives to Him, the more He gives right back. You know you cannot "outgive Him."

Yes, where there is persecution people have to rely on their faith because that is all they have. "When I am weak, then I am strong. because of Jesus Christ." Yes we do need a revival. Come Lord Jesus. My Church just had a renewal this Spring and it was wonderful. It was right after Easter and while the movie "The Passion" was showing. It allowed us to really get into Jesus.

We must not be like the foolish virgins and not be ready when the master comes. We must always keep up our faith. Faith is not something that will stay if you do not work at it. It will slip away. You must read the Bible, attend your House of Worship, spend time in fellowship with other Christians and do His good works. You cannot work your way into Heaven, Jesus work on the Cross gave us that gift, the gift of Eternal Lift with Him. But you must always be vigilant because we do not know the hour or the day of His return.

So that is why our "faith is so precious" it is the ticket to Heaven if we but hang on to it.

Maybe the "faith as precious as ours" is a reference to the faith that was given to us by God (Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God). In this we have the same "faith" as Peter and the early apostles.

When it comes to miracle performing power 'faith', that seems to be something different. Peter would in no way confuse most modern churches (including the one I am part of) for the one he left at Jerusalem. Peter had special faith for performing miracles in that he was able to heal the sick from his shadow. Personally I have laid hands on people ranging from the hypochondriac to the dead with no results, so my miracle performing ‘faith’ is not the same as his, and the discrepancy comes from methinks - unbelief.

Petero