EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/23/2025 8:17 PM
My Worship Time Focus: “PT-3 Salvation’s Source”
Bible Reading and Meditation Reference: 2 Peter 1-1
Message of the verse: “1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:”
Yesterday we were looking at faith, and I want to continue to look at that subject as I begin this evening’s SD. Now further evidence that faith here is subjective comes from Peter’s description of his readers’ faith as of the same kind as ours. Now let us look at this Greek word that is translated same kind, and that is (isotimon) which means “equally valuable,” or “of equal privilege.” “It designated that which was equal in rank, position, honor, standing, price, or value. This would make no sense if referring to the body of gospel truth, since that truth has no equal. Each believer has received faith as a personal gift, a faith that is the same in nature, the precious gift of God, which brings equal spiritual privileges in salvation to all who receive it (cf. John 17:20; Acts 11:15-17; 13:39). Among the faithful, God sees no distinctions among Christians; as Paul wrote, ‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus’ (Gal. 3:28; cf. v. 26; Rom. 10:12-13).”
Now the truth is that all of the elect have received, as a gift, the faith that saves, and they would have to receive this gift in order to be saved. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” “These verses have profound meaning and far-reaching application.
“Our response in salvation is faith, but even that is not of ourselves [but is] the gift of God. Faith is nothing that we do in our own power or by our own resources. More than that, God would not want us to rely on them even if we had them. Otherwise salvation would be in part by our own works, and we would have some ground to boast in ourselves. Paul intends to emphasize that even faith is not from us apart from God’s giving it.
“Some have objected to this interpretation, saying that faith (pistis) is feminine, while that (touto) is neuter. That poses no problem, however, as long as it is understood that that does not refer precisely to the noun faith but to the act of believing. Further, this interpretation makes the best sense of the text, since that refers to by grace you have been saved through faith (that is, to the whole statement), the adding of and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God would be redundant, because grace is defined as an unearned act of God. If salvation is of grace, it has to be an undeserved gift of God. Faith is presented as a gift from God in 2 Peter 1:1, Philippians 1:29, and Acts 3:16….
“When we accept the finished work of Christ on our behalf, we act by the faith supplied by God’s grace. That is the supreme act of human faith, the act which, though it is ours, is primarily God’s—His gift to us out of His grace. When a person chokes or drowns and stops breathing, there is nothing he can do. If he ever breathes again it will be because someone else starts him breathing. A person who is spiritually dead cannot even make a decision of faith unless God first breathes into him the breath of spiritual life. Faith is simply breathing the breath that God’s grace supplies. Yet, the paradox is that we must exercise it and bear the responsibility if we do not (cf. John 5:40).” “and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.” (John MacArthur, Ephesians, MacArthur New Testament Commentary [Chicago: Moody, 1986], 6-61)
9/23/2025 8:48 PM
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