2 Peter 1:1

2 Peter 1:1 A. Peter is an apostle--one of the select disciples which would be the foundation of the church (EPH 2:20). But he considers himself first a servant. 1. No man is a good leader who himself does not know how to be a good servant to his superior. MAT 8:8-10; 10:24-25. 2. Greatness embraces service. MAT 20:25-28. 3. The Lord's servant must have a compassionate eye towards the Lord's flock. 2TI 2:24-25. 4. But the Lord's servant must not compromise truth. GAL 1:10; 1PE 4:11. B. Peter denounced “...cunningly devised fables...” (2PE 1:16). c/w 1TI 1:4; TIT 1:14. 1. fable: A fictitious narrative or statement; a story not founded on fact. b. esp. A fictitious story relating to supernatural or extraordinary persons or incidents, and more or less current in popular belief; a myth or legend. 2. Peter never claimed to be the first pope of the Roman Catholic church. Rome maintains that the Lord Jesus gave Peter ultimate temporal rule and headship over the church on earth. The papal chair is supposedly Peter's and the papacy is the office of apostolic succession. 3. The pope is supposed to be celibate. a. Peter was married. MAT 8:14; 1CO 9:5 c/w JOH 1:42. b. Demanded celibacy is itself a telltale clue of Rome's spirit. 1TI 4:1-3. 4. If Peter had been selected to be exalted to the high authority of the vicar of Christ, then why didn't Jesus make this clear to James and John? MAR 10:35-40. 5. If, in MAT 16:18-19, Jesus had meant that Peter would be exalted over the rest, then the disciples' later question makes no sense. MAT 18:1. 6. Paul said he was not a whit behind Peter. 2CO 11:5. a. If there were any particular eminence among apostles to the church, Paul had a significant claim. b. Paul's ministry is the most outstanding in the N.T. c. The N.T. shows Paul wrote 100 chapters with 2325 verses; Peter wrote 8 chapters with 166 verses. d. Paul justly rebuked Peter (GAL 2:11), who was obviously quite fallible. e. Paul was the apostle of the Gentiles, not Peter. ROM 11:13. f. Does it not seem strange that if Peter was the Supreme Pontiff of the Roman church that when Paul wrote the church at Rome, he greeted 27 members by name but not Peter? And that he never even mentioned Peter in his epistle? g. Peter was an apostle to the circumcision, not the uncircumcised Gentiles. GAL 2:7-9. 7. James, not Peter, gave final sentence at the great church council in Jerusalem. ACT 15:13-21. 8. Peter did not allow men to bow unto him. ACT 10:25-26. 9. Peter did not have the high regard for unscriptural tradition that Catholicism has. 1PE 1:18. 10. Peter wore no temporal crown, but hoped for a future “crown of glory” which would not be given until Christ's return. 1PE 5:4. 11. Peter did not have church members carry him around on a throne upon their shoulders. The only “carrying” that Jesus promised Peter was against his will. JOH 21:18. 12. Unlike the popes, Peter met biblical criteria for apostleship. ACT 1:21-22. 13. Unlike the pope, Peter never declared himself God. 2 Peter 1:1 8-7-16 Page 1 of 2 a. “The Roman Pontiff judges all men, but is judged by no one. We declare, assert, define and pronounce: to be subject to the Roman Pontiff is to every human creature altogether necessary for salvation...That which was spoken of Christ... 'Thou hast subdued all things under His feet,' may well seem verified in me. I have the authority of the King of kings. I am all in all and above all, so that God Himself and I, the vicar of God, have but one consistory. And I am able to do almost all that God can do. What therefore can you make of me but God?” (Papal Bull Unum Sanctum, Nov.16, 1302) b. Consider this in the light of 2TH 2:3-4. 14. The church would not be built upon Peter, but upon the reality of what Peter had declared: that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. a. The rock upon which the church is built is Christ, not Peter. EPH 2:20. b. Peter declared Christ as THE rock/stone. 1PE 2:4-8; ACT 4:11-12. c. Faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God is required for church building. ACT 8:36-37. d. Catholicism has even perverted the Father-Son relationship which Scripture declares in that Catholicism believes in an eternally-generated son of God. 15. It is profoundly ironic that whereas Peter denounced fables, Catholicism and its office of Supreme Pontiff (the pope) is the stuff of fable and has continued to facilitate and perpetuate fables since its institution. a. The Catholic Encyclopedia's article on Peter notes that it was not until the third century that a tradition arose which claimed that Peter was bishop of Rome for 25 years. b. There was a Simon who apparently went to Rome and was heralded as the interpreter of mysteries, not Simon Peter but the sorcerer from ACT 8:9, Simon Magus! c. “Justin Martyr and other early writers inform us that he afterwards went to Rome, worked miracles there by the power of demons, and received Divine honors both in Rome and in his own country. Though much extravagant legend afterwards gathered around the name of this Simon...It seems nevertheless probable that there must be some foundation in fact for the account given by Justin and accepted by Eusebius. The historical Simon Magus no doubt founded some sort of religion as a counterfeit of Christianity in which he claimed to play a part analogous to that of Christ.” (Catholic Encylopedia, art. Simon Magus) d. Catholicism is rife with fantastic stories about the lives and exploits of saints, of St. Anthony preaching to responsive fish, St. Francis similarly preaching to birds and bees, etc. (1) The credibility of these are stretches even for some Catholics. (2) A Catholic writer in the October, 1925 edition of The Catholic World in an article entitled, WHITEWASHING SAINTS AND HEROES, said that the lives of saints are “...very good poetry but very poor history...” and are “...tissues of fables...” C. Fables are what people turn to for the satisfaction of their lusts, which lusts sound doctrine opposes. 2TI 4:3-4. D. Fact, not fable, is the core of true Christianity. 2CO 4:2. 2 Peter 1:1 8-7-16 Page 2 of 2