Add to your Faith

2 Peter 1:5-7 “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; vs 6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; vs 7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.”
 
In verse 1 the Apostle Peter writes to all who have obtained this precious faith, and in this passage we see a call to…

1. Develop strong Christian Character – vs 3

“…that hath called us to glory and virtue:”

1. Be Fruitful in growing into Christ-likeness – vs 8-10

“…make your election sure…” Remember, it is God’s ordained plan that His elect would be conformed into the image of His Son”

1. Be Diligent to add “7 measures of Graces” to our faith.
   
   “…giving all diligence, add to your faith…” vs 5-7

Note: God has given us all things necessary to fulfill His Will in our life regarding our Character and Spiritual Growth.


A man of God once said“we must be diligent in cultivating it. God does not make us holy against our will or without our involvement. There must be desire, determination, and discipline on our part.”

The Apostle Peter assumes that they already have faith in Christ. So he instructs them to add to their faith, to build-up their faith, to build on their faith.

Let us take the time to look at these 7 Graces very briefly.
(2 Peter 1:5-7) “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue…”
 
Virtue = Moral Excellence, It is to have Spiritual courage. It is to have the strength to stand for what is right in an ungodly world.
 
We do this by putting on the Armor of God. (Ephesians 6:13) “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
 
Note: This Virtue is to be accompanied by Knowledge.
(2 Peter 1:5) "… and to virtue knowledge;"
 
Knowledge = It not just any kind of knowledge, it is knowledge that is from above, it is divine instruction in Righteousness, it is knowledge of spiritual truth.
 
CH Spurgeon once said “Scripture is a never-failing treasury filled with boundless stores of grace. It is the bank of heaven; you may draw from it as much as you please, without let or hindrance. Come in faith and you are welcome to all covenant blessings. There is not a promise in the Word which shall be withheld. In the depths of tribulations let this freedom comfort you; amidst waves of distress let it cheer you; when sorrows surround thee let it be thy solace.” 
 
Remember the Hymn Eliza E. Hewitt wrote “More about Jesus”
“More about Jesus in His Word,
Holding communion with my Lord.
Hearing His voice in every line,
Making each faithful saying mine.”
 
Note: With Virtue, and Knowledge, God wants us to add Temperance.
Temperance = This is to have Self-Control… to be biblically proper, it is to have godly discipline,
 
Someone has defined this as “the controlling power of the will under the operation of the Spirit of God.”
 
Note: The next thing to add it “Patience”

Patience = endurance, perseverance, and constancy
Remember that the Hebrews writer states running the race with “Patience” The Christian life is not a sprint; it is a Marathon. We must always remember that the Christian life is a challenge to endure hardness by the Grace of God. Paul said “I finished my course”
 
It is good to start in the faith with a great thunder of glory; we must finish the race with much trials and testing.
 
Someone said “Perseverance is the art of bearing up and pressing on in the face of all that seems to be against us.”
 
(Acts 14:22) “Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”

Godliness = to live godly, to be like God. To be Holy as God is Holy.

Vernon Mcgee once said “There is a time in every boy's life when his dad is his hero and sometimes his idol.”

We are to have a strong passion to be like our God. Not to be a God, but to be like God in His character.  To be like God or to be godly, addresses our way of life or our way of living …

We always see in Scripture that to be godly, there must be a rejection of worldliness.

(Titus 2:11)  “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,

(Titus 2:12)  “Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;”
 
As you know the world is always fighting against God’s ways. The World wants to redefine the constitutions of God in Marriage, Church, and in moral ethics.

Notice what Peter writes in this first epistle setting up the platform for his second letter.

(1 Peter 1:14-15)  “As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: vs 15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
 
 
Brotherly kindness = Love for God’s people
Areas of:

• Forgiveness
• Forbearing one another

Brotherly kindness identifies us to the world as Christ's disciples:

(John 13:35)  “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
Brotherly kindness is the salt that helps make salty Christians.

It is a sad thing when you see siblings in the home and Christian’s in the church purposely dodge each other when they see each other.

Brotherly Kindness is an area in which God wants us to increase. God wants us to have a growing love one toward another. Not one that is stagnate or stale. 

(1 Thessalonians 4:9) “But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. Vs 9 And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more;”
 
Last but not least

Charity = Unconditional Love, a Super-natural Love, Divine Love, Christ-kind of Love, the laying down of one’s life kind of love.

Without this “love” we are nothing and we will mount-up to nothing. 1 Peter 4:8

God’s amazing love shed abroad in our hearts through Christ is the rudder on a ship that controls the large vessel
It is the engine on the plane that gives it power to fly
It is the wick in the oil that keeps the flame alight
It is the greatest among faith and hope
It is never character that ever fails
Once again the Apostles Peter states this character trait in his first letter.

1 Peter 4:8  “And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.”
 
Fervent Love = undying, without ceasing, Love
 
In Closing:
 

• When think about the order in which these 7 graces of holiness are placed, it is not with the aim of adding them one after another, but rather we are to manifest all of these at the same time.​
  
• A father used to read this passage to his sons as follows:

“Add to your faith the virtue or courage of David;
and to the courage of David the knowledge of Solomon;
and to the knowledge of Solomon the patience of Job;
and to the patience of Job the godliness of Daniel;
and to the godliness of Daniel the brotherly kindness of Jonathan;
and to the brotherly kindness of Jonathan the love of John.”

​