Grace Fueled Growth
Sunday, January 19
2 Peter 1:5–9 ESV For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.
The majority of our text consists of a list.
Lists can be difficult.
- Some lists can cause fear or anxiety
- Some lists are negotiable
- Some lists are wishful or hopeful
What kind of list do we have in verses 5-7?
- This is important because understood incorrectly, this list can lead to legalism or license.
Before we can properly understand this text we need to see a few things.
- We need to understand the connection of this text to its context.
- There are two connections that we need to see.
- Peter, before he gives us this list, gives us the reason for this list.
2 Peter 1:5 ESV For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,
- Peter is showing us what godliness looks like
2 Peter 1:3 ESV 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,
- Peter is describing our transformation in Christ, life (eternal) and godliness (our character/behavior)
Why is this connection important?
- If this list is not connected to what comes before, we’ll never have the strength to do any of this!
Christians are supposed to grow!
- This is not a checklist but a picture of growing in Christ.
2 Peter 1:8 ESV For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The pursuit of this growth is joyful!
- There are three ways that Peter paints this picture of joyful growth!
2 Peter 1:5 ESV For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,
- The source of our growth
- The eagerness of our growth
- The generosity of our growth
This joyful instruction challenges our thinking and changes our perspective!
2 Peter 1:8–9 ESV For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.
