And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
For if these things be in you, and abound, they make [you that ye shall] neither [be] barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Pet 1:5-8 (NET BIBLE)
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith excellence, to excellence, knowledge; to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance; to perseverance, godliness; to godliness, brotherly affection; to brotherly affection, unselfish love.
For if these things are really yours and are continually increasing, they will keep you from becoming ineffective and unproductive in your pursuit of knowing our Lord Jesus Christ more intimately.
2 Peter 1:5-9 - TLB
But to obtain these gifts, you need more than faith; you must also work hard to be good, and even that is not enough. For then you must learn to know God better and discover what he wants you to do. Next, learn to put aside your own desires so that you will become patient and godly, gladly letting God have his way with you. This will make possible the next step, which is for you to enjoy other people and to like them, and finally you will grow to love them deeply. The more you go on in this way, the more you will grow strong spiritually and become fruitful and useful to our Lord Jesus Christ.
THE SEVEN VITAL SUPPLEMENTS
Supplement one: Add to your faith virtue.
Supplement two: And to virtue knowledge.
Supplement three: And to knowledge temperance.
Supplement four: And to temperance patience.
Supplement five: And to patience godliness.
Supplement six: And to godliness brotherly kindness.
Supplement seven: And to brotherly kindness charity (love).
The supplements are VIRTUE, KNOWLEDGE, TEMPERANCE, PATIENCE, GODLINESS, BROTHERLY KINDNESS, CHARITY.
THE CHRISTIAN LIFE BEGINS WITH FAITH
And by faith we have been SAVED not of works lest any mans should boastSUPPLEMENT ONE: ADD TO YOUR FAITH VIRTUE.
2 Peter 1:1-4This first quality listed (virtue) mainly means "excellence", it infers "the fulfillment of a thing." When anything fulfills its purpose, that is "virtue - moral excellence." The land that produces crops is "excellent" because it is fulfilling its purpose. The tool that works correctly is "excellent" because it is doing what it’s supposed to do.
A Christian shows "excellence" when he is fulfilling his purpose in life (Gods purpose). True virtue in Christianity is not adding certificates upon certificates, nor "polishing" human qualities, but producing divine qualities that makes the person more Christ Like.
SUPPLEMENT TWO: AND TO VIRTUE KNOWLEDGE.
The word translated "knowledge" in 2 Peter 1:2-3 means "full knowledge" or "knowledge that is growing." It is BASED ON THE BEDROCK OF GOD'S WORD.It suggests Practical knowledge or discernment based on God’s word. It refers to the ability to handle life successfully.
When Jesus met the devil out there in the wilderness, after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, Satan said, "If you be the Son of God, command these stones to be made bread." Jesus had been fasting, and He was hungry. You know how tempting it is when you want food! Jesus was being tempted. But He based his faith on the written word (BIBLE) not emotions!
Jesus said, "Satan, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
SUPPLEMENT THREE: AND TO KNOWLEDGE TEMPERANCE.
Temperance is the next quality on Peter's list of spiritual virtues, and it means self-control. "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city" (Prov 16:32). "He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down and without walls" (Prov 25:28).They called Jesus a glutton and winebiber, and prince of devils. They spat upon Him. They scorned Him. They nailed Him to a cross, yet he rebelled not.
SUPPLEMENT FOUR: AND TO TEMPERANCE PATIENCE.
Patience is the ability to endure when circumstances are difficult. Self-control has to do with handling the pleasures of life, while patience relates primarily to the pressures and problem of life. (The ability to endure problem people is "long-suffering') Often, the person who "gives in!' to pleasures is not disciplined enough to handle pressures either, so he "gives up."
Patience is practical, we must work at it. James 1:2-8 gives us the right approach. without trials we could never learn patience. We must, by faith, let our trials work for us and not against us, because we know that God is at work in our trials. Nobody enjoys trials, but we do enjoy the confidence we can have in trials that God is at work, causing everything to work together for our good and His glory.
Too many people today don't know how to wait. It is when we wait upon the Lord that we renew our strength
PEOPLE LIKE DOING THINGS IN A HURRY. JESUS SAID WE SHOULD BY PATIENCE INHERIT THE PROMISE, ALSO THE SCRIPTURE SAYS HIM THAT BELIEVETH SHALL NEVER MAKE HASTE. BRETHREN PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE, ADD IT TO YOUR FAITH.
SUPPLEMENT FIVE: AND TO PATIENCE GODLINESS.
Godliness simply means "God-likeness." In the original Greek, this word meant "to worship well." It described the man who was right in his relationship with God and with his fellowman. It is that quality of character that makes a person distinctive, living above the petty things of life, the passions and pressures that control the lives of others. A Godly man seeks to do the will of God and, as he does, he seeks the welfare of others.Godliness is not an impractical thing, because it is intensely practical. The godly person makes the kinds of decisions that are right and noble. He does what is right because it is right and because it is the will of God.
SUPPLEMENT SIX: AND TO GODLINESS BROTHERLY KINDNESS.
Brotherly kindness (Philadelphia in the Greek) is a practical virtue. If we love Jesus Christ, we must also love the brethren. Our Love should be genuine not in pretense. "Let brotherly love continue" (Heb 13:1). The fact that we love our brothers and sisters in Christ is one evidence that we have been born of God (1 John 5:1-2)."Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love" (Rom 12:10).
SUPPLEMENT SEVEN: AND TO BROTHERLY KINDNESS (LOVE).
But there is more to Christian growth than brotherly love; we must also have the sacrificial love that our Lord displayed when He went to the cross. The kind of love ("charity") spoken of in 2 Peter 1:7 is agape love, the kind of love that God shows toward lost sinners. This is the love that is described in 1 Cor 13, the love that the Holy Spirit produces in our hearts as we walk in the Spirit (Rom 5:5; Gal 5:22). When we have brotherly love, we love because of our likenesses to others; but with agape love, we love in spite of the differences we have.It is impossible for fallen human nature to manufacture these seven qualities of Christian character. They must be produced by the Spirit of God. To be sure, there are unsaved people who possess amazing self-control and endurance, but these virtues point to them and not to the Lord. They get the glory. When God produces the beautiful nature of His Son in a Christian, it is God who receives the praise and glory.
2 Pet 1:10-11 (KJV)
…for if ye do THESE THINGS, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
2 Pet 1:10-11 (NET)
…for by doing this you will never stumble into sin. For thus an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be richly provided for you.
2 Peter 1:10-11 - TLB
… and then you will never stumble or fall away. And God will open wide the gates of heaven for you to enter into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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