Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. Check out the video content in this post by clicking here.
Peter is giving us an important progression of virtues that supercharge our Christian testimony in the world and our ability to encourage fellow saints. We’ve looked at the first four (faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control) and now I see a place for a warning.
A saint that is growing in their faith, in their goodness that shows itself as a Christian gentleman or gentlewomen, increasing in their knowledge of the things of God, and staying within the guardrails of self-control is probably starting to get noticed. They are seeing their own growth in maturity, and their old friends are also seeing it. This is a place to be on guard!
I think this is what Jesus described in Mark 4:3-7, 14-19.
- A little knowledge can make us proud of what we’ve accomplished and tempt us to run too far ahead before we’re ready. This is the people with shallow roots.
- The worries of life can be giving too much attention to what others say or think about us, or how they begin to treat us. We become unfruitful when we pay attention to those things.
(See all of the Scriptures in this post by clicking here.)
Look at our progression in 2 Peter 1:2-6. The Holy Spirit inspired Peter to list perseverance in the perfect place in this progression!
This is called patient endurance in the NLT and steadfastness in the AMPC, but I like to call it stick-to-it-iveness. The Greek word is interesting: hypomone = by (hypo-) + abiding (-meno).
This word for remain or abide appears 11x in John 15:4-11!
- Scripture teaches us, but hypomone turns truth into hope (Romans 15:4)
- Hypomone keeps me living obediently to God’s Word (Hebrews 10:36; Revelation 14:12)
- Hypomone turns the seed of God’s Word into a bountiful harvest (Mark 4:8, 20)
- Hypomone keeps me peaceful—and therefore focused on God—during trials (Luke 21:19 AMPC)
When Peter and John stood before the Sanhedrin, those leaders could tell they had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13b), so too with Stephen (6:15). The virtue that follows perseverance is godliness. Peter has already used this word to describe Jesus (2 Peter 1:3) and so does the Septuagint in Isaiah 11:2.
The Greek word literally means “good worship” because godliness is a lifestyle—a lifestyle of worshipping God and magnifying the immeasurable worth of our Savior!
To fully describe this word, godliness in the NT is typically linked with another attribute:
- godliness + power (Acts 3:12)
- godliness + reverence [righteousness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness] (1 Timothy 6:11)
- godliness + knowledge of the truth (Titus 1:1)
- godliness + zoe life (2 Peter 1:3)
- godliness + holiness (3:11)
Remember that make every effort is not my ability to supply myself, but my choice to ask, receive, and apply.
I must make every effort to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to persevere. I must make every effort to be sanctified by the Holy Spirit to display more Christlikeness.
As I add goodness to my faith, and add knowledge to my goodness, and add self-control to my knowledge, and add perseverance to my self-control, and add godliness to my perseverance, people should see in me what John the Baptists desired: He must increase, but I must decrease.
My growth in godliness is best seen by an attitude to persevere to see even more godliness in me.
Check out all of the other messages in this series from 2 Peter called Friends of the Faith.
►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎
