Written by Paul J Bucknell on June, 02, 2023

2 Peter 1:5 Our Living Faith

“Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge” (2 Peter 1:5, NASB).

Introduction

The goal of this series is to “Pursue His Excellence.” The term excellence comes from verse 3, “Him who called us by His glory and excellence.” Verse 4 describes how believers leave the world’s lust and become partakers of the divine nature. God reveals His program and His great expectations for His people, calling us to be more like Him and share His excellent nature.

“Now for this very reason” (2 Pet 1:5)

The Apostle Peter begins with, “Now for this very reason” (1:5). What reason? Because God so powerfully equips us with His magnificent promises (1:4), we have reason to embark on this journey of Christian development (i.e., sanctification). He, so to speak, “packed our bags” for the journey with saving faith and all the needed promises. It does us no good to stay put. If God has equipped us, we must embark on this journey toward His excellence.

“Applying all diligence” (2 Pet 1:5)

We need diligence to obtain that excellent end. Our problems never lack His power or promises (1:4), but we certainly can be hindered from His calling by distraction or being ignorant of His empowerment. We, as Christians, need to infuse God’s promises in our minds and hearts, “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness” (2 Pet 1:3).

Many Christians need to understand the purpose of devotions, discipleship training, or consistent prayer. They think they are unique practices for those in ministry. But the exercise of each of those, are the basic equipment that God gives all believers to reach His goals.

A Description of the Cycle of Life

But how does the Lord make us strong, godly Christians? A former president of Wheaton College wrote a book about key godly Christians. He was trying to discern the secret of their strong Christian lives. Some would stress one truth while another would focus on another truth. But they all went through the upward winding staircase that is presented, starting in verse 5.

What eight steps does The Apostle Peter show in this spiritual growth cycle? The eight steps are: faith, moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and Christian love. (2 Pet 1:5-8).

While some of them are identical to the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), there is a difference—they are given to us in a deliberate progression. They demonstrate over time the Holy Spirit’s more profound and hidden work established in our lives.

Peter’s sequence provides helpful insight into the building process of godly character. Our divine nature (Spirit-powered nature) naturally incorporates God-pleasing characteristics. Being like God on the inside (i.e. “become partakers of the divine nature”) necessitates being like Him on the outside. Christ actively works in us to grow more and more into the image of God.

Each life cycle provides a base for the next. Having gone through the whole cycle, one returns to the base but on a higher foundation.

The whole cycle rests on God’s promises and provisions. We do not need to wonder whether or not we can manage. Peter makes this abundantly clear. Neither do we ever have to question whether or not this is God’s purpose for us. Our calling is exceedingly glorious. This leaves us with a call to diligence, applying ourselves to this excellent pursuit.

“In your faith” (2 Pet 1:5)

Faith is the foundation of our life and salvation. Peter speaks about the faith we received in verse 1, “To those who have received a faith of the same kind as our.” This is where we start, but it also serves as the foundation for our moral character: “in your faith supply….” But it is imperative that we remind ourselves that unless we have received saving faith, there is no journey.

It would be a colossal mistake to skip over this first step of receiving faith, leading to righteousness. Peter already has introduced faith in verses 1-4 and so needs not to elaborate its importance here—except its fundamental position. Our journey begins with faith. The miraculous nature of the Christian life is a result of our salvation.

Faith is the entrance to salvation; it grows and thrives, producing fruit. Here are four descriptions of faith to broaden our perspective so that we can grow a healthy Christian life.

1. Life of Faith

Spiritual faith brings forth spiritual life; faith is life. Jesus depicts this faith by the branch abiding in the vine (John 15:1-6). Before we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are dead spiritually. Without faith, the work of Jesus Christ is ineffective in covering sins. Genuine faith not only accepts the facts of what Christ did on the cross, but it goes a step further to trust that work of Christ helped and saved him.

Faith is not a mental assent to doctrinal teaching but a new understanding born from conviction. The people in Acts 2:37 responded, “Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?”

Your car might need gas. A chemist can describe the oil refining process, but it has no effect until he acts on that knowledge and puts gas in the car.

If we have believed in Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, then we must have received the same kind of faith as Peter and all the others. The faith Peter received brought a significant change in his life. He was willing to go from being a fisherman to an apostle and ready to face financial insecurity to live according to the truth.

Do you have saving faith? Without it, you do not have life. When born again, we suddenly possess faith. We see our sins, the cross, and the teachings of Christ in a light that we could never see before. The most important thing is not the timing but whether you believe. Once you have this faith, it changes your whole life, which is the second perspective we must clarify about faith.

The eight steps are: faith, moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and Christian love. (2 Pet 1:5-8).

2. Foundations of Faith

Our saving faith is our new insight into God and His ways. Faith is the confidence in things we cannot see with our eyes. Our faith brings us into a real relationship with God, not just an ability to talk reasonably about some doctrine. If we go back just a few pages to Hebrew 11, we will find that faith is essential to our lives. It is, in many ways, the foundation of our life.

In Hebrews 11, we find the phrase “by faith” at the beginning of verses 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31. Faith is a crucial part of a godly man or woman’s life. Genuine faith shapes the character and actions of these men and women.

Faith, by its nature, is very practical. James 2:26 says, “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” James is saying that we can take a realistic look at our lives and see whether or not we have faith by examining our actions. Let’s go through several items; check how your faith is.

Faith will bless us. I try not to talk much about giving money. But when I talk, I want to be very clear. A tithe, which is 10%, is a minimum of what God expects of us. But then there are many gifts and offerings which go beyond the basic ten percent. Now let’s be practical. You can take out your checkbook and see how much you give. Your giving has to do with the amount of your faith. Faith enables you to have confidence in God’s excellent care. Faith will help us believe, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Faithful giving laughs at the idol of materialism and says that you will not serve her. Out-of-pocket giving is unplanned and guilt-induced. Planned giving anticipates God’s work in your life and lets you more clearly see how your trust in Him can grow.

Faith will protect us. The Lord says that we are to trust Him rather than worry. Sometimes, we don’t believe He can provide a way out, so we worry about job security, rejection, etc. As a result, we get sick or waste time or become depressed, etc. But faith will protect you because it will allow you to trust Him to come up with a deliverance scheme when you need it most, whether it is a Sunday School lesson or a presentation at school.

Faith will bring blessing to others. You will never be able to bless and pray for your enemy if you do not have faith in God. Faith in God in this context means that you will understand God’s desire to bring grace into the world. He blesses those who deserve to be cursed. The absence of faith is indifference and selfish living. You never think about others and reach out. Faith helps us believe that our mission is to bring goodness and love into people’s lives, even our enemies.

Faith will revive your devotional times. Does your prayer and Bible reading time seem rather dull? It is because you do not believe God will or can use His Word to help you that day. Stop reading other people’s words about God’s Word, and meditate on God’s Word. If the gospel message is compared to the milk of the Word, then I hate to think what it is to feed your spiritual life on man’s words. When you were a new Christian, God trained you to taste and enjoy His Word. Now you must believe He can and wants to feed you with His Word.

I could go on and on about how biblical faith changes our lives. Biblical faith helps us be good witnesses on the job, love our neighbors in practical ways, forgive our brothers, trust God for strength to stay away from temptation, help in our financial difficulties, etc. The key is whether or not we trust Him. We are His lambs and are very dependent upon Him. Most of us have been trained to care for ourselves rather than depend on our Lord. We plan what we want and then figure out how to get it. This supposedly leads to financial freedom. But frankly, this is backward. We ought first to seek God’s will, then He said He would take care of our needs (Mat 6:33).

Faith is our foundation. And if our faith is dead - unexpressive, convenience-oriented rather than God-oriented, then we have strayed far from God’s ways. I can mention general rules for spiritual growth like those above, but there are many more specific ones that God has given to you alone through individual leadings and promptings of the Holy Spirit. Your faith in God must be practical; otherwise, you have a dead faith.

3. Growth in Faith

Third, we must remember that faith grows. James said that if that faith is not affecting our lives at critical areas, then our faith is dead. I suppose he means that we don’t have faith at all. If we don’t have a faith that lives, then we do not have the faith that gives. Evangelicals get queasy talking about such teachings because they usually understand that having good faith is the same as having a sound doctrine.

Peter goes beyond this discussion and presents faith as an element that grows. Two teachings impress this thought on our minds.

The first one is in verse 5, the word diligence. Diligence is ongoing. Diligence assumes something being done again and again. Oftentimes we think of faith as a one-time thing. Noah had faith in building the ark. But we forget he had to have that faith for 100 years and bravely stand up to ridicule and to build that ark in a country that had never seen rain. Abraham had faith to believe that God would somehow give him descendants as many as the stars. Now this faith didn’t show itself immediately. It was a faith that should have said no to taking Hagar as his wife. It was a faith that later proved itself when he offered up his son Isaac as God asked. Diligence is of the most importance.

Obstacles will challenge our faith. The seen will challenge our faith in the Unseen One. But if we hold on, God will give that to us. He will make the unseen seeable, whether in our time or not, that is up to Him.

Do you realize the word ‘faith’ means diligence? The word faith has several translations like belief, trust, and dependence, but it also has the translation faithfulness, such as in the fruit of the Holy Spirit from Gal 5:22-23. Faith requires faithfulness. Faithfulness is the consistent ‘faith’ response to our Lord’s Word. Faith is faithfulness. Without faithfulness, there is no faith. Without diligence, our faith is seen as incomplete.

Verse 8 also points out that these qualities are to increase. I don’t have time to go into how these eight qualities relate to each other here, but I want you to be sure that faith is meant to increase. We are expected to get better in what we do, including trusting in Him and in His Word. We might not be able to see it, but we must trust Him. As you exercise your faith, your faith will grow. You can trust him to use your prayer to help a person with some small need. Next time, you can pray believing for someone with an even larger need. You might be going through family problems. Will you trust Him? As you do, you will find Him so faithful. Next time you can trust Him to help you or another person with an even more difficult situation.

4. Companions to Faith

The last aspect of faith to consider is that she has companions. It is wrong to think that faith alone is sufficient. Faith is crucial to godly living, but it does not live alone apart from other virtues. Many of you, perhaps, have wondered at the connection between faith and knowledge. Some people do not think there is any relationship. They are pretty convinced that faith is incompatible with knowledge. We will discuss this in the future. This has been an old argument, especially regarding faith and science. What is more recent is the discussion between faith and values. Some people will daringly say, “They believe in Jesus Christ, and it does not matter what they do in their private lives.” So now we have the sexually perverted convinced they are honoring God through their free choices.

Satan has convinced this generation that faith is a mere existentialist belief with no connection to truth and reality. Biblical faith is the opposite of this. Biblical faith is the faith that brings unseen things into being because God is real. It is not our faith that does anything but our dependence on God that He will.

Summary

We are well on the way if we can see that our faith has radically changed our lifestyles and thought patterns. Our faith is living. It bears fruit.

If your faith in God is not changing you to be more holy, your faith is dead. You are not part of that vine. Don’t fool yourself. Church membership never made anyone a Christian.

Think positively about two or three concrete ways the Lord wants you to show your trust in Him. You might not know how scheduling, timing, finances, and relationships will work out, but you are taking your faith in Jesus Christ seriously. When your faith grows, your life becomes wonderfully blessed because God is good, and faith is the means that blessings flow into our lives. As you ponder these virtues, regularly ask yourself, “Where am I in my Christian life?”