The Path of Continuing Well: Add to Your Faith

Peter moves from how faith begins to how faith continues well. Verses one through four show that the believer has obtained “like precious faith,” has been given all things that pertain unto life and godliness, and has been made a partaker of the divine nature. Verse four says that Christ has called His people away from the corruption that is in the world through lust, and unto conformity with Himself. The text then presses the question, “I’m saved. What now?”

The path of continuing well begins with diligence. Peter says, “giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue.” The Christian life is largely a life of addition. Faith is not meant to sit by itself in isolation, because a faith that is real is a faith that works. Peter is not saying that works save, but he is saying that profession must become practice, or the believer becomes spiritually useless and perverts the purpose for which he has been called.

Faith must have virtue laid down beside it. Virtue means moral and spiritual excellence, genuine goodness. Moral excellence refuses what ought not be done, but spiritual excellence also does what ought to be done. Philippians 4 calls the believer to think on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report, because the more virtue fills the mind, the more horrible sin will appear.

Virtue must have knowledge added to it. Knowledge is spiritual truth acquired by learning, effort, and experience. God’s word always has “very much land to be possessed,” just like Joshua still had land before him when he was old and stricken in years. The believer never reaches a place where there is no more truth to glean, no more growth to pursue, and no more work to be done.

Knowledge must have temperance added to it. Temperance means self control, strength that rules the spirit. Solomon had knowledge far and wide, but his life descended into scandal because he lacked temperance. First Kings shows that his wives turned away his heart, and Proverbs says that the one who rules his spirit is better than the one who takes a city.

Verse eight gives the promise. If these things are in the believer and abound, they keep him from being barren or unfruitful in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse nine gives the warning. The one who lacks these things is blind, cannot see afar off, and has forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Faith must behave with virtue. [16:27] Faith is not meant to remain only a profession made with the mouth. Peter sets virtue right beside faith, because moral and spiritual excellence gives visible shape to what the heart claims to believe. A belief that never behaves becomes a contradiction, not a testimony. The Christian life must not only avoid wrong, but actively obey what God has clearly commanded. [16:27]
• 2. Virtue grows through holy meditation. [13:50] Philippians 4 shows that the mind is not a neutral place. Whatever the believer continually thinks upon will train the conscience either to hate sin or to tolerate it. When truth, purity, loveliness, and virtue fill the mind, sin begins to look as ugly as God says it is. Careless thinking slowly makes disobedience seem normal. [13:50]
• 3. Much land remains to possess. [18:28] Joshua had already seen God do mighty things, yet God still told him there was very much land left. The same truth belongs to spiritual knowledge. Years of study do not exhaust the word of God, and maturity does not remove the need for learning. Continuing well requires a humble hunger that keeps digging, gleaning, and growing. [18:28]
• 4. Knowledge needs self control. [21:44] Solomon’s life warns that knowledge alone cannot keep a heart straight. Wisdom known in the head can still be overrun by desires that are never governed. Temperance is the strength to rule the spirit before appetite, anger, or affection rules the life. Without self control, even great knowledge can end in great spiritual damage. [21:44]
• 5. Addition keeps life fruitful. [27:13] Peter says these things must not only be present, but abound. A barren Christian life is not caused by a lack of divine provision, because God has already given all things that pertain unto life and godliness. Fruitfulness comes as faith keeps adding what God says must be added. The path of continuing well is diligent, deliberate, and never passive.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:19] - The Path of Continuing Well
• [01:57] - I’m Saved, What Now?
• [04:36] - Called From Corruption to Conformity
• [06:38] - The Path of Diligence
• [08:12] - Faith and Virtue Together
• [12:17] - Moral and Spiritual Excellence
• [16:47] - Adding Knowledge to Virtue
• [20:58] - Temperance and Self Control
• [21:44] - Solomon’s Warning
• [27:13] - Abounding and Bearing Fruit
• [28:22] - The Danger of Lacking These Things

Bible Reading

2 Peter 1:5-9
“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.” [00:19]

Philippians 4:8
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” [13:50]

Joshua 13:1
“Now Joshua was old and advanced in years, and the LORD said to him, ‘You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to possess.’” [18:28]

1 Kings 11:1-8
“Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the people of Israel, ‘You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.’ Solomon clung to these in love. He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.” [22:44]

Observation questions

1. In 2 Peter 1:5-9, what qualities are believers told to add, and what two results are described for those who have them and for those who lack them? [27:13]
2. In Philippians 4:8, what kinds of things are believers told to think on, and how does that connect with the word “virtue”? [13:50]
3. In Joshua 13:1, what was still true even though Joshua was old and much had already been done? How does that picture help describe spiritual growth? [18:28]
4. In 1 Kings 11:1-8, what specific facts show that Solomon had knowledge but did not rule his desires well? [21:44]

Interpretation questions

1. Peter says to make every effort to add to faith. What does that suggest about the Christian life being active rather than passive? [06:55]
2. Faith is placed beside virtue. Why is that an important connection? What does it mean for belief to take visible shape in the way a person lives? [16:27]
3. Joshua still had “very much land to possess.” How does that help explain why a believer never outgrows the need for learning, study, and growth in God’s Word? [19:20]
4. Solomon’s downfall shows that knowledge alone is not enough. Why can a person know much truth and still make destructive choices if self-control is missing? [26:01]

Application questions

1. Faith is not meant to remain only a profession with the mouth. Where is there a gap right now between what is believed and how life is being lived? [06:05]
2. Virtue includes not only refusing what should not be done, but also doing what should be done. Which of those two is harder right now: turning from a known sin, or stepping into a known act of obedience? [12:46]
3. What has been shaping the mind lately—truth, purity, and things of good report, or things that make sin seem small and normal? What would it look like this week to think more deliberately on Philippians 4:8? [14:15]
4. There is still much land to possess. In what area of Scripture or Christian growth does there need to be fresh effort instead of coasting? [19:47]
5. Knowledge is gained by learning, effort, and experience. What simple step could help growth in knowledge right now—more steady Bible reading, better attention in church, Scripture memory, or asking someone for help? [17:14]
6. Solomon’s life warns that unguided desires can undo a person who knows much truth. Where is self-control most needed right now—speech, anger, appetite, entertainment, relationships, or something else? [21:18]
7. Peter says these things should be “in” believers and “abound.” Which one of these qualities seems present but weak, and what might it look like for it to begin increasing? [27:32]