2 Peter 1:5-9

- Faith

- Virtue

- Knowledge

- Self-Control

- Steadfastness

- Godliness

- Brotherly Affection

- Love

  Often I wonder how it is that I can grow to be more like Christ.  What does that mean exactly?  How does that manifest itself in my life here on Earth and in this life?  We saw in v.3 that God’s divine power has “granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.”  v.5-9 tell us know this is to play out in our lives.  

  “For this very reason” v.5 starts.  Because Christ has called us to be partakers of His divine nature, “make every effort to supplement your faith” with the above listing of things.  Peter is simply saying here that we need to learn these things.  It does not have to be in this order.  Although, in our Faith we learn these things; in our faith we can learn brotherly affection more quickly than we can knowledge.  That is okay.  The point Peter is trying to make here is to grow.  Grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  These are the things Christ showed us.  Learn them from Him. 

  If we do these things.  If we learn to be steadfast in our lives towards God, then v.8 states we will not be “ineffective or unfruitful.”  Not only that, but if we do not wish to grow in these and learn these things in our lives, which is basically stating that you do not want to be more like Christ than yourself, which is basically to deny Him with your life, then Peter states we are blinded to the salvation that Jesus Christ has bought us. 

  So here it is laid out.  Christ showed us how to live.  In v.3 Peter states that He has given us everything we need to live like Christ.  In v.5 Peter gives us a listing of things to improve upon and grow in so that we will not be unfruitful or ineffective in our Christian walk.  And v.9 tells us that if we do not have these qualities we have forgotten that Christ came to save us.  What a challenge!