“For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”--II Peter 1:8

The Apostle Peter wrote two letters to the churches located in Asia Minor to remind the believers that the grace of God can sustain them during trials of many kinds. The first letter centered on external persecutions, while the second epistle centered on internal defections. However, both cause sufferings to believers. It’s worth our while to remember one of Luther’s famous terms: Sola Gracia! (Grace Alone!) The purpose of this letter is to call Christians to spiritual growth so that they may be equipped to combat apostasy on the one hand and look forward to the Lord’s coming on the other.

After a brief greeting, Peter went to the heart of the letter. Through the grace of God, His divine power has given believers everything needed for life and godliness. It is through the precious promises, we, as Christians, should participate with God to develop characters that would help us to escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desire (vs.3-4). We need to remember that it is up to us to allow the power of God to work within us so that we can develop a godly character.

Peter systematically laid out for us seven Christian characters: Faith, moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love (in general). This “symphony” starts with faith towards God and ends with love towards men. Building on the foundation of having faith in the right object, who is Christ, believers grow to exhibit the divine nature by supplying these seven qualities that climax in love toward others (vs. 5-7).

After challenging believers to develop the Christian characters, Peter proceeded to give the reason for this endeavor: to make their knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ effective and productive. Peter pointed out a very important truth—our knowledge of the Lord can be ineffective and unproductive. If we don’t cultivate the life of Christ within, our knowledge becomes intellectual facts, and becomes ineffective in helping us to stand firm against trials, and unproductive in helping others when they are in crisis. The final illustration in this passage is that those who possess only knowledge without characters are near-sighted at best and blind at worse. These people have forgotten the most important experience of their lives—sins forgiven by the grace of God. Let us not be one of them!