2 Peter 1:3-11

1
2 Peter 13-11

• 2 (NKJV)  Grace and peace be multiplied to you in
  the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,  as
  His divine power has given to us all things that
  pertain to life and godliness, through the
  knowledge of Him who called us by glory and
  virtue, 4  by which have been given to us
  exceedingly great and precious promises, that
  through these you may be partakers of the divine
  nature, having escaped the corruption that is in
  the world through lust. 5  But also for this very
  reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith
  virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6  to knowledge
  self-control, to self-control perseverance, to
  perseverance godliness, 7  to godliness brotherly
  kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8  For
  if these things are yours and abound, you will be
  neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of
  our Lord Jesus Christ. 9  For he who lacks these
  things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and
  has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old
  sins. 10  Therefore, brethren, be even more
  diligent to make your call and election sure, for
  if you do these things you will never stumble 11
   for so an entrance will be supplied to you
  abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our
  Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

2
Divine Qualities

• "Supplement self-control with steadfastness."

3
The Meaning of Steadfastness

• If we would be "partakers of the divine nature,"
  we must "supplement self-control with
  steadfastness."
• But what is "steadfastness"?
• According to Vine, the word literally means, "an
  abiding under."
• Thayer says it is "the characteristic of a man
  who is unswerved from his deliberate purpose and
  his loyalty to faith and piety by even the
  greatest trials and sufferings."

4
2 Corinthians 46-7

• For it is the God who commanded light to shine
  out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to
  give the light of the knowledge of the glory of
  God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this
  treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence
  of the power may be of God and not of us.

5
2 Corinthians 48-10

• We are hard pressed on every side, yet not
  crushed we are perplexed, but not in despair
  persecuted, but not forsaken struck down, but
  not destroyed-- always carrying about in the body
  the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of
  Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

6
2 Corinthians 413-15

• And since we have the same spirit of faith,
  according to what is written, "I believed and
  therefore I spoke," we also believe and therefore
  speak, knowing that He who raised up the Lord
  Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will
  present us with you. For all things are for your
  sakes, that grace, having spread through the
  many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the
  glory of God.

7
2 Corinthians 416-18

• Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our
  outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is
  being renewed day by day. For our light
  affliction, which is but for a moment, is working
  for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of
  glory, while we do not look at the things which
  are seen, but at the things which are not seen.
  For the things which are seen are temporary, but
  the things which are not seen are eternal.

8
Matthew 1318-21

• "Hear then the parable of the sower When anyone
  hears the word of the kingdom and does not
  understand it, the evil one comes and snatches
  away what has been sown in his heart. This is
  what was sown along the path. As for what was
  sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears
  the word and immediately receives it with joy,
  yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a
  while, and when tribulation or persecution arises
  on account of the word, immediately he falls
  away.

9
Matthew 1322-23

• "As for what was sown among thorns, this is the
  one who hears the word, but the cares of the
  world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the
  word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was
  sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the
  word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit
  and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another
  sixty, and in another thirty."

10
The Meaning of Steadfastness

• If we would be "partakers of the divine nature,"
  we must "supplementself-control with
  steadfastness."
• But what is "steadfastness"?
• According to some the word literally means, "an
  abiding under."
• Thayer says it is "the characteristic of a man
  who is unswerved from his deliberate purpose and
  his loyalty to faith and piety by even the
  greatest trials and sufferings."
• Or, as Bill Hall has said, it is "keeping on
  keeping on!"

11
The Meaning of Steadfastness

• Virtue, or "moral courage," must precede
  steadfastness, as it is the proper state of mind
  regarding potential threats to our faith.
• Knowledge, especially of the fact "that the
  testing of your faith produces steadfastness,"
  must precede steadfastness, because without this
  information, one would be intellectually
  unprepared for trials.

12
James 12-3

• Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet
  trials of various kinds, for you know that the
  testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

13
The Meaning of Steadfastness

• Virtue, or "moral courage," must precede
  steadfastness, as it is the proper state of mind
  regarding potential threats to our faith.
• Knowledge, especially of the fact "that the
  testing of your faith produces steadfastness,"
  must precede steadfastness, because without this
  information, one would be intellectually
  unprepared for trials.
• Self-control enables us to abide under these
  tests or trials.

14
James 14

• And let steadfastness have its full effect, that
  you may be perfect and complete, lacking in
  nothing.

15
1 Corinthians 1558

• Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast,
  immovable, always abounding in the work of the
  Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not
  in vain.

16
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