(The following is the November 15 devotional from my Next Step Devotions book. Before reading it, I suggest you read 2 Peter 1 and pay close attention to verses 3-11.)
“As we have seen a mason take up first one stone and then another and then gradually build a house, so are we Christians to take first one virtue and then another and then another, piling up these stones of grace upon one another until we have built a palace for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.” * The above quote by Spurgeon responds to 2 Peter 1:5-7, imagining Christian growth as a steady, incremental process resulting in a solid, godly, useful structure for our Lord.
Imagine how strong our character and Christian witness will be if we build our lives for Christ with these solid stones: “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (vv. 5-8). Several of these qualities echo the fruit of the Spirit Paul lists in Galatians 5:22-23.
Peter doesn’t call only church leaders or select Christians to this growth in faith. All believers are to grow in Christlikeness. This growth is possible because every born-again person has the Word of God before them and the Holy Spirit indwelling them.
Verse 5 says that we are to “make every effort.” Regarding this, Spurgeon adds, “People are not saved by their efforts. But, on the other hand, grace saves no one to make him like a log of wood or a block of stone. Grace makes people active. God has been diligently at work with us; now we must diligently work together with him.” **
Next Step:
Which qualities in 2 Peter 1:5-7 has God built solidly in you? Which do you still need to add to your foundation of faith in Christ?
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* CSB Spurgeon Study Bible, ed. Alistair Begg (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1675.
** Ibid.
