In Pursuit of Godliness
11/12/25 Bible Thought (2 Peter 1)
Growth in godliness does not happen by accident.
While sanctification—the process whereby the believer is continually made holy—is ultimately a work of God’s Spirit, He will not accomplish much in us apart from our will. In salvation we are made positionally holy and set apart by a free gift of grace that we contribute nothing to. Yet, once we are saved, God desires for us to continue to grow, but He will not grow us apart from us.
In the apostle Peter’s second letter, he opens with a grand claim about the believer’s potential in Christ:
“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” (2 Pet. 1:3).
In essence, Peter here says that the Lord has given us everything we need for a godly life.
We can live a God-pleasing life because God has made us partakers of His Spirit. Apart from Christ we can do nothing (Jn. 15:6) but through His indwelling Spirit we are capable of growth in Christian virtue. While we might not be perfect, we are not the same old sinners we used to be!
That being said, we do still have to put forth the effort to grow. Just as every human being has the potential of accomplishing incredible physical feats if they undergo great discipline and training, now the born-again believer has a new potential for godliness they did not have before.
However, God is not going to do all the work for us. Peter makes this clear when he commands, “make every effort” (2 Pet. 1:5). You put in the work. God has made a way, now you must walk in it:
“For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love” (2 Pet. 1:5-7).
I think often about the virtue of self-control, found smack-dab in the middle of this list.
Self-control by definition is me controlling me. It is something that inevitably involves me and cannot be done apart from me. Yet, it is a sign that the living God has taken up His abode within (Gal. 5:22-23).
At the same time, it is not called God-control.
He does not override my faculties and control me like a puppet. Instead, I control myself and choose to do things that are pleasing to God. Yet, while it is something that I have to do, it is proof of God’s work, as He has wrought in me a will and power to do of His good pleasure (see Phil. 2:13). I do the work, and God gets the glory.
Now, these things do not make us worthy of salvation, nor do they save us. Peter is clearly writing to believers who have, “escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (2 Pet. 1:4) and those who have been cleansed from former sins (2 Pet. 1:10).
These things merely are the proof in the pudding that we are amongst the company of God’s saints. Through pursuit of these virtues, we confirm our calling and election (2 Pet. 1:10) and we will not fall (2 Pet. 1:11).
If we can be diligent in so many areas of our lives—be it health, hobbies, or career—perhaps we ought to be diligent in the pursuit of godliness and Christian virtues: virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love.