2 Peter 1:5–10

Context

Second Peter identifies its author in 1:1 as "Simon Peter." Tradition has regarded it as a letter written by the apostle Peter as he faced death (2 Peter 1:14). In the modern era, many scholars have regarded it as a later work written in Peter's name, while conservative evangelical scholars support Petrine authorship.

The immediately preceding verses, 3–4, state that God has given "all things that pertain unto life and godliness." Verse 5 builds on this statement with "And beside this" (literally, "for this very reason") and urges readers to add seven qualities, beginning from faith and culminating in love. This exhortation is followed by warnings against false teachers (chapter 2) and against scoffers who mock the promise of the Second Coming (chapter 3).

The seven qualities are as follows:

• Virtue: Greek aretē, meaning moral excellence.
• Knowledge, temperance (self-control), patience (perseverance), and godliness
• Brotherly kindness: philadelphia, meaning brotherly love among believers.
• Charity (love): agapē, meaning love directed toward all people.

Interpretation

• Reading as a progressive chain: Some read the list as a series of stages in which each quality grows out of the one before it. Others regard it as a rhetorical sequence of qualities that are to be possessed together on the foundation of faith.
• Reformed reading: The Reformed tradition regards election as God's unchangeable decree. It therefore reads the passage not as teaching that people bring about their own election, but as teaching that believers gain assurance of their calling through the fruit of a holy life. John Calvin described a holy life as the evidence, not the cause, of election. The Westminster Confession of Faith cites this passage as a proof text for chapter 18, which addresses the assurance of salvation.
• Wesleyan and Arminian reading: Wesleyan theology and Arminianism emphasize the earnest human effort that responds to grace. In the words "ye shall never fall," they also find a warning that believers who fail to give diligence may fall.

Debates and Issues

• Grace and effort: Verses 3–4 speak of grace already given, while verse 5 speaks of effort with the words "giving all diligence." Denominations generally agree that grace comes first, but they differ in emphasis on how effort relates to salvation.
• The meaning of "fall": A point of debate is whether the term refers to falling away from salvation or to stumbling in the Christian life. This question is connected to discussions of the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints.
• Manuscripts and translation: Some manuscripts and the Latin Vulgate are known to include the additional phrase "through good works" in verse 10. The Korean Revised Version and the New Korean Revised Version do not include it. In verse 9, the Korean Revised Version's archaic term for "blind" (sogyeong) is rendered in the New Korean Revised Version with the more current term maengin, along with a modernized phrasing of "cannot see afar off."

In the Korean Church

The passage is frequently cited by its opening words, "add to your faith virtue," in sermons and Bible studies on spiritual growth and sanctification (the process of growing in holiness).

Related Passages

• Galatians 5:22–23
• Philippians 2:12–13
• Philippians 1:6
• John 15:1–8
• Ephesians 2:10