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God has a goal for us. God, through his victorious son Jesus, wants us to build on the foundation of our faith. God wants a miraculous and beautiful house built. It is a house with an innovative architect. It is a house that is stunning beyond believe.

Everything starts with faith. I must believe that Jesus has put me in right standing with God, our heavenly Father.

What are the building blocks built on the foundation of faith?

  • Faith – The foundation.
  • Good character
  • Spiritual understanding
  • Alert discipline
  • Passionate patience
  • Reverent wonder
  • Warm friendliness
  • Generous love

Jesus wants me to become mature. When I change my mind about Jesus (repent) I am like children. God wants me to grow up and mature.

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. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Master Jesus the Messiah. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.[1]

Apostle Peter – Source: 2 Peter 1:5-9

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Where there is life, there must be growth. The new birth is not the end; it is the beginning. God gives His children all that they need to live godly lives, but His children must apply themselves and be diligent to use the “means of grace” He has provided. Spiritual growth is not automatic. It requires cooperation with God and the application of spiritual diligence and discipline. “Work out your own salvation … For it is God which worketh in you” (Phil. 2:12–13).

Peter listed seven characteristics of the godly life, but we must not think of them as seven beads on a string or even seven stages of development. The word translated “add” really means “to supply generously.” In other words, we develop one quality as we exercise another quality.

  • These graces relate to each other the way the branch relates to the trunk and the twigs to the branch.
  • Like the “fruit of the Spirit” (Gal. 5:22–23), these qualities grow out of life and out of a vital relationship with Jesus the Messiah.
  • It is not enough for the Christian to “let go and let God,” as though spiritual growth were God’s work alone.
  • Literally, Peter wrote, “Make every effort to bring alongside.” The Father and the child must work together.[2]

Bonus Content: Check out this supplemental content about “Is faith personal trust in God?”. It adds context to this article. If you like it, please consider subscribing to the channel on YouTube.

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 2 Pe 1:5–9.

[2] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 437–438.

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