Staircase toward Christian maturity

II Peter 1:5-7 (NLT)

In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. 

In I Peter 1:3-4 it is written that God has given you  “great and precious promises” that enable you to be godly and free from human corruption.  The steps to secure these promises are then described.  You might call this “the staircase toward Christian maturity”.  Here the progress of spiritual growth is described.  There are eight spiritual qualities listed, some call eight callings or eight growth steps.  Dr. Joel Hunter’s last sermon in March of 1986 at Mt. Auburn United Methodist Church in Greenwood, IN before leaving to join the Northland Community Church in Orlando, FL was based on I Peter 1:5-7.  My respect for Dr. Hunter made me pay even more attention to the significance of these words. 

  

Every sincere Christian should seek and possess these eight spiritual qualities.  Each quality or virtue helps to develop the next although another interpretation is that faith in Christ is supplemented by seven elements of Christian holiness.  Warren Wiersbe compared these to the sections of a telescope where one virtue leads to the next and so forth until all are characteristic of a mature Christian.     

1.   Faith.  The foundation of spiritual maturity is your faith in Jesus Christ.  Without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6).  Without the foundation of faith you cannot attain the other seven virtues.

2.   Moral excellence.  Your foundation of faith in Jesus Christ will then produce your ability to discern right from wrong.  The Greek word used here (arete) is closely related to purity, modesty and courage to stand for what is right.  

3.   Knowledge.  Moral excellence is supplemented by the filling of the Holy Spirit to guide you to increase significantly your knowledge of God through your study of His Word.

4.   Self-control.  The discipline gained from developing knowledge from your Bible studies produces greater discipline of self-control and your willingness to sacrifice your personal desires in order to obey the Lord and to give preference to the needs of others.

5.   Patient endurance.  Discipline and self-control are supplemented by your increased ability to be patient and to endure adversity in your life.  Often patient endurance is manifested through your new ability to make it through life’s drudgeries (e.g. boredom) as well as through life’s challenges.

6.   Godliness.  Godliness means simply to be like God.  If you demonstrate the qualities of the previous five virtues, you will be living a life of godliness that will fulfill Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:13-16.  Meditate over these words! 

7.   Brotherly affection.  The Greek word used here is “philadelphia”.  Loving your brothers and sisters in Christ is the mark of a Christian (John 13:35).

8.   Love for everyone.  Love is the greatest quality or virtue of all (I Cor 13:13).  Loving your Christian brethren will lead to love (agape) for everyone in the sense of your putting yourself second to others’ needs.  You have become the person that Paul describes in Phil 2:3-4 where you now naturally and for the rest of your life put others needs before your own.

I like how William MacDonald (MacDonald, W. Believers Bible Commentary, Thomas Nelson, Nashville, TN, 1995, p. 2289) illustrates this passage:  “Add to your faith the courage of David; and to the courage of David the knowledge of Solomon; and to the knowledge of Solomon the patience of Job; and to the patience of Job the godliness of Daniel, and to the godliness of Daniel the brotherly kindness of Jonathan; and to the brotherly kindness of Jonathan, the love of John.”

How are you progressing in your journey toward Christian maturity?  What "step" gives you the most difficulty?  What must you do to reach the next step?