The necessity of Christian growth

II Peter 1:5-8

Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, Godliness; and to Godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity. For if these things be in you, and shall abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Remember those old commercials that said, "No one ever says, 'I want to be a junkie when I grow up.'" When people repent of their sins and trust Christ as their Savior, they never say, "From here on out, I plan to be a lukewarm Christian." Yet, so many do because they have forgotten that they have been cleansed from their sins (II Peter 5:9).

This passage teaches us how we can avoid the doldrums of lukewarm Christianity. When we accept Christ as our Savior, we have faith. We should add to that faith, virtue (moral uprightness, high morals). This means don't celebrate your baptism at a local bar. Moreover, you should be taking steps to clean up your life.

To that virtue, add knowledge. Knowledge comes by a careful study of the scriptures. Add to that knowledge, temperance (abstinence from alcohol, moderation in food and drink). There are a few who do not believe the Bible teaches abstinence from alcohol. I believe it does. The Bible also teaches against being owned by our desire for food and drink. Being unable to control your eating habits is a sin. I fall short here, as do a lot of people I know. But we must learn temperance, because we have to add patience to our temperance.

Patience is the mark of a mature Christian. Those who are prone to fit-throwing, get their feelings hurt easily, are easily offended and give up quickly mark themselves as immature Christians. This is why I can't jump on board with the whole "I'd rather offend a church member than a lost person" mentality. If that church member is easily offended, there is still basic discipleship work to be done there.

Patience is the foundation for Godliness. (Think about it, can you be Godly while screaming at a server at Sunday lunch because your rib-eye wasn't cooked just right?).

Godliness lends itself to brotherly kindness, which builds up to charity. If we grow in these things, we will be fruitful in the knowledge of Christ Jesus, which means that we will be fruitful in the Lord's work. If we stop at any of those steps, we'll dry up. Let any of these slip, and the rest of the stack will fall also.