Short answer: 2 Peter 1:3–11 answers the question by grounding growth in grace first: God's divine power has already granted all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of the One who called us. On that foundation Peter commands believers to add all diligence and to supply a linked chain of qualities, from moral excellence through knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. The result is not idle or unfruitful knowledge of Christ but a made-sure calling and election, with the entrance into His eternal Kingdom richly supplied.
A letter to established believers, and a chain of provision
Second Peter is a letter, not a sermon or a collection of sayings. The writer names himself Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, and he addresses people who have already obtained the same precious faith in the righteousness of God and Savior Jesus Christ. That greeting tells you who is reading: people who belong, not outsiders being introduced to the faith. Verse 2 asks that grace and peace be multiplied in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, and that word knowledge keeps returning through the whole passage. The opening is a blessing and a summary of what God has already done before any instruction is given.
The literary shape is a chain, and it is worth tracing. Verses 3 and 4 rest everything on divine power, on the God who called these readers by his own glory and virtue, and on precious and exceedingly great promises. The promise includes becoming partakers of the divine nature and escaping the corruption in the world by lust. Only then do verses 5 through 7 turn to the readers' side, piling one quality on another: diligence, faith, moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly affection, love. Verses 8 through 11 close the chain with two outcomes, fruitfulness now and a rich entrance into the eternal Kingdom.
The stated occasion arrives in verses 12 and 13, after the exhortation rather than before it. Peter says he will not be negligent to remind them of these things though they already know them and are established in the present truth, and he thinks it right, as long as he is in this tent, to stir them up by reminding them. So this is not first instruction for beginners. It is a pastoral letter written to steady, settled believers who need to be stirred up, and the call to diligence in verses 5 through 11 sits inside that purpose rather than standing as a verdict on anyone's weakest season.
What God has granted and what we add
Peter opens this stretch by putting the emphasis on gift. He says God's power has already given us everything that belongs to life and godliness, and that this comes through knowing the one who called us by his own glory and virtue. The word for granted shows up again in 1:4, where the promises are described as precious and exceedingly great. Read those two verses together and the order is clear: the supply comes first, and it is God's supply. Nothing in the list that follows is a price paid to get God started. The effort Peter asks for is a response to something already in hand.
Then comes the turn in 1:5: add on your part all diligence. The picture is of a person furnishing or supplying something, deliberately and at cost. Notice how the qualities sit alongside one another rather than replacing each other. Faith is joined by moral excellence, then knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly affection, and finally love. Each one is added in, not swapped for the last. The chain ends in love, the widest and most demanding item of all, which keeps the whole list from collapsing into self-improvement. This is not passive waiting, and it is not earning. It is steady, purposeful work answering what has been given.
In 1:10 Peter tells these believers to make their calling and election sure. That language is about assurance, about settled confidence, not about causing God to choose us. He writes it to people he calls established in the present truth, and he says he will keep reminding them on purpose. So the call to diligence is a call to keep going, and the promise attached to it belongs inside that ongoing effort, not outside it. A season of weakness is not the verdict on a life. Peter's aim is to stir up, not to sort out who is elect.
Grace first, then the chain of qualities
Peter writes to people who already belong. The letter opens by addressing those who have obtained a like precious faith with the apostles, a faith rooted in the righteousness of God and Savior Jesus Christ (1:1). Then comes the prayer of 1:2, that grace and peace be multiplied in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. That word knowledge runs through everything that follows. Peter is not introducing a new subject in 1:3. He is unfolding what he just prayed for. Growing in faith begins with knowing the One who called us, not with a list of things to achieve.
The order of 1:3–4 matters. Before any command, Peter says God's divine power has granted us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue. The call originates with God, not with us. By that same glory and virtue he has granted precious and exceedingly great promises, so that through them we may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world by lust. The foundation is gift. Everything commanded in the next verses stands on ground God has already cleared.
Only then does 1:5–7 say, for this very cause, add all diligence. Faith is supplied with moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. These are connected, each building on the last, and love is the destination. Verses 8–11 give the reason: these qualities keep us from being idle or unfruitful in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and the one who lacks them has forgotten the cleansing from old sins. So Peter urges diligence to make calling and election sure, promising a rich entrance into the eternal Kingdom. Then 1:12–13 shows his aim: to keep reminding established believers, stirring them up, not to settle whether they are elect.
Where readers differ on calling, stumbling and divine nature
Peter has just said that God's power has granted everything needed for life and godliness, and that the promises are given so believers may share in God's nature and escape the world's corruption (1:3–4). Then comes the ladder of qualities in 1:5–7, and the command to make your calling and election sure in 1:10. Careful readers differ here. Some read that command as diligence producing visible fruit that confirms what God has already done. Others stress that election is God's own secure work, and that the passage describes the ordinary road of assurance rather than an exam that can be failed. Both sides agree grace comes first and that Christ is the one known and trusted.
The promise in 1:10 that those who do these things will never stumble is also debated. The same letter later warns against falling from steadfastness, so some read the promise as an unconditional guarantee and others as a description of the path where these qualities abound. Notice the setting: Peter writes to believers already established in the truth (1:12), stirring them up by reminder, not pronouncing a verdict on a weak season. The text should never be turned into a tool for telling a doubting believer that doubt proves they are not elect. What stays central is ongoing diligence and fruitfulness in the knowledge of Christ.
The phrase partakers of the divine nature in 1:4 draws strong readings. Some hear a rich statement of union with Christ; others caution against mystical overreach. Most would insist it means sharing God's moral character and escaping corruption, not becoming divine in being. Peter's own explanation runs toward moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, affection and love (1:5–7), and he says these keep us from being idle or unfruitful (1:8). The outcome he holds out is not status but a rich welcome into the eternal Kingdom of Jesus Christ (1:11).
How growth in faith points to Christ
Notice where this passage begins and ends, because both ends are a person. Faith here is not a general religious instinct but something obtained in the righteousness of God and Savior, Jesus Christ (1:1). Grace and peace are multiplied in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord (1:2). The call that started all of this came by his own glory and virtue (1:3). And the road ends at an entrance richly supplied into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ (1:11). Everything between those bookends is held by him, so the growth described is not self-improvement with a religious coat of paint.
That changes how we read the list in 1:5–7. Moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly affection, love: these are the shape a life takes when it actually knows him, not abstract virtues stacked like trophies. Verse 8 makes this plain. Fruitfulness is measured in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, so the point of adding these qualities is not to display them but to know him more clearly. Peter then says the person who lacks them has forgotten the cleansing from old sins (1:9). The remedy for a dim faith is not more effort alone but remembering what Christ has already done.
Peter writes to people already established in the truth (1:12), and he writes to stir them up, not to sort out who is elect. So this passage should never be turned into a test that says doubt proves you were never chosen. The promise that you will never stumble (1:10) sits inside a call to ongoing diligence, not a verdict on one hard season. Make your calling and election sure by continuing in these things, and let the whole effort aim past itself, toward the one whose kingdom you are entering.
What faithful response looks like in ordinary life
Start where the passage starts, not with your own resolve. Peter says God's power has already granted what pertains to life and godliness, and that this comes through knowing the One who called us by His own glory and virtue (1:3). So the first act of faithful response is gratitude and a request: thank God for what He has already supplied, and ask Him for a clearer knowledge of the One who called you. That order matters. Effort grows out of grace already given, not out of fear that grace has not yet arrived. Prayer that begins here is not a formality but the ground under everything that follows.
Then take up the diligence verse 5 commands, but make it specific. Peter lists faith, moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly affection and love (1:5–7). Do not turn this into a vague resolve to try harder. Choose one link: self-control in a recurring area you keep excusing, or brotherly affection toward a person who is genuinely difficult to love. Work on that one thing this week in concrete ways, and trust grace as the ground of the effort rather than the reward for it. When you feel blind and near-sighted about your own cleansing from old sins, return to the promises of 1:4. Read them, say them, and pray them.
Make this pursuit communal. Peter writes that he will not be negligent to remind them, though they already know these things and are established in the present truth (1:12), and he says it is right to stir them up by reminding them while he is in this tent (1:13). That assumes believers need reminding, so ask someone to keep these things in front of you. And do not read 1:10 as a verdict on a single season of weakness. The promise of not stumbling sits inside a call to ongoing diligence, not a test of whether you are elect. Keep walking toward the Kingdom.
Biblical fidelity check
Read slowly, 2 Peter 1:3–11 keeps the order straight. Verses 3 and 4 say God's power has already granted what life and godliness need, and the same word appears again for the promises. Only then does verse 5 say to add diligence on your part. The list in verses 5–7 pictures furnishing each quality alongside the others, ending in love. Watch two risks here: treating the list as a ladder to climb for acceptance, and treating grace as permission to skip effort. The passage allows neither. Verses 10–11 then tie diligence to assurance and to a rich welcome into the Kingdom.
The real disagreement concerns verses 10 and 11. Some read make your calling and election sure as confirming by a changed life what God has done; others stress that election is God's secure work and this describes the normal path of assurance, not a test that can fail. The promise you will never stumble is debated too, since the same letter later warns about falling. On partakers of the divine nature, most insist it means sharing God's moral character and escaping corruption, not becoming divine in being. What stays central: grace precedes effort, Christ is the one known and trusted, and the outcome is fruitfulness and a welcome into His Kingdom.
Following the theme of 2 Peter 1:3-11 through Scripture
God's promises and the call to grow are treated in other studies of this letter. For further study, see Growing in Faith: What 2 Peter 1:5-8 Really Teaches, 2 Peter 1:16-21: Eyewitnesses, Not Myths, 2 Peter 1:16-21: Not Myths but Eyewitness Truth, and 2 Peter 1:16-21: How Prophecy Becomes Certain.
Frequently asked questions
Does growing in faith depend on my effort or on God's grace?
Both, but not as equal partners: God's grace comes first and makes growth possible. In 2 Peter 1:3–4, God's divine power has already granted everything needed for life and godliness, and his promises are the ground on which believers escape the world's corruption. Only then does Peter say to add diligence and supply moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, affection and love (1:5–7). Your effort is real and commanded, yet it is the response of people who have already received the promises, not the price of earning them.
What does it mean to make my calling and election sure?
It means giving diligent effort to confirm, in your own experience, that God has truly called and chosen you, and Peter locates that confirmation in the qualities he has just listed. His argument is not that good character earns election but that faith supplying moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, affection and love keeps you from being idle or unfruitful in knowing Christ (1:5–8). The one who lacks these things is described as blind and forgetful of the cleansing from old sins, so the assurance Peter urges grows out of a life that matches the calling already received. Even the promise that you will never stumble and will be richly supplied an entrance into the kingdom rests on God's prior gift of his power and promises (1:3–4), not on your performance.
What are the qualities listed in 2 Peter 1:5–7, and how do I actually add them to my faith?
The qualities are moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly affection, and love, each building on the one before it. You add them by diligent effort, but not as self-made virtues: 2 Peter 1:3 says his divine power has already granted us all things that pertain to life and godliness, and 1:4 grounds that in his precious promises. So effort grows out of grace already given, worked through the knowledge of the one who called us. Peter's aim is fruitfulness, not earning the entrance into the Kingdom that 1:11 says is richly supplied.
