Wednesday, May 22, 2019
2 Peter 1:5-7
.2 Peter 1:5-7
King James Version (KJV)
"5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity."
After re-reading this scripture again today, I was struck. Is not virtue a necessary incident of faith? Why then need it be "added ?"
Knowledge I could easily see, conceive of as being separate from faith and virtue; the acquisition of knowledge requires "diligence."
Temperance (or moderation) was usually an accoutrement of knowledge, especially conferred, gifted by the graduate school of hard knocks!
From temperance comes patience, a graduate degree derived from all of the foregoing: faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience.
These lead to godliness, whose necessary incident , accoutrement is brotherly kindness, is charity, (love).
Ultimately, as we move about, along, around , we experience , we accumulate, we associate with each of these characteristics. We may do so diligently or less diligently. But as dust, gas, air, light, earth , endure , so do lesser configurations of God's grace.