“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature.” (2 Peter 1:4, NASB).

The Apostle Peter declares that God has made a way for Christians to become like Him. You grow and develop your knowledge of Jesus so that you can become like Him and participate fully in His divine nature.

Peter described the process by which you participate in the divine nature as a character-building process. Each quality supplements another along a continuum from Faith to Love:

Faith–> Virtue–> Knowledge–> Self-Control–> Perseverance–> Godliness–> Kindness–> Love

Peter says that we must apply diligence in developing these qualities. By building Christian character, by developing each of these qualities in increasing measure, we will not become useless or ineffective Christians.

But, it’s God’s power within us, the indwelling Holy Spirit, who helps us develop Christian character so that by our faith in God we demonstrate to others God’s love for us.

Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. (Matthew 12:33, NASB)