Sanctification Process - 2Pet 1:3-10

Faith is believing the Word of God off!

and acting upon it, no matter how I Pay
feel, knowing that God promises a e LOVE
good result. Th
Brotherly
Kindness Serving God &
rk others
o Godliness motivated
dW Acting by Agape – the
r toward highest possible
Ha others as motivation for a
Perseverance Habitually Christ would believer
responding Kindly, God’s love in us
Self
n in Christlike tenderhearted and through us
io Control Continuing character
at and forgiving
d until you Growing to be - 1Co 13:13
un get desired more like Jesus, - Eph 4:32 - Mt 22:36- 40
o Knowledge Determining results
F to live by
disciplined in - 1Jn 2:9-11
Cling to Jesus Godliness - 1Jn 3:14-17
God’s Word with all your
Virtue Learning Temperance – might for as - Ro 8:28,29
God’s Way developing long as it takes! - Php 3:8-14
Applying the moderation in
Faith Desiring to Bible to all areas of life, - Ro 5:3,4
please God everyday life bringing self - Eph 6:18
Desire for under the
Committing mortal -Ps 119:9-11, control of the
to obey God, excellence 115 Holy Spirit
trusting Him -2Pe 3:18
-Pro 31:10-31 -Ro 12:1,2 True Godliness always manifests
- Gal 5:23
Hebrews 11 -Ruth 3:11 itself in love for God & others.
- 1Ti 4:7
An action word God IS love!
- Pro 16:32
-faith for salvation
-faith for an
obedient walk www.BiblicalCounselingCenter.org
 Progressive Sanctification
2 Peter 1:3-4 proclaims the sufficiency of Scripture; we have everything we need to live a godly life—the Holy
Spirit living in us with divine power, and the written Word that teaches us how to be like Christ and to escape
sinful lifestyles.

The next three verses give us eight qualities to follow as we pursue maturity. Verse 10 promises that if we
practice these eight qualities, we will never fall back into our sinful and painful lifestyles. These qualities are to be
blended or chorused together, moving progressively like a stairway toward Christlikeness. If these qualities are
ours and are increasing, they keep us from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus
Christ. If we lack these qualities, we forget that we have been cleansed from our past.

So, what are these eight qualities?

1) Faith is believing the Word of God and acting upon it, no matter how I feel, because God promises a good
result. We need faith both for salvation (Ro 1:16,17) and for obedient living (Heb 11). Faith is foundational to a
godly life—without faith, it is impossible to please God. Faith is a commitment to obey Christ, no matter what.
2) Virtue, that desire for moral excellence that makes us want to be more like Jesus, must be added to our faith
for a strong foundation. Virtue is the desire to please Christ, no matter what.
3) Knowledge completes the foundation, for without knowing the Word of God, we wouldn’t know how to
obey Christ even if we had the desire to obey! These first three qualities must work together to provide a strong
foundation for our growth and maturity in Christ.

4) Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23) that results from obedience to Christ. It requires a lot of
hard work to build on the foundation, but the Holy Spirit assists us in developing self-control, which is really
submitting ourselves to Him to be controlled by the Holy Spirit. We can’t do it alone - it requires cooperation!
5) Perseverance is a steadfastness that allows us to develop that self-control (1Co 15:58). Often in counseling I
define perseverance as clinging to Jesus with all our might and continuing to hang on as long as it takes to be
victorious. Self-control and perseverance are the “Hard Work” of the sanctification process. They must work
together to produce results.

6) Godliness in habitually responding in a Christlike way (1Ti 4:7-16). It is the fruit of laying the strong
foundation of faith, virtue, and knowledge and then doing the hard work of self-control and perseverance. As
we learn and grow in the Lord, and persist in forming new and godly habits, we respond more consistently in
reflecting God’s character. Godliness is acting like Jesus as He lives in and through us.
7) Brotherly affection is being kind one to another. We taught our children to use their best manners with
each other, treating each other with kindness and respect (Lk 6:31). They are still affectionate as adults.
Christlike character and godly habits always affect the way we treat each other; we should be characterized by
brotherly affection.
8) Love is the agape motivation that is our ultimate goal as believers (Jn 15:12-13). We are to love God and one
another as God loves us (1Jn 3:14-18). This proves God’s love is really in us and that we have truly become like
He is, for He is love (1Jn 4:8).

If we lay the right foundation (faith, virtue, and knowledge) and then continue in the hard work required to
become godly (self-control and perseverance), the pay off (godliness, brotherly affection, and love) will surely
come. We are to not become weary in doing what is right (Gal 6:9). He promises us in 2 Peter 1:10 that if we
diligently live out these eight qualities we will never stumble! Let us be diligent to make progress on this stairway
for sanctification.