What would Peter say at the end of his life, when he knew that death was imminent? We heard Paul speak like this in 2 Timothy, and Peter frames his opening exhortation in 2 Peter, the first fifteen verses, similarly. Peter says, “the putting off of my tent (i.e., body) is coming quickly” (2 Pet 1:14). In the first part of this letter, Peter tell us about what he wants his readers to focus on. It’s a process, really a path.

Peter frames his opening exhortation in verse 5 and verses 12–15. He wants readers to “make every effort to add to their faith” (v. 5). He doesn’t talk about this addition process as “sanctification” or “growth.” That’s not the language he uses. He frames it as “the way into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (ἡ εἴσοδος εἰς τὴν αἰώνιον βασιλείαν τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν καὶ σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, 2 Peter 1:11). Peter’s final exhortation is a reminder (2 Pet 2:12, 15) about what the way in looks like.

Secondly, this passage helps make clear, in light of the whole New Testament, how faith, knowledge, and character relate. Each has its place, but we tend to identify ourselves with one or the other. Peter assumes that faith is the beginning (2 Pet 1:1, 5), and he calls Christians to “make every effort to add to their faith” knowledge, self-control, endurance, and love.

This is the way in, and the order is significant:

Add to faith … virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, care for other Christians, love. (2 Peter 1:5–7)

Peter makes the stair-step relationship between each of these explicit by saying “add to your x y … and to y z.”

Add virtue to your faith, and to your virtue knowledge, and to your knowledge self-control, and to your self-control endurance, and to your endurance godliness, and to your godliness care for other Christians, and to your care for other Christians love. (2 Peter 1:5–7)

I don’t think it’s wise to zoom in too close on the details of the order, but there is a general movement here:

1. Character (ἀρετή, εὐσέβεια)
2. Knowledge (γνῶσις)
3. Self-control (ἐγκρατεία)
4. Endurance (ὑπομονή)
5. Love (φιλαδελφία, ἀγάπη)

The path to Jesus looks like striving to develop virtue and good character, increasing our understanding of God, ourself, and the world, fighting the good fight of self-control, and through this process moving toward the ultimate end: love. The path is filled with each of these types of “steps,” but surely the goal, the end, is indeed love (ἀγάπη).

At the end of his life, Peter wants to talk about the path towards Jesus. This is what he wants people to remember: the way to Jesus. We can’t stop and focus on one part of the trail. We can’t be “knowledge people” or “love people” or “self-control people.” We must “make every effort” (σπουδάσατε, 2 Pet 1:10; 3:14) to walk the whole path home, towards the eternal kingdom, where Jesus is (2 Pet 1:11).

Lord, have mercy.