2 Peter 1:8 Sermon: Practicing Godly Qualities
Practicing Godly Qualities A Sermon on 2 Peter 1:8
The Call to Fruitfulness
Let us turn our attention to verse 8 as we begin to unpack this passage. Peter writes:
“For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Consider a person who plants a tree—whether an apple tree, a pear tree, or a peach tree. What do they expect from that tree? They expect it to grow and bear fruit. The reason is simple: the seed they planted was designed to produce fruit. In the same way, God has implanted spiritual qualities within believers—faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. These virtues, like a seed, are meant to grow and yield fruit in increasing measure.
James 1:17–18 reminds us:
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”
It is God’s design that His redeemed people stand apart from the world. Our lives should bear evidence of His transformative work, distinguishing us as those brought forth by His Word. This distinction is seen in our devotion and service to God, setting us apart from those who remain enslaved to worldly desires.
Every Believer Possesses These Qualities
Some may believe they only need to exhibit one or two of these qualities and that they will gradually acquire the others over time. But Peter makes it clear: if you are in Christ, all of these qualities are present in you, even if some are more evident than others. At the beginning of verse 8, he does not say, “If some of these qualities are in you,” but rather, “If these qualities are yours.” The implication is that every believer possesses them in some measure.
The Puritan Thomas Adams put it this way:
“He that hath not all saving graces in some measure, hath none in any measure.”
These qualities are saving graces, received through our union with Christ. When you receive Christ, you do not receive Him in part but in whole, along with all His benefits. Therefore, an essential question we must ask ourselves is:
Do I see these qualities in me? Not just one or two, but all of them—even if only in small measure.
True Salvation Produces Evident Fruit
Merely hearing the Word or professing belief is not enough. The Word of God reaches everyone’s ears, but for many, it goes no deeper. Why? Because of the hardness of the human heart. Until the law shatters that hard heart, a person will not recognize his need for Christ. Many believe they are good people, even before knowing Jesus, but in order to be saved by grace, the heart must first be tilled by the law, made ready to receive the gospel.
Only when Christ is truly in us can these qualities take root and grow. And Peter emphasizes that these qualities must not only exist but increase. A Christian’s life is not static—it is one of abounding fruitfulness.
The Christian Life Is Not a Life of Idleness
Peter’s words remind us that it is not enough merely to possess fruit—we must abound in it. The Christian life is one of constant growth and activity.
Unlike those who retire and waste their lives in idleness, the believer’s life is never without purpose. We are continually called to labor for the kingdom, to grow in spiritual maturity, and to conform more and more to the image of Christ. As Paul writes in Ephesians 4:13, God has given pastors and teachers to the church “until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”
Paul echoes this in Colossians 1:28:
“Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.”
The goal is maturity—growing in Christlikeness.
True Faith Cannot Be Hidden
Thomas Adams once said:
“Evil men may show the good they do not have, but good men cannot hide the good they have.”
A true believer cannot suppress the fruit of faith. Just as an apple tree naturally produces apples, so too will a Christian naturally bear fruit. If Christ has truly saved you and planted His Word in you, it is in your very nature to grow and produce righteousness.
Jesus affirms this in John 15:2:
“Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”
In Scripture, barrenness is often symbolic of reproach. When Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, conceived, she declared in Luke 1:25:
“Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”
Just as God opens barren wombs, He also makes believers spiritually fruitful. However, He does so through means—the very means He has ordained for our growth. This involves diligent effort on our part, engaging in practices that cultivate faith and virtue, increasing our usefulness for God’s kingdom.
Confirming Our Calling and Election
If we desire assurance of salvation, if we want to confirm our calling and election, we must bear abundant fruit. Fruitfulness does not earn salvation, but it proves it—to ourselves and to others.
One of the chief ways we grow in these qualities is by making use of the means of grace:
- Prayer—seeking God daily, asking for spiritual growth.
- Scripture—meditating on His Word, being fed by divine truth.
- The Church—faithfully attending, receiving nourishment through preaching and fellowship.
Growth in godliness requires wise stewardship of our time and energy. Young men, you will not grow in Christ by spending hours on video games. Adults, you will not become spiritually fruitful by drowning yourselves in work or chasing constant leisure. Fruitfulness comes from abiding in Christ and His Word.
A Life Devoted to Christ
Those who truly love Christ and desire growth will not stop asking, seeking, and knocking until they see proof of His work in their lives. And for those who are diligently seeking Him, think of the comfort this brings!
You can confidently say: “Jesus has called me. Jesus has elected me to eternal life. How do I know? Because my outward life testifies to the inward reality of grace.”
Apart from the work of the Triune God, no sinner would desire these things. But if you love Christ and long to be more fruitful for Him, then praise God! This is the evidence of His work in you.
Yet, in all this, never forget why you are what you are today. Never neglect to remember that your fruitfulness is the result of His grace—grace that cost the blood of Christ. Let us, therefore, live not for ourselves, but for Him who saved us.
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