In our last study we saw that in this passage Peter is describing the portrait of an effective and productive Christian (vrs 8). The virtues that will produce a well-rounded, fruitful Christian life are outlines in vrs 5-7. Peter is encouraging us to intentionally add to our faith a whole range of qualities.
“ADD TO YOUR FAITH . . . GOODNESS.”
In vrs 5 we read, for this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness. The Greek word used that is translated as “add” or “supply” in vrs 5 is epichorego. It is a word that is drawn from the Athenian drama festivals.
Perhaps the greatest gift that Greece, and especially Athens, gave to men was the great plays and dramas of men like Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, works of literature and art which are still among the most cherished possessions of the world. All these plays needed large choruses. A rich individual called a choregos would join the state and the poet in putting on the plays. It was an expensive business to produce such plays and yet the choregei vied with one another in their generous financing of the chorus. The word came to mean generous and costly co-operation. In our text it means that the Christian must co-operate with God in the cultivation of a Christian life that brings glory to God. We should not be surprised at this language. In Philippians 2:13 we are told for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
The first quality that Peter insists that we should add to our faith is goodness. The Greek word is not found often in the New Testament but is found frequently in other Greek literature. It is the word arete and is translated as virtue in the ESV and KJV but perhaps the NASB translates it best as “moral excellence.” This Greek word was used in Greek literature to describe the proper fulfilment of something. A knife was excellent (aret) if it cut well. A horse was excellent (aret) if it ran strong and fast. A singer was excellent (aret) if he or she sang well. What then is the excellence of a man? Peter has already given us a hint because he used this word in vrs 3 to describe Christ’s character. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. What is it that makes a person good or excellent at being a human? The ideal person is Jesus Christ and Christians will find their excellence in imitating him. True human excellence, then, is the manliness which is Christlikeness. That likeness is only increasingly fleshed out in the believer’s life through continually encountering Christ by faith. That is why in Philippians 3:14 you have that monumental statement that Paul lays down as the pattern for all believers. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.’ What he was saying was “I pursue Christlikeness.” He admitted, “I haven’t attained, but I pursue it.” The goal is to be like Christ and the reward is to be like Christ. The growing Christian is one who increasingly seeks to have the excellence of Christ etched in their lives. They will add to their faith “moral excellence.”
We started today by examining the word for “add” (epichorego). It is found again in vrs 11 of our text, for if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The two uses of epichorego form a bracket around vrs 5-11. To the extent that we lavishly add moral excellence and the other qualities to our faith is the extent to which a rich, enthusiastic welcome will be extended to us in the eternal kingdom of our Lord. Surely that is something to look forward to.