Add to Your Faith – Knowledge

We are several articles into a series on 2 Peter 1:1-11: Adding to Our Faith

Recent Articles:
What About Faith | Grace and Peace | But Also For This Very Reason | Add to Your Faith – Virtue

Today we turn our attention to the second of the seven qualities found in 2 Peter 1:5–7. Peter writes:

“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.”

In our last article, we saw that we must be diligent to add virtue to our faith. Peter’s list is progressive—each quality building on the one before it. Once we begin adding virtue (moral excellence) to our faith, we then build upon that virtue by adding knowledge.

But immediately, a question arises.

Peter calls us to knowledge, yet Paul warns in 1 Corinthians 8:1 that “knowledge puffs up.” How do we reconcile these ideas? This is an essential Bible study skill: allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture.

In another passage urging diligence, Paul writes in 2 Timothy 2:15 that we must “present [ourselves] approved to God … rightly dividing the word of truth.” If we are honest students of the Word, we must look beyond a single word — no matter how compelling — and examine context, usage, and the broader testimony of Scripture.

The Greek word Peter uses here is gnosis. Our English word “knowledge” is a straightforward translation. But context matters. Is Peter encouraging a kind of knowledge that produces arrogance? That would contradict the spirit of the passage. The progression of qualities in 2 Peter 1 leads us toward maturity, strength, and Christlikeness — not pride.

Peter himself clarifies what kind of knowledge he has in mind. In 2 Peter 1:8, he speaks of “the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” And later, in 2 Peter 3:18, he exhorts us to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Knowledge here is coupled with grace. That pairing alone tells us this is not the kind of knowledge that inflates the ego.

Looking elsewhere in Scripture deepens our understanding. In 1 Peter 3:7, the same Greek word is translated “understanding”:

“Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife…”

This is not superficial information. It is thoughtful, relational understanding that results in honor. That kind of knowledge does anything but puff up.

Consider also Philippians 1:9–11:

“And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment…”

Here, knowledge is linked with love and discernment. It leads to approving what is excellent, to sincerity, to fruitfulness, and ultimately to the glory and praise of God.

A pattern begins to emerge. The knowledge God calls us to add is not mere accumulation of facts. It is knowledge shaped by grace, guided by discernment, and expressed in love.

Yes, knowledge can puff up if mishandled. If our goal were simply to memorize Scripture in order to impress others, we would miss the point entirely. But Peter is not calling us to pride. He is calling us to a deeper understanding of the Lord.

Returning to 2 Peter 1:2–4, we see this even more clearly:

“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him…”

How are grace and peace multiplied? Through the knowledge of God.
How has He given us all things that pertain to life and godliness? Through the knowledge of Him.

This is not empty intellectualism. This is relational, transforming knowledge — knowledge that equips us to partake of the divine nature and escape the corruption of the world.

Early in the Christian life, accumulating knowledge can feel exhilarating. As we read God’s Word, new truths seem to leap off the page. Yet without context and maturity, misunderstandings can arise.

For example, 1 Corinthians 15:29 mentions being “baptized for the dead.” Without context, one might assume Paul is endorsing such a practice. But in the broader argument, Paul is defending the resurrection. He refers to what some were doing — not to approve it — but to show the inconsistency of denying the resurrection.

Likewise, a few verses later, the phrase “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” is often quoted on its own. In context, Paul is arguing that if there is no resurrection, then life has no ultimate meaning. But there is a resurrection — and therefore our lives matter eternally.

This is why knowledge must grow alongside discernment and humility. It takes time. It takes effort. It requires leaning on those stronger in the faith. As we learn and share what we have learned, we grow together. We draw closer to our Sovereign God and Savior. Day by day, we begin to look more like Him.

Peter’s goal is clear: that we be fruitful “in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

We pursue this growth because, as Paul writes in Galatians 2:20:

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…”

The life we now live, we live by faith in the Son of God — who loved us and gave Himself for us.

So we add knowledge — not for knowledge’s sake — but for Christ’s sake. Not to elevate ourselves, but to know Him more fully, to live more faithfully, and to reflect Him more clearly.

In our next article, we will see how adding knowledge prepares us to add self-control. Knowledge, rightly understood and rightly applied, becomes deeply practical. It shapes how we live.

And so, diligently, we continue building.

Faith.
Virtue.
Knowledge.

One layer at a time.