Step Up or Fall Down
The call to godliness is rooted in and secured by God’s grace; his gracious power supplies what he demands.
The logical relationship between vv. 3–4 and vv. 5–7 is crucial. Verses 5–7 summon the readers to a life of virtue, but vv. 3–4 remind us that a life of godliness is rooted in and dependent upon God’s grace. Believers should live in a way that pleases God because Christ has given them everything they need for life and godliness. The indicative of God’s gift precedes and undergirds the imperative that calls for human exertion. Peter did not lapse, therefore, into works righteousness here since he grounded his exhortations in God’s merciful gifts.
Faith is the root of all the virtues, and love is the goal and climax of the Christian life. Otherwise, we should not press the order of the virtues listed, nor should we think Peter encouraged his readers to work first on one virtue before moving to the next one.44
It is only by practicing these virtues that the readers will avoid stumbling. That is, the readers will escape apostasy if they put into practice such godly qualities.