So far in our study, we have seen the need to add moral excellence (doing what is right), self-control (not doing what is wrong), and knowledge (knowing the difference between the two) to our faith. However, this is not something we do for a while until we lose interest. We are to continue living by faith throughout our lives. Therefore, we need perseverance, the next quality on Peter’s list.
“Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5-8).
What Is Perseverance?
The Greek word hypomoné refers to a “cheerful (or hopeful) endurance” (Strong’s definition). It is defined in Thayer’s Greek Lexicon as “the characteristic of a man who is unswerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings.” The word is also translated as endurance in other New Testament passages (Hebrews 10:36; 12:1; James 1:3-4; et al.). Peter’s use of this word implies that Christians will face hardships and difficulties. We endure trials, not with bitterness or resentment, but with hopefulness and cheerfulness.
What Perseverance Looks Like WITHOUT Faith
The reality is that everyone faces hardship in life. Job acknowledged this in the midst of his suffering: “Man, who is born of woman, is short-lived and full of turmoil” (Job 14:1). Every person experiences difficulties, whether they are “people of faith” or not.
Often, one will suffer because of his sin. Peter acknowledged this in his first letter to these brethren: “For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God” (1 Peter 2:20). There are negative consequences associated with many sins. These can include legal trouble, relationship problems, health issues, financial difficulties, and more. Of course, a Christian can suffer these same consequences if we allow ourselves to fall back into sin (cf. 1 Peter 4:15). However, we avoid many potential problems and hardships by following the Lord and avoiding those things that are contrary to His will. One who gives himself over to sin will have to suffer the consequences. The wise man said, “Good understanding produces favor, but the way of the treacherous is hard” (Proverbs 13:15).
However, not all suffering is the result of something we have done wrong. And when someone does not know God (or he forgets or ignores Him), it can be difficult to persevere through intense trials. Sadly, some do not endure, and they either end their lives or destroy themselves with drug and alcohol abuse. Those who hope to endure need a sense of purpose and a reason to persevere through their trials. Without faith, life is vanity (Ecclesiastes 1:2-3). The wise man, when he forgot God, tried to find meaning for his life in wisdom, pleasures, possessions, and labor. Yet he realized that “all is vanity and striving after wind” (Ecclesiastes 1:14). So while people can often find things to distract themselves from the suffering they have to endure, they will always be lacking until they recognize that our primary purpose in life is to “fear God and keep His commandments” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).*
What Perseverance Looks Like WITH Faith
Remember, “faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). In order to endure the trials of life with cheerfulness and hope, we need to be grounded in the Scriptures.
With faith, we will continue to engage in good works. Paul spoke of “those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life” (Romans 2:7). Our purpose transcends our earthly existence, and our hope lies beyond what we can see around us. Having this as our focus, we will continue to engage in good works, recognizing that they are defined in God’s word (2 Timothy 3:16-17). As we “hold…fast” the word, we will “bear fruit with perseverance” (Luke 8:15).
While we remain active in doing good works, we will also eagerly wait for our hope in Christ. Paul wrote, “For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it” (Romans 8:24-25). Knowing the reward that awaits the faithful gives us the motivation we need to continue to “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).
As we wait for our reward, press on toward the goal, and continue to engage in good works, having a perseverance that is rooted in faith will help us to keep going and not “come short” of the promise (Hebrews 4:1). Jesus told His disciples, “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved” (Matthew 10:22). Later, when He warned of the trouble that would come at the destruction of Jerusalem, He said, “But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved” (Matthew 24:13). The trials, temptations, and persecution we face in life can cause us to lose heart and give up our efforts to follow the Lord. Jesus, knowing the difficulties that were coming against the church in Smyrna, encouraged them not to allow these things to cause them to abandon their faith: “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10). We need to take this encouragement to heart as well, and not allow anything we face to convince us to give up following Christ.
Ultimately, if we remain faithful, we will receive the reward that the Lord has promised. The Hebrew writer said, “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised” (Hebrews 10:36). To help encourage them to endure to the end, he reminded them of the “men of old” (Hebrews 11:2) and how they remained faithful, even as they “welcomed [God’s promises] from a distance” (Hebrews 11:13). Through Christ, we have a “full assurance of faith” (Hebrews 10:22), so “let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23).
How to Add Perseverance to Our Faith
Since faith is produced by the word of God (Romans 10:17), the only way to persevere until the end is to be guided and motivated by what has been revealed in the Scriptures.
This starts by remembering our purpose: “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). This was not just for Solomon and the Jews of old, but is for all people of every generation, even today. Peter told the Gentiles of the household of Cornelius, “But in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him” (Acts 10:35).
One of the reasons the Bible was given to us was to provide encouragement to persevere through life. Paul wrote, “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4). As we learn about God and see that He has always kept His promises to the faithful, we can be encouraged to remain faithful ourselves. However, in order to receive this benefit from the Scriptures, we need to spend time with the word of God. As the psalmist wrote, “O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 119:97). We need to have the same attitude toward God’s word (love) and read, study, and meditate on it each day.
To add perseverance, we need something to persevere through. In other words, we will not grow in perseverance without experiencing trials. Paul made this point in his letter to the Romans: “And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance” (Romans 5:3). However, it is not a question of if we will face trials, but rather when we will face them and how severe they will be. Paul warned Timothy that “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12), and we should “not be surprised” when a “fiery ordeal” comes upon us (1 Peter 4:12). James wrote, “Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:3-4). Our faith must be tested, but this will produce endurance and help make us complete in Christ.
We also need to remember the example of those who have endured. One notable example is Job, who lost his possessions, family, and health in a short period of time. Of his example, James wrote, “We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful” (James 5:11). In the end, Job was abundantly blessed by God (Job 42:10, 12), and this is an example to encourage us as well. Even more than that, we have the example of Christ: “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” (Hebrews 12:2-3). Seeing what Jesus did for us and how He endured the cross, let us not lose heart but endure until the end.
Conclusion
If we are to grow in faith, we need perseverance so that we will endure until the end. It is not enough to know the difference between right and wrong if we do not put that into practice. Also, it will not profit us to be faithful for a time and then give up. We must be “faithful until death” in order to receive “the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10).
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* For more about the wise man’s pursuit to find meaning in life, see the article, Finding Purpose Amidst the Vanity of Life.
