ESV Reformation Study Bible – 2 Pet 1:5–7
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2 Pet 1:5–7

1:5–7 The order of virtues here (“faith . . . love”) is not a sequence in time, as if stages of the Christian life were being described (vv. 8, 9). Peter is using a rhetorical figure that builds a series of elements to a climax. The beginning and conclusion of the series are significant, however. Early Christian virtue lists often begin with “faith,” the starting point of the Christian life, and end with “love” (Rom. 5:1–5; 1 Cor. 13), the preeminent fruit of the Christian life.