As a teenager, J. Stephen Conn sensed God calling him to be a preacher. But he felt a certain disadvantage. Because he had been saved when he was 7 years old, he would never be able to hold an audience spellbound with stories of a wicked past. So he asked God for permission to backslide — just long enough to get some experience in a life of sin to “enhance” his preaching later on. Deep within he knew that God would not answer such a request, so he decided just to preach the Bible without a dramatic testimony. Sometime later Conn wrote, “For the past 11 years I’ve been pastoring a church. I realize now what a great testimony I really have. God not only has the power to deliver from sin, He has the even greater power to keep from sin. God not only saved my soul—He saved my entire life!”¹  Did you know the Bible gives you the exact path to follow to keep from ever falling? The word backslide can be erased from your thinking and vocabulary if you follow God’s prescription in the book of Second Peter.

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2 Peter 1:5–10 (KJV) — 5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. 10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

• This is a tremendous portion of scripture full of the promises of God.
• Let’s start from the end and work ourselves backward.
• The very last promise in this passage is, ‘You will never fall.’
• That’s GOOD NEWS.
• No, that’s GREAT NEWS.
• Wow! a protective spiritual mechanism so you won’t backslide.
• That’s what you just read from the Word of God.
• Listen to it again.
• “You will never fall.”
• I don’t know about you but I am all in here because I don’t want to fall.
• The body of Christ has had enough of that falling business.
• It’s no fun for anyone.
• So, how do we get to the place where we are ‘fall-proof?’
• Peter answers that for us by saying, “If you do these things, you will never fall, you will never backslide.”
• Now, all we have to do is read and discover what ‘these things’ are and we will have the answer.

Eight Areas to Key In On So You Won’t Backslide

• The question we need to ask and I apologize for the English here but what ‘these things’ do we need to do so we won’t fall.
  • Faith
  • Virtue
  • Knowledge
  • Temperance
  • Patience
  • Godliness
  • Brotherly kindness
  • Charity

To Not Backslide: Give All Diligence and Add

• These four words ‘giving all diligence add’ is the part a believer needs to add to the mix in order to become ‘fall proof’.
• It’s the yeast that’s added to the sugar, the salt, the oil, and the flour to make the loaf of bread rise.
• ‘Giving all diligence add’ is what gives increase to faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity.
• If ‘giving all diligence add’ is the necessary component we need to add the ‘list of eight’ traits then for sure we should strive to understand what these four words mean.
• Let’s break them down.

Giving All Diligence

• The word diligence’ means “to make haste, be eager, give diligence, to do one’s best, to take care, to exert one’s self.”²
• Three words which begin with the letter ‘E’ will help you remember what diligence means:
  • Exerting Eager Effort.

Add

• The Greek word ‘add’ means to provide (at one’s own expense), supply, furnish.³
• Vincent adds some light to this word ‘add.

The A. V. is entirely wrong. The verb rendered ‘add’ is derived from ‘a chorus’, such as was employed in the representation of the Greek tragedies. The verb originally means to bear the expense of a chorus, which was done by a person selected by the state, who was obliged to defray all the expenses of training and maintenance.⁴

• Thus, the word means “to supply in the copious measure, to provide beyond the need, to supply more than generously.”⁵

Definitions

• The meaning of some of these words is self-evident.
• Others are a bit more obscure.

Faith

• The Greek word for faith is here is the word ‘pistis’.
• It is the regular Bible word for faith or trust.
• The word means trust to have strong confidence in, and reliance upon, someone or something; often with the object of trust understood.

Virtue

• Virtue means excellence or expounded, the excellence of a person or thing that enables it to achieve its end or purpose; especially used of moral excellence.

Knowledge

• The word ‘knowledge’ means the sum or range of what has been perceived, discovered, or learned.

Temperance

• Temperance is self-control.
• The trait of resolutely controlling one’s own desires especially sensual desires.

Patience

• Patience is another word for steadfast endurance.
• The power to withstand hardship or stress; especially the inward fortitude necessary.

Godliness

• Godliness or is the devout practice for, and appropriate beliefs about, God.

Brotherly Kindness

• Brotherly kindness is the Greek word ‘philadelphia’ or brotherly love.
• It is not same as the word agape.
• It means the affection naturally befitting the relationship between siblings; especially as the affection of those who are now siblings in God’s family.

Charity

• This is the word ‘agape’ most used to describe the love of God.
• It is a strong, non-sexual affection and regard for a person and their good as understood by God’s moral character; especially characterized by a willing forfeiture of rights or privileges in another person’s behalf.

Call to Action:

If becoming ‘fall-proof’ piques your interest, these four words ‘giving all diligence’ and all that it means should become part of your spiritual discipline.

Question: Which of these eight areas are you currently working to improve? Please share your journey in the comments section below.

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