2 Peter 1: 5 – 11: And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 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. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
The seven virtues named in 1 Peter 1 are the characteristics or the sum nature of the Holy Ghost expressed through a man who is born again. When the prophet drew the stature of a perfect man, he placed the Holy Ghost between brotherly kindness and love, giving an impression at first glance that the Holy Ghost is not received until all seven virtues are manifested in a believer’s life. But this is not so, and this is not what the prophet intended when he drew the chart, nor is it what the prophet taught.
When a person receives the Holy Ghost by the rebirth, they are but a spiritual babe in Christ, and yet have within them all the potential of Christ in seed form. As that person grows spiritually, they cease being a newborn babe in Christ and gradually mature toward spiritual adoption as a positionally placed son of God. During the growing process, the nature of the Holy Spirit increases in expression through the believer, whilst the self-will of the fallen flesh nature is brought into complete subjection. This spiritual growth transforms a man into the image of the Word, so that he increasingly becomes the living expression of the invisible Spirit of God.
The prophet placed the Holy Ghost between brotherly kindness and love, because it takes the Spirit of Christ to bring the Headstone down and cap off the pyramid of our lives. No man can manufacture Divine Love, nor can he produce the virtues of Christ. It takes the Spirit of Christ to do that, and His Spirit will not only build up a man, but will furnish him into a completed perfect work that the Father is well pleased with (Matthew 17: 5).
These seven virtues of God in a believer produce a man who is perfect, established, strengthened, and settled (1 Peter 5: 10). A man of faith, to have a clear revelation of God’s Word and believe it for himself and for others. A man of virtue, to give out what he has with meekness that he might strengthen those who need it. A man of knowledge, to correctly identify the need and know how to minister to that need, realizing that we are all flesh and blood, that we have weaknesses, and are subject to making mistakes. A man of temperance, to bear with others and not be easily provoked, to not think evil nor strike back. A man of patience, to wait upon God as is written in Isaiah 40: 31: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. A man of godliness, to be like Jesus who could say in Matthew 11: 29 – 30: Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. A man of brotherly kindness, to put himself in another’s place, and to forgive seventy times seven (Matthew 18: 21 – 22). A man of love, a love of agape origin, to cover a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4: 8).
God will have a real Church in the last days who expresses all of that. It is Christ walking in your feet, working with your hands, believing with your heart, seeing with your eyes, and speaking through your lips. It is Him having the pre-eminence in you.