It has been a very long time, but when I was in college, I took a lot of math courses. I have forgotten 90 percent of what I was taught, but I vaguely remember one thing. You can add something to one side of a mathematical equation as long as you add the same thing to the other side. You must add an equal amount to each side.
For example, let’s say we’re trying to figure out what X is (this might bring back nightmares for some folks reading this). The equation might be:
X – 3 = 3Y + 5
To find out what X is, we can add 3 to both sides of the equation. It would look like this:
X – 3 (+ 3) = 3Y + 5 (+ 3)
That leaves us with the answer:
X = 3Y + 8
Recently, I noticed that Peter uses an equation like this in 2 Pet 1:5-11. He even uses the mathematical term add. On one side of the equation is our faith. On the other side of the equation is our entrance into the kingdom of God. We might write the equation out like this:
Faith = Entrance into the kingdom
This equation says that everybody who has believed in Jesus for eternal life (faith) will live with Christ forever (entrance into the kingdom). When He comes back, the believer will be in His kingdom forever.
But Peter says the believer can add to his faith (v 5). I think Peter must have been thinking about his past classes in math. He says that we as believers can add something to the left side of the equation. Peter lists what we can add: virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly love, and love.
The apostle says that if we add these things to our faith (the left side of the equation), the Lord will add something to the right side. The NKJV translates Peter as saying that our entrance into the kingdom “will be supplied” with something (v 11). The verb will be supplied is the same word as add in verse 5. Clearly, Peter has math on his mind!
So, Peter is saying that if we add to our faith, the Lord will add to our entrance into His kingdom. But here is where the math breaks down. I don’t know how good Peter was in algebra, but he doesn’t follow the rules. When you add things, they must be equal. In 2 Pet 1:5-11, the things that are added are not the same.
Peter wants us to add some big things to our faith (virtue, knowledge, perseverance, etc.). These are not easy things to do.
We would expect the Lord to add equally big things to His side of the equation. If we add all those things to our faith, what will the Lord add to our entrance into the kingdom? What we find is that He will not add the same amount.
He will add more. Much more.
The way Peter puts it is that Christ will add to our entrance abundantly. The word means “richly.” Whatever we add to our faith, He will add way above and beyond that.
Peter’s math breaks down. He is saying that whatever we do for the Lord will be rewarded in the world to come. We might think we are doing some really big and difficult things. But when He rewards the things done for Him, it will not be equal. The right side of the equation will be much greater. His rewards for things done in His name will far exceed anything we do.
It’s lousy math, but great news for the faithful believer.
