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 your Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:5-8
In the lengthy text I have listed above, the clear teaching is that after we come to faith in Christ, we have to continue to grow in our character and attributes of Christ to truly honor Him and be productive for God’s Kingdom. Jesus did not die on the cross just to give us “fire insurance” against hell or to just get us into Heaven. He died so we could have a relationship with our Heavenly Father and grow to become more like Jesus and serve Him well in this dark and sin-filled world. There are steps of definite progression we all need to make that are listed in the scripture above. Faith alone without works/action/change is a “dead faith” according to James 2:26, and faith without love is not rewarded by God according to 1 Corinthians 13:2. What God is really after is a heart change that transforms our very character into the likeness of Christ by the power of His Word and Spirit. I cannot remember who said it first, but the quote is “if your faith and religion does not make you a better person, it is not the right one.” Thankfully we have God’s Word to tell us what a better person looks like as people have their own ideas of this. The Pharisees of Jesus’ time thought legalism, appearances and knowing lots of scripture made you a better person. It does not! God wants to transform all of us into people who love Him and others for His glory. This is does not mean compromise with evil or error, but living by truth and love in all we do and say. I cannot name the person on this next quote either, but this man stated “the hardest thing to teach a man is to be kind.” I agree wholeheartedly with this! Kindness is one of the later character qualities listed in the scripture above because it takes surrender to God’s grace and Spirit in the other areas before true kindness can be developed. We first come to faith in Christ, but then must stop doing wicked and faithless things to progress; this is the moral excellence area. As we obey God, we gain more knowledge and understanding, but never before we are willing to trust and obey Him. As we accomplish this, we gain self-control over other struggles in our life to keep on developing our Christlikeness. Learning self-control builds perseverance in our life so we can keep on doing good and not grow weary in it. Now we are becoming more like Jesus and godliness develops in our life. Then kindness breaks through our “hard shell” of protective ways and we can become more sensitive and caring, which leads us to the final result of true love for God and others. This is the path for all of us; some progress more quickly than others, but it is the path. It starts and ends with Jesus who is the Author and Perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Trust in Him today and every day and surrender to His love and purposes and let Him surprise you in how He can transform any one of us. Blessings!
Love in Christ,
Pastor Gary Houdek