SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
6/8/2012 9:42:11 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Faith Results in Spiritual Growth PT-3
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 2Peter 1:5-7
Message of the verses: We have been looking at 2Peter 1:5-7 in the last few Spiritual Diaries and in these verses their contains seven characteristics that are very important in our walk with the Lord, and that are important in our Spiritual growth. We looked at virtue, knowledge, temperance, and patience in the last SD. When we look at verse five we see that faith helps us to develop virtue and then virtue helps us to develop knowledge, and then knowledge will help us to develop temperance and temperance will help us to develop patience. Now today we will look at how patience will help us to develop Godliness which actually means God-likeness.
“5 ¶ For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.” (ESV)
I have mentioned on several occasions that in my Spiritual Diaries I generally follow the outline from Dr. Warren Wiersbe’s “Be” book commentaries which he has written on each and every book of the Bible. Dr. Wiersbe uses mostly the KJV or the AV in his commentaries, but on occasions he will use other versions to help his readers better understand the passage. When you look at the above passage which is in the ESB you will see different words translated for the characteristics that I have used, which are from the KJV. I believe that the ESV and the NASB are two of the very best translations that can be found for the English language and so that is why I use them in my Spiritual Diaries.
Godliness is the next characteristic that we will look at. Dr. Wiersbe points out that in the original Greek language that the NT was written in the word godliness means to “worship well.” I believe that a person who is worshiping the Lord well would surely have to display patience in his life and so this is probably one of the reasons that godliness is developed by patience. One has to have patience in their life to worship well and to also get along with other people. Dr. Wiersbe writes about the person who displays godliness: “He lives above the petty things of life, the passions and pressures that control the lives of others. He seeks to do the will of God and, as he does, he seeks the welfare of others.
“The godly person makes the kinds of decisions that are right and noble. He does not take an easy path simply to avoid either pain or trial. He does what is right because it is right and because it is the will of God.”
Brotherly kindness (phiadelphia in the Greek): We can see from the ESV that the words brotherly affection in this characteristic. When we look back at the life of Peter from the NT Gospels we can probably figure out that he must have learned this characteristic the hard way for there were arguments that went on between the disciples of Jesus while He was on the earth and while He was in the process of beginning their training which was surely picked up by the Holy Spirit after the Day of Pentecost.
The Lord Jesus Christ gave a commandment to His disciples, which was also given to His children, and that commandment was “If you live Me you will keep My commandments.” As believers it is easier to say that we love the Lord Jesus Christ than to say that we love one of the brethren, but if we truly do love the Lord we will love His other children. 1John 5:1-2 reads as follows: “1 ¶ Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments.”
Love: This is the last characteristic that Peter writes about and the kind of love or charity that he speaks of is described in John 3:16: “"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.’” Jesus spoke these words to Nicodemus when he came to see Jesus one night to find out who Jesus really was. Nicodemus became a true follower of Jesus and so he learned what true love was, that is that Jesus came to earth to offer Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of those who would accept His sacrifice as payment for their sins. This was true love, that is Jesus dying for His enemies and giving them eternal life, which is something no one can earn and no one deserves. This is the kind of love that we as His children are to display in our lives. Demonstrating true Christian love is surely a sign of Christian growth and it all began with faith. Take the time to read over the 13th chapter of 1Corinthians, which is known as the “love chapter,” and in that wonderful short chapter is a description of what agape love is all about.
I wish to put into the end of this portion of my Spiritual Diary the words that Dr. Wiersbe wrote at the end of his commentary on this section: “It is impossible for fallen human nature to manufacture these seven qualities of Christian character. They must be produced by the Spirit of God. To be sure, there are unsaved people who possess amazing self-control and endurance, but these virtue point to them and not to the Lord. They get the glory. When God produces the beautiful nature of His Son in a Christian, it is God who receives the praise and glory.
“Because we have the divine nature, we can grow spiritually and develop this kind of Christian character. It is through the power of God and the precious promises of God that this growth takes place. The divine ‘genetic structure’ is already there: God wants us to be ‘conformed to the image of His son’ (Rom. 8:29). The life within will reproduce that image if we but diligently cooperate with God and use the means He has lavishly given us.
“And the amazing thing is this: as the image does not destroy our own personalities. We still remain uniquely ourselves!
“One of the dangers in the church today is imitation. People have a tendency to become like their pastor, or like a church leader, or perhaps like some ‘famous Christian.’ As they do this, they destroy their own uniqueness while failing to become like Jesus Christ. They lose both ways! Just as each child in a family resembles his parents and yet is different, so each child in God’s family comes more and more to resemble Jesus Christ and yet is different. Parents don’t duplicate themselves; and wise parents permit their children to be themselves.”
Spiritual meaning in my life today: I believe that the Lord has directed me to the end of 1Peter and the beginning of 2Peter to go over some things in my life that I have learned before, but perhaps was not living like I knew them. I am thankful for the renewing of the lessons that I am learning in these chapters.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I want to remain in the vine so that the Holy Spirit of God will control my life so that I will be conformed more and more into the image of Jesus Christ.
6/8/2012 10:52:59 AM
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