Growing in Godliness 01MAR2014

2 Peter 1: 3-11

©Good News Community Fellowship; Marikina City, Philippines

“The godly life is neither automatic nor instantaneous, and it would be complacency for us to make no plan and effort to grow in godliness.”


The passage offers seven supplements for growing the Christian life. We are told here how to be godly, an appeal for holy living, all that we need for life and godliness.


God has given us the promise of sharing something of His moral excellence (virtue) in this life as well as His glory in the hereafter.


The promise, the power and the person of Christ regenerate a man and make him a sharer/partaker in God’s own nature so that the likeness of God begins to be seen in him.


We need to think of these elements as supplements for every single day each week. Peter instructed us to engage in participating in the process, to make every effort to add to our faith,


furnishing qualities that will enhance faith and escape the corruption in the world, that is, a society alienated from God and at odds with God.


Because of our new birth, we cannot sit back and rest content with faith, we are to add or bring into this relationship alongside virtues to be worked out in behavior.


Thus, human effort is indispensable although inadequate, the Christian must always be adding to his faith. He must engage in cooperation with God in a life of godliness.


Peter begins with faith in Christ as the initial and the foundation stone on which the virtues which follow are built.


Goodness is the attitude which the Christians is to maintain in all circumstances. It means exhibiting good behavior at all times. A good person brings out the treasure of good things in his heart.


Christ went around doing good and so we must. Practical goodness should characterize the Christian. Remember, you cannot put a good person down.


“Plus ultra” There is more beyond! It is certain that there is more knowledge and understanding beyond. The knowledge of God. We cannot exhaust ourselves in knowing God.

©Good News Community Fellowship;

Marikina City, Philippines

Knowledge is practical wisdom which means it is a wisdom which distinguishes the good from the bad, and shows the way of flight from the bad.


Growing in knowledge requires cultivating the capacity to distinguish between good and evil. And, to grow in Christian knowledge requires discerning the will of God and it leads to a fuller knowledge of Christ.



Christians are challenged to expand their knowledge not only through study but also through learning from daily experience and discernments.


This means controlling the desires/emotions rather than being controlled by them. Human beings can be mastered by their own lusts and passions. This is to be exercised not only on food and drink, but in every aspect of life.



For the Christians, self-control is submission to the control of the indwelling Holy Spirit. There is necessity to restrain our sinful impulses and wayward thoughts that interrupt spiritual progress.


There are powerful impulses to over-eating, over-work, to over-sleep, over-reacting, etc, that Christians should resist through the power of the Holy Spirit.


It means, the temper of mind which is unmoved by difficulty and distress, and which can withstand the two Satanic agencies of opposition from the outside world and the enticement from the flesh within.


It refers to constancy or steadfast endurance under adversity, without giving in or giving up.


Endurance springs from faith in the promises of God, knowledge of Christ, and experience of His divine power. And so produces in the Christian a deep awareness of God’s wise loving hand controlling all that happens.



Endurance in the face of trials, hardships, disappointments and sorrows after all, life is not an instant battle but a long campaign, not a short sprint to the finish line but a marathon.


Godly living means patiently keeping on in the service of Christ regardless of what life may bring our way. We need to be devoted to Christ, we should keep on trucking and keep on growing and stay steady in the Christian life and the more godly we become.



Devotion to a god-like living and the exhibition of a Christ-like character in our life. Likewise, it is advancing the cause of God and Christ and performing his duties to God and man. This is a call for a godly behavior.



This refers to loving fellow Christians. This is feeling so close to other believers. There is fondness for fellow Christians as well as feeling of deep respect and love for them. Likewise, it is practical caring for the needs of the brethren.



If any one says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar. Love for the brethren is a distinguishing mark of a true follower of Christ.


Those who have become partakers of the divine nature or born again must show their royal birth in royalty of behavior towards other children of the King, whatever their differences in culture, class and status.


Love for the brethren entails bearing one another’s burdens, and so fulfilling the law of Christ; further, it means guarding our Spirit-given unity from destruction by gossip, prejudice, narrowness, and the refusal to accept a brother Christian for what he is in Christ.



The greatest of these is love. This love is the attitude which God has shown himself towards us and requires from us towards Himself. God’s agape is evoked not by what we are, but by what He is.


It has its origin in the agent, not in the object. It is not that we are lovable, but that He is love.


Agape is a deliberate desire for the highest good of the one loved, which shows itself in sacrificial action for that person’s good. That is what God did for us. That is what He wants us to do.


The Spirit of God who is love is freely given to us, in order to reproduce in us that same quality. Men will never believe that God is love unless they see it in the lives of His followers.


All Christians started in faith in Christ. However, there is more to that in the Christian life. We need to grow in the faith by taking supplements or building blocks to build godly life and Christ-like character.


Grow to maturity by adding goodness, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love alongside with your faith in Christ. And, you will realize that there is true freedom, peace, joy and blessing in the Christian life.



Growing in Godliness 01MAR2014

Spiritual

Transcript of Growing in Godliness 01MAR2014