By Staff
Spiritual growth is more than just hanging on amidst the storms of temptations, trials, and difficulties of life.
The Apostle Peter in 2 Peter, chapter 1, outlines the benefits of belief in Jesus Christ. In verse 1 it is "precious faith," in verse 2 it is "grace and peace . . . multiplied," in verse 3, it is "His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness," and in verse 4, "exceedingly great and precious promises." Peter gives us the culmination in the latter part of verse 4 ("through these you may be partakers of the divine nature"), and the cap in the last phrase of verse 4 ("having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust").
Our life in the flesh, that is, that period of time between the day we received Christ as Savior and the day we exit this life, is a continual battle to live above the corruption John describes in 1 John, chapter 2, verse 16: "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life." Apart from deliberate action on our part to live in all that Christ has provided for us, we will drift to the corruption of lust.
A Christian is "born again," given new spiritual life from above, but a Christian is still encased in a physical body and surrounded by a fallen world with all its attractive allurements. Peter tells us in 2 Peter, chapter 1, verse 5, "giving all diligence, add to your faith …." "Faith" is the beginning; it is saving faith, the beginning of our relationship with Jesus Christ.
Peter tells us to add seven things to our faith and to do it with deliberation and diligence.
The first thing we are exhorted to add is "virtue." Virtue is moral excellence. We must diligently and aggressively protect ourselves from the immoral influences of the world. In past times you could steer clear of the "bad streets" where immorality flourished, but now TV programming, tidal waves of internet pornography, print advertising and even roadside billboards continually assault us everywhere we turn. Nothing requires more diligence than virtue.
The second thing Peter tells us to add is "knowledge." Reason tells us Peter could not be talking about secular knowledge. He is talking about Bible knowledge. Most of us know too many things about people, events, etc., and too little about basic Bible truth. Bible truth is the strength of our life. Paul says in Ephesians, chapter 6, verse 14, to "[gird] your waist with truth."
The third thing we must add with all diligence is "self-control." That is almost an oxymoron. The self-life is our most formidable opponent; yet, we ourselves are to control ourselves. Just thinking about it forces us to cry out for God's grace to help us. Most of us are losing the battle for self-control on one or more fronts. We may have anger or some other issue conquered, but we can "polish off" a bag of chips in one-half of a ball game.
Next is "perseverance." Funny that comes right after "self-control." It's really not funny; it makes perfect sense. We must persevere, "keep after it," to deal with the repeated failures in attempts at self-control.
After perseverance is "godliness." The Bible reveals the character and the nature of God. Jesus Christ is the revelation of God. Jesus said in the gospel of John, chapter 14, verse 9, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father." Godliness is studying and emulating Jesus Christ in every circumstance.
Number six is "brotherly kindness." It is difficult to be kind. It is easier to be cynical, rude, selfish, etc. Nothing ministers like being kind to one another.
Lastly, "love." Some would say, "All you need is love," but love that is not rooted in the character built by adding virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness and brotherly kindness may not be the kind of love that gives others what they need rather than what they want.
Spiritual growth is a big job, but note that God is more interested in it than we are. According to Romans, chapter 8, verse 29, it is the very purpose of our lives.
God is orchestrating events continually, giving us opportunity to deliberately apply His spiritual growth principles.