Divergent: How to Grow Up Big and Strong | 5-18-2014 | AUDIO [ 19:09 | 17.86 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Divergent
moving apart: following paths or courses that become increasingly different or separate
not matching something: deviating from something such as a typical pattern…
As we’ve discussed before, the resurrection changed Peter.
The miracles he witnessed are the foundation of his life and belief.
2 Peter 2
16…we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”[b] 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
Never forget – the foundation of our faith is not good ideas, but supernatural events.
Our culture seems bent on relegating Christian faith to belief. All you have to do is believe in Jesus. Peter knows faith begins there.
“repent and be baptized” Acts 2.
But Peter is not content to start and end with belief. His last words lay out the building blocks of how we grow to maturity:
Confirming One’s Calling and Election
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters,[a] make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
RAY STEDMAN –
Faith is the beginning point…everywhere in the New Testament it marks the beginning of the Christian life (See Acts 3:16, Romans. 3: 28 et al).
Genuine faith results in God’s impartation of eternal life to a spiritually dead individual (See Ephesians. 2:1). Having received that life the believer is now to add:
Goodness (arete “moral excellence” – ar-et’-ay ). This is the same word found in v. 3 as the character of Christ. It is plain that a Christian cannot produce this from himself, but he adds it only in the sense of choosing to act in such a way as to reflect the moral excellence of Jesus who dwells within him. He chooses goodness rather than corruption.
Knowledge (gnosis) i.e. practical wisdom, obtained by acting on the understanding which truth imparts.
Self-control (enkrateia – eng-krat’-i-ah – the virtue of one who masters his desires and passions, esp. his sensual appetites). This means mastering one’s moods, rather than being controlled by them…Peter is showing that submission to Christ means evil moods can be rejected and Christian character exhibited instead (who better than Peter?)
Perseverance (hupomone – steadfastness, constancy, endurance). The habit of viewing all circumstances as coming from a loving Father’s hand who is in control of all events is the secret of perseverance.
Godliness (eusebeia – yoo-seb’-i-ah – piety towards God, godliness). The pagans used this word to describe a religious individual who kept in close touch with the gods. But there is no sense of religiosity here but of a continual awareness of God’s presence affecting and governing every aspect of life.
Mutual affection / brotherly kindness (philadelphia) is so closely linked with godliness that 1 John 4:20 says, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar.” As Jesus taught in John 15:12-17, love for the brethren involves serving one another (laying down one’s life); sharing with one another, practically and intimately; and praying for one another. It would be, He said, the mark of a true disciple. Such an attitude would immediately reject any display of prejudice, class or race distinction, or any form of exclusiveness or elitism in the Christian community.
Love (agape). This is God’s kind of love in which the origin lies not in the one loved but in the one who loves. God loves because He is love; we are to love, because we are of God! It reaches beyond the Christian community to love anyone, anywhere, manifesting itself by seeking that person’s highest good, even at cost to ourselves. It is not inconsistent with justice and punishment but tempers these by aiming at redemption and renewed usefulness if the recipient will permit.
1:8 BARREN NOR UNFRUITFUL: The presence of the qualities listed above marks a healthy Christian. The lack of them would suggest that though one claims to have the knowledge (epignosis) of the Lord Jesus something is terribly missing. Peter is thinking of the false teachers whose lifestyle he will examine in chapter two. This v. parallels the teaching of Hebrews 6:7-8. A barren (indolent) and unfruitful (unproductive) life, if continued, may be a sign of spiritual death.
Table Talk Faith + goodness knowledge self-control perseverance godliness mutual affection love Pick some of these attributes and talk about where you are in adding them to you faith. In progress? Just started? Haven’t considered it?
Which of these are hard? Easier? Unclear? Give real-world examples of how one can “add” these attributes to their faith.