Virtures of Second Peter

As an overview of the book, Peter reminds us of the gospel, that our turning and trusting was not of ourselves but instigated by righteous of God. We get credit for nothing because to God goes the glory. Then Peter tells us to be wary of information supposed to be of God, but does not aid us in becoming more like Christ, information that appeals to our greed rather than our service, and information based on experience rather than on scripture.

In Chapter 1, verse 3, Peter reminds us that God has given us everything we need. But not everything we may want. If we whine or grumble about this or that, it is an affront to God. Our prayers and supplications should be for insight and energy. We should strive to be good and faithful servants that effectively serve Christ. In verse 4, I think that the great and precious promises are the word of God. Therefore, prayerful Bible study is the key to unleashing the holy spirit (divine nature) and avoiding the snares of the world, which are our ungodly desires.


Peter gives us an insight starting in verse 5 of Chapter 1. He says that inorder to unleash the holy spirit and become more Christ like, we should make every effort, leave no stone unturned, apply total diligence to the task, of adding to our faith seven virtues. Beyond the idea of traveling the narrow trail to Christian maturity, and avoiding the pretty side paths that advertise fulfillment of our every desire, Peter adds (in verses 8-11) that building these virtues into our lives will make us more effective, result in providing assurance of our faith (for we will be able to see our fruit) and give us a rich welcome when we enter the eternal kingdom of Jesus Christ.

The seven virtues are: goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. While it is true that many of these virtues overlap, for example goodness and godliness, each facet of a maturing Christian's character takes hard work to develop and strengthen.

Goodness could mean lot of things, but Peter's choice of term focuses on excellence, of fulfilling the requirement to the utmost degree. Our minds should dwell upon excellent things, our words should be carefully controlled not just to avoid hurting, but to build others up, our lives should not be messed up, they should be well ordered, and our interactions with others should demonstrate a humble servants heart, always ready to do good things for others. And finally, wrapped up in the concept of goodness is the strength to fight the good fight, I call it valor.

Knowledge means an understanding of the Scriptures because through the Scriptures we can deepen our understanding of God. Christians are anointed by their knowledge of the Word of God. The Word is dynamic and it drives us toward God. We must take the time to study the Word for ourselves, and not only rely on the work of others. It is not easy, but for Christians it is very rewarding. Unfortunately, for the deceivers and self-deceived, those that pretend or think they are Christians, increasing knowledge can make actual conversion more difficult. Many kids that grew up in church know all the right answers, but Christ is not the Lord of their life. When they fall away as teenagers or young adults, their parents and teachers think they are backsliders, but according to John, if they remain in their sins, their guilt being insufficient to drive them to repentance, then perhaps they were never of us. Knowledge must start with a real understanding of the gospel, not a tract that portrays an opportunity for a good life.

The King James Version lists the next virtue as temperance, more modern versions such as the NAS and NIV list it as self-control. Temperance conveys the idea of moderating your responses to outside influences such as not drinking too much, or not letting others get your goat. Self-control conveys the idea of ruling over internal influences such as your desires and emotions. Gal. 5:23 says that self-control (same Greek word) is one of the fruits of the spirit, so I am convinced that the modern self control is the better translation because the conflict between our post conversion selves, and our fleshly desires requires self control, not temperance or restraint. We are to be good, not less bad. The good news for Christians is that our core desires (post conversion) are good and by prayer and bible study we can be victors, allowing our true nature (the new creature) to rule. But as long as we are in our fleshly bodies, the battle between doing what pleases the body (flesh controlled) and what pleases God (new creature controlled) will cause us great difficulty and will require much prayer on a daily basis. The flesh is like a little kid, if it gets its way all the time, it will become spoiled and good for nothing. But, by building this virtue into our lives, we can fulfill the requirement of Romans 6:13 to present our bodies as instruments of righteousness.

Perseverance is a central character trait of a maturing Christian. First, if you are taking Christian stands, such as fighting for self-control in your quiet time, or speaking out against the fallacies of the world, you will be challenged day and night. And since the Gospel is that it is in the next life that the good times roll, with no such guarantee in this life, to persevere, to stand steady under the load, requires paying now and getting the goods later, rather than buying on credit where you get the goods now and pay later. Not that there are not rewards in this life, it is just that for many, they are restricted to our spiritual life such as inner peace, joy and freedom from foolishness. I think reading about our brothers and sisters from history, many of which faced even more difficult situations than we face, can be a source of encouragement. We can develop endurance by asking God for it, by seeking encouragement in the bible, and by having a joyful outlook as we endure trials, keeping our eyes focused on Christ and recognizing that God’s gift far exceeds the price we pay for being His disciple.

Continued in next post:

 

Have you known a Godly person? Do others think of you as being a Godly person? In order to add Godliness to our faith, we must study and meditate on the attributes of God.

Once we learn to keep our focus on God and His nature - “through the watches of the night” - we will have set our compass, we will have a direction for our life. But as we travel, we must keep our heads lifted, always asking - Am I doing this for God? We can do a lot of right things for the wrong reason, and a lot of wrong things by our own reason, but our goal should be to do all things for the glory of God. And finally, with a song in our heart, we should strive to be a “chip off the ol’ block”. We should try to be more like “Dad”, our Father in heaven. Jesus painted a beautiful word picture of Godliness in Matthew 5:44-48, finishing with the thought that we should do what God would do, giving no room for a flesh-serving alternative.

Brotherly Kindness is one of the ways the Greek word “Philadelphia” is translated. Also, the terms brotherly love and love for a brother are used. Since this virtue precedes the virtue Love (Agape) which is often illustrated by pointing to Jesus’ self-sacrificing love for the lost, brotherly love refers to our natural affection for those that share our outlook and hardships, notably family members, friends and fellow believers. In John’s touching portrait of the restoration of Peter, on the beach at breakfast time, Jesus asks if Peter loves (Agapao) him, but Peter, committed to the truth says he loves him (Phileo) in the same way that a brother loves his brother. And that was good enough for Jesus because he said, “Feed my sheep.” Brotherly love means we are devoted to one another, yearning to be with one another and not inhibited in showing our affection for one another. This charity means we would not judge one another based on mere appearances, that we would not knowingly do things that might cause our siblings in Christ to stumble, but that we would be watchful, ready to lovingly rebuke and forgive, carefully watching our words such that we buildup the body in love. I think the key to growth in this area is to be outside our comfort zone, doing more than what culturally might seem like enough, i.e. treating fellow believers like family members.

Eight times in the New Testament we are told to love (Agape) one another. But the world does not understand the concept. This kind of love springs from commitment, expecting nothing in return. Sadly, if you look at an example of this kind of love, David and Jonathan, many commentators today would say the relationship was homosexual because they cannot conceive of a relationship based on zero expectations of reciprocal benefit. Our marriages fail often because neither spouse is committed 100% to the other; instead many partners in marriage are looking for a 50/50 deal. I suppose many Christians have made that kind of commitment (100%) to God. Hopefully, nearly as many have made that commitment to their spouse. But how many have made that kind of commitment to fellow believers. Remember, it starts with a public promise, just like God made to us, like Jonathan made to David, and like Ruth made to her mother-in-law. It is not based on expecting anything in return. And this commitment to love some individual(s) with all your heart, includes a willingness to march through fire to keep that commitment.

Peter completes his inspired thoughts on adding to our faith by telling us not be blinded by those that provide poor examples around us, we are not called to be as virtuous as the next “Christian” for many seem to have forgotten that they were cleansed from sin. He also tells us that we need repetitive reminders to keep working diligently toward adding to our faith. So it would seem that we should study Second Peter on a periodic basis.