Getting ready for Jesus, 2

Yesterday, I wrote about faith. If we're going to get ready for Jesus' coming, we HAVE to start with faith. And, since the Bible says that faith comes from hearing the message, I turned to the place where the Gospel is explained the clearest, by Paul in 1 Corinthians:

1 Corinthians 15

 ¹ Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. ² By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.  ³ For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance^[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

If any part of that Gospel is unclear, I strongly encourage you to review the Bible studies I posted yesterday. Yes, it's long if you read all four, but being IN Christ is the NUMBER ONE THING you need to be ready for His coming. 

 

Paul is very thorough in his writings. In fact, he's so thorough that many, many books have been written on each of his letters. Very valuable - very worthwhile. But - if we want to jump to the very heart of the matter in short order, the guy to turn to is Peter. 

 

I kind of picture Paul as the ultimate nerd (in a good way), the kind of man who could probably tell you anything you wanted to know on almost any subject. I picture Peter as a big, burly guy - like someone you might see at the lunch counter in a truck stop. Someone long on action and short on talk, but with a heart of absolute gold. He didn't write much in the Bible, but what he did write is straight to the point. 

 

In his second letter, he says exactly what we need to hear:

2 Peter 1:10  Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, ¹¹ and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 

That's exactly what we need, right? So, let's back up and see what "these things" are all about:

2 Peter 1

 ¹ Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
   To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:
 ² Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Making One’s Calling and Election Sure

 ³ His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness 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 and escape 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, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, 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 if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
 ¹⁰ Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, ¹¹ and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 


I'm going to tackle this step by step over the next few days.  Let's start with verse 5:



2 Peter 1:5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your (1) faith (2) goodness; and to goodness, (3) knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, (4) self-control; and to self-control, (5) perseverance; and to perseverance, (6) godliness; 7 and to godliness, (7) brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, (8) 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 if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
 

Is this active or passive?


Make every effort (KJ - giving all diligence, NASB - applying all diligence)
1) haste, with haste 2) earnestness, diligence a) earnestness in accomplishing, promoting, or striving after anything b) to give all diligence, interest one's self most earnestly


To add (NASB - supply) epichoregeo {ep-ee-khor-ayg-eh'-o}
1) to supply, furnish, present 2) to be supplied, ministered to, assisted


Tense: Aorist, active - ongoing - do this and keep on doing it


This is completely active. Yet, the list is very similar to one in Galatians, the book which explains about not being driven by law. Is there a contradiction? No - this is the putting into practice the things given us by the Spirit. It says if we do these things, it will keep us from being unproductive.


James 2:17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.


True faith will manifest itself in works, because someone with true faith has the Spirit of God within him or her. Yet, it is the Spirit that directs the works. And, as Peter says, it all starts with faith:


1. Faith: pistis {pis'-tis}
1) conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the NT of a conviction or belief respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervour born of faith and joined with it
a) relating to God - the conviction that God exists and is the creator and ruler of all things, the provider and bestower of eternal salvation through Christ
b) relating to Christ - a strong and welcome conviction or belief that Jesus is the Messiah, through whom we obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God


Where does faith come from? How do we get faith? Faith is a gift:


Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.


Not everyone has the same amount.


Romans 12:3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.


Will you always have the same amount of faith? Have you had ups and downs in your faith? How do you get more?


Luke 17:5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith !"

Mark 9:24 Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief !"


Faith will also grow as you spend time in God's word. As we've gone through before, God's word has the supernatural ability to change you. Now, just a note. In the two examples above, the people asked for more faith. However, if you spend zero time in God's Word and just ask for more faith, will God grant it to you? Remember, Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is the word of Christ.


Tomorrow, we'll tackle what it means to "add to your faith goodness."  As always, I'd love to hear from you. If not here, then e-mail me.