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Virtue
 
August 20, 2006
 
2 Peter 1:3-8
 
 
In writing about “The Creative Process”, Mart DeHaan (host of Day of Discovery) says, that “teachers of creative thinking sometimes say, “All things are connected.
Try to find relationships where you’ve never seen them before.”
The exercise might raise some questions among those who are committed to “living by the book” than to “thinking outside the box.”
On the other hand, it could be that no one has a better reason to believe “all things are connected” than those who take the Bible seriously.
Let me give you an example.
You decide whether you think the “connection” is real or imagined.
Could there be a parallel between the creative process God used to make the earth and the process He now wants to use to reorder our inner world?
The case sounds like this.
The God who created the earth made something out of nothing.
He brought order out of chaos and spoke light into the darkness.
Thousands of years later, this same creator is still speaking light into the darkness.
Now, however, He is speaking into a world of darkened hearts that, for many generations, have been turning their backs on Him.
As John 1:1-5 affirms: /“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
\\ He was in the beginning with God.
\\ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
\\ In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
\\ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
/
\\ So, according to the New Testament, the God who now wants to re-create our inner world comes with the assurance that, in Christ, He gives us everything we need.
Turn to 2 Peter 1:3-4; it states: /“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, \\ by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
” /
Did you hear that?
God says we are given everything for living a godly life, away from the influence of this decadent world.
WE have divine power at our finger tips.
We have access to His divine nature.
Now let’s continue reading the next three verses in 2 Peter Chapter1; verses 5 through 8, also in the English Standard version/ “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, \\ and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, \\ and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
\\ For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“/
Virtue, knowledge, self control, steadfastness, godliness, affection, and love are *YOURS*.
Remember?
We have divine power to live godly lives.
Now see if you hear echoes of Genesis in the qualities Peter calls for.
Today we are going to look at the first quality in Peter’s extensive list.
In your faith, add virtue.
First, faith is God’s work in us.
It is part of His sanctifying process in us. 1 Thessalonians 5.24 puts it this way, /“God, who calls you, is faithful; he will do this.”
/
 Faith works in the darkness of what we cannot see.
Virtue, in turn is light, it involves a desire for moral excellence that has its origin in God.
When the whole earth was dark and under water, the Spirit of God moved to replace the chaos with something good.
Today, in our own darkness and confusion, God asks us to open our minds to a goodness that is better than anything we can presently see or imagine.
*God is faithful; God makes you faithful.*
I’ve used the word virtue and followed that by speaking about moral excellence.
What on earth does that mean?
They’re not words we use every day in our present culture because we currently live in a relativistic world which is free or moral absolutes, and therefore free of virtue.
Back in the days when Paul and Donna graciously allowed us to live in their basement suite, I started reading a book of Paul’s entitled, “God’s Treasury of Verses.”
I enjoyed it so much I bought my own copy.
I know, I know, some of you are thinking, “he’s off on another rabbit trail, we’ll be here all day.”
Well, I’m not on a rabbit trail, but you could still be here all day!
The point is that “God’s Treasury of Virtues” begins with a definition of “virtue”.
It is fairly lengthy, but well worth reading because it is quite extensive and thorough.
So here it is: “What is virtue?”
Perhaps the simplest definition on which most would agree is “moral goodness.”
Virtue is the composite of all traits or qualities that are deemed good, right, and fitting for all persons in a particular culture.
In practice, however, virtue is an ideal.
No one is completely virtuous, except perhaps in fiction.
Virtue is a quality we seek and pursue, one that requires discipline and focused intent to achieve.
No one is born virtuous.
Remember the comparison with Genesis.
First darkness; then light.
No one is born virtuous.
Virtue is acquired.
And while a person may be able to attain virtue fully, we have an innate understanding as human beings that virtue is worthy of pursuit, and that, to at least some extent, it can be gained.
This, virtue is linked to desire.
The virtuous person must desire to be virtuous – not only to strive toward the ideal of moral goodness, bur to cling fast to all aspects of goodness attained and to maintain a strong center of goodness in spite of societal turmoil, interpersonal conflict, or difficult circumstances.
The virtuous person, therefore, asks two questions:
~* What must I do to be a good person?
~* How can I hold on to the reputation of goodness that I have won?
Both of these questions are answered best in terms of behavior.
Indeed, we don’t know that a person is “good” unless that person does good deeds!
To become a good person, one must do good things, make good choices, express good attitudes, and engage in good behaviors.
To maintain a reputation of goodness, one must do good things that are outwardly visible to others,
Perhaps that is why many definitions of virtue include the idea of “an inherent power.”
The pursuit of virtue seems to trigger a secondary activity.
The more we seek to become a person marked by goodness, the more we seek to do good.
We are compelled in pursuit of virtue to act in certain ways that are beneficial to others, and in a cyclical fashion, bring benefit back to us.
In this book, these questions are answered this way.
Virtue—moral goodness—will be defined by criterion set forth in the Holy Bible.
That's why this book is titled /GOD'S Treasury of Virtues./
Jesus, the only sinless man ever to live, said of Himself when He was called good, /"Why do you call Me good?
No one is good but One, that is, God" /it says in/ /Matthew 19:17 (NKJV) Now Jesus is not saying that He was not good.
They knew He was good.
His good deeds showed His goodness.
What He was saying in only God is good.
And by inference, He is God.So according to the Bible, absolute goodness is a trait of God, and ultimately, a trait belonging to God alone.
Anything we know of goodness, therefore, must be derived from Him and bestowed by Him.
The Bible teaches that man is not born "good," but rather with evil intent in his heart.
Of man, the Lord says in (Genesis 8:21 NKJV): /"The imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth."
/How then can an inherently "bad" person become a "good" person—one who reflects God's own divine nature of good?
The New Testament is clear.
In it, the apostle Paul prayed for the Ephesians:
/I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
And I pray that, you, being rooted and established in love, may have power; together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD  /(Ephesians 3:16-19 NIV).
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When he prayed, Paul knew this: Man becomes good when Christ dwells in his heart by faith . . .
which leads to a strengthening of the inner man by the power of the Holy Spirit . . .
which establishes a person in love and power (moral goodness in principle and in deed) .. .
which builds in ever-increasing amounts of God's goodness until the person is /f//illed /with the fullness of God.
Elsewhere in the New Testament, we find very definitive lists of "goodness" inherent to the Holy Spirit that He imparts to man.
One of the most comprehensive lists was given by the apostle Paul to the church in Galatia:
/When the Holy Spirit controls our lives he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control /(Galatians 5:22–23 TLB).
Virtue, by biblical definition, is the "fruit of the Holy Spirit" evident in our lives.
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