Basic Training: The Soldier's Character
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INTRODUCTION
· Training to be good soldiers… Our theme verse once again is , which gives us the standard that we are to live by if we want to be good soldiers. “3 You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.” We are training to be good soldiers of Jesus Christ so we can guard ourselves from being entangled in the affairs of this life and so we can please God as we face please our Commander as we face the temptations and hardships that our adversary brings.
· Whenever soldiers got through basic training, they are taught about the kind of character a soldier must have being part of such a fighting force with such a great history…
THE STANDARD FOR SOLDERS
· … “2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 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, 4 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 lust.”
o The focus of this section is the nature of God and how having a knowledge of God is our source of peace, grace, and transformation… We see that knowing about God leads the Christian to seek to be like Him in His character or nature…
o He has given us His mercy and peace so that we can know Him and be transformed to be more like Him. The way Peter describes it here is that we “may become partakers of the divine nature.”
· We will share in, or be partners in the divine nature. What does Peter mean by this? Do we become gods? This does not seem to be what he is saying. He clarifies what he means right after he makes this statement. We are partakers in the divine nature because we have escaped the corruption of this world and have been victorious over it through the true knowledge of Christ. We share in the holiness of God that we lost because of our sin. We can be like God and reflect His image as we grow in the true knowledge of Christ. Paul makes this same point in , that when we became Christians, we “put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him.”
· This is what we are aiming for as soldiers – to be just like our commander! This is a high standard we are called to as soldiers!
· Sometimes we feel comfortable with a lower standard than the Lord has given… We compare ourselves with other Christians or with people in the world, and we think, “I am ok where I am at in my relationship with the Lord.” I’m no Hitler or Stalin, so that means I am a good person and right with God…. OR I go to services more than many Christians, so that makes me right with God… Whenever we make these kind of comparisons, we are comparing ourselves to a low standard…
· Compare your life and character to the example of Jesus Christ Himself. You may not be a Hitler or a Stalin… You may go to services more than some Christians, but you are no Jesus Christ either!! He is the standard we are aiming for. Compare yourself to His teachings and His character. God calls us to be holy. He calls us, as we see in verse 3, to “His own glory and excellence”
THE DETERMINATION OF SOLDIERS
· V5 “Now for this very reason also.” Because God has given us everything we need for life and godliness, and because we are able to partake of the divine nature and have grace and peace through the knowledge of Christ, here is what you need to do… “apply all diligence…” The ESV says “make every effort.” The idea here is, “after all the Lord has done for us, you need to give your all to fulfilling the instructions that follow…” God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him and His will.
· Peter makes this same point in v10. After talking about the state of those who are not growing in their knowledge of Christ and in their fruitfulness, Peter says, “Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble.” He has chosen those who are in Christ as the group of people He will conform to His Son’s image and give eternal life to. Peter is saying here, “put all of your effort into proving yourselves to be part of this chosen group.” Show in your actions… in your growth and in your fruitfulness, that you belong to Christ… And if you do this, Peter says “you will NEVER stumble…” You will be victorious. You will be rewarded with what you seek!
· we need to be diligent in growing as Christians. We need to put our foot on the gas and never take it off. We need to be dedicated in adding the character traits that are mentioned in verses 5-7 to our faith so we can be more like God and His nature. God is not going to just give us all of these character traits. It will take some effort to grow in these things. Spiritual growth is not a matter that Christians can treat lightly; it is a goal to which we need to give ourselves body and soul, every day of our lives.
THE CHARACTER QUALITIES THAT GOOD SOLDIERS SEEK
· – “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.”
· These are the traits that we need to be making part of our character.
o Moral excellence. Some translations say “virtue.” The same Greek word is used at the end of verse 3 referring to Christ. This is another attribute of God that we can grow in. We need to have a quality of character that stands out; is different; is “excellent” in comparison to those around us.
o Knowledge. This means understanding, correct insight, and truth properly comprehended and applied. For us, this involves pursuing truth in the study of God’s word.
o Self-control. The knowledge we receive from God’s word will show us what we need to be keeping ourselves away from so we can be holy. We need to show self-restraint and self-discipline, controlling the flesh; controlling our passions and desires, rather than allowing ourselves to be controlled by them (cf. ). Our goal is to make God’s Spirit master instead of having our flesh be the master. This is what virtue, guided by knowledge/understanding does. It crucifies the flesh and makes it their servant instead of their master.
o Perseverance. steadfastness (ESV). This is the idea that we have already talked about in our first lesson in this series… Enduring hardship. Fighting through temptation and through trials to be faithful…
o Godliness. To live a life reverently, loyally, and obediently toward God. The godly want to please God in all things and be “god-like.”
o Brotherly Kindness. to have affection towards our brethren. This term is from the Greek word “philadelphia,” literally, a love of the brethren. Showing family love toward one another… cherishing one another as family…
o Love. A dedication towards the well-being of others. Showing good-will and benevolence towards one another.
We see in this character that faith is not enough. Faith must be added to.
CLOSING WARNINGS
· - “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.”
· All of these qualities must be in our lives and INCREASING. We cannot pick and choose which ones we want to aim to have. If it is part of Christ’s character, we need to be working on it! And all of these things describe the character of Christ.
· useless nor unfruitful. What happens if these qualities are not a part of our lives or increasing? Not growing in these things will also make us unfruitful and useless. I believe Peter is calling us back to the Sermon on the Mount here… If these things are not in us and increasing, we are being like the salt that loses its saltiness and is no longer good for anything (). We are the bad tree that is known by it’s fruit ().
· Short-sightedness. How far into the future are we looking? If we are looking towards our reward, we will live differently toward the world and be fruitful. If we are looking at the “here and now,” we will be hindered from being diligent in seeking the character we need to have as soldiers.
· Forgetful. they had forgotten about their being cleansed by God. This is a sobering one… No matter how much you may partake of the Lord’s supper, if your life is not being changed by the knowledge of God, then your actions show that you don’t remember what God has done for you in Christ! You don’t remember His great sacrifice
· An abundant entrance into an eternal reward will be given as a gift to those who live faithful, fruitful lives here on earth as good soldiers of Jesus Christ