Walking Closer With Jesus: Doing My Part!
Notes
Transcript
Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge,
and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness,
and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.
I will be passionate!
I will put in the work!
I am convinced!
With
I will not accept mediocrity
I will seek deeper understanding and make the right judments
I will not give in
Endurance
Devotion
Family affection
Sacrificial affection
I will be passionate
Peter transitions in this verse to give exhortation to these Christians to make a personal effort to exhibit a life which reflects or manifests the nature of Christ. Please understand that Peter is not about to teach a works righteousness or justification. That being how Christians can be saved by their own efforts. No, because his following exhortation is grounded in the grace of GOD which he previously explained in verse 3-4, or in other words God’s gifts for our journey. The actions shown in verse 3-4 are all divine actions, but in verse 5 Peter now turns his attention to the actions believers, Christians, or disciples of Christ must take in our journey with Jesus. How do we know Peter is grounding our actions in GOD’s grace, because of “Now for this very reason also”. Well what is the first action Christians should focus on? Getting more serious.
This is a circumstantial verb, that meaning Peter expects for this condition of mind to drive the rest of his instruction. Applying means to bring something to operation or effect for a purpose, and diligence means eagerness, to get intensely involved, or have excited fervor to do a thing. Combining these thoughts, that means that Peter expects for these Christians to fully flip the switch of their determination to be involved. In other words, it’s time to get serious and an put a move on now!
Ex. Turning the faucet on. If the lever or knob is barely or a quarter lifted or turned, water will not come out in its full energetic capacity.
Application: Since this is connected with grace, that means grace should motivate me. Once grace motivates us, it should drive how intensely we follow these commands. Paul says of the Church’s character in Ro 12:11, that we shouldn’t be lacking in diligence, or our enthusiasm. So when it comes to living how God wants, we should be fully enthusiastic, serious, and energetic.
I will put in the work!
Well Peter, what is it that you want these Christians to be so serious and eager and passionate about? Peter says to supply, which means to give something useful or necessary. He uses a word that in the Greek times described a rich individual called a choregos, who paid the expenses of a chorus in drama festivals. Then that individual would join the poet and state in arranging the plays. So the word came to mean generous and costly co-operation. So what Peter is saying is that Christians must make effort to co-operate with the provisions of GOD in the production or choreography of a Christ-like life or character!!
Application: Listen, a closer walk with Christ and manifesting his character is not a passive automatic process. In other words, it is not God’s plan to do all the work to move us to live like Jesus and draw closer to him. He did all of the work through his grace to offer salvation at no cost, and give us all the resources in Christ to live out his nature. But based on all that he has provided, he wants us to put some work in and co-operate with what he has done and is doing for our lives!! And when I get serious and start co-operating with GOD, that’s when my character will truly begin to change, and what Paul says in Php 2:12-13 that GOD is doing a work in me!! This might be difficult for some of us to grasp, so let me help us by seeing the opposite. In our former spiritual status, we co-operated with the lies of satan. Contrary to what many think and say, he doesn’t make us do anything. Think of the garden, Adam and Eve, bought in to the lie and then they co-operated with the deception of satan. They put in the work. As a result, they were punished. If they didn’t do their part, then how could God be just in punishing them?!? So likewise, GOD has blessed us with his grace, on such a grand level. We need to do our part through his Spirit, by co-operating with GOD to live the lives he has enabled us to live.
I am convinced!
Now in co-operating with GOD for the production of the tune of my life, it is interesting that Peter mentions 7 features to supply. For my musicians, when you add 7 notes, that forms an octave in a scale. “Do, Re, Me, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do!!” Peter is communicating the push, determination, and seriousness Christians must have, but where do they start. The prepositional phrase starting with “in” indicates there’s direction provided for the actions Peter expects them to take. Well where is that they start, it is with their faith. Faith being the trust and strong reliance on GOD, also including faithfulness to GOD.
Application: The entire journey with Christ begins with trusting in him. John says in John 1:12 “But as many as received him, he gave the right to become the children of GOD, those believing in his name”. Therefore faith is the foundation, or it is the root note of the scale to the tune of my Christlike living. Without faith, nothing in this passage or even in the message I’m preaching makes sense. For if we truly want to walk closer with the divine, and be more like Christ, it absolutely requires a pure and strong conviction that Jesus is. He is the son of GOD. His origin is from heaven and he is eternal just like his father. I must be fully convicted that he assumed the flesh of a human. I must believe that he lived, and then gave his life for the sins of humanity, but then came back to life on the third day. I must believe that he sits on the right side of GOD in glory. I must be convicted that he is going to return again to judge the entire existence of humanity. I must trust that his life, death, and resurrection provided forgiveness for sins, right standing with GOD, and secured a hope for me to eternally, because I believe in his name!! Some of us might need to examine our faith and be sure we are still convicted and convinced of the truth about Jesus the anointed one of GOD!! Because without sincere faith, nothing Peter continues to speak will make sense for your life.
With
I will not accept mediocrity
Peter expects this to be part of our effort. It is moral excellence. This is a rare word for the Apostle’s writings, but it was known with Greek writers. When they mentioned the excellence of something, it was the proper fulfillment of anything. i.e. The excellence of a: knife is to cut; cell phone service is not cut out; football team is to win. So when humanity is considered, from a behavioral and character standpoint, it is demonstrating one knows right from wrong. Choosing good and refusing evil is a sign of excellence in morality.
Application: In our effort to produce a Christ-like life, I’ve gotta show that I know right from wrong and choose what’s right. To demonstrate different would assume that I am not an adult, for GOD shows that in Deut 1:39 speaking of children. But knowing the grace of GOD upon my life, that demands that I see wrong for what it is and embrace what’s right. And I ought to be striving to show some excellence about myself. Which is the proper fulfillment of being a man. Be cautious, because this involves the idea of achievement. But it is not achieving that which man has set the standard to be recognized by humans. Rather it is moving off the excellence of Christ, to live an excellent life. Some of us know we’re living a C or D life in God’s sight, and it’s ok with us. No No. This would be like the parable of the talents, where one hid his one talent, rather than being excellent with it. He was the only one the master didn’t say “Well done”. Jesus didn’t live a mediocre life. No No. When God spoke from heaven, this is my son in whom I am “well pleased”. James Brown said “like a dull knife that just ain’t cuttin, talkin loud and sayin nothing”. We don’t want to walk with Christ where we ain’t saying nothing. No, let you light SHINE, so that men might observe and glorify GOD. Why, because it is his excellence that enables me to excel. At work, home, church, life, etc.
I will seek deeper understanding and make the right judgments
Peter then says knowledge. Now this is a different word than what’s in verse 2 and 3, though they are very related. This is the idea of insight, understanding, and wisdom which leads to action. In other words, it is the type of insight that leads to right decisions. It is the understanding of God’s character that influences my behavior. And because I believe everything about GOD is true and am convinced, what I know about him impacts my life to where I am able to perceive, recognize, and distinguish what’s what.
Application: One thing about understanding more about Jesus, is that you and I learn how to recognize and distinguish what’s what in our lives. That means I must strive to learn at the feet of Jesus so I am not led astray by every wind of teaching and circumstance. Jesus confronted the Pharisees for their lack of spiritual insight, they could determine what the weather would do, but they couldn’t figure out what GOD was doing in Jesus. We must make effort to be insightful by our understanding of and through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. He told the apostles about the days of desolation coming, saying I have told you beforehand, why, so you don’t make foolish judgments about what folk are saying. Similar to this pandemic, people make all kinds of opinions about what this time means. Well when we have understanding of GOD, Christ, and their character, because of our status in them we are not terrified, however we also know that each mention of pestilence in the bible, has always been a tool of God’s judgment or testing upon groups or all humanity. Is it the end? We don’t know, because I know what Jesus said, nobody knows when the end is. Nonetheless it is a time we should not despise or dismiss, because it is one of God’s methods to invite folk back to him. I’m using this as an example to see the importance of striving to have knowledge for insight in our lives. This is why Paul would say be transformed in our minds so we will prove what God’s will is.
I will not give in
The next feature of God’s nature that Peter’s audience must exert themselves to include in their character is self-control. This is another term well known in Greek writings. What helps to understand it is understanding the antonyms or the opposite word that were used. That was pleasure and self-indulgence. The meant being given to anything that pleased the flesh, usually in the sexual and feasting category. Thus self-control meant not being ruled by desires for pleasure.
Application: Do we right now recognize what desires control us? It should be understood that whatever desires we are slaves to, they control us. Listen, because of God’s grace in Christ, we have been rescued, Amen! But because of such tremendous grace, we should be making strong effort to not give in to those desires that we have, by the power of GOD. The Spirit is at odds with our flesh. Watch this, and the Spirit of GOD is greater!! That means we don’t have to!!! Tell ourselves, I don’t have to! Tell ourselves, you no longer run my life! Tell ourselves, the Spirit of GOD is stronger!
I will not give up
I will treat GOD appropriately
Family affection
Sacrificial affection