Add it up I

"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" --- 2 Pet. 1:8

"Useless" and "unfruitful" are two adjectives that we should never want our name to be associated with. Why participate in an activity if you are not going to contribute? The truth is, if we are not positively contributing then we are a hindrance to those who are. Like it or not, we are all participants in the Angelic Conflict.

The phrase "if these qualities" in this verse should be a flashing neon sign for us. It points us to the qualities that we must have in order to avoid being "useless" and "unfruitful." There are seven qualities that Peter gives us, three of them require application on our part and the other four are results of continuous application of the first three. This is the "Faith Cycle" at its finest. Because this is such a lengthy subject, we will use two lessons to cover it. The second lesson will be on Monday. So let's back up and examine the first 3 qualities.

(vs. 5) "But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith VIRTUE, to virtue KNOWLEDGE, (vs. 6) to knowledge SELF CONTROL..."

As always, with everything in the Christian Way of Life (CWL), the first command we are given is to be "diligent." Diligence in the CWL is a requirement if we want to press on to maturity. The seven qualities cannot be obtained without diligence. So that is step #1. Through this diligence, Peter is telling us, in the Greek literally "in your faith provide; to bring in by the side of" the following qualities. Each of these qualities are built through the development of the previous one. It's like climbing a ladder. The goal is to reach the top, but to get there you must go up one rung at a time. Only after stepping on the first rung can you go to the next one.

1. VIRTUE --- In the Greek this word (arete) means "a virtuous course of thought" and is translated in English as "virtue." Virtue is defined by Webster as "conformity to a standard of right." Morality has no relativity, we have an absolute standard to go by. We must make a conscious decision to conform to the standard that Jesus set for us. At the point of salvation we are "new creatures" in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). We have the standard, but we must choose to conform to it. IF we choose to provide virtue, then we must provide...

2. KNOWLEDGE --- Ignorance is the absence of the knowledge of God. All knowledge worthy of knowing is that of knowing God. Many times throughout scripture we are told to "seek" God. This means we are to actively pursue Him,and this takes effort on our part. I didn't actually get to know, to be knowledgable about, the members of CrossWord until I physically spent time conversing with them individually. Now I know them better than I want to (just kidding). It is the same with God. We cannot know God unless we spend time with Him. Again, this is a decision we must make on a daily basis to study His Word. IF we provide knowledge, then we must provide...

3. SELF CONTROL --- Only through the knowledge of God, the knowing of His Word, can we have self control. Self control comes through taking the knowledge we have and applying it to individual situations we encounter during our daily walk. It's making decisions that are consistent with the standard that Jesus has set for us. Knowledge itself is a great to have, but without the application of that knowledge it is "useless" and "unfruitful" in the CWL.

Knowledge without application is like the membership I have to SportsFirst. I have the membership card on my key ring, which allows me access to their facilities, but unless I actually go to SportsFirst and work out, I am not utilizing what that card has to offer me. Thats the only reason I have the card. Just having the membership does me no good, and that $47.00 magically disappears from my checking account every month. Dang, now I gotta go work out because I'm convicted of being "unfruitful".

It is important to note that these qualities must be "increasing," which they will be as long as we are advancing. In other words, the more we press on to maturity, the more we will find these qualities being evident in our lives.

We will examine the next four qualities on Monday. I hope I didn't scare you off today because this is the hard part. This is the "applying" portion of the "Faith Cycle." The last step in the Cycle, "Allowing God to Complete" will be next. If you properly develop these first three, the next four will automatically become evident.