Add it up II

"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

We left off by looking at three of the seven qualities that Peter gives us in order to avoid being "useless" and "unfruitful" in the CWL. As we discussed Saturday, the first three qualities are the application phase of the "Faith Cycle." If we apply these first three qualities, God will complete the last four. So let's go ahead and look at the last four.


"(vs. 6b) and in your self-control, PERSEVERANCE, and in your perseverance, GODLINESS, (vs. 7) and in your godliness, BROTHERLY KINDNESS, and in your brotherly kindness, LOVE. "

4. PERSEVERANCE --- The Greek word Peter uses here is hupomone. It means a "steadfastness" or "constancy." Perseverance in practice is actually nothing more than constantly maintaining self control until it becomes a habitual action. If we are constantly maintaning self control in the individual situations we encounter everyday (3rd quality), through the application of knowledge we have taken in (2nd quality), on the foundation of virtue (1st quality), perseverance is the result. The result of perseverance is;

5. GODLINESS --- The word used here, eusebeia, actually means "reverence" or "respect." Because God allows us to persevere, we begin to grow deeper in our relationship with Him. Only through the truth of God's Word can we develop Godliness. After maintaning self control we are left with nothing except reliance upon God to honor His Word that we can persevere. "All our cards are on the table with no Ace left in the hole" as Garth Brooks would say. We have consistently maintained self control, through the application of knowledge, resulting in perseverance, exactly as God promised us. Because of perseverance we develop and grow deeper in our "reverence" for Him at this point because we have lived experientally in the truth of His promises. God's promises are no longer simply words on a page, or static "gnosis" in our brain (or left lobe for you Thieme fans), they are concrete examples of His faithfulness in our lives. This brings us to love.

In the Greek language there are four different words for love. Two of them are used in our subject verse. The greatest commandment, according to Jesus in Lk. 10:27 is "to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." Jesus was quoting here from Deut. 6:5. This word translated "love" here is "agape," which is the same word used for the final quality in our subject verse. It means to love unconditionally. According to Peter, the only way to get there is to follow this path all the way from virtue through brotherly love, or "philos". So lets look at the difference between the last two qualities, both of which mean "love."

6. BROTHERLY LOVE --- The word here is philadelphia, which means "fraternal affection." We are commanded to love others in this way in Rom. 12:10, which says "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love..." Only when we have Godliness can we begin to see others the same way God sees them. Philos love is the first step in loving others as God loves them, but God does not stop us here. Though this love may feel pure, it is not love in its highest form and pales in comparison to the final quality, which is;

7. LOVE --- The final quality, as we have already briefly mentioned, is in the Greek agape. This means to love unconditionally. The prefix "aga" is also used in the word "agathos" from Romans 8:28, which says "God works all things together for the good", where good actually means "ultimate good." AGApe is "ULTIMATE LOVE. " It is the highest of all love, and the only way it is possible for us to give others agape love is because God first bestowed it upon us, and we realize that love through accepting His free gift of salvation. Unbelievers simply don't realize that love because they reject it. You can't give something you don't have. On a side note (thanks to a conversation I had with Jeff tonight), this is why it is IMPOSSIBLE for unbelievers to love unconditionally...at least according to the inerrant, infallible Word of God!
Because God is unconditional love (1 Jn. 4:8), it is only through His grace that we can give unconditional love. And our goal in the CWL is to be able to love everyone this way. This does not come natural to fallen man, but it is a quality that is given by God to the spiritually advancing Christian through the filling ministry of the Holy Spirit. There is no way we can give this kind of love on our own, no application on our part will work. It is only through allowing God to complete this part of the "Faith Cycle" in our lives that it is possible.

So there it is! ("Hmm, finally!" you say) Follow these steps and you are guaranteed victory in the CWL. The only way to win the world for Christ is to show them the kind of love that God has first shown us. This is our only reason for being here. (I have to remind myself of that everyday when I walk into work.) Buck and Jeff will be with you the rest of the week, so I'll see ya'll on Saturday. I'm planning on going Old Testament...Spirit willing of course.