And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to others; the good news — our tickets to participate in the life of God after we've turned our backs on a world corrupted by the pride of life, the lust of the eye and the flesh.
Ø Virtue {Moral Excellence}.
Of all the attributes listed by Peter in the above text, this one is by far the most difficult one to grasp. It is defined as behavior showing high moral standards; the quality of being morally good. In light of the bible, it is defined as an habitual and firm disposition to do good. The meaning begins to come into focus more clearly through these scriptures:
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. (Philippians 4:8).
Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence (2 Peter 1:3 )
The bible version of 'virtue' most often refers to a characteristic or quality of God. In the book of Isaiah, it’s referred to as that for which God is praised or praiseworthy. For example, in Isaiah 42:8 and 12, It’s an expression poetically paralleled with the glory of God. God’s glory is His virtue; His excellencies, for which He is worthy of praise.
No wonder Apostle Paul instructs the Philippians to set their minds on that which is both “excellent” and “worthy of praise” (Philippians 4:8).
If His excellencies are a part of God’s nature – and they are, and His glory for which men should praise Him, then we must understand that the condition of mankind is exactly the opposite:
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).
Man, in our sinful state, refuses to give glory to God, deifying our self instead:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper (Romans 1:18-28).
God revealed His nature, His divine power and glory to sinful men, but they refused to give glory to Him. Instead of worshipping God the Creator, they worshipped created things. Instead of believing the truth, they believed a lie. As a consequence of their sin, God gave them over to a depraved mind so they could no longer grasp the truth. If not for God's divine grace and intervention, we would be; just as they were, hopelessly lost.
The good news: God did act. He sought out sinful men and gave them faith in His Son. He enabled them to become partakers of His divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). Since a part of this nature is His “own glory and excellence” (vs 3), It’s little wonder this should become a part of our character as well. The “moral excellence” we are to “add” to our faith is the excellence of God’s nature, which He makes available to us in Christ. We are to “add” it to our faith by acknowledging it as good, as desirable, as worthy of praise, and as that which we wish to emulate (in this case, follow or imitate) in our own lives.
But why does excellence precede knowledge? We can understand this in light of Romans 1. Sinful men rejected the glory of God and established their own glory. As a result, they were darkened in their minds, unable to grasp divine revelation and truth.
As a result of our salvation, we are now able to recognize the excellences of our Lord and regard His excellences as worthy of praise, embracing them as qualities we desire in our own life. When we embrace the excellence of God’s nature, we’re then able to grasp the knowledge which comes next in the list of characteristics. The apostle Paul puts it this way:
This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. (Ephesians 4:17-24) (also see Ephesians 1:13-23).
To embrace the excellences of God [virtue] is to strive after it and then to express it in our lives to the glory and praise of God. Remember this:
We are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR [God’s] OWN POSSESSION, that we may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9)
Embracing and pursuing the excellences of God means having the spirit of mind which exalts the Word of God and explores the Word for the knowledge of Him who saved us.
In this way, we can see how “virtue” or “excellence” precedes “knowledge.”
If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. (John 7:17)
In summation, the excellence or virtue of God is His glorious nature, which is our ultimate good, and we should pursue as the goal of our character to the praise and glory of God. Doing so produces a mindset receptive to the knowledge of God revealed through the Scriptures.
So, we are told to our faith, add virtue and to virtue, add knowledge.
Ø Knowledge
In our former state as unbelievers, we were not knowledgeable; we were ignorant:
As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: (1 Peter 1:14)
This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Ephesians 4:17-18
The solution to our ignorance is having our minds transformed with the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, knowledge which comes from the Scriptures:
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. John 17:17
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:1-2; (also see Ephesians 4:17-24; Colossians 1:9-11)
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. (1 Corinthians 2:12)
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: Ephesians 1:17)
This is a doctrinal knowledge, a knowledge revealed in Scripture with clear biblical support. While it must be a doctrinal knowledge revealed in Scripture, it is also an experiential knowledge of God. This experience is not divorced from Scripture; rather, it is the experiencing of Scripture. The writer to the Hebrews puts it this way:
For though by this time you ought to be teachers [because of the time you have had to learn these truths], you actually need someone to teach you again the elementary principles of God’s word [from the beginning], and you have come to be continually in need of milk, not solid food. For everyone who lives on milk is [doctrinally inexperienced and] unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a spiritual infant. 14 But solid food is for the [spiritually] mature, whose senses are trained by practice to distinguish between what is morally good and what is evil. (Hebrews 5:12-14)
We need knowledge to walk worthily of the vocation of which we have been called. Apostle Paul writes:
For this reason also, since the day we heard [of it], we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please [Him] in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light (Colossians 1:9-12)
This “knowledge” must also be understood as contrasting and contradicting the false knowledge of the false teachers who would undermine both the truth and the faith of the saints if they could. The bible tells us:
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep…
. . . These are springs without water, and mists driven by a
storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved. For speaking out arrogant words of vanity
they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the
ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves
of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. (2
Peter 2:1-3 & 17-19).
Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, 15 and regard the patience of our Lord to be salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard lest, being carried away by the error of unprincipled men, you fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen (2 Peter 3:14-18).
The knowledge of God is essential to our growth in kingdom character and our ability to recognize and avoid those who teach what is false.
Ø Temperance
Another word for temperance
is self-control. The term rendered “self-control” means literally “to take a grip
of oneself.” Self-control is the opposite of
self-indulgence. As unbelievers, we are dominated by our physical appetites,
enslaved as we are to them:
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest (Ephesians 2:1-3)
But we have been delivered from our bondage to the flesh:
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone [as] slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. Romans 6:15-18 (also see Romans 8:12-13)
Living a godly life requires us to master the flesh and make it our servant, rather than our master:
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but [only] one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. And everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then [do it] to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).
Sin uses the flesh to keep us in bondage (Romans 7:14-21). Satan and the world encourage us to live according to the flesh. But being a child of God requires that we live no longer for the flesh or in the power of the flesh. Our flesh still has a strong attraction, as Paul’s words in Romans 7 and our own experience make painfully clear. Only by God’s grace can we overrule fleshly lusts, and because of His provisions, we must diligently strive to do so. The prompting of the flesh must be brought under control, and we are to heed the prompting of the Spirit of God, as He speaks through the Word of God (also see Romans 8:1-8; 1 Corinthians 2:1-16; 3:16-17; 4:6).
False teachers appeal to fleshly lusts. They gather a following by proclaiming a gospel which indulges the flesh rather than crucifying it:
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. . . 2 Peter 2:1-3,
then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties, whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord. But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, as they carouse with you, having eyes full of adultery and that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children; . . . 2 Peter 2:9-14,
For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. 2 Peter 2:18-19
Such false teaching is not
uncommon in the pulpit today. The “good-life gospeleers” offer a different
gospel than the apostles. Rather than proclaim a gospel which involves
suffering and self-denial, they proclaim a “better” gospel of self-indulgence
and success in life. They promise that those who possess enough faith can
escape suffering and adversity and be guaranteed peace and prosperity. They
promise that when one gives a little, one may be assured of receiving much more
in return. These rewards are not looked for in heaven as much as on earth, now. The gospel of the apostles was very
different:
But some days later, Felix arrived with Drusilla, his wife who was a Jewess, and sent for Paul, and heard him [speak] about faith in Christ Jesus. And as he was discussing righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix became frightened and said, “Go away for the present, and when I find time, I will summon you” (Acts 24:24-25)
Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, Envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)
Let us not dilute the gospel to make it attractive to men by appealing to their fleshly lusts.
We must be able through our faith, virtue, knowledge and self-control over all ungodliness to proclaim the message of the gospel in its fullness and its simplicity; knowing that only through the Spirit of God are men enabled to grasp the truth of the gospel and quickened to do so. Scriptural reference:
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