Making Every Effort
Pastor's Pondering #5
If you’re a believer in Jesus Christ who has been born-again and taken out of the domain of darkness and transferred into the Kingdom of His Beloved Son, God has done something great in you.
Sometimes, we can lose sight of this.
As Christians, we’re all certain that we’re still imperfect. We still sin. We’ve got a long way to go, and we dwell on these things often. In conversation and behind the pulpit we hear of our continual imperfections.
These things are true.
We want to take heed of our own sinfulness left we fall (1 Cor. 10:12). Likewise, there is no condemnation for those in Christ (Rom. 8:1) and this should bring us hope and keep us from growing discouraged along the journey.
Yet, I believe at times in our overemphasis of these truths we forget the other side of the coin: that God has wrought a change in us.
The Apostle Peter, in 2 Peter 1, shares an incredibly powerful, and oft-overlooked truth of the Christian life,
“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 sinful desire” (2 Pet. 1:3-4).
According to Peter, under inspiration, everything that we need for a godly life has been graciously given to us by God. Now, obviously, this is post-salvation. For those who don’t know Christ it is true that no one does good and that as a result all are condemned.
However, for those who have been born-again, God has done a supernatural work within, whereby He’s given to us, through His divine power, everything we need for life and godliness (a God-pleasing life).
As a believer in Jesus Christ, yes, you’ll still be imperfect, but that knowledge shouldn’t cause us to wallow in patterns of sinfulness and to never grow. The general trajectory of the Christian life should be one of growing Christlikeness over time.
For Peter says that we’ve been made partakers of the divine nature.
Now, this doesn’t mean that we become gods. However, it does mean that we have a share in God, reflecting Him as His redeemed image-bearers.
Bible scholar Peter Davids, writes,
“The character of the divine nature must also be ethical and not simply another way of indicating immortality.”[1]
In essence, we become more like Him. We grow into the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29). This is the fruit of one who is truly a Christian and it can happen because we have a new God-given potential as His redeemed people.
Many months ago, I was introduced to a television show that focused on the intense training practices of a branch of our military.
I don’t remember the name of the show, many of the details, or even which branch it involved. Nevertheless, I remember some of the things they were tasked with doing.
One session, they were to jump into a pool with their hands tied behind their back and their feet tied together. They had to swim like this, and eventually they had to bob their way down and pick up, I believe it was a pair of goggles, off the bottom of the pool. They might have also been blindfolded. The task was to do all of this without breaking the bands that held their feet or arms together.
It sounded like sure panic to me. It was a perplexing show to watch. I couldn’t believe human beings were capable of what I was watching them do.
Likewise, after recently finishing my first longer trail race of 17 miles, I am all the more amazed at those who do ultramarathons that are 200 or even 300 miles long. I’ve followed many of these people on social media and been inspired by their stories. I knew it was hard, running is hard, but I recently found out how much trail running is an entirely different animal. I can’t believe human beings are capable of doing that.
Yet, what remains true in all of these instances is that the people that are accomplishing these amazing feats are human just like us.
As such, we have the potential to be like them, for we are likewise human.
Now, I understand that genetics does play a role. Everyone is built differently with different strengths, weaknesses, and body shapes. Someone that is 5’0” tall will certainly have different capabilities than someone who is 6’6” tall. At times it will be a benefit, at others a detriment. Yet, in each case we’re all just as human as each other. We all have the potential to do those incredibly hard feats with the right training. The primary difference between us and them isn’t genetics, but rather lifestyle.
We all have potential, yet some use it and some don’t.
Now, let’s look back at what Peter is saying.
He is showing us that as new covenant believers in Jesus we have the potential to live a God-pleasing life. That is, now that you’ve been given the will and power to do what pleases Him (Phil. 2:13) you can actually walk in a way that is pleasing to God.
Again, you’ll still have sin that needs forgiving, but at the same time you have the potential to actually grow in your personal holiness in a way that reflects your Creator more tomorrow, or next week, than you did today.
Sometimes in our emphasis of imperfection we lose sight of this.
Peter begins by showcasing that there is great potential that believers in Jesus now have, as a gift of God’s grace. In light of this, he admonishes,
“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. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 1:5-11).
Since you now have this newfound potential in Christ, make every effort, Peter says.
Be intentional. Grow. Add these virtues to your life. Don’t just sit on your hands, living your life in neutral, and bemoaning how you’ll always be imperfect. He’s opened the door for you to have a participation in the divine nature and has granted you everything you need for life and godliness.
The question is: Will you use it? Will you live up to your new God-given potential to grow into the image of Christ?
These qualities keep you from being unfruitful (v8) and they are the proof that is in the pudding that you are part of the people of God (v10-11). As James said, “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (Jas. 2:17).
These qualities don’t make us right with God. Grace is the root, but these virtues are the fruit. They are the decisive proof of one who has been redeemed.
So, perhaps we ought to be diligent in looking over some of the virtue lists in the New Testament and seeing where our life is out of whack and then, in response, we make every effort to grow in a certain area.
We’re all comfortable noting that we’ve got growing to do, but are we willing to get uncomfortable and actually grow?
[1] Peter H. Davids, The Letters of 2 Peter and Jude, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 2006), 176.