Furthering Your Faith-1

*We ran short of time, so I chose to abruptly end with the elucidation of DUE DILIGENCE DONE[:5a-d](:5-7)--“virtue”(as below).*

FURTHERING Your FAITH-I—2Peter 1:5a-d(:5-11)

Attention:

*For your ‘basic’ small boat:

Depending on your particular fishing needs—Fishing the Florida ‘flats’, OR fishing the Pee Dee River, OR Fishing a large pond or swamp, OR Fishing a Deep Water Lake...

You will need to ‘Add’ a Fish-finder; Canopy; 180º steering; Hydraulic anchors; Anchor type needed varies with the bottom encountered; Built-in Coolers & or Freezers; Circulating Bait-box; Circulating Catch-box; Trolling motor or two(with remote); GPS; Rod holders; Rod & Reel storage; Outboard motor(s) specific to your need; Fuel supply; etc.

A ‘basic’ boat is a platform, to which necessities are added, so that the fisherman might catch the desired fish in the desired manner.

Likewise, Christian saving faith, is a ‘basic’ platform, to which Christ-honoring necessities must be added, so that God’s people might be equipped to do the work God desires, in the way He desires.

•Mk. 1:17—Jesus to His potential disciples,—“Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, & I will make you become fishers of men.”

Need:

?Are you satisfied with your walk with Jesus?

?Are you pleased with your working relationship with the Father, the Son, & the Holy Spirit?

Some Christians float around & flounder about like a fish out of water.

•They struggle with their calling & their giftedness.

•They struggle to ‘fit in’ with the church.

•They struggle with using their calling & giftedness outside a church setting—at home or in the ‘work-a-day-world.’

The apostle Peter encouraged the Churches to bolster/strengthen/further support their initial faith in Christ, in order to provide an abundant entrance to God’s kingdom.

God’s people are obligated to further their faith.

Here Peter answers the question:

?What does ‘Furthering Your Faith’ involve or entail?...OR...

?What does it mean to ‘Further Your Faith’?

We will begin examining:

4 factors for Furthering Your Faith.

1—Furthering Your Faith involves...

DUE DILIGENCE DONE(:5-7)

Explanation:(:5-7)

:5—“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,”

:6—“to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,”

:7—“to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.

:5a—“But also for this very reason,...”

“For” WHAT “very reason” are we to focus “all diligence” in “adding to” our “faith”?...

...“For” the “reason(s)” that were stated previously in :3-4... That God has seen fit to have “given” His people—saved by grace thru faith—“all things that pertain to life & godliness”, etc.

•The very last reference of verse :4, is that believers are “partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

Thru our relationship with God eternally established by “faith”, we have the indwelling Holy Spirit, ever available to guide us in all things of God.

And so, by our being “partakers of the divine nature”, we “escape” the “corruption” of the world in which we are immersed(:4).

But avoiding that “corruption” is not ‘bestowed upon’ you & me! It is instead a ‘work’ of your permission or ‘allowance’! You, by faith, must ‘allow’ & grant permission to the Spirit of God to interrupt the pull/enticement/tug/influence of worldly “corruption.”

:5b—“...giving all diligence...”

It is ESSENTIAL for you to apply(“give”) “all diligence” toward maintaining & nurturing your relationship with God. Nurturing that relationship is vital for you to reach the spiritual potential God has designed for you!

Mk. 12:29-31—Jesus’ answer to a scribe who asked,“Which is the first commandment of all?”—“Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. ‘And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, & with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.””

This Greek word translated as “diligence” in English, also carries with it a nuance of ‘speed’ or ‘haste’ in bringing about the intended action—“Adding to.” So it is important to NOT ‘put off’ or procrastinate in our being “diligent.”

“Diligence/Effort”(See :10, 15—spoudazw)—spoudh—Noun Accusative Sing. Fem.—1) Haste, with haste; 2) Earnestness, diligence—2a) Earnestness in accomplishing, promoting, or striving after anything, 2b) To give all diligence, interest one's self most earnestly. Strong—“Speed”, i.e. by implication--Dispatch, eagerness, earnestness. Used 12X.?From—speudw—To “speed”(“study”), i.e. Urge on(diligently or earnestly); by implication--To await eagerly.

However, “Diligence” can be easily short-circuited! “Diligence” can be short-circuited by: ‘INATTENTION’ to the goal, or, said another way, personal “diligence” can be short-circuited, by allowing ANYTHING OTHER-THAN God’s goals to become YOUR goal.

Js. 1:14-18—“But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires & enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; & sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift & every perfect gift is from above, & comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.”