Living Faith Completed With Virtue Series

The Enlargement of Life

Living Faith Completed with Virtue.

Reading: 2.Peter.1:1-11

There is in the scriptures an assumption made and portrayed, that anyone who is born again of the Spirit of God on the basis of the atoning work of Jesus, that that person has the very power of God to live a life of godliness. This is not a life that is some unproductive barren wasteland, but a life that is full of His richness and fruitfulness. The reverse of this is also true, that were we fail to apply and live in the light of His Word and Spirit’s direction, we find ourselves being driven into ungodliness and unrighteous that is of the corruption of this world.

The promises of our Lord are all conditional upon the abiding in Christ and the continual application of what He says to us. There is verse 3 we have the bold and authoritative statement that we have been given "His divine power," so that we might live this life of godliness. God is not leaving us here on earth to struggle through, where we permit Him too, He will come to enable and empower us to be the best that He designed us to be. His promises when correctly applied and worked out lead us into greater dimensions of partaking in His divine nature. In this we find the release and escape from the corrupting lust that is in the world.

It is for this reason that Peter tells us that we are to with all painstaking effort, to be studious in adding to your faith, virtue. The fact that you have entered into the New Birth through Jesus, means that you have faith, what is now being called for is the channeling, the disciplining and application of that faith. This is to prevent us from being people who are tossed too and throw by what ever wind of doctrine, or by what ever may catch our attention, but in reality is nothing more than some passing distraction that will lead us away from His purpose and destiny that He has for us. It might at first seem to be right, but it soon starts to diverge from the way that your Lord has for you, so little by little there is the drawing into what you would never have even thought of partaking in at first. In fact all so often you find yourself doing thing you were so fervently opposed too.

So we are told to add to our faith VIRTUE. This word is used in two ways in the epistles of Peter. In 1.Peter.2:9 we find this word translated either "Excellencies or Praises." Add to your faith the very thing that has the highest pre-eminent estimation in your life. Add to your faith the Excellencies and Praises of God, add to your faith the things that are worthy of such. Contained within this is the old fashioned meaning of the word i.e. moral excellence. This is where virtue is enjoyed as an essential quality in the exercise of faith. In the R.V. this text is translated; "in your faith supply virtue." In your life in Jesus Christ you have come into a holy, pure, righteous Kingdom, which is that way because it’s King is that way, in His nature and being. He then in turn gives to His people His Divine Nature and Power, so that not only are we able to take up our position with Christ, but also so that we can live a life that is morally spotless and pure. Why? Because we are living out His life and not ours!

Now we do from time to time, because of our giving out find ourselves in a drained condition. If we arrived at this position because of some form of Spiritual exercise, there is nothing particularly wrong with this, provided we do not stay in that condition but return to the font of our life and be refreshed and refilled. However these times of being drained because of the giving out, can be times when there is a sense of terrible loneliness. This can be a very dangerous time because we have been created with the basic desire to be wanted and loved, this I believe is a God created desire within us. Now when this giving out has taken place and the natural result is this draining which leaves us with an area of emptiness. This we want to fill, because we don’t like feeling lonely, we have been created to love and be loved. Unless we are constantly adding to our Faith the Moral Praise Worthy Excellence of our God, then the draw of the sensual feelings that comes at such a time to many, will result in sinful gratification of that sensual desire, simply because we want to fill that emptiness caused by that giving out. There are other manifestations of this drained condition, such as the wanting to quit, like Elijah.