*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.”
:5c—“...add to your faith...”
It is up to the individual believer to ‘put forth their best effort’(“giving all diligence”) empowered thru Christ, in “adding”, ‘supplying’, & ‘furnishing’ some needed aspects “to” their “faith.”
A ‘list’ of intended ‘furnishings’(“additions”) to our “faith” begins here(:5b) & continues thru verse :7. This so-called ‘list’ of “additions” to our “faith” is NOT one that we are expected to RANDOMLY pick-&-choose from, to the exclusion of others.
**These “additions” to your “faith” reveal a cascading & layering, & fulfilling & intensifying effect of godly spiritual strengths, each “adding” a needed element to an individual’s “faith.”*
**Each element is “added” to the other, so that the Christian’s “faith” will become consistent, & overwhelmingly full & whole, to the extent that their “faith” becomes a source of encouragement for both the believer, as well as for those who encounter that fullness of “faith.”*
*God has designed, & is obviously pleased with, & desires every Christian to be equipped with a strong “faith” that consists of all these elements & then some!
This doesn’t seem to be an ‘exhaustive’ list of “additions” to Christian “faith.” BUT all these elements ARE characteristic of STRONG Christian “faith.”
*To be LACKING in any of these “additions” to Christian “faith” may still be ‘saving’ faith. HOWEVER, Christian “faith” that is LACKING in any of these “additions”, is a ‘saving’ faith that has willingly turned away from a full relationship with God!
1Cor. 3:11-15—“For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; & the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”
*The RESULT of the combination of all these “additions”, furnishings, or elements is stated in verse :8.
•The RESULT of NOT including these “additions” is shown to us in verse :9.
•The practical take-away or application of these spiritual strengths is stated in verses :10-11.
Consider the exhortations in verses :5-7, to furnish or “add to” your saving “faith.”...
*In that regard, ‘saving’ “faith” should be envisioned as a ‘beginning point’, as a ‘jumping-off point’, as a ‘roughed-in room’, as a ‘framework’, & as a ‘foundation’ for something else.
**“Faith” that saves your soul from hell, is just the ‘beginning point’ of a much more intentional & complex work of God in your life.* God has an intended fullness for “faith’s” operation.
1Cor. 3:1-3—“And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk & not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, & even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, & divisions among you, are you not carnal & behaving like mere men?”
Heb. 5:12-14—“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; & you have come to need milk & not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good & evil.”
Your saving Christian “faith” then, is expected to be deliberately & intentionally supplied, fitted, filled, & furnished with that which is necessary, for you to ascribe & bring God the fullness of honor & praise that’s due Him...Not just in corporate worship as here, but for His honor & praise in every aspect of your faith-life.
“Add to/Supply/Supplement”(See :11)—epicorhgew—1Aorist Active Imperative 2nd Plural—1)To supply, furnish, present; 2)To be supplied, ministered to, assisted. Strong—To furnish besides, i.e. Fully supply, figuratively--Aid or contribute. Used 5X--2Cor. 9:10; Gal. 3:5; Col. 2:19; 2Pet. 1:5, 11.?English=‘To choreograph’(intensified per epi).?From—epi—properly meaning--Superimposition(of time, place, order, etc.), as a relation of distribution [with the genitive case], i.e. Over, upon, etc.; of rest(with the det.) At, on, etc.; of direction(with the accusative case)--Towards, upon, etc.—&—corhgew—To be a dance-leader, i.e. generally--To furnish; English=‘To choreograph’.
:5d—“...add to your faith virtue,...”
The believer’s “faith” is to be fleshed-out, bolstered, tempered, & strengthened by “virtue.”
*Without certain elements/furnishings(:5-7) saving “faith” is merely saving “faith.”
•Without certain elements/furnishings saving “faith” remains in a fledgling stage, whereas it should be growing.
The first of the vital furnishings for “faith” is to be—in Peter’s apostolic wisdom—“virtue.”
“Virtue” is a word meaning, ‘moral excellence.’(See :3)
•Two English definitions of ‘morality’ are:
1)“Principles concerning the distinction between right & wrong or good & bad behavior.”
&:
2)“A particular system of values & principles of conduct, especially one held by a specified person or society.”
*So for our use here, “virtue” or ‘moral excellence’ is “a particular system of values & principles of conduct” that GOD has determined!
•‘Moral excellence’ or “virtue” is determined by means of:
1)A person’s relationship with Christ, as THE Mediator between God & mankind.
Thru...
2) Digesting God’s written word,
& also Thru...
3) Comparing & learning from others who are obvious Christian witnesses.
“Virtue/Goodness”2X—areth—Noun Accusative Sing. Fem.—1)A virtuous course of thought, feeling & action--1a) Virtue, moral goodness; 2) Any particular moral excellence, as modesty, purity. Strong—properly--Manliness(valor), i.e. Excellence(intrinsic or attributed). Used 5X--Php. 4:8; 1Pet. 2:9; 2Pet. 1:3, 5.?From the same as—arrhn, OR--arshn—Male(as stronger for lifting).
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
A ‘basic’ boat is a platform to which ‘necessities’ are added.
Christian saving faith, is a ‘basic’ platform, to which Christ-honoring necessities are added, so that God’s work will be done, in His way.
Action:
Furthering Your Faith involves...
1—DUE DILIGENCE DONE[Part 1--:5a-d](:5-7)
Pt#1-part-1 only! presented 08/04/2024am to:
Salem Baptist Church
1618 Salem Road
Bennettsville, SC 29512
*We ran short of time, so I chose to abruptly end with the elucidation of DUE DILIGENCE DONE[:5a-d](:5-7)--“virtue”(as above).*
