THE TRUTH ABOUT Christian Character
2 Peter 1:1-10
1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
We all get saved the same way—BY FAITH
(v. 1—“obtained like precious faith”).
Faith is believing and depending on what God has said in His word.
1. I’m a sinner.
2. As a sinner, I deserve to go to hell. Wages of sin is death.
3. Jesus is God coming to earth in human flesh.
4. He lived a perfect life.
5. He loved me and died for sins on the cross. He became my substitute.
6. He was buried and arose from the dead.
7. He has ascended to the right hand of the Father.
8. He will save whosoever calls upon Him in faith for salvation.
10. God saved me by His grace through FAITH.
I became partaker of the divine nature (v. 4).
Something of God has become part of me.
I’m a new creature since I placed my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
11. For the Christian, everything starts with faith because without faith it is impossible to please God and whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
12. Faith is the foundation upon which everything else is built in the Christian life (v. 5).
But faith is not the end of it (v. 5—“And beside this…”). After faith, I am exhorted to develop Christian character in my life (vs. 5-7).
LETS CONSIDER CHRISTIAN CHARACTER
Difference between character in general and Christian character. There are unsaved people who have a degree of moral integrity.
However, Christian character is built upon faith in God (v. 5).
WE HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO DEVELOP
#1 WE ARE Not born with character. You are born without any character.
#2. Not automatic! Character is a matter of training and discipline.
#3. Parents begin the process of molding character into their children’s lives
(Prov. 22:6). Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it
Illstruction.
If you are going to pour concrete, the first thing you do is set the form. Once the form is in place and secure, then you pour that pliable, moldable concrete into the form. If you keep it in the form long enough, it will set up in the shape you intended for it to take. If you take the form away too soon, it will take its own form.
A parent must determine ahead of time what form is right for his child. This involves setting boundaries and restraints whereby a child is formed and molded. There is liberty, but within the boundaries of the form.
They must be kept in the form until they are set, so that when the form is removed they will not depart from those character traits formed within the mold.
LETS CONSIDER THE Requirement of diligence
(v. 5).
And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
Diligence means “given priority; zealous; focused, decisive, careful.”
The opposite of diligence is casual, hazardness, careless, sloppy.
ILLUS—Going to the hospital for surgery. How careful do you want the surgeon to be when he uses his scalpel? You want him to give ALL DILIGENCE!
You want him to give his most earnest attention. You want him focused, alert and undistracted! You do NOT want him cutting on you in a casual haphazard way!
Problem with Christians is they are too casual and CARELESS in their Christian life. (Casual in giving; careless in church attendance; and behavior).
It is almost impossible to develop Christian character in a person who does not have character in general
2 Tim. 2:2). Paul told Timothy do make disciples out of FAITHFUL MEN. Why? Because you cannot disciple an unfaithful man! A person unfaithful coming to church and studying his Bible will never develop Christian character!
LETS TAKE A LOOK AT THE ELEMENTS of Christian character (vs. 5-7).
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
There is an order or plan in building a house—What comes first, second, third, etc. (plumbing before slab; wiring before sheet-rock).
#1 “Virtue= Determination to do right
(Example: Joseph—Gen. 39:10-12). The first thing you should add to your faith after you are saved is separation from evil. Determine to live a CLEAN LIFE.
#2 “Knowledge = Discernment of God’s will in
Comes AFTER virtue—Knowledge without virtue will lead to the misuse of knowledge (3:16). writing bad checks / criminal activity / false science -
.
#3 “Temperance”= Discipline to say “no” to the desires of the flesh 1 Cor. 9:25-27).
25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
. #4 “Patience”= Durability during adversity. Once you’ve added temperance, the devil will test it.
Patience comes from going through trials.
CONSIDER James 5:10-11.
10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
#5 “Godliness= Dedication unto God
1 Tim. 3:16).
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
Conforming to God’s will and character. It is more than a list of “do’s and don’ts” It is thinking as God thinks; and responding as He would respond.
Living life as God would live it. God gave man life; therefore, God knows how life should be lived.
There should be something in us that reminds people of God.
# 6 “Brotherly kindness= Deference towards the brethren
Jonathan; Barnabas). By love serve one another.
#7 “Charity= Deeds of love towards others
(Col. 3:14—
And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness
2. Charity is love in action. It is giving out without expecting anything in return.
LETS CONSIDER THE EFFECTS of Christian character (vs. 8-9).
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
These things are to ABOUND!
Productivity (v. 8). A baker never expects to get any better cake than the ingredients he puts into it!
B. Perception (v. 9). Near sighted Christians—Cannot see what’s coming. Living only for the PRESENT—Lacks the LONG LOOK.
CONCLUSEING
Character is like the foundation of a house—most of it is below the surface. It’s not what you can see. The strength of a house is not the vinyl siding or the fiber glass shutters they put on the outside. It’s not the fancy trim or the frills. These things may improve the appearance, but the strength lies underneath.
Christian character is the superstructure of the Christian life. Character is what’s below the surface. It’s not a person’s good looks, talent and ability that make him/her a good Christian. It is the character that they have built into their life.
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LETS PRAY……
