INCREASING QUALITIES (part 1)

"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" (2Pt 1.8).

Peter lists eight qualities of a person who is "partaking in the divine nature: "faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love," and reminds us that they are developed in increasing measure and are not simply inherited when we first utter a prayer. For instance, the first of these qualities, faith, is often believed to be a gift from God, an act of mere acceptance. "God you love me enough to sacrifice your Son. I accept that. The end." But that's not the meaning of faith.

"Faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see" (Heb 11.1). Nearly every Christian understands this verse to be the definition of faith and yet they often misinterpret that definition. Notice that faith is not "what you hope for" or "what you do not see." We call that "hope." Faith is "being sure" and "certain" of your hope. What's the difference? If you believe I'll give you money tomorrow even though I haven't promised it, then that's hope. If you trust that I will keep my word to you by presenting a promised sum, then that's faith.

"Faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of Christ" (Rom 10.17). More Christians know Hebrews 11.1 than know of this verse, even though this clearly defines the source of our faith: God's word. Am I basing my faith in God on what I hope He will do or on what He has promised to fulfill? That's just the first quality of a growing Christian and yet how many of us start off on the right premise?

 

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Am I a Child of God

"By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother" (1John 3.10).

Almost perfectly in the middle of the first epistle of John is the above verse which not only summarizes the book, but also the Biblical conditions that prove I am a child of God. John writes about practicing righteousness: "By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments" (2.3). Righteousness is the fruit of obedience and is the first indicator that we have come to known God. The second is like it: "We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love our brothers" (3.14). The second evidence produced from becoming a child of God is a love for other children of God. The question is, what does that love look like?

"By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments" (5.2,3). Very simply, we love the children of God by first obeying His commands (the first piece of evidence) and by helping them do the same (thereby reproducing the first piece of evidence in their lives). Jesus summed the entire Bible up in these same two commands: "Love The Lord your God... [and] love your neighbor as yourself" (Mt. 22.37-39).

If Christians would believe the simple truth of this statement, discipleship would be real easy: we love God by obeying His commands and we love His people by helping them to do the same.

 

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AM I OF US

"They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us they would have continued with us. But they went out that it might become plain that they were not of us" (1John 2.19).

Some Christians have a hard time when people leave their fellowship. "What did we do wrong? Is our Bible study too hard? Are our songs too traditional? Does my breath stink?" John puts it very simply, they left because they were not "of us." In context, John is writing about antichrist, or false teachers and prophets, who came from the fellowship of true believers but left when their messages mutated the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. The problem is that most Christians can't tell the difference between those who are "of us" and those who are not. But there is one simple indicator.

"Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error" (1John 4.6). This is obviously a very dangerous verse when repeated by those who are not "of us" but a very true statement when announced by those who are "of us." The question must then first be asked is this: am I "from God?"

"By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit" (1John 4.13). Those who are from God will bear the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5). They will know and understand the Word of God (1Cor 2). And they will testify to the Truth (John 15).

 

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