Daily Passage on Works: Revelation 3:4-5

Posted on 10/29/2013 by Paul Pavao

Day 13:

Revelation 3:4-5: You have a few names in Sardis that did not defile their garments. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes will be arrayed in white garments, and I will in no way blot his name out of the Book of Life, and I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.

Explanation of This Post

I am conducting an experiment. I am going to post one verse or passage a day for as long as I can that addresses works for the Christian. I’m guessing I can keep it up for at least six months. I won’t stretch any passages out by dividing them into individual verses. If a whole passage is discussing works, I’ll use the whole passage that day.

I am doing this because “works” has become a taboo word in many Christian circles. Every time it is used, an apology must be given, and someone must explain that we are not saved by works. This happens despite the fact that James said that we are “justified by works” without any apology or explanation. If he can violate our social taboos, we should, too.

These will be short, so they’re not in place of regular posts. If you entered on this blog’s home page, make sure you look at the second post, too, which is probably more important.

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Galatians 6:7-9: Doing Good to Reap Eternal Life

Posted on 10/29/2013 by Paul Pavao

Galatians 6:7-9 was one of the daily works passages I put up a couple days ago. I want to point out something it says that surprises everyone who hears it.

Let’s start, though, with Romans 2:6-7:

He that sows to the flesh will, from the flesh, reap corruption, but those who sow to the Spirit will, from the Spirit reap everlasting life. Therefore, do not grow weary in doing good, for in due season you will reap, if you do not lose heart.

Let me pull one sentence from there and ask you a couple questions:

“Therefore, do not grow weary in doing good, for in due season you will reap, if you do not lose heart.”

  1. What is the “therefore” there for?
  2. In context, what are we going to reap in due season if we do not growy weary in doing good?

Since I think you can figure out the answers to those questions on your own, I just want to point out the way the wording of Galatians 6:9 matches Romans 2:7.

  • Romans 2:7 – “To those who by patiently continuing to do good, [he will repay] eternal life.”
  • Galatians 6:9 – “Don’t get tired of doing good because you will reap eternal life if you don’t lose heart.”

Tomorrow, I want to give you a much clearer reason why I write these things, give hope to the fainthearted and weak who find only condemnation in such teachings, and explain how to use the scriptural weapon of fear properly.

I am learning that I have not been using that weapon properly on the internet. In person, long experience and a lot of close fellowship with mature, spiritual brothers have taught me to recognize the fainthearted man in front of me and bestow comfort. I have learned not to comfort, but to warn the unruly.

On the internet, however, I found no way to differentiate. I simply assailed false doctrine and tradition that makes void the Word of God, and the lost, pharisees, false teachers, the unruly, the fainthearted and the weak all have heard the same message from me. I didn’t know how to do otherwise, and I believed the restoration of the truth was important enough to publish.

Somehow, through the exhortation of others and, I have to suppose, the kindness of God, I have begun to get an inkling of how to stop shotgunning my audience.

I think you’ll enjoy tomorrow’s post, which I’ve already written. I know I did, because it put things in their proper place in a clear manner—at least for me. May our Father grant that it will do the same for you, while maintaining the voice of the apostles and their churches against the traditions of men that have risen up against them in our day.

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Daily Passage on Works: Eph. 2:8-10

Posted on 10/28/2013 by Paul Pavao

Day 12:

Ephesians 2:8-10: For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast. For we are his workmanship, created in King Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.

Explanation of Purpose

I am conducting an experiment. I am going to post one verse or passage a day for as long as I can that addresses works for the Christian. I’m guessing I can keep it up for at least six months. I won’t stretch any passages out by dividing them into individual verses. If a whole passage is discussing works, I’ll use the whole passage that day.

I am doing this because “works” has become a taboo word in many Christian circles. Every time it is used, an apology must be given, and someone must explain that we are not saved by works. This happens despite the fact that James said that we are “justified by works” without any apology or explanation. If he can violate our social taboos, we should, too.

These will be short, so they’re not in place of regular posts. If you entered on this blog’s home page, make sure you look at the second post, too, which is probably more important.

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Differences Among the Apostles 2 (Bible Interpretation)

Posted on 10/28/2013 by Paul Pavao

My Oct. 26 post explains the point of this post.

One more difference between Paul and the other apostles is how they talked about salvation.

Paul is mysterious. He tells us that we are justified by faith apart from works (Rom. 3:28), and he repeats “not of works” or “apart from works” all over his letters, or at least all over Romans and Galatians, plus once in Ephesians. Yet, he also tells us not to be deceived because we ought to know that no unrighteous man will inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9-10). Even worse, he tells us that if we want to live we need to put the deeds of our body to death by the Spirit (Rom. 8:13) and that we will reap eternal life if we don’t grow weary in doing good (Gal. 6:8-9).

Weird! How can both things be true?

No other apostle talks like that. James clearly ties faith and works together as inseparable (2:14-26). Peter has us adding to our faith in order to be supplied with an abundant entrance into the Kingdom of our Lord (2 Pet. 1:5-11).

So what is common between Romans and Galatians that would explain why Paul distinguishes faith and works, says justification is by faith only, yet requires works to receive eternal life?

Romans and Galatians

Romans and Galatians both qualify as apologies. In both cases, Paul’s Gospel has been attacked by Judaizers (Jews who think the Law of Moses is necessary to salvation). Thus, Paul, being the scholar he was, carefully explained his Gospel and backed it up scripturally.

Hebrews is similar, defending the new covenant against those who would put themselves back under the old one. However, the writer of Hebrews is not having to defend attacks on the Gospel of faith. His readers understood salvation by faith perfectly well.

Paul’s Defense of Justification by Faith

Paul provides two defenses of his  Gospel in Romans. One is only two verses long. The other is seven chapters long and is followed by a related subject for three chapters: why the Gentiles have been admitted to spiritual Israel.

The first defense is in 1:16-17:

I am not ashamed of the Gospel of the King because it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes … For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.

Paul’s first defense is that his Gospel works. It is the power of God, and it saves everyone who believes, and the righteousness of God begins to be revealed in them.

Paul’s Gospel was effective. It changed lives.

That was the short defense.

As a second defense, he launched into explaining that Gospel:

  • Rom. 1: God has every right to be wrathful towards those who disobey him.
  • Rom. 2: God has every right to be wrathful towards Jews who speak the Law but do not do it. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile when it comes to judgment.
  • Rom. 3: The Scriptures testify that the Jews, like the Gentiles they look down on, are wicked from top to bottom.
  • Rom. 4: The Scriptures teach a righteousness that comes by faith and by grace and not pursued by deeds. Paul gives examples and arguments.
  • Rom. 5: The explanation grows. We inherited death from Adam. Because we have all sinned like Adam, we have all died like Adam. Adam gave us the horrible gift of death, and Jesus, by dying, has given us the fabulous gift of life!
  • Rom. 6: Paul has been accused of teaching that Christians can just go on sinning. He refutes this by discussing the Christian life. At baptism, we were buried with our King, and we rise again to new life. Knowing we are dead to sin, then, how can we continue in it?
  • Rom. 7: Paul explains that he is not saying the Law is bad. The problem was in us. Sin was in our body, and we had no power to overcome this, and so we died. This is the law of sin and death.
  • Rom. 8: The law of the Spirit of life in King Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death. This came from God, and we carry it out by walking in the Spirit. We can overcome anything by this new life, this grace, this power that has come from God.

In his explanation, he slowly reveals to us why he can say we are justified by faith only, yet say that we will only enter the kingdom of God if we refrain from unrighteousness.

Past and Future Tense Salvation

Read through Romans and Galatians (and anywhere else in Paul’s writings, but these are the most applicable), and you will notice an interesting pattern. When Paul talks about faith apart from works, he is always speaking in the past tense. We were justified by faith.

When Paul talks about the future, however, about the judgment and inheriting the kingdom of God, you will find no mention of faith. It is all works.

Read through those two books and see if I’m not correct.

Here’s my conclusion:

  • We are all slaves to sin before we come to Christ. We cannot save ourselves because we are unable to live up to the commands of Christ or even to the demands of our consciences.
  • Therefore, God made a way for us to be delivered from our slavery to sin and forgiven for all the sins we have committed. It requires no works because we can supply no works. By faith, we can be born again and made new creatures “created in King Jesus to do good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph. 2:10).
  • We accomplish this by sowing to the Spirit (Gal. 6:8), setting our mind on the things of the Spirit (Rom. 8:5-8), walking in the Spirit (Rom. 8:4,13-14; Gal. 5:16-18), and living by the life of Jesus within us (Gal. 2:20; Col. 3:1-4).
  • If we walk in the light, we can experience daily cleansing. This is the normal Christian life, and if we will walk worthy of it (Eph. 4:1; Col. 1:23), God will ensure that we are presented before his throne faultless and without spot.
  • If we do not walk in the light, if we refuse to “make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts” (Rom. 13:14) and do not “crucify the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:24) or if we “yield our members to unrighteousness” (Rom. 6:13), then we will not inherit the kingdom of God, something Paul warns us about repeatedly (1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:5-8).

So we find that Paul is indeed the apostle of faith if we are talking about how we “get saved,” i.e., became born again. If we are talking about heaven, however, Paul is every bit as much of an apostle of works as James is.

James, Peter, and the Letter to the Hebrews

The other writers of our “New Testament” were not under the same obligation as Paul. While they knew, including James, that one enters into the church by being born again purely by faith, they did not have to categorically explain themselves like Paul did. Their circumstances were different. Peter’s authority was more settled. He was one of the original twelve. Paul was not.

Thus, both James and Peter talk about salvation as a whole. For James it is faith and works because works must be the product of our faith or at the last we will not be saved (cf. Jam. 5:19-20). This is no different than what Paul teaches; it is simply said differently.

Our Modern Mistake

We are making one mistake only. When Paul says that we are justified by faith alone (Rom. 3:28), or that we are “having been saved” by faith apart from works (Eph. 2:8-9), we think he’s including going to heaven in this salvation that we have experienced.

He is not. Like Jesus, he tells us that we must do the will of the Father if we want to enter God’s kingdom (Matt. 7:21). Of course, Paul is speaking after the Spirit has come to the church, so he speaks more of walking in the Spirit than doing the will of the Father, but I hope all Christians recognize those two as the same thing.

Condemnation and Truth

I have been told before, and I think I’m finally getting it, that my pursuit of truth often results in terrorizing others. I’m trying to correct our thinking so that the writings of the apostles fall neatly into place for us, and so that we agree with the teachings of the earliest Christians, who heard the apostles teach or grew up in their churches.

In the process of discussing the phenomenal lives of the early Christians, it is possible to terrorize those who are hearing it the first time so much that all they see is condemnation.

The judgment is something that has always been there. It should have terrorized us in the past because Jesus said he is going to condemn all doers of evil (Jn. 5:27-30). Paul says that the “terror” of that judgment motivates him to persuade men (2 Cor. 5:11).

In the present, the promise of the Gospel does not completely remove the fear of the judgment (1 Pet. 1:17), but it does give us a way to arrive at the judgment without embarrassment, clean before him (1 Jn. 2:28; 3:22).

God has called us to himself through Jesus Christ, so that we might receive great and precious promises:

  • the forgiveness of sins
  • deliverance from sin (Rom. 6:14)
  • the power of the Holy Spirit
  • fellowship with God himself (Jer. 31:31-34)

What a wondrous deliverance!

But we cannot mistake the call. Jesus is looking for disciples, and if we do not forsake everything, we cannot be his disciple (Luk 14:33). If we do not walk by the Spirit, but instead continue in the flesh, we will reap corruption and die (Gal. 6:7; Rom. 8:12).

This is the truth. Let us lay hold of the incredible grace of God, believe his great and precious promises, walk in the light, be cleansed by his blood daily, and pursue holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. We are to “make every effort” to add to our faith (2 Pet. 1:5-7), and for those who do so, the reward is phenomenal: immortality in paradise (2 Pet. 1:8-11 paraphrased w/ terminology borrowed from other Scriptures).

Free Bonus!

These quotes are included to show you that the writings of those who heard the apostles include the same sort of “born again by faith only” and “go to heaven by works” terminology that Paul uses. I’m only giving two examples, but I could find this sort of talking in every second century writer.

Polycarp, AD 110-150

Into which joy many desire to enter, knowing that by grace ye are saved, not of works. (Letter to the Philippians 1)

He who raised him up from the dead will raise up us also, if we do his will, walk in his commandments, love what he loved, and keep ourselves from all unrighteousness, greed, love of money, evil speaking, and lying. (ibid. 2)

Clement of Rome, AD 95-96

Let us cleave, then, to those to whom grace has been given by God. Let us clothe ourselves with concord and humility, ever exercising self-control, standing far off from all whispering and evil-speaking, being justified by our works and not our words. (1 Clement 30)

All these, therefore, were highly honoured, and made great, not for their own sake, or for their own works, or for the righteousness which they wrought, but through the operation of His will. And we, too, being called by His will in Christ Jesus, are not justified by ourselves, nor by our own wisdom, or understanding, or godliness, or works which we have wrought in holiness of heart; but by that faith through which, from the beginning, Almighty God has justified all men; to whom be glory for ever and ever. (ibid. 37)

Note on Related Articles Below

The articles referenced below are not because I agree with or endorse them. They are to give you a different perspective. I often make a point that modern interpretation methods create dozens of difficult verses. I’m hoping that what I write will be seen to be comprehensive, pulling together all of Scripture, understanding everything Jesus said and the apostle wrote in a plain manner, and that the picking and choosing of modern evangelicals will be apparent.

I don’t always reference posts with differing views than mine, but often I do, and today both posts represent the modern may of looking at faith and works.

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Daily Passage on Works: Gal. 6:7-10

Posted on 10/27/2013 by Paul Pavao

Day 11:

Galatians 6:7-10: Don’t be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to the flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not be weary in doing good, for we will reap in due season, if we don’t give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let’s do what is good toward all men, and especially toward those who are of the household of faith.

Explanation of Purpose:

I am conducting an experiment. I am going to post one verse or passage a day for as long as I can that addresses works for the Christian. I’m guessing I can keep it up for at least six months. I won’t stretch any passages out by dividing them into individual verses. If a whole passage is discussing works, I’ll use the whole passage that day.

I am doing this because “works” has become a taboo word in many Christian circles. Every time it is used, an apology must be given, and someone must explain that we are not saved by works. This happens despite the fact that James said that we are “justified by works” without any apology or explanation. If he can violate our social taboos, we should, too.

These will be short, so they’re not in place of regular posts. If you entered on this blog’s home page, make sure you look at the second post, too, which is probably more important.

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Differences Among the Apostles (Bible Interpretation)

Posted on 10/27/2013 by Paul Pavao

I explained the purpose of this post in yesterday’s post.

We tend to think of the Bible as one book. It’s not. “Bible” is from the Greek and Latin words for “books.” The books of the Bible were written by many different authors, and even though they were inspired by God, those authors varied in their terminology and expressions.

An example is the use of “eternal life” by the apostles Paul and John. It is true that “the Bible” says that we have eternal life now. However, it is also true that “the Bible” says that eternal life is something we will not receive until the judgment.

Through John, “the Bible” says that we who believe have eternal life already. Through Paul (and Matthew), “the Bible” says that eternal life is a future gift handed out at the judgment (e.g. Matt. 25:31-46; Rom. 2:7; 6:22-23; Gal. 6:7-9).

Does “the Bible” contradict itself?

Well, frankly, yes. It uses eternal life two different ways.

However, Paul and John don’t contradict each other. They just talk differently.

Paul speaks of a life that comes from God, which we have on this earth. He just doesn’t call it eternal life. He simply says “life.” For example, in Galatians 2:20, he writes, “I am crucified with the King, nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but the King lives in me, and the life I live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Hmm. That’s not a good verse to use because it doesn’t have “life” in it, but it’s such a good verse I’m going to leave it quoted there. Let’s try this one: “For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our mortal flesh” (2 Cor. 4:11). That has “life” in it and goes pretty well with Gal. 2:20.

So Paul believes that we have the life of Jesus in us already, and that Jesus lives through us.

John agrees. He just calls it eternal life already. In fact, he refers to Jesus as the embodiment of eternal life (1 Jn. 1:1-2).

So how do we reconcile their two different ways of speaking? For me, John explains how their terminology is reconciled in 1 Jn. 5:11-12:

This is the testimony, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. The one that has the Son has the life; the one that does not have the Son does not have life.

Eternal life is in the Son of God. If we have the Son, we have eternal life because he is eternal life. The reward offered at the judgment, however, is immortality. Eternal life will not only be in the Son and our possession of it determined by whether we have the Son or do not have the Son. Instead, God will reward us with eternal life, and we will become immortal.

According to the early Christians, that is one of the reasons that there is a judgment and that only the worthy will walk with Jesus in white (Rev. 3:4). Giving us immortality—eternal life as a possession of our own—is the equivalent of Man in the garden eating from the tree of life and living forever. God stationed a cherubim with a flaming sword to keep sinful Man away from that tree.

At the judgment, he will admit the righteous to that tree. Immortality will be ours. It is a tremendous gift that cannot be given to the race of Adam. It is given only to those who overthrow Adam and become part of the new Man, the new creation brought about by Jesus Christ.

Quotes & References

[God] will repay everyone according to his works; to those who seek glory, honor, and immortality by patiently continuing to do good, he will repay eternal life. (Rom. 2:5-7)

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when the corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then the saying shall be brought to pass that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory.” (1 Cor. 15:53-54)

Be sober as an athlete of God: the prize set before you is immortality and eternal life. (Ignatius, Letter to Polycarp 2, c. AD 110)

Having through patience overcome the unjust governor and thus acquired the crown of immortality, [Polycarp] now, with the apostles and all the righteous, glorifies God with joy. (Martyrdom of  Polycarp 19, c. AD 165)

How blessed and wonderful, beloved, are the gifts of God! Life in immortality, splendor in righteousness, truth in perfect confidence, faith in assurance, self-control in holiness! … Let us therefore earnestly strive to be found in the number of those that wait for him, in order that we may share in his promised gifts. (1 Clement 35, AD 95-96)

[Jesus] shall come from heaven with glory, accompanied by his angelic host, when he shall also raise the bodies of all men who have lived and shall clothe those of the worthy with immortality. (Justin, First Apology 52, c. AD 155)

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Daily Passage on Works: Romans 2:4-9

Posted on 10/26/2013 by Paul Pavao

In context, this passage is directed at Jews, even though it is in the letter to the Romans:

Day 10: Romans 2:4-9: Do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the righteous judgment of God; who will pay back to everyone according to their works. To those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory, honor, and incorruptibility, eternal life, but to those who are self-seeking, and don’t obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, will be wrath and indignation, oppression and anguish, on every soul of man who works evil, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Explanation of My Project

I am conducting an experiment. I am going to post one verse or passage a day for as long as I can that addresses works for the Christian. I’m guessing I can keep it up for at least six months. I won’t stretch any passages out by dividing them into individual verses. If a whole passage is discussing works, I’ll use the whole passage that day.

I am doing this because “works” has become a taboo word in many Christian circles. Every time it is used, an apology must be given, and someone must explain that we are not saved by works. This happens despite the fact that James said that we are “justified by works” without any apology or explanation. If he can violate our social taboos, we should, too.

These will be short, so they’re not in place of regular posts. If you entered on this blog’s home page, make sure you look at the second post, too, which is probably more important.

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Difficult Verses and Bible Interpretation

Posted on 10/26/2013 by Paul Pavao

I was exhorted in a comment to make my purposes clear in my posts. The apostles, I was told, always had a call to action. That thought led to this post, but I don’t know what my call to action is in this post.

I think that our modern doctrines create many contradictions in the Bible. Especially in our interpretations of Paul, we draw conclusions that make other apostles and the Gospels very difficult to understand.

Many years ago, I was very nervous about expressing alternative interpretations of Paul’s writings. Who am I? Why should anyone listen to me?

All I had 20 years ago was the ability to show people interpretations of the Scripture that took away most of the verses we would consider “difficult.” I got there by struggling over verses that didn’t make sense to me, the goal being to wind up with no “difficult” verses that seemed to contradict conclusions I’d drawn from other verses. I didn’t even know if that was possible, but over a few years, things started clicking into place.

Then someone gave me a book to review, called Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up. It was a review of the writings of 2nd and 3rd century Christians, writings I didn’t even know existed.

It was supposed to be a shocking revelation of the ancient church. The things David Bercot revealed in his book contained many ideas that modern Christians would call heresy (thus the title).

Not to me. To my surprise, I had finally found a group of people who agreed with me across the board.

Now I’m not just a guy with some Bible interpretations. At one time, my Bible interpretations were the norm.

I have this idea–maybe I’m fooling myself–that I can help others read the Bible without difficult verses.

Difficult Verses?

What do I mean by all this talk about difficult verses? Well, I’ll give you two examples.

I got the terminology, “difficult verses,” from two radio personalities, Hank Haanegraaf and Bob George, back in the 1990’s. Haanegraaf once compared John 10:28 and 2 Peter 2:20-21. He referred to John 10:28 as a “clear” verse and “2 Peter 2:20-21” as a “difficult” passage. Difficult passages, he said, should be interpreted in the light of clear ones.

The problem is that there is nothing unclear or difficult about 2 Peter 2:20-21. A child could understand what it says. The only difficult thing about that passage is that Hank Haanegraaf doesn’t agree with what it says. The other problem is that Haanegraaf can’t reconcile what it says with his interpretation of John 10:28.

Haanegraaf and millions of other Christians have the luxury, in that situation, of picking which verse they prefer and writing off the other one with a weak explanation.

I don’t have that luxury. To me, people like Haanegraaf are teaching Christians that it is normal for the Bible to say contradictory things.

My other example is from a systematic theology I read back in the 80’s. The book had a chapter on eternal security, and that chapter went through a long proof that anyone who is really saved can never lose their salvation. The chapter ended with a list of verses that “seemed” to contradict their conclusion.

The problem was that the list was somewhere around 50 verses long!

Do we really want to read the Bible this way? Is it really that difficult to find people who want their Bible to make sense, to agree with itself?

It’s not like I’m asking Christians to adopt some novel theology of mine. I’m talking about looking at the writings of people who grew up in churches started by apostles. I’m talking about doctrines that for 300 years after the time of the apostles were agreed upon by all Christians churches. I’m talking about history that is not alternative or hidden, but can be found in any Christian bookstore.

Well, this long plea and explanation of where I’m coming from is long enough that I will get to the point of my post tomorrow. I was going to give an example of interpreting the Bible without difficult verses using teachings of the early church. I still will, but tomorrow.

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Daily Passage on Works: Day 9

Posted on 10/25/2013 by Paul Pavao

I am conducting an experiment. I am going to post one verse or passage a day for as long as I can that addresses works for the Christian. I’m guessing I can keep it up for at least six months. I won’t stretch any passages out by dividing them into individual verses. If a whole passage is discussing works, I’ll use the whole passage that day.

I am doing this because “works” has become a taboo word in many Christian circles. Every time it is used, an apology must be given, and someone must explain that we are not saved by works. This happens despite the fact that James said that we are “justified by works” without any apology or explanation. If he can violate our social taboos, we should, too.

These will be short, so they’re not in place of regular posts. If you entered on this blog’s home page, make sure you look at the second post, too, which is probably more important.

Day 9: For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in it and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. (2 Pet. 2:20-21)

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2 Peter 1:5-7: The Normal Christian Life in 3 Verses

Posted on 10/25/2013 by Paul Pavao

This will probably be my favorite blog post ever.

Everything I am about to say about 2 Peter 1:5-7 assumes that you have already read verses 3-4 and understand them. We can do the things in verses 5-7 BECAUSE we have great and precious promises and have been made partakers of the divine nature. If you don’t have the power of verses 3-4, then verses 5-7 will be nothing but a goal that cannot be achieved.

There are seven steps listed in verses 5-7. We are to be growing in all of them, but when we see them as a sequence, we find a beautiful picture of the Christian life:

Faith

Faith is where we begin. Unless we are born again by  faith, we cannot see the kingdom of heaven, neither here on earth or in eternity, for the kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom. Faith is what gives you access to grace, and grace will make you a new creature, “created in Christ Jesus for good works.”

Virtue

Some Bible versions translate this “moral excellence.” When we come to Christ, we come with a knowledge of what is moral and virtuous. That knowledge is not necessarily accurate, but the first thing that Peter tells us to “diligently” add to faith is virtue. The newly born again Christian should, and usually does, begin to live a moral life as best he knows how. This is called repentance.

Knowledge

We do not learn in the world what is truly virtuous. We learn that from God. As we begin to walk in virtue, we should make every effort to add knowledge. What really pleases God? The Scriptures and our brothers and sisters guide us in this. As we walk further down the path Jesus is leading us on, circumstances and the Spirit within us will refine our knowledge of what is pleasing to our Master.

Self-Control

Knowing what is pleasing to God and doing it are two different things. As James says, “Let us be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving ourselves” (1:22). Our increasing knowledge needs self-control added to it, lest we be found mere actors rather than real Christians.

Perseverance/Patience

A little self-control is a good thing. Continuing in self-control is more difficult. We must add perseverance to our self-control. When trials come, when hardships come, when times of boredom set in, we must persevere.

Godliness

The longer you walk with God–that you really walk with God, depending on him, knowing that apart  from him you can do nothing–the more your virtue, self-control, and perseverance will set into your soul. The Word of God (which is Jesus himself, not only the Scripture) has a goal to separate your soul and spirit (Heb. 4:12). The Spirit of God dwells in your spirit, mixing with it to become one just as  husband and wife should become one in flesh (1 Cor. 6:16-17).

We want more than obedience. We want godliness. That comes as we put to death our soul, denying its desires, and live by the desires that are set in our spirit by the Spirit of God. This will never happen without the trials that are required to produce the patience of the previous step (Jam. 1:2-4; Rom. 5:3-5). Those trials produce brokenness in us, destroying our trust in ourselves. God’s light can shine from us through the breaks and cracks that he has created in our soul so that his Spirit can shine from your spirit.

The result is not just righteousness, nor just good deeds. The result is godliness.

The end result is nothing short of divine, and we all long to be godly in this way. The path to godliness, however, comes through self-control and perseverance.

Brotherly Kindness

As we become godly, our tempers are tamed. Our pride is broken. We begin to be able to be more concerned for our brothers and sisters than for ourselves. We are finally able to produce real kindness, real care for those around us.

We would like to think we love. We should try to love, and we should grow in love, but real love, agape love, is far above what we mortals understand. It takes a long path of our effort (virtue, knowledge, self-control) and God’s intervention in our lives (troubles sent to create perseverance) just to get us to brotherly kindness!

The word for brotherly kindness, interestingly enough, is philadelphia. There is a phileo form of love that is true friendship. Agape, though, comes from God.

Love

This is the ultimate goal. To love is indeed something we can choose. We can act in love. However, true agape (the Greek word used in 2 Pet. 1:7) can only come from God. We must grow into it. Those who have become godly and are walking in philadelphia, the love of the brethren, begin to find love inside of them. It is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5), and the pure live in it.

The Holy Spirit lives in all of us who belong to Christ. There is infinite love inside of him, but that does not mean it is accessible to you or given to others. Your soul can be a hard shell around it, or be mixed with your spirit and dilute or completely block the divine nature Jesus created deep within you when you believed in him. That is why the Word of God (again, in Heb. 4:12-13, that’s clearly Jesus, not the Scriptures) must divide the soul from the Spirit.

It is a long path to truly walking in love. That is why we should be so excited about the trials that come our way. We want agape to be all that comes out of us. A bad day, a cold, a broken down car, or even cancer and chemotherapy. If it allows the agape love of the Spirit of God to pour out of us, then let us fall on the stone of stumbling and be broken. There is no greater goal for the Christian than to be like him. God has predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son (Rom. 8:29).

That is God’s hope, and Peter explains to us the route in three short verses.

Note in reference to related articles below: WordPress suggests related articles to me when I blog, and  I choose from among WordPress’ suggestions. So if an article is listed at the end of a post of mine, it’s because I chose it. Sometimes that’s just to let you see an alternative opinion and how people came to it. Today, though, I want to specifically recommend “Am I depending on God or Myself?” It’s a good blog, and I highly recommend Jerry Bridges’ books, at least as far as they address the spiritual disciplines of a Christian.

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