godliness – Dr. Kirk Lewis

Raise the Bar

Background Passages: 2 Peter 1:5-9; Galatians 5:16 and Philippians 3:10-14

The streak of laziness that runs through my bones was never more evident than my high school track career. I tried out for every field event in an effort to escape any serious running events. While I had a small measure of success in the shot put, my efforts at the broad jump, high jump and pole vault might be classified as dismal.

I found the sand pit too far from the foul line and the pole vault abjectly frightening. I really wanted to do the high jump, but my technique and general lack of skill ended that dream.

A few years after my high school efforts, my cousin Paul advanced to the Texas state championship in the high jump and eventually took his skill to college where he set a personal best of 6’10”. He fell just short of the world record…had he been jumping in 1937. (I hope God will forgive me for that family dig even if Paul doesn’t.)

I don’t know for sure how high the bar was when the competition started back when Paul was back in college. I’d be stunned if they started the event at 6’10”. Paul most certainly worked up to his personal best in incremental steps. Each jump built upon the success of the preceding jump. Chances are my cousin never would have cleared his personal best without raising the bar along the way.

I found myself wondering this week if that’s what Peter had in mind as he began his second letter to the early Christian churches. To grow in our spiritual maturity, Peter said we need to be willing to raise the bar along the way.

Peter tells those early Christians and those who follow them, that God has given us everything we need to live a godly life. We just have to keep raising the bar of excellence and spiritual maturity. Read his words.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith, goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control, and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and brotherly kindness, love.

For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But, if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from past sins.” (2 Peter 1:5-9)

Because God has given us everything we need to live a godly life, we must keep pushing ourselves toward a deeper faith…a deeper and wiser spiritual maturity. We’ll never make that move if we keep the bar low.

Peter says we make an initial leap of faith in our trust of Jesus Christ as savior. We learn in Hebrews 11:6 that “without faith it is impossible to please God. “

Far too many seem to think that’s all that is required…and it is to a point…a true expression of faith in Jesus as savior puts you on the list of God’s redeemed.

That’s a little like clearing the bar at its opening height. Elite high jumpers have little difficulty clearing that first jump. Had any of them been content with that first jump, they might not have tried higher heights.

Placing our faith and trust in Jesus as savior is a great first jump. Staying at that height does not grow our faith. It does not allow us to stretch our understanding of who God is and what he asks of us.

Read through that list of character traits Peter shares. Nothing within them suggests a random order. Each trait builds upon the preceding trait. He says make sure you add to your faith a life of goodness. Making right choices. Virtuous. Pure. Live a life that reflects Christ in you. Letting God’s way be your standard. That seems a natural evolution of our faith commitment. Declare your faith then live a life of virtue and purity.

As you begin to live a life that reflects Christ, you gain knowledge into his teachings, discerning what is right and what he requires of those who follow him. You gain an understanding of the nature of God and thus the nature he desires for us.

Paul’s words to the Philippians would reinforce this thought.

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)

As time passes and we invest ourselves in God’s word, we gain an understanding and knowledge of how he lived and the words he spoke. Such understanding enables us to deepen our faith and expand and enhance the good we are doing.

Then, we raise the bar higher. Finding the self-control or discipline to resist our former way of life and the temptations that will surely come. It is getting a grip on our passions in order to stay focused and committed to what we’ve been taught in God’s word. This, then, leads to a stronger faith, a goodness that seldom wavers because we continue to grow in our knowledge of his will and way.

Perseverance speaks to the ability to stay the course when days get more difficult. To persist in our pursuit of godly character even when it is hard to do so. It is the patience to keep exercising our faith, goodness, knowledge gained and discipline to remain strong during hard times. The ability to fight off the temptation to abandon what we believe and know when circumstances don’t go our way.

“Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross… (Hebrews 12:2-3)

Raise the bar yet again because as we stay strong in the face of hardship, we are demonstrating a deep respect for God and his love for us. The call to live a life of godliness suggests a faith that is practiced and practical. It is simply the faith we put into practice. We determine to be more and more like him in pursuit of the godliness…being Christ-like…in the way we live and relate to those around us, especially those who are outcasts.

James put it this way in his brief letter.

Religion that God our father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (James 1:27)

It is this raised bar of Christian living that demands we love those who persecute us. Insists that we love the sinner but reject the sin. Encourages us to wrap our arms around those society pushes aside.

Jesus raised the bar for his disciples when he told them that the evidence of their godliness is in the gentleness, kindness and grace extended toward our fellow believers. In their love for one another.

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35)

It is a picture of grace and forgiveness within the body of Christ that builds up the church rather than tearing it down. Our brotherly kindness and love is the light of Christ reflected through the church that invites the unbeliever to consider a life with Christ. It is this light that opens the door of salvation to a lost world.

It is the love that allowed Peter and Paul to embrace the faith of the Gentile believers. It is the love that forgives the hurt caused by our fellow believer so that church continues to model God’s love for the world. It is the love that makes a church a church.

“And, now, these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (I Corinthians 13:13)

Peter raises the bar one last time in this passage. Read the words again.

…add to your faith, goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control, and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and brotherly kindness, love.

Peter goes beyond brotherly love when he suggests that we will reach new heights when we learn to love each other as God loved. This is agape love. It is a love abounding from our hearts by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. It is the spark that compels us to go out of our way to share our faith, to love those who others deem unlovable. To reach into the community to meet needs expecting nothing in return.

May the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another and for all men, just as we also do for you. (I Thessalonians 3:12)

The list Peter shares may seem daunting. Who could live a life like this other than Jesus Christ? Each characteristic he asks us to pursue reflect the character of God himself. Take a look at verse 4 immediately preceding our primary passage in 2 Peter 1. Peter declares that God gave us his gift of salvation and his promises so that we might “participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world…”

These traits of our heavenly father are the traits he wants to see evident in the lives of those who believe in him. The list Peter shares is not a “how to,” but rather a statement about what is possible. That a focused and committed life can keep raising the bar of excellence as we become more Christ-like. It is a process and is something to which we can strive. Peter is giving us a picture of what we can become if we make spiritual maturity a priority.

I’ve lived almost seven decades on this earth. I wish I could declare that I’ve cleared the bar set by God. I’m certain I have not. It is a growth process, even until the day we die.

Christian growth and maturity is neither automatic nor a matter of time. Growth occurs as we consistently and obediently seek to grow…as we hurdle each bar…with the power and help of God’s spirit and the faithful study of God’s word.

Peter offered us both an encouraging word and a warning in 2 Peter 1:8-9.

We said earlier the reason we seek after these traits is to understand the character of God and participate in that divine nature. Then, we must consistently demonstrate these traits in our lives in increasing measure each day we live. To be effective and productive in our knowledge of Jesus.

To simply let that initial faith commitment slide suggests we’ve forgotten what Jesus did for us on the cross.

I’ll make one last connection. Peter’s choice of character traits in his second letter to believers is similar to the fruit of the Spirit Paul discusses in some of his letters. Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 as the qualities God produces in us through the work of the Spirit.

The key to manifesting the fruit of the Spirit, according to Galatians 5:16, is to walk in the Spirit. A spiritual lifestyle choice. This passage in Peter tells us how to walk in the Spirit, constantly jumping the higher bar of spiritual maturity.

I want to know Christ and the power of the resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings…Not that I have attained all of this or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me…but one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining forward to what is ahead. I press on… (Philippians 3:10, 12-14)

I hope you will join me in making that thought a commitment in the days to come. Maybe we can clear the next bar together.

Painting a Masterpiece

Background Passage: 2 Peter 1:3-10

I decided a year ago to explore my artistic side by learning to paint using watercolors. It’s not an easy medium to master. However, over the past few months I have sold three watercolor paintings. I’m now officially a struggling artist.

Though I took weekly lessons for two months last summer, most of what I’ve learned has been through videos and trial and error. For every painting I like, there are one or two more that get crumpled and tossed into the trash.

Recently, I’ve tried painting portraits of my four grandchildren, Eli, Josiah, Lena and Amelia. To paint in watercolor, I choose a photograph I like, trace the image I want as my foundation. Then, I start with a faded wash, brushing in the background colors.

As I work through the painting, I lay down layer after layer of progressively darker color. The joy of the work is seeing the image slowly emerge as each layer is established. The traced outline that serves as my foundation comes to life as each layer is added. The end result is a more complete image of someone I love.

I think Peter would have understood the illustration. He wrote his second letter to the early Christian church near the end of his ministry as an impassioned plea for them to grow in spiritual maturity. He did not want them to forget the virtues that stand upon the foundation of faith.

Accepting Christ as savior on faith provides the perfect outline for the image we wish to become. Once faith becomes a part of who we are, however, we should continue to grow. To add more layers upon that foundation of faith so a more complete image of the person God created us to be can emerge.

Peter’s world grew complicated with a number of false teachers trying to usurp the message of the early church. These young congregations were in danger of falling victim to a warped gospel. Peter desired to jog their memories and make them think, hoping that they would recall the words he and the other disciples preached and taught. His words are wonderful reminders for today’s Christian who longs to live like Christ.

God’s power, Peter says, gives us all we need for a godly life. His “great and precious” promises, his covenant with us in Jesus Christ, ensures we have the ability to live according to his divine nature. Our task is to meditate on those promises. To make them a part of who we are. Thinking upon the promises of God is often the prelude to finding them fulfilled.

Peter then makes a presumption that the faith of all believers is the basic and fundamental constant…part and parcel to us all. Faith is our foundation. Then, he reminds us to build upon that faith with a set of virtues added to our lives. Each building upon the other.

“For this reason, add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.“ (2 Peter 1:5-7)

Peter reminds the people of God that we should not pick and choose from among these seven virtues, but we should add them to the song of our lives. His phrase “add to your faith” speaks to gathering a chorus to sing all parts of a melody. The idea is that if all of these virtues are added to our lives, it will bring our lives into harmony with God and with each other.

Our spiritual journey begins with faith in Jesus. We enter into relationship with God through faith in him and his promises. As we grow toward spiritual maturity we add certain virtues or traits to our faith, each building upon the other. Peter first calls us to demonstrate goodness.

Goodness is an aspect of moral character. Excellent character. It is the idea of our faith being morally sincere and genuine in our relationship with others. It is to model Christ in the things we say and do.

Goodness, Peter says, leads to knowledge. Evil will pursue knowledge of ungodly things. In today’s world, we can easily clutter our minds with things that are not of God. Peter may have placed goodness before knowledge on his list for a reason. As we grow in the spirit, we are to fill our minds with the knowledge of God and his will and way. Paul shares a similar thought with the church in Philippi.

“Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable…if anything is admirable or praiseworthy, think about these things.” (Philippians 4:8)

To be filled with knowledge is important, but it is not enough. Add to your goodness and knowledge of God, the self-control and discipline to practice what you know to be true. Self-control is what keeps us from misusing the knowledge we gain; from deciding we know better than God how our lives should be lived.

For a Christian, self-control ought to be best expressed as Spirit-controlled. Only when the Spirit rules our lives can we truly be self-controlled.

The fourth element in Peter’s list of virtues is perseverance. Peter speaks here about staying power…our ability to “hang in there” through our times of struggle or doubt. It is endurance and patience rolled into one.

Peter could see the coming persecution of the early church. He knew that a life lived in faith did not protect one from the struggles of life. His challenge was for God’s people to build upon their faith, using their goodness, their knowledge of God and his will and their self-discipline to outlast all that life would throw at them. It is no different today. Life in a sinful world will have its difficult times. Hang in there.

Paul adds his voice.

“Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have laid hold of it…” (Philippians 3:13a)

He knew he had not reached the pinnacle of spiritual maturity. He still had things to learn and things to do as we all do.

“…Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature (or my words, “trying to mature”) should embrace this point of view.” (Philippians 3:13b-14)

Press on. Persevere. Be patient.

To perseverance we are to add the virtue of godliness. There is an expression of deep sincerity in this word. We can’t fake godliness. People will see right through us if we try. The quality comes as we allow God to rule as the boss and Lord of our lives. It is living as the image of Christ so that all who look at us and our lives will see Christ in and through us.

Godliness is not a “holier than thou” kind of thing, it is a “get down in the ditch” kind of thing…like the Good Samaritan meeting the needs of the beaten down and abandoned. It’s seeing the hungry and feeding them. The naked and clothing them. The prisoners and visiting them. It is being Christ’s voice, ears, hands, and feet each and every day you live.

Part of the Christian distinctive is found in the way we treat each other within the body of Christ. Peter calls it “mutual affection.”

Jesus said it this way.

“…As I have loved you, you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)

This ought to be a distinguishing characteristic of the church. That there is genuine affection and love among God’s people. A kind deed. A hug when it is needed. A welcoming word expressed upon entering God’s church. It is the fervent desire for a Christ-centered relationship with other believers in Christ. Yet, it is sometimes the one thing that drives people away from the church. The way we treat each other ought to be the thing that draws non-believers into the fellowship. Let us love one another.

Once we love one another in the church, we can begin to love the lost as much as God loves them. It is the seventh virtue on Peter’s list. God loved the world so much that he sent his son as a substitute for my sin and yours. Using that act of sacrifice to bridge the distance between God and man. To open the door for a personal, and eternal, relationship between the Creator and his creation.

The love of which Peter speaks is the cornerstone of our Christian faith. Our obligation doesn’t stop with the mutual affection for those who share our beliefs. Our obligation is to light a path to God by loving the world around us. You can’t do that when you judge. You can’t do that when you harbor resentment. You can’t do that when you look down upon others. You can only do that when you see others through God’s eyes and open your heart to love.

The list of seven virtues outlined by Peter build upon each other, layer upon layer, firmly grounded on the bedrock of our faith. They are marks of our spiritual growth and maturity. The apostle promises a benefit for our quest to be more Christ-like.

“For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord, Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed of their past sins…” (2 Peter 8-9)

I like the phrase “increasing measure.” It tells me that our desire for spiritual growth and maturity has no finish line. Even as we add a new layer to the person God called us to be, we can add richness and depth to the color of our lives. Doing so keeps us from becoming unfruitful, ineffective and unproductive to the kingdom of God.

Positively stated, Peter tells us to work on these virtues every day. To add that new layer of paint to the paper. In doing so, you can never go wrong. There will be no room in your life for bitterness, hatred, envy, or prejudice.

“For if you do these things, you will never stumble…” (2 Peter 1:10)

From the basic outline traced on a piece of paper and each successive layer of watercolor added, the portraits I paint begin to emerge. What I end up with is a reasonable likeness of my grandchildren.

God is a far more accomplished artist. If you let him, he will help you add layer upon layer of Christian virtue that will create in you a great masterpiece.