November 23, 2022 APPLYING ALL DILIGENCE
2 Peter 1:5-10 “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge; and in your knowledge, self-control; and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness; and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For He who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;
Being a follower of Christ, being a believer, is a call to action. God has initiated our redemption; Christ became the sacrifice for our sins; now we have been made a part of the family of God; and even though we currently live in this world, we are living in the kingdom of God. Now that all of this has taken place, and now that we are recipients of such grace, and have been given a new identity, we are to be about growing in this new life we have been given and about being expressions of the life of God in us. There is no room for us to be lackadaisical or to live in a ho-hum fashion in regards to our growing in the faith. Peter admonishes us to ‘apply all diligence’ in adding the qualities that are listed in the passage above. Peter is not giving us ‘suggestions;’ he is saying that it is necessary for us to be adding godly qualities to our lives-to be becoming like Him. In fact, he says that if are not adding these qualities, we are useless and blind! That is a shocking statement-but it makes the point about how serious this issue of growing in the faith actually is. Peter goes on to say that if we are not adding these qualities, we have forgotten our purification of sins-we have forgotten all about what it means to be saved and to be made new and joined to God and set free from the power of sin. An amazing promise is that as long as we practice these things, we will never stumble. That may sound impossible. There is a lot to be said at this point, but when we are walking in the Spirit, when we are walking in the ways of God, we do not sin-or stumble; we sin when we do not walk according to the Spirit. Simply said, when our hearts are turned to the Lord, when we are pursuing Him first, and when we are growing in the knowledge of God, we will not stumble. Now as we are walking with the Lord, we may allow a wrong thought or may do something that is not pleasing to the Lord, but because our heart is turned to the Lord, the Holy Spirit will quickly correct us and prompt us to repent, and as we do so, we continue to walk in the Spirit. (To repent means to change direction.) What I am saying is that to walk in the Spirit means that as we walk, the Spirit guides and also corrects us and adjust us as needed. So, let us be engaged with God and embrace the life He offers.
Romans 13:14 “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the desires of the flesh.”
Colossians 1:9b-11a “ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience;”
Blessings,
Buddy
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