Ephesians 4:4-6,One hope of your calling: Seeing its fruit, part 2.

Class Outline:

Thursday December 17, 2020

 

He shall have the true-knowledge of the Lord who loves to do His will. Study and walk worthy and you shall know the doctrine.

 

2PE 1:1-4

Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers[partners or fellowshippers] of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

 

The promises that God has granted us are all the blessings that come with the New Covenant in the blood of Christ. By faith and living our lives according to them, we continually experience a fellowship with God’s divine nature, which nature we also possess within ourselves. And so, our faith conquers the world.

 

We are called to heaven and not the world. Faith and walking according to the promised blessings we escape the world’s lust.

 

The Christian must hasten away from the world’s lust and not look back, per Lot’s wife longing for Sodom. Never forget that the flesh is weak, nor that the prince of this world is mighty in his evils domain, and that he is powerful to lead men astray, transforming himself into an angel of light. Satan knows that he has confederate powers within us, our cravings from our human nature. Men first walk after their own lusts; then they are led by them, then obey them, and at last become their slaves.

 

We cannot flee from them on our own. We are aided mightily by the power of God. It is our faith in God’s ability to enable us to escape that will find victory. We can because God can and He is in us and we have His precious and magnificent promises.

 

So then, Peter shows us how the desire for godliness shall constantly grow stronger and be ever fulfilling, until it attain perfect fruition in Christ’s eternal kingdom.

 

2PE 1:5-11

Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge; 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness; 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. 10 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; 11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.

 

“diligence” (spoudazo - make every effort) - earnest zeal of duty. The fountain from which all virtue and comprehension of God’s will flows.

 

This is the beginning from with the others (virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly love, and love) emanate and are ever increasing. We must see the fruit of our calling and seeing it increase if our hope in that calling is never to be dulled.

 

Virtue flows from diligence and knowledge flows from both of them.

 

A careful and excellent walk with God will open our eyes to the knowledge of God. Again, he who loves to do God’s will is the one who will know God. By doing what God has called each of us to do, following His will, only then will we understand more of God’s dealings, which will bring our lives more into harmony with His will.

 

Men, even Christian men, sometimes find themselves in search of secret knowledge, as Gnosticism promised. In tricky, mysterious, hidden ways and secrets, when all the while, if they simply did God’s will they would have an abundance of knowledge of God.

 

Add to knowledge temperance or self-control. There is a knowledge that puffs up.

 

Gnosticism, and all its forms, has a knowledge that adds to pride, whereas the knowledge of God gives only humility and stability of mind, overcoming self, and consistency of conduct.

 

Still, the Christian who is on this upward call or heavenward path will face trials in abundance. And so on to the next skill, patience.

 

The spiritual will have many trials - add patience.

 

He waits on the deliverance of the Lord, having a sound hope that God is working in ways he cannot see but that he can assuredly trust. He is a pilgrim and sojourner in this world and Christ has raised him above the plain of that mundane chaos that the world seems to love so much. He is not in bondage to man nor the world, and even the greatest affliction will not move him from his trust in his Father to deliver him.