His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 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. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. | 2 Peter 1:3–11
On Sunday, Andrew finished our series on the book of Titus, called: a lesson in godliness. As he did, I was on the other side of the mountains with a group of teens from the church at an ACTS intensive. This was a weekend to not only learn about the program, but to talk a bit more about what this pursuit of godliness requires.
One of the speakers for the weekend talked about spiritual maturity and what prevented the kids from getting there. After going through their answers: lack of discipline, laziness, pride, and fear of failure, he set out to show that God has already set up a response to each of these. He used a few different sections of Scripture to do this, but in the text above we see quite a few:
- We can’t say that we are unable because He has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness
- If doesn’t make sense to worry about the future because he has granted to us his precious and very great promises
- We can’t say we don’t know how, because we are given a step by step process to follow
- Fear is irrational, because we are told that if we practice these qualities you will never fall.
We are given the motivation, the means, and the assurance of success. We do not need anything that we do not already have to experience the life-changing process of sanctification. We simply need to trust God, being obedient to His ways, and we will receive His promises.
The point isn’t to make this a lifeless system. This isn’t a checklist to get us to believe in our own works. God is the one doing the change. He works this out differently in each person. Some mature in the faith through a quick and easy life; others experience deep suffering and growth is slow (and everything else in between). We should not simplify the pursuit of godliness down to a pragmatic procedure. Instead, it is an adventure that is being guided by our Father in heaven.
The only way to persevere in this journey toward holiness is to keep our eyes focused on where it is we are going. Here is how this is described in Hebrews 12:1–2:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
This section begins by telling us to look back at the communion of saints: all of the Christians who have gone before us. They are a model for us of what faithfulness looks like over time.
This verse also tells us to look to Jesus. The description of Jesus has both past, present, and future connotations (sort of the push/pull I wrote about previously). He endured the cross, so that our sins could be paid for. He sits on the throne, so we can be sure that He is in control. His authority over His creation means that we know the end of the story. He has promised to return and to dwell with His people in the New Heavens and New Earth for eternity.
Our response to this is to run the race before us with endurance. We can do this, because we know that our steps are guided. We can lay aside every weight, removing the sin from our lives, because we recognize that it does not help us to get where we are going. In all of this, the excuses disappear. The only thing keeping us from maturing in the faith is our unwillingness to obey God.
The encouragement in this is that we can repent and turn at any time. We are not stuck in immaturity; we have all that we need to take steps towards holiness. It is never too late to start laying aside the weight and sin and to run with endurance the race before you. God has given us every reason to do just that!