NOURISHING FAITH
The Apostle Peter died shortly after he wrote his second epistle and in the first verse of that letter he tells us that we have received ‘faith of equal standing with his (isotimos; of equal value or honour). He goes on to write about how that faith grows and brings forth the fruit of the true person that we were created to become. I see that being like a tree of life growing within us. It took many trials of faith for Peter to come into the fulness of that fruitful faith ex...
NOURISHING FAITH
The Apostle Peter died shortly after he wrote his second epistle and in the first verse of that letter he tells us that we have received ‘faith of equal standing with his (isotimos; of equal value or honour). He goes on to write about how that faith grows and brings forth the fruit of the true person that we were created to become. I see that being like a tree of life growing within us. It took many trials of faith for Peter to come into the fulness of that fruitful faith experience, and he wants to impart that experience to us in this epistle. He came from being a godly man under the Law who strived to say and to do the right things as a man of God, into becoming a man of faith who lived in the flow of God’s divine nature within.
2Peter 1:3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to (pros move forward to, bring about) life and godliness, through the (intimate personal) knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, through which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises (commitments), so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of wrong desires (epithymia). For this very reason diligently add to your faith virtue, (epichor??ge?? - nourish -vitalise the organic nutrients of the tree of life within you with) 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.
How do we add to our faith? Do we say we believe in Jesus and his death and resurrection and then having settled that, we start to become a better person by making an effort to becoming virtuous and gaining knowledge and being kind and trying to sacrificially love people?
It could seem that this Scripture is saying this, and if that were the case we might as well have a Christian belief system and then live under the Law by doing our best to obey the Ten Commandments. Now that is not a bad thing to do and perhaps that is what James is saying when he says that ‘faith without works is dead’ (James 2:26), which could look like a contradiction to what Paul says.
Romans 3:28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith alone not by the works of the law.
There is no contradiction. James and Paul are both saying the same thing, and so is Peter in this passage of Scripture - that everything in our Christian faith, from being forgiven and receiving the life of Christ and being made one with him through the holy Spirit depends upon our conscious dependence upon what he has done and is doing for us. Peter and James and Paul all assume that we will undertake to live a life in participation with God that produces the fruit of his Spirit within us. Faith is always about depending upon God while nourishing his divine activity within.
The following episodes of Peter’s life I am about to describe are not meant to disparage this Apostle of God, but they reflect to us how we too can struggle like Peter did, with all good intentions to be who God wants us to be. And like Peter we learn to realize that we can only be changed into who God created us to become, through a surrendered faith in the work of the Holy Spirit within us. That is the obedience of faith.
Peter was a man of good intentions and great aspirations, a man who wanted to give everyone the best advice but who often didn’t know what he was talking about. He told Jesus that it was not God’s will for him to die on the cross. He said to Jesus, ‘No Lord, far be it from you, you’re not going to the cross’.
Peter was also a man who wanted to be so friendly he would swap sides if being on the wrong side made him look bad to his other friends. When Peter visited Paul and Barnabus in the new gentile church in Antioch which they were growing, Peter accepted their gentile Christian lifestyle which was free from Jewish rules and regulations and rituals and was happy to share their expression of Christianity. That was until James and some other Jewish Christians decided to come and check out how things were going in this new church, and immediately Peter stopped eating with the gentile Christians and stopped associating with them and convinced Barnabus to do the same. Paul became incensed about this hypocrisy and berated Peter in front of all the other Apostles (Galatians 2:11).
Peter was a man of such self-conscious mood swings that he could say to Jesus ‘no you won’t wash my feet’, and then realizing his foolishness say, ‘please not just my feet but wash all of me’.
On one occasion Peter went with Jesus up onto a mountain with James and John where Jesus was transfigured, and his face shone like the sun. Moses and Elijah appeared, talking with Jesus in a bright cloud and Peter decided to break in on their discussion and he said to Jesus, ‘If you like, I would be happy to put up three tents here right now, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ Then from the cloud another voice broke in on Peter and said ‘This is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, Listen to him!’ When Peter heard that he fell flat on his face on the ground, terrified.
Peter was a man who was so loyal to his religious opinions that he let his opinions give him permission to say no to God – ‘Not so Lord I can’t eat what you’ve offered me it’s religiously unclean’ (Acts 10:14). Peter was then told by God to preach the Gospel to a Gentile centurion called Cornelius, and he did so, but upon being invited into the man’s house the first thing he said was; ‘Do you know it’s not lawful for a Jew to enter a gentile house?’
Peter was a man who found it so difficult to control his emotions and reactions that after praying in the garden of Gethsemane with Jesus, and continually nodding off to sleep, he lopped an ear off the guard who came to arrest Jesus for his trial, and he then ran and hid in the crowd and told people he didn’t know who Jesus was.
Peter was a man who learned the hard way, and for many years to surrender in faith to God’s grace and his idea of who he was and who he could become and he humbly let God’s grace allow him to become that man God created him to be, beyond all of his good intentions and all his personal aspirations.
Peter’s life is a lesson to us of how not to become victims of our own strong opinions about who we are, who other people are and what is going on. We think we have opinions but often they really have us, and they’re mostly borrowed from other people anyway.
Peter went on to become a hero of faith. He became a man who humbly lived and spoke from the Tree of Life and not the tree of knowledge (which was mostly the religious knowledge of rules and regulations).
Peter is telling us that the spiritual growth activities that he mentions in his letter from verse 3 will be brought about by the divine life of the nature of God in us. They are not a compulsory set of regulations enforced upon us in order to gain merit or favour or achieve some kind of status as a Christian. These are the overflow of the life principle (Divine nature) that spills into our heart and mind and soul and body from Jesus through the Holy Spirit. This is what our faith opens up for us and what flows out into the people and the world around us.
Do we dare to believe this? So what does faith do? How does this tree grow?
For any plant to grow it needs good soil and sunshine and rain.
The sunshine is God’s love – the universal energy that causes life to flourish.
The rain is the Holy Spirit that joins us in oneness of the values of God’s mind and heart. The soil is our heart that is broken up and softened by the rain and the sun and by our desire to have that tree of life planted into our value system with real intention and aspiration. This is what makes our life one of fulfillment and joy, and all the while we are painfully aware of falling short but we give our best to this work of nourishing our faith and there is always the now to come back to.
Virtue; arete – The character traits of courage, honesty and integrity.
We ask ourselves the question; Why will I not face this challenge of obedience to God? Am I avoiding this because of fear of failure or rejection? Am I taking shortcuts because no one is watching? If I fail I’ll feel ashamed.
If the answer is yes, we can ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us that we can trust God to honour the smallest step of our yes to him even if it looks like there will be a cost to our yes of being opposed or of suffering disadvantage – for example admitting to getting something wrong with no excuses and taking the consequences. We will then see God honour his commitment to bring about his good and perfect will for us in the situation.
We also learn in trusting God this way that he is purifying our conscience to see more clearly his right rather than being at ease with our own rationalisation of our actions. We the get to trust in our own heart with more confidence and so grow in faith.
Knowledge; gnosis - understanding of what is worthwhile knowing as far as growing in a living faith is concerned.
Do I want to know spiritual concepts and doctrinal facts things because it gives me significance or influence with others?
If yes, then we need to ask God about the things he wants to reveal to us about who he is and to trust the Holy Spirit to give us his wisdom from above so that we can know his will for our lives in order to make right choices. He will teach us by His Spirit and his Word what is worthwhile knowing, and also how to impart wisdom to others.
Self control; egkrates – Management of boundaries in our life.
Do I want to live without boundaries in my life that limit my self-determination to do things my way or that limit my self-indulgence to have what I want?
If yes, we can ask God to help us reorder the spiritual and moral priorities in our lives, starting with ourselves, and if we choose to live like that we become part of the reordering of the people and things around us.
Perseverance; hypomeno – abiding patiently under circumstances.
Do I find myself impatiently complaining about the way things are or the way other people are and resisting rather than accepting the things that I cannot change?
If yes, we can ask Holy Spirit to give us his grace to give thanks in all things – for this is the good will of a loving God for us, then he will reveal to us that he is working all things together for our good.
Godliness; eusebiea - spiritual focus, devotedness.
Do I find myself being more attracted to the things of the world rather than to God?
If yes, then we can ask The Lord to create in us a clean heart, and to renew a right spirit within us. He will then touch us with his presence and purify our hearts so that we begin to see God in everything around us.
Brotherly kindness; Philadelphia - care and compassion.
Do I find it is an irritation or an annoyance when I have to go out of my way to assist someone, and turn away or find reasons why I shouldn’t have to? (Good Samaritan)
If yes, ask The Holy Spirit to help us understand the feelings of helplessness or heartache that another person is suffering. The blessing for us is that we will find the compassion and comfort of God coming upon us in abundance in our times of despondency.
Love; agape – selfless sacrificial love.
Do I find myself not heeding what God says about what love is and what it is not?
1Corinthians 13:4 Love is very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful, or proud, never haughty or selfish or rude. Love does not demand its own way. It is not irritable or touchy. It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong.
If we knew how much we were loved by God we would find delight in heeding those words and living this life that he has given us and finding delight in loving and blessing others
Attending to this process of spiritual growth makes our life one of fulfillment and joy, and even though all the while we are painfully aware of falling short, we give our best to this work of nourishing our faith. When we fall short there is always the now to come back to. Faith only works in the now. We don’t go back to regretting what we got wrong, and we don’t make a resolution to try and get it better tomorrow. We come into the now immediatelyknowing that at that moment God is loving us and forgiving us and increasing our faith to produce the fruit of his tree of life in us.
