“The Just Shall Live By Faith”
New King James Version Written by: David Hicks
Romans 1:17 “ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."
Galatians 3:11 “But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith."
Hebrews 10:38 “Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."
“Articles of Faith”
(A Study in II Peter)
Lesson 2- Ladder of Fruitfulness:
Text #1:
2 Peter 1:1 “Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:”
Simon Peter is writing to the same Christians he wrote to in the first letter (see: I Peter 1:1-2 ). In the first letter, he would refer to them as the elect or chosen of God, which was according to His prearranged plan. This letter is addressed to those of like precious faith with the Apostle. This faith was obtained! And the means they used to obtain it is clearly stated to have been the righteousness of God. The Apostle Paul would state in Romans 1:16-17 , that this righteousness is revealed in the Gospel. Thus, the conclusion is clear; men receive faith through the Gospel, which agrees with Romans 10:17 .
Peter, likewise described that these Christians had been born according to the enduring word ( I Peter 1:22 -2:3 ), and that they had participated in a type of salvation similar to that of the ark (which saved Noah and his family – I Peter 3:20 -21 ), namely baptism (the conscientious result of the teaching of the word of God).
Text #2:
2 Peter 1:2-4 “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
Knowledge: This actually becomes Peter's theme to this letter (as this is the only method by which Christians can protect themselves from heretic doctrines), and Peter states that the knowledge of God and our Savior multiplies grace and peace to us.
Is the knowledge of God and our Savior two different things? No!
Romans 1:1 “Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God ”
Romans 1:16 “ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ , for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”
Here Paul states that the Gospel of God and the Gospel of Christ are one and the same. Christ is the fulfillment of all that God foreordained on man's behalf, and Christ is the power of the word's saving grace ( Romans 1:4-5 ; Ephesians 2:10 ; 3:11 ).
All Things: As the knowledge of God and our Savior is portrayed in the Gospel (good news concerning salvation), it is this vehicle that reveals to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. So, the negative thought would naturally be that anything else stated to man, apart from this life saving message, would not have anything to do with life and godliness!
This sets forth the condemnation of false teachers that will be revealed in chapter two. However, it should be a sobering and terrible conclusion that is unavoidable regardless of the sugar coating man tends to spin their apostasy with. Only the revealed, trustworthy, and prophetic word contains all that men need to be complete before their God, in Christ (see: II Timothy 3:16-17 ; Acts 20:32 ).
Called Us: These are not separate issues, but all of these are results of the work of the Gospel of Christ (knowledge of Him). Note the words of the Apostle Paul in stating to the Christians in Thessalonica; just how they had been called:
2 Thessalonians 2:14 “ to which He called you by our gospel , for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Great Promises: Peter starts verse four with ‘whereby' or ‘by which'. This tells us that the same thing that called us (those accepting the call receiving like precious faith – Vs. 1 ), also grants us great and precious promises. What makes them so special? They could only be granted by God! It is not within the faculty of man to produce for himself the means by which he might satisfy, appease, or justify himself before His creator. Thus, only God could create such for man. This is the very message of the Gospel!
Christ did not come to judge the world (the world was already judged as sinful), but to save the world in Himself. However, this alone did not guarantee salvation for every man; as condemnation would still exist for all men who loved darkness rather than light (the world verses the Savior of it). Only he who does the truth, comes to the light ( John 3:16 -21 ). These deeds done in God (directed by the word – I John 5:3 ), are those that grant us grace, peace, all things that pertain to life and godliness, and great promises. Since God is not slack concerning His promises, nor can He lie ( II Peter 3:9 ; Titus 1:2 ), these precious promises of salvation are priceless to man!
Partakers of the Divine Nature: The last of the mentioned graces produced by the knowledge of Him (the Gospel), is actually our theme in this study. It is the nature produced within us by the power of the Gospel's teaching (outward production of the knowledge of God and our Savior). Not only does it transform us from our sinful past into newness of life (new creatures directed by the Spirit, the vehicle by which the inspired men of the New Testament revealed the Gospel to us – Romans 6:3-4 ; 17-18 ; II Peter 1:19-21 ), but allows us to share in the image of the perfect servant of God (Jesus Christ), allowing us to be partakers of His divine nature.
Text#3:
2 Peter 1:5-11 “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Giving All Diligence: This becomes one of the most important statements within this introduction by Peter. Even though they had received so much via the power of the Gospel, they could not rest on that alone. There is every expectation that for the very reason of being the recipients of so many blessings, they should make every effort to produce within themselves fruitful growth.
The Christian charter that must exist, before he or she may become fruitful; is diligence, earnestness, accomplishment, promotion, and striving. Paul said it best to the church at Corinth , note:
1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
Ladder of Fruitfulness: Every step listed in the text is to be added to their faith (as stated in verse one, they had already obtained). For brevities sake, I am not going to deal with each of these, as I believe that they are straight forward enough. However, in addition to reading these graces mentioned here, that is the expected signs of growth within each Christian; compare and add to them these additional lists of graces:
Romans 12:9-21 ; Galatians 5:22-26 ; Ephesians 5:1-21 ; Colossians 3:12-17 ; Titus 2:1-10 ; Hebrews 13:7-17 ; James 1:18-27
Barren or Unfruitful: Peter states that if these graces exist in you in abundance , then and only then can you avoid be barren and unfruitful. The life of a servant of God must be about growth. The idea of barren carries about the same meaning as idle or inactive. Thus if a plant does not diligently absorb the nutrients near it, weakness, withering, and altogether unproductive will be the result.
Peter would go on to say that the Christian who lacks these graces is both blind and forgetful. The individual is both unappreciative and ignorant of the value that exists within the knowledge of our Lord and Savior.
Even More Diligent: Peter initially stated that because we have obtained a portion of His divine nature, we should give all diligence to add to our faith these seven virtues mentioned. Now that we know that even if we have obtained a portion of His divine nature, through inactivity, ignorance, and lack of appreciation we may forfeit the great and precious promises of God; we are to be even more diligent not to allow that to happen. This has the same theme as the words of the writer of Hebrews, to Christians about to give up on their faith, note:
Hebrews 4:1 “Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.”
These graces (the reproductive product of the word), are designed to keep us from the destructive choices of our own weaknesses. They assure us of the strength to overcome ourselves by producing within us His divine nature. This is the same thought that Paul shared with the Christians in Ephesus , concerning, “The Whole Armor of God” ( Ephesians 6:10 -20 ).
Entrance: An abundant entrance is given for emphasis, meaning that the disciple who is faithful in all these virtues till the end will receive all the glory accompanying the everlasting kingdom. This refers back to our divine nature, in that we are citizens of heaven ( Philippians 3:20 ), trying to navigate this life! Only those who find the strength generated by the knowledge of Him, the production of these virtues (as a natural outward production), and the forbearance to see our efforts to the end; will find this abundant entrance.
For these Christians scattered to North and Central Asia Minor , and for us, the immediate need is for us to gauge ourselves in comparison to the production of these graces and the diligence to continue to grow in them!
Next: “ The Trustworthy Word ”