Cultivating Christian Character
ATTRIBUTION/CREDITS Essential Virtues Marks of the Christ- Written by: Jim Berg Copyright: 2008 by BJU Press
Last Week - The Portrait of a Christ- In 2 Peter 1:1-15, Peter says the #1 way for believers to resist the culture and false teaching is to develop our Christlikeness We need to cultivate Christian character
Last Week - The Portrait of a Christ- What is the Portrait of a Christ- Centered life? It s a life characterized by believers cultivating Christian character intentionally and actively by developing Scripturally directed virtues
Last Week - The Portrait of a Christ- Peter cites 7 specific virtues to develop Goodness, knowledge, selfcontrol, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, love
Last Week - The Portrait of a Christ- What happens when believers do this? They reap amazing benefits here in this place and an assurance of a seat in the eternal kingdom
How has God gifted us? How has He provided for us to cultivate this Christian character? How has He enabled us? What has He given us to do that will make us more and more like Jesus?
2 Peter 1:1-4 1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:
2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
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Farm example Mr Berg tells us to explore the farm Before you can do anything, which Peter is clearly directing us to do, you have to know the tools you ve got to work with
In 2 Peter 1:1-4, Peter gives us a rundown of the provisions God has given us to cultivate our Christian character
The Person Of Jesus Christ God s first provision for us is the His own Son (v. 2) Through our knowledge of that Son He ll give us everything we need to pursue/cultivate Christian character
The Person Of Jesus Christ More than head knowledge Greek - Epignosis versus gnosis Intimate, personal relationship versus knowledge through experience
The Person Of Jesus Christ In v. 2, Peter tells us that an abundance of grace and peace are ours through a mature, intimate relationship with Jesus That s the goal of this whole passage (vs. 1-15), cultivating that deep relationship with Jesus
The Person Of Jesus Christ In v. 3 Peter expands on this point, saying not just grace and peace but everything we need for life and godliness come through our intimate relationship with Jesus How then, can we develop this sort of relationship?
The Person Of Jesus Christ Answer is in v. 4, where we find another provision God has handed us
God s Promises Peter says thru Jesus we have been given very great and precious promises Why? For two reasons
God s Promises So we can participate in the divine nature (that s salvation), and So we can escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires (that s sanctification)
God s Promises The promises of God show us God s intentions for us They spell out what He wants to do on our behalf They show us his disposition for us If He didn t LOVE us, He wouldn t bother to help us!
God s Promises What is the result of depending on God s promises? An ever growing knowledge of and intimacy with God which is EXACTLY what Peter says we need to cultivate our Christian character and develop the virtues he fires at us in vs. 5-8
Provisions for What? So we have the person of Jesus and the promises of God to use as we cultivate our Christian character So now what? EXPLORE THE SHEDS!
Provisions for What? God s Word is loaded with revelations of both the person of Jesus and the promises of God, from
Provisions for What? Genesis 3:15: And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel thru
Provisions for What? Revelation 21:12: Behold I am coming soon
Provisions for What? To what end are we exploring the sheds? WORK THE FARM! Go use what God has provided to cultivate your Christian character
Provisions for What? While God does the growing, it takes serious human effort, sustained and nurtured by God s grace, to cultivate a Christian character
Provisions for What? What of those who say let go and let God? Isn t it all in His hands? Not according to God s Word here in 2 Peter God never tells us not to strive! Even Paul testified that God gave him grace to become what he was but that it was his responsibility to labor in that grace (1 Cor 15:10)
Provisions for What? Some go to the other extreme depending on their work/self-effort This may result in helpful deeds but in the end develops only human moralism Human effort alone cannot produce Christian character
Provisions for What? Cultivating Christian character is a joint effort We are required to work, using the provisions God has supplied, to set the conditions for God to do His work producing the characteristics of Christ in us We cannot produce sanctification fruit on our own, but we are required to cultivate the conditions for God to do so
The Bottom Line: We must intentionally pursue (cultivate) development of the virtues that build Christian character in us
Next Week Exploring the Groundwork of Christian Character Goodness (Virtue)