2 PETER 1:5-9 : EFFECTIVE AND PRODUCTIVE KNOWLDEGE OF CHRIST

Passage for Quiet Time - 16/11/2014

2 Peter 1:5-9 (NIV)

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; ⁶ and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;

⁷ and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. ⁸ For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

Truths:

These verses prove that the beginning of everything is faith. But faith becomes expressive when we have the following qualities:

1.      Faith : Start of it all - Belief and Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ

2.      Add Goodness – Coz of Faith we are born again and have the ability to prefer right to wrong

3.      Add Knowledge  - Increase the faith and hence goodness by Knowledge of the word

4.      Add Self Control – With this knowledge we can exercise Self Control and surrender everything to God’s Control

5.      Add Perseverance – With this Self Control we need to continue to wait upon the Lord even if the circumstances are not in our favor

6.      Add Godliness – Reverence for the Lord and live Holy during this perseverance

7.      Add Mutual Affection – During Tough times treat brothers with affection even if they hurt you.

8.      Add Love – This is the culmination of it all where in all that happens in our life esp. during tough periods. Let Love reign over all your feelings.

Being Knowledgeable about the Lord Jesus Christ becomes productive and effective once these qualities are expressed and we need to persevere to gain these qualities. With the help of the Holy Spirit this is achievable and we can grow more and more mature into his image. A person without these qualities is blind since with the Knowledge of Christ these qualities should follow and they are forgetting how they have been cleansed from their past sins.

Application:

As a growing Christian, with increasing Knowledge of the Word, I need to imbibe the qualities mentioned. These qualities are not easy for a worldly person to achieve but being born again and having the guidance of the Holy Spirit it becomes achievable. These qualities are a challenge during difficult times in life and sometimes I can fall short, but I will acknowledge my faults, confess them, surrender myself again to the Holy Spirit and continue to grow mature into my Lord.

Prayer:

Abba Father, I want to be more effective and productive to your Kingdom, Help me to add these qualities to my faith so that I can show the Christ in me. Help me to exercise these qualities with total dedication and complete surrender to the Holy Spirit, when I encounter trials and tribulations. Help me to never forget and be blind to the sinful path I came from and how you cleansed me from my sins.

In Jesus Name I pray, AMEN