Build Character, Not To-Do Lists
How To Live Well (Part 1)
2024 is here. Happy New Year! Do you have new year’s resolutions? After many wasted (a) years, the apostle Paul made it his goal to ‘finish [his] course and the ministry that [he] received from the Lord Jesus’ (Acts 20:24). At the end of his life, he joyfully proclaimed: ‘I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith’ (2 Tim.4:7-8).
Have you ever stopped to ponder whether you are running the race well (b) ? If your life ended today, would you be able to say you finished well?
Peter helps us to understand what it means to live an effective or fruitful life in Christ, not wasting the time God gave us:
“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 […]. 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.”
A life in Christ well lived is proof (not the means) that we truly belong to him, assuring us that “there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ", or as the NIV puts it, we will “receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”.
The Point is, Who Are You?
A little over a year ago, I planned to write a blog about this passage. I am glad I didn't. The thought of a wasted life turned my stomach (and still does). So, based on 2 Peter 1:5-8, I constructed a list of seven things/steps to do to avoid being unfruitful in Christ. Looking at this passage again, I realize that I was not wrong per se, but I was only seeing the passage from a small angle and not as a whole. In fact, I was missing Peter’s point. Peter’s teaching is not about doing but being. It's not a list of outward action items but a lifelong pursuit of growing in Christlike character. It's not primarily about what we do but who we are.
Being & Doing
Being speaks to one’s inner character. Doing speaks to the external outworking of this character. Notice that Peter, though writing about fruitfulness (productivity in NIV) and effectiveness, does not mention action items. The qualities he urges us to practice pertain to the inner person. Peter is more interested in us cultivating character in Christ than giving us to-do lists. Doing is a natural outcome of being. The type and quality of the fruit we produce come from the inner person. In Jesus’ words, good trees can’t produce bad fruit and bad trees can't produce good fruit (d). It is possible to do things that look good externally but don't actually come from a godly character. The operation of gifts or talents, for example, can still be evident even if the person’s heart is far from Christ. God can still save people through the preaching of a pastor that does not actually know Jesus. We cannot examine our spiritual health merely by our outward works. We must start with who we are in Christ. So, friend, focus on being a good and healthy tree. Good fruit will show. Building Christlike character is how we live well.
His Divine Power
“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, […]. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith …”
We can’t miss this. Peter wraps this entire exhortation within Christ’s accomplishments and works on our behalf, a.k.a. the Gospel. It is by and because of his divine power working in us (‘For this very reason’ ) that we can have faith, continually grow in faith, and develop godly character. Outside of this context, we would be attempting to gain our own righteousness, which is impossible. Such a faithless walk cannot please God or lead to good fruit. We are saved by faith in Christ, and we continue to walk by faith in Christ. We can only be healthy trees if we are planted in Christ through the Gospel by faith, being constantly nourished by him.
How to Be A Healthy Tree?
In my next post, I will take a more practical angle on this passage. How do we “supplement [our] faith” with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love? Stay tuned!
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NOTES & SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
All scripture references are from the English Standard Version (ESV)
(a) Philippians 3:7-8: But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.
(b) 1 Corinthians 9:24-25: Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable; 2 Timothy 2:5: An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules; 2 Timothy 4:7: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith; Hebrews 12:1: 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,
(c) 2 Peter 1: 3-11 (Full context): “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, 4 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. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 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. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”.
(d) Matthew 7:17-20: So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
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