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2 Peter 1:5
5 And [kai] [de] beside [autos] this [touto], giving [pareisphero] all [pas] diligence [spoude], add [epichoregeo] to [en] your [humon] faith [pistis] virtue [arete]; and [de] to [en] virtue [arete] knowledge [gnosis]; KJV-Interlinear
5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge; NASB
‘For this reason,’ means because God has gifts that exceed our imagination, we should pursue the qualifications that God has set before us, in order to receive them.
The gifts we have studied. Peace and grace multiplied, means as we have already studied, an abundance of blessings that are elsewhere described as exceedingly abundantly above and beyond all that we can think or ask.
How much can you think? How much could you ask? Well, if you are anywhere close to normal, you can think up a huge list of things to ask for. And presuming that you are not going to get subtly self-righteous on this list, then your wish list will be miles long. Give any child several toy catalogues and ask them to make up a no limit ‘Dear Santa’ list. What would you expect to get? A huge list. Certainly beyond any of our budgets.
But then, God has no limits on His budget, and His budget exists for every person who qualifies. He has infinite resources and abilities.
Therefore, ‘for this reason,’ begin to get your act together. Stop spending all of your time on petty subjects. Stop being bugged by life’s little annoyances.
‘Stop worrying about anything, but in everything, through prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known unto God. For the peace of God shall garrison your hearts and minds, through Christ Jesus.’
Applying all diligence, means just that. Your spiritual life is your single most valuable possession. It impacts your entire eternal life. Be diligent, meticulous, proactive, attentive, earnest in your pursuit of your spiritual goal, which is spiritual maturity.
Before you were born into this life, you had no say as to the circumstances of your life. But as you have been reborn in to a brand new life, you have every opportunity to establish the circumstances of your next life. Do you want to be a poor peasant in heaven or a trillion-trillionaire several times over? And be that way forever!
Again, the spiritual life is for normal people. The spiritual life creates normal people. And normal people will not want to be poor. Only stupid people want to be poor and pretend that they are making the ultimate sacrifice.
Does God ask here, that you make any sacrifices? No. These next few verses are mandates for your life. And in none of them is any sacrifice mentioned.
God did all of the work and God gets all of the credit. You in effect do nothing, but listen and learn and then subscribe to truth. But you have to commit your life to Gods way, not your own invented way.
Your spiritual life begins with an honest effort and desire to want to learn. That is the virtue here. This is not pretense. This is not making appearances for other people to observe in you. This is not trying to impress people. This is not pursuing your own ego or self-sacrifice practices.
This is an honest effort to want to learn. And from this desire, an open mind which will place all of your prior beliefs, on hold. That is an honest desire, or an approach to doctrine that is your virtue. This is absent of bias, absent of prejudice, absent of trying to turn Gods word into your own defined belief program.
And from your virtue or moral excellence, knowledge. This knowledge is ‘gnosis’ which is not ‘epignosis,’ which we studied the other day. ‘Gnosis’ is the raw data, the raw information of Bible doctrine. The nuts and bolts of Gods word.
‘Epignosis’ is the possession of knowledge, or wisdom. But ‘gnosis’ is the raw data, the details of doctrine. This means that you need to receive all information from Gods word, regardless of whether or not you agree with it.
God did not place you here in this world to evaluate Him, but to be a student without portfolio. That means that you know nothing, God knows everything, and you are to remain silent as in a classroom, and listen.
If you are conjuring up counter arguments then you are not listening. If you do not commit yourself to a daily study, then you are a poor student.
Bible doctrine is the food for the soul. I presume that you eat meals daily either at work or at home. How often do you go days or weeks without eating? And yet most folks do not take in their daily diet of Gods Word. What happens when you do not eat for an extended time? You get weak, sick and die. Is your spiritual life any different?
So, life begins with the desire (faith), added to an open mind (virtue), and then listening (knowledge intake).
