There is a deep-seated unbelief among Christians just now, about the eternity of future punishment. It is not outspoken in many cases, but it is whispered; and it frequently assumes the shape of a spirit of benevolent desire that the doctrine may be disproved. I fear at the bottom of all this there is a rebellion against the dread sovereignty of God. There is a suspicion that sin is not, after all, so bad a thing as we have dreamed. There is an apology (in this sense, a defense or excuse), or a lurking wish to apologize (make an excuse) for sinners, who are looked upon rather as objects of pity than as objects of indignation, and really deserving the condign (deserved) punishment which they have willfully brought upon themselves. I am afraid it is the old nature in us putting on the specious garb of charity (love), which thus leads us to discredit a fact which is as certain as the happiness of believers… Some cannot bear the thought; but to me it seems inevitable that sin must be punished… If sin becomes a trifle, virtue will be a toy. 

Spurgeon made these comments in 1865, and one hundred forty-seven years later, the temptation to the same error is present in the Church.

It is present in me. 

In order to turn to Christ, it is necessary that we become aware of our sinfulness. But, even as we acknowledge our sinful depravity, the enemy would have us remain focused on ourselves rather than truly relying upon the Savior. What we call repentance may be only so much wallowing in self-pity, and we almost enjoy the state of our wretchedness rather than being repulsed by it. Though I know it would be wrong to pass judgment on someone’s motives, I must admit that I cannot help wondering at some of the dramatic testimonies I have heard and at what the responses might be to such testimonies. Someone shares the sordid details of the life that he led before he came to Christ with what seems like a bit too much enthusiasm and not enough discretion. His listeners seem riveted by the depths of sin in which he indulged as opposed to finding it revolting. I have been that kind of listener, and it only reveals how corrupting an influence sin really is. At the same time we recognize it as sin – and even recognize our need for deliverance from it – sin has a strange attraction for us. As Spurgeon observed, we are tempted to minimize how bad it really is, I suppose because we don’t want to be too hard on ourselves. 

Spurgeon exposes another way that we focus on ourselves when he speaks of making excuses for sinners and looking upon them as “objects of pity” rather than “objects of indignation.” It seems that it is easy to develop the idea that there is something pitiable about us that moves God to show us mercy and to extend to us His grace. Here again, we cannot seem to escape our egocentrism. It is not something about us that moves God to mercy and grace; it is something about God. His nature is to be merciful and gracious. We don’t deserve it by being good enough, and we don’t move Him to compassion by being bad enough. He is merciful and gracious for His own reasons, for His own glory and pleasure.  

As it comes to bear upon our sin, the other side of the story of God’s nature is that, while He is merciful and gracious, He is at the same time just. I suggested that we are mistaken to think that there is something about us that brings out God’s benevolent characteristics. However, it is important to understand that there is something about us that brings out God’s justice. In other words, our sinfulness does not prompt God to mercy, it prompts Him to wrath. Spurgeon’s thoughts reveal his concern that we fail to understand this and therefore, develop a wrong response to sin in ourselves and in others.  

The writer of a popular book has written: 

Thank God! I am wonderfully content with a God who doesn’t deal with me as my sins deserve. On the last day when Jesus calls me by name, “Come, (author’s name), blessed of my Father,” it will not be because Abba is just, but because His name is mercy. 

A very appealing sentiment, one must admit, but also very inadequate. What this writer has written in the first of these two sentences is true: God doesn’t deal with me as my sins deserve. But what he has failed to mention is that God did deal with Jesus as my sins deserve. God the Father (Abba) poured out His wrath on His own Son because He took my sin – and yours – upon Himself. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). When, in his next sentence, this popular writer goes on to say that his welcome in heaven will not be due to God’s justice but because of His mercy, he has departed from the truth. God’s justice and mercy are not two opposite sides of His character. They are coexistent and coeternal aspects of His singular nature. God’s mercy upon me is made possible only because He is a just God, and His justice on me was satisfied when He turned His back on His only Son who bore my sin. Anything less is not the Gospel. It is inappropriate to be thankful to God only for His mercy and, in any way, to minimize the gratitude and praise that is due Him for His justice.  

Spurgeon expressed his concern that “if sin becomes a trifle, virtue will be a toy.” I think he means that if we don’t take sin seriously, neither will we be serious about holiness. God’s justice makes possible His mercy, and the grace with which He favors us makes possible a real transformation – conformity to the likeness of His Son (Romans 8:29). Grace may be unmerited favor, but it is not favor without purpose. God means to change us; to make new men out of us, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4: 24). What is amazing about grace is not that we get a forensic benefit from it only, but that we get an organic benefit. We not only have a new record with God, a new account crediting us with the righteousness of Christ; we have a new spirit with which to respond in relationship to God in obedience and, as Spurgeon put it, virtue. Another way of saying this is when we truly understand what we have been saved from, we will rightly understand what we have been saved to. I think I am beginning to realize why my evangelist friend thought that the book he gave me was so important.  

Spurgeon reminds us that God hates sin and that the punishment that sinners must suffer “they have willfully brought upon themselves.” Those of us who are redeemed are saved not merely from our mistakes, from trifles, but from eternal damnation. It is because He rejected His own Son that God accepts us. The terrible divine justice meted out upon Jesus Christ for our sin paid for the mercy and grace which brings us so much joy, now and into glory. We must understand and acknowledge the dreadful sinfulness of sin if we are ever to comprehend the amazing graciousness of grace.

Psalm 34:8 reads, “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.” It struck me that this verse does not say “reason” or “judge” or “prove” or even “believe” that the Lord is good. It says “taste and see.” So I began to reflect on what this might mean.

Now, for example, if I am eating an apple and crunching and smacking and expressing my opinion of how good that apple tastes, you might think that it must be an apple with excellent flavor and even believe that it is a good apple. But you really don’t know if the apple is crisp and juicy with that tart sweetness that makes an apple so appealing, or if it is soft and bland and maybe has a worm in it, or worse - half a worm! No, the only way you would know if it is good is if you taste it. It seems that Psalm 34:8 speaks of a spiritual tasting and seeing of the Lord’s goodness that is discovered through experience, and the context of such experiences is shown in the second half of the verse: “...blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.” Circumstances in which we have the opportunity to take refuge in the Lord - hardships, loss, sorrow, heartache, illness, suffering - these are the experiences where we may taste and see that the Lord is good. 

Another thing I noticed about the verse is that it says “Taste and see THAT the Lord is good” - not “...IF the Lord is good,” or “...WHETHER OR NOT the Lord is good.” This is a positive declaration of God’s goodness and, ironically, the circumstances in which a person might be most tempted to doubt or even reject God’s goodness are the very conditions under which this spiritual tasting and seeing are experienced and God’s goodness is assured to us. Once again the key is found in the second half of the verse, and it is taking refuge in the Lord. If we take refuge in the Lord the way that He has instructed us to do, we will taste and see that He is good. If we do not take refuge in Him as He has instructed, He will still be good, and we may even believe that He is good - that is, the truth that God is good may be part of our “belief system” - but we will not “taste and see” it. What He wants for us is to taste and see His goodness. As Charles Haddon Spurgeon wrote, “Thank God if you have been led by a rough road; it is this which has given you your experience of God’s greatness and lovingkindness. Your troubles have enriched you with a wealth of knowledge to be gained by no other means; your trials have been the cleft of the rock in which Jehovah has set you, as He did His servant Moses, that you might behold His glory as it passed by.”

How then has the Lord taught us to take refuge in Him? It occurred to me that He provides some insight in the first three verses of the same Psalm: “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be on my lips. My soul will boast in God alone; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. O magnify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together.” Here it seems is a practical, logical, progressive strategy for taking refuge in the Lord. It begins with worship welling up from the heart and expressed by the lips. The words “at all times” and “continually” convey that this includes during the darkest and most difficult of times. The next insight speaks of boasting, but this clearly is not a sinful boasting, because it is not focused upon self but upon “God alone.” The idea indicated here seems to be that, instead of yielding to the temptation to question God’s purposes, timing, and fairness and looking to others to affirm our doubts in their own agnostic tendencies, we would “brag” on God’s sovereignty and rights of ownership over us in such a way that the “afflicted” would be pointed to these truths and find joy in them. The third is the next logical step in the progression: to invite others to join us corporately in the expressions of worship which began within us as we sought first to take refuge in the Lord in our hearts.

A powerful lesson, wouldn’t you agree? This is what God put on my heart to share, just weeks after the April storms, with those who had lost their homes, all their possessions, and in one case, husband and father. It was also what God prompted me to communicate as a substitute Sunday school teacher a few weeks after some suspicious symptoms put me in the emergency room and led to the discovery of an electrical abnormality of my heart, and just two days before a routine MRI prescribed for frequent headaches led to the discovery of an aneurysm in my brain. It is interesting how the Lord often uniquely prepares us to face the difficulties in our lives. Perhaps you can see why this passage has been for some time at the forefront of my mind. And in keeping with the Lord’s instructions from this passage, I want to invite you to join me in exalting and magnifying the Lord and His sovereign superintendence and goodness in all our lives all the time. This is the testimony of my life and ministry in what has been a year in which I have had the greatest and most numerous opportunities to “take refuge in the Lord” than ever before. I can’t deny that I hope 2012 might be a less eventful year, but at the same time, I want very much to taste and see that the Lord is good, don’t you?

Early in his second epistle, Peter writes: 

“…make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of (relationship with) our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

Not to oversimplify, but it seems that Peter is encouraging his readers that the health and testimony of their relationship with Christ is linked to their progress in spiritual growth. He is very specific about this process of spiritual growth, indicating one quality that builds upon another, and so on.  

In the past year, we have considered some thoughts about goodness, knowledge, self-control, and perseverance. The next quality that Peter lists is godliness, and it is to this quality that we now turn our attention.

A Linguistic Review of the Word, Godliness 

Peter uses the Greek word translated, godliness, four times in his second letter. The word is made up of a prefix meaning “well” and a verb meaning “to be devout.” Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words says that this word “denotes that piety which, characterized by a Godward attitude, does that which is well-pleasing to Him.” Vine’s also informs us that this Greek word is plural and, therefore, signifies acts of godliness or piety.

Further study of this word from The Complete Word Study Dictionary by Spiros Zodhiates reveals two other important insights. First, this Greek word is used in the New Testament to describe both believers and unbelievers. An unbeliever might be described as pious or “godly” using this word. According to Zodhiates, the word “literally means well-directed reverence, but does not imply an inward, inherent holiness. It is actually an externalized piety.” Seen in this light, it makes some sense that it could be used to describe an unbeliever. An obvious conclusion from this is that such “godliness” must never be construed as the ground of one’s salvation. This, of course, is consistent with all the New Testament teaching on justification. However, the second insight is revealed in 1 Timothy 3:16 where Paul communicates that godliness (ευσεβεια, eusebeia) is a mystery. Zodhiates writes that “this refers to a holy life resulting from God’s incarnation in the person of Jesus Christ when that incarnation and all that it entails is truly believed. This is eusebeia, a holiness initiated in the life of the believer by Christ Himself through the Holy Spirit.”  

In 2 Peter 1:3, Peter tells his readers that God “has given us everything we need for life and godliness (eusebeia) through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.” So we see that, for the believer, “godliness” is a gift of God. Later in the same chapter, Peter includes this same word in his list of spiritual growth qualities, indicating that it is something to be developed that is both essential for spiritual maturation and is a normative element of the believer’s spiritual growth.  

One final thought Zodhiates points out is that, in 2 Peter 1:6 and 7, “godliness” precedes “brotherly kindness” and therefore is identified as the spiritual growth quality having to do with the believer’s attitude toward God and actions resulting from that attitude. This is differentiated from the believer’s attitude toward man indicated in the next quality mentioned, “brotherly kindness.” This observation is consistent with the order used by Jesus when responding to the question, “What is the greatest commandment?”: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself.” 

Some Thoughts on Godliness as a Part of the Spiritual Growth Process

Although his list of spiritual qualities in 2 Peter 1:5 – 8 may not have been comprehensive, Peter evidently intended to represent it as progressive. He characterized each quality as building upon the next, then summarized by commenting on the positive results of the ongoing development of these qualities (vs. 8). Consequently, reflecting on “godliness” as a part of this developmental order as a whole may shed some light upon this particular quality. 

The list begins with faith which Peter clearly identifies as that which has been “received” (vs. 1) from God. [Vine’s Expository Dictionary comments on the word translated, received: “by its being ‘allotted’ to them, not by acquiring it for themselves, but by Divine grace (an act independent of human control, as in the casting of ‘lots’)”]. When, in verse 5, he urges his readers to “make every effort”, Peter is not speaking of faith. Faith is the ground upon which the believer stands and exerts his efforts to “add” to his faith those qualities which Peter lists as fundamental to effective and productive spiritual growth.  

The first of the qualities Peter encourages his readers to add to their faith is goodness. The recognition of and love of God’s goodness; the desire for that which is good; the right response to the good work of God’s grace in the believer’s life is the early evidence of spiritual growth and the beginning of a maturation process that will last throughout a lifetime. (For more thoughts on goodness, see e-Pistle entries for October and November 2006.)  

Peter instructs that knowledge be added to goodness. This, it seems, may describe the stage that begins to go beyond the initial tasting and seeing of the Lord’s goodness. This is where the child of God begins to learn to think Biblically; to understand life in a fallen world in light of the fundamental goodness of God, even when confidence in God’s goodness is challenged by the believer’s own emotions and human reason. This is where the deeper truths of Biblical theology begin to be considered and embraced. It is the stage, according to Scripture (i.e. Hebrews 5:13, 14), where the young child of God becomes “acquainted with the teaching about righteousness” and where he begins to train himself “to distinguish good from evil.” (For more thoughts on knowledge, see e-Pistle entries for November 2006, and January, February, and March 2007.)

The next quality to be added is self-control. Logically, as the believer seeks to apply his growing knowledge of truth to daily living, temptations arise to threaten the integrity of his developing convictions. Here, he is challenged to compromise the “constant use” of his training in the distinguishing of good from evil (Hebrews 5:14). Here he needs self-control to meet and resist these temptations. (For more thoughts on self-control, see the e-pistle entry for April 2007.) 

The quality that follows self-control and immediately precedes godliness in Peter’s list is perseverance. The exercise of self-control to submit to God and resist the devil will result in spiritual victories (James 4:7), but it will not end the war (Ephesians 6:10 – 18). Perseverance is the quality that takes self-control beyond mere responding to the crises of temptations. Perseverance establishes the mettle of conviction. (For more thoughts on perseverance, see the e-pistle entries for May, June, July, August and September 2007.) 

Godliness is the successor to perseverance in the progression of spiritual growth outlined by Peter. An allegiance to the good has led to a growing knowledge of God’s character and God’s ways. Commitment has been evidenced through self-discipline (self-control) and persistence (perseverance). Principled obedience has become the God-ward devotion that is identified as the spiritual virtue, godliness. The early growth seen in goodness and knowledge has matured through the challenges of self-control and perseverance and now leads to a stage of maturation where the believer’s effort is no longer primarily directed towards himself and his own spiritual growth and purity. He is now beginning to be focused upon glorifying God and enjoying Him forever. The convictions learned during the earlier stages of growth are now owned, and the motivations for living God’s way are less and less legal and more and more relational.  

C. S. Lewis wrote: 

I think all Christians would agree with me if I said that though Christianity seems at first to be all about morality, all about duties and rules and guilt and virtue, yet it leads you on, out of all that, into something beyond. One has a glimpse of a country where they do not talk of those things, except perhaps as a joke. Every one there is filled full with what we should call goodness as a mirror is filled with light. But they do not call it goodness. They do not call it anything. They are not thinking of it. They are too busy looking at the source from which it comes.

              (Mere Christianity, Book III, Chapter 12: “Faith”) 

This seems like a good explanation of the spiritual maturation process leading up to godliness. 

The Turning Point in Spiritual Growth: “I Must Be About My Father’s Business” 

I think that a lot of Christian parents do not experience the pleasure of observing their children’s spiritual development of the quality of godliness as has just been described while their children are still living with them. Just as the development of responsibility and social maturity is severely retarded in American young people because of American youth culture, the process of spiritual maturation is often greatly slowed as well. The turning point in spiritual growth where the believer moves from being primarily concerned with himself to being primarily concerned with God takes place – if it takes place at all – long after the young person has finished his formal education, begun his career, or established his own family.  

Some may think that this is normative. And, of course, each person’s development is unique to him as an individual. However, just as physical development follows a relatively predictable pattern for all of us, surely there is some sort of normal progression that governs spiritual development. The study of 2 Peter 1:5 – 8 certainly suggests that there is. The question that concerns us here is: “When can we and when should we expect to see the development of the quality of godliness in our children’s/young people’s spiritual growth?”  

One thought that I cannot escape is that the Scripture presents us with an ideal from which we may begin to address this question. That ideal is the Lord Jesus, and it just so happens that we have a record in the Bible of Jesus’ thinking as a youth which sheds light on His spiritual maturation. Luke reveals Jesus as a boy of twelve “in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions” (Luke 2:46). When His parents found Him and expressed to Him their concern over their separation from Him, Jesus answered, “Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49) In this statement, we find a characterization of the spiritual quality of godliness. Jesus’ concern is God-ward. Even at this early age, He is revealing His understanding of mature priorities which He later identifies as the first and greatest commandment: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (For more thoughts on Jesus as a youth, see e-pistle entries for June, July, August and September 2006.) 

If our children have experienced the new birth, they have Christ living within them. He is their ideal example, and the ideal spiritual growth is depicted in His life. Luke speaks of this growth in part in the famous verse, Luke 2:52: “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” Though He was young, He evidenced the mature quality of godliness. As Christian parents, I believe that we ought to inform our regenerate children of the example of our Savior as a boy and continue to hold Him up to them as the ideal example for their efforts in spiritual growth. By God’s grace and the work of the Holy Spirit, as they “make every effort” in spiritual maturation (2 Peter 1:5), we may indeed be privileged to observe a maturity in our children that is beyond our expectations. They will be prepared at an earlier age to develop the spiritually mature qualities of brotherly kindness and Godly, self-sacrificing love. 

The study of this passage (2 Peter 1:1 – 11) will continue in the next e-Pistle article on the topic, “Brotherly Kindness.”.

In 2 Peter 1:5 – 8, Peter lists qualities that characterize spiritual growth. In the past several e-Pistle articles, we have examined the quality that is placed in the middle of Peter’s list: perseverance. Some ideas have been discussed concerning practical strategies for training our children and young people in the development of this quality. Now, let us consider one of the most profound spiritual truths of the believer’s relationship with his heavenly Father. Apart from this truth, none of the strategies we have discussed will be efficacious. 

“How Firm a Foundation”

A bit of mystery surrounds the marvelous old hymn, “How Firm a Foundation.” There is no certainty about the authorship of either the tune or the text. Nonetheless, the hymn has a rich heritage in the hymnology of the Church, appearing in some of the most widely used English and American hymnals for the past 220 years. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson considered it a favorite. An earlier president, Andrew Jackson, had it sung by his deathbed before he passed away. Robert E. Lee chose it for his funereal hymn. (101 Hymn Stories, by Kenneth W. Osbeck and www.cyberhymnal.org) 

There is, however, no mystery about the inspiration for this great hymn of faith. The message is firmly rooted in the clear teaching of God’s Word. Passages such as Isaiah 41:10 and 43:2; Romans 5:3 – 5 and 8:28; 2 Corinthians 12:9; Hebrews 13:5; and James 1:2 – 4 are God-breathed declarations of the truths the anonymous author articulated so beautifully in the hymn’s poetry. 

Great Biblical themes are communicated in this wonderful old song. Faith in Christ; contentment in all circumstances; courage in the face of difficulty and opposition; the sufficiency of God’s grace; God’s use of trials in the refinement of our faith; the faithfulness of God’s love; and the unfailing grip of God upon the souls of His children are all addressed in the seven known verses of “How Firm a Foundation.”

This hymn was recently chosen by the man who leads music in the Sunday school class in which I was teaching. I, in turn, used it for the singing time of a family fellowship in which my family participates on Sunday evenings. The middle verse of the hymn struck me so strongly that I was unable to hold back tears of wonder and gratitude to God. I felt that it contained an amazing truth. Since then, it has reverberated in my mind, prompting waves of awe and joy in my spirit. As I have contemplated the spiritual growth quality of perseverance for this series of articles, I have come to feel that this verse communicates a pivotal Biblical teaching on the subject – a teaching that is the key that opens the door from simple endurance of suffering to authentic perseverance that leads to greater spiritual maturity.

  When through the deep waters I call thee to go,

  The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;

  For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,

  And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

We are reminded in the first two lines of this verse that God is intentional about suffering in the life of the believer (Genesis 50:20; Romans 5:3 – 5 and 8:28; James 1:2 – 4 and 12; 1 Peter 1:6, 7), and that He will not permit us to be overtaken by these difficulties (Romans 8:35 – 37; 1 Corinthians 10:13). In fact, we are taught that God actually calls us to go through “deep waters,” echoing the Scriptural truth that this is following in the steps of Christ (1 Peter 2:19 – 21). In the last two lines of the verse, God’s faithful ever-presence with us is affirmed (Isaiah 41:10 and 43:2; Hebrews 13:5), and we are encouraged that God can make a blessing even of our troubles (Romans 8:28; 2 Corinthians 12:9, 10). This last insight sets the stage for the staggering claim made in the final line of the verse.

“And Sanctify to Thee Thy Deepest Distress”

The word, sanctify, conveys two main ideas: “to set apart” and “to make holy.” With this in mind, it is evident that the author of this encouraging hymn concludes, from the teaching of Scriptures like those we have cited in this article, that God sets our “deepest distress” apart in our lives for holy purposes. It is being asserted that suffering and difficulty and heartache, even death (Psalm 116:15), are sacred matters to the believer and to our heavenly Father. What a profound comfort! And what a motivation to perseverance! Surely, were this not the truth, there could be little incentive to respond to suffering in any other way than despair. 

It is the presence of evil and suffering in the world that turns more people away from a belief in God than anything else. No greater questions and doubts about God and His purposes are prompted in the heart of an individual, even a believer, than where such evil and suffering has touched upon his life. As C. S. Lewis put it, “human suffering raises almost intolerable intellectual problems.” On the surface it would seem that confrontation with the reality of suffering in a fallen world is the best means of driving people away from God. And so the devil himself thinks. 

But the deeper reality is this: suffering is a thing of intimacy between God and His child. It is through suffering and hardship that God most completely manifests His power in a believer’s life (2 Corinthians 12:9, 10). As the hymn writer suggests, God weds the believer to his suffering in such a way that the darkest times in life become rites of passage to holiness and are themselves holy articles, indispensable to the true worship of God.

All the effort that might go into training our children in the spiritual quality of perseverance hinges upon our understanding of this truth and our conveyance of that understanding to them. We must believe and know that we are not simply teaching them a fact, but are pointing them to a relationship with their Creator who “works in (them) to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13). They must not simply respond to hardship with cheerful acceptance and “make the best of it,” but become fully persuaded that such perseverance is the pathway to an intimacy with God and a spiritual growth attainable in no other way.

Certainly, it is the Spirit of God alone who can enlighten the heart with such deep spiritual understanding. But I believe that we Christian parents must faithfully communicate the profound perspective which the author of “How Firm a Foundation” so eloquently articulated. By God’s grace, our children will not yield to doubt and anger or disbelief in God, but implicitly place their trust in Jesus, having heard the message of His heart to them: 

  The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,

  I will not, I will not desert to its foes:

  That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,

  I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.

The study of this passage (2 Peter 1:1 – 11) will continue in next month’s e-Pistle article.

If we want to develop perseverance and to help guide our children to develop this important quality as they grow spiritually, we must recognize that it does not come without a cost. Perseverance is produced by suffering (Romans 5:3); it is developed by the “testing” of our faith (James 1:3). We cannot have the one without the other. The good news here is that the path to developing perseverance is not hidden. It is the pathway that every believer travels in this fallen world. Everyone’s journey is filled with turmoil and trouble and temptation. There is no difficulty in finding suffering to endure. The key to developing perseverance is in having a Biblical perspective on suffering.

This is a difficult notion to contemplate. It is an almost impossible lesson to learn. Yet, it is a Biblical lesson. The Apostle Paul tells us of some of his own suffering which he repeatedly pleaded with the Lord to take away from him. God’s answer was “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul then went on to assert that he had subsequently learned to “delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.” For, he suggested, it is in human weakness that God’s strength is displayed (2 Corinthians 12:2 – 10). Paul understood the meaning of perseverance; the value of “remaining under”.

In 2 Peter 1:6, perseverance follows self-control in the progression of qualities describing spiritual growth. This makes sense as we understand self-control to be a strategic quality in the struggle each believer has between his new nature and the old, sinful nature (see last month’s e-pistle article). There is suffering involved in dying, and we are called to “put to death” whatever belongs to our earthly nature (Colossians 3:5). As we fight the daily battle with our sinful nature, there is suffering and turmoil involved in yielding our will to the Holy Spirit as He produces the spiritual fruit of self-control in our lives. We must persevere in this effort. We must “remain under” to the end.

Benefits of Perseverance

Our instinct is to recoil from pain, to protect ourselves from suffering. We are even tempted to sin in order to avoid personal difficulty. C. S. Lewis continued in his thoughts about dentists:

I wanted immediate relief from pain: but I could not get it without having my teeth set permanently right. And I knew those dentists; I knew they started fiddling about with all sorts of teeth which had not yet begun to ache. They would not let sleeping dogs lie; if you gave them an inch they took (a mile)… Now, if I may put it that way, Our Lord is like the dentists. If you give Him an inch, He will take (a mile).

In this illustration about dentistry, Lewis suggests something else that Scripture teaches us. While perseverance cannot be developed apart from suffering, it also has far-reaching effects. Paul tells us in Romans 5:4 that perseverance produces character; Peter indicates that the next logical step in spiritual development is Godliness (2 Peter 1:6); and James teaches that the end result of perseverance under suffering is “that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:4).

Any Christian parents looking at these qualities mentioned as benefits of perseverance – character, Godliness, maturity and completeness – would recognize in them some of their greatest desires for their children. They must also acknowledge that Scripture reveals that perseverance under suffering is the teaching tool which leads to these qualities.

Our study of 1 Peter 2:5 – 8 will continue in the next e-Pistle entry with “Some Thoughts on Teaching Perseverance to Children and Young People.”

A Lesson From Nature

Self-control is a “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 6:22, 23). In nature, a fruit serves a dual purpose. First, a fruit either is or contains the seed of a plant for the propagation or multiplication of its kind. Second, a fruit provides nourishment for other creatures, again with the ultimate end of perpetuating the species of the original plant through means of the creatures that feed upon it. Thus, the fruit of the plant serves the plant itself, its species, and other creatures. In his Expository Dictionary of Bible Words, Lawrence Richards seems to be asserting the same thing about the fruit of the Spirit. He says, “the fruit of the Spirit is both inner (in the quality of our personal experience) and external (in the quality of our relationships); because ‘the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control’.”
 
This presents a powerful motivational strategy for encouraging our children’s (and our own) development of the “fruit” of self-control. It is a blessing to us because the development of this “fruit” of the Spirit propagates the future growth of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. One part of the fruit of the Spirit is vital to the growth of the other parts. But the blessing is not for us alone. Just as a fruit provides nourishment for other creatures, so the “fruit of the Spirit” nourishes those around us – each of the “fruit of the Spirit” is really others-directed. And not only does this fruit nourish others, it perpetuates itself through the lives of those who “feed” upon it in our lives. In other words, the Spirit of God makes use of us as vessels to plant His Spirit in others.
 
If we want to see the fruit of the Spirit of self-control produced in the lives of our children, then we must desire and pursue the development of the fruit of the Spirit in our own lives. In addition, we want to encourage our children that the discipline of self-control is not only for their own spiritual benefit. It is a “fruit” that the Spirit of God will use through them for His own purposes in the lives of others.
 
Our study of 1 Peter 2:5 – 8 will continue in the next e-Pistle entry with “…And to Self-Control, Perseverance…”

This study of 2 Peter 1:5 - 8 will continue in the next e-Pistle article, "...And to Knowledge, Self-Control..."