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You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
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).
Now is the time to post a prayer.
End Of Lesson
Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth.
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