All the Pieces

John Telgren

 

I remember searching through the box for the missing piece.  My model electric car was not going to run without it.  I needed all the pieces of the motor, the drive train, and the wheels if it was going to run.

 

It is that way in our Christian life.  It is not enough to just have battery power.  We need to add the other pieces if it is going to be useful.  That is the idea in this passage concerning our walk with God. 

 

" ... His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, ... having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.  Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.  For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ... as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you" (2 Pet 1:3-11).

 

Having escaped the corruption in the world, we need to apply some things to our salvation.  We need to grow in these Christian graces.  These are the sorts of things that will strengthen us in our daily walk with God.  These are not just one time or occasional actions, but things we are to "practice," as the text says.  That means these are part of our lives. 

 

Notice what happens when we practice these things:

     1) We are neither useless nor unfruitful.  We are not saved just to be saved, we are saved so that we can bear much fruit and glorify God.  We are saved  so that we can served God like we were created to do.  We become a part of the body of Christ with a function to fulfill.

     2) You will never stumble.  You will be strengthened through practice.  That makes these things a matter of Christian discipline.  Part of our growth and formation comes through putting what we learn into daily practice.

     3)  The entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.  When it comes time to enter the eternal kingdom, your name will be written in the book of life because of your faithfulness.

 

I am sure that most Christians desire these results in their lives.  Who doesn't want to be useful to God.  Who doesn't want to avoid stumbling in their walk with God.  Who doesn't want to enter into the eternal kingdom of our Lord? 

 

The practices in this passage will strengthen us so that we can have these results.  That these are practices makes these a matter of Christian discipline.  With that in mind, a good exercise is to write these items up as a list, and reflect on them daily in prayer, asking God to help you grow in these practices.