Besides This, Give Diligence To Add To Your Faith
Minister: |
Rev. Ronald Van Overloop |
Date: |
3/2/2014 PM
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Text:
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II Peter 1:5-9
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Psalters: |
318, 290, 36, 24 |
- The activity of adding.
- To “add” is to furnish or to supply.
- The “faith” God gifts to us is a living bond which connects the elect with Jesus (Who is life, John 11:25).
- He works on us as rational, moral creatures, as living children, not as stones or wood.
- The adding is to be done with “all diligence,” i.e., earnestness to accomplish, to do something with haste.
- This is a fervor which arises from being awed by God’s undeserved love.
- Diligence is moved by God’s command but especially by a returning love.
- Diligent adding makes faith fruitful.
- What is to be added to faith – as an outworking of the exercise of faith?
- “Virtue” is moral excellence.
- “Knowledge” of God, of Jesus, of what God has done, and of what God promises is to grow in amount and accuracy.
- “Temperance” is self-control of our natural desires and lusts.
- “Patience” is an enduring of difficulties so we do not despair.
- “Godliness” is a reverent, worshipful attitude and conduct.
- “ Brotherly kindness” (philadelphia) is a special kindness toward professing Christians.
- “Love” is the love which excels; a knowledge of ardent love which reflects God’s love to us.
- The urgent reason for our faith to be actively growing.
- To lack these seven fruits of faith is to be “blind” spiritually.
- Spiritual blindness is not seeing that we have been “purged from his own sins.”
- The redeemed ought not be spiritually “barren and unfruitful,” but fervently grateful as repeatedly remember God’s undeserved love.
- Rather our awareness of God’s grace and peace and power (which give us all things) should make us striving to abound in these additions every day.