By Neil Earle
At a time when many set out to make New Year’s resolutions, it might be good to recall what the Apostle Peter listed as seven “supplements to faith.” After being saved and reconciled to the Father by the grace of God is there anything Christians have to focus on while living as “strangers and aliens” in this sometimes treacherous world?
There is. In the Second Letter from the Apostle Peter we are called to very practical Christian living, a most relevant assignment after what Time magazine calls “The Decade from Hell.” In verses 5-7 of 2 Peter 1 we find what teachers have long called “the Ladder of Virtues.” These are character traits that can stabilize and encourage us in our Christian walk. Here they are, with Faith set forth as the leading principle: “For this very reason, 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.”
And what is the benefit of developing these specific virtues?
Peter lists them in verses 8-11:
They keep us from being ineffective as Christians
They keep us from being unproductive
They keep us from being spiritually blind
They remind us that we are “trophies” of God’s grace, cleansed for sin
They keep us from falling into perdition
The eight virtues stand out even more when their English terms are examined for the deeper nuances and meanings we find when we look at the original Greek words. Here goes.
Faith, when transliterated from the Greek reads as “pistis” and it has the basic New Testament meaning of being able to depend on God’s promises. Unless we believe in the saving work of what God has done in Christ we have no basis for the Christian life at all (Acts 16: 31). The Old Testament Patriarch Abraham is called, in the New Testament, the father of the faithful. In Romans 4: 21 it states that Abraham was “fully persuaded that God had power to do what he promised.” It even says in Hebrews 11: 8 that Abraham set out to Canaan from Iraq “and he did not know where he was going.” All he had was God’s promises which he heartily obeyed.
We are a lot like Abraham as we gaze into this new year, 2011. 2010 had worries and tensions enough. Terrorist threats, house prices collapsing and being foreclosed, oil spills, high unemployment – it is an uncertain and fragile world we live in. We don’t know for sure whether things will be good or even worse in 2011, one reason we need trust, faith, that God will get us and our families through. Faith is that evidence available to our minds and hearts, the divinely given confidence, that God will se us through.
Thus all New Testament writers agree – “pistis” begins the Christian life. But more is needed.
Here is where the Greek word “arête” comes in. Translated “goodness” in the New International Version (NIV) it can also be rendered “good behavior,” which has a broad application indeed. The expositor William Barclay tells us that “arête” was the word the Greek applied to the goods. It had the meaning of excellence, courage, something above the average and the mundane. Socrates demonstrated “arête” when he took the poison hemlock rather than go back on his principles. Good behavior refers to walking the walk as well as talking the talk and the wised possession of quality helps Christians discern between the false and the true.
There are many fakes or even well-intentioned rogues out there today who profess Christianity (some have their own TV shows) but “arête” turns the light of God’s truth upon them. Paul demonstrated moral courage and excellence of character when he announced his firm intention to visit Jerusalem even though the Holy Spirit had clearly shown him that danger lay ahead (Acts 20:22-24; 21:10-11). That kind of excellent character strengthened and encouraged the early First Century believers to hang on and endure the savage persecutions of the next two centuries – else there might not have even been a Christian church. Of course “arête” can also refer to good works and acts of service which we find displayed all across the early church (1 Timothy 5:10). This is just another way of stressing James’ forceful dictum that”faith without works is dead” (James 2:20).
Next comes “knowledge.” The Holy Spirit inspired Peter to use a different word for “knowledge” than is usual in the New Testament. “Sophia’ is the Greek word for deep wisdom and the ability to make far-reaching decisions based on evidence or sometimes lack of evidence. But in 2 Peter 1:5 the word is “gnosis,” which refers more to “know-how,” how to deal with a tough situation among the host of everyday choices that face us. Paul showed “know how” more than once in the midst of a tempest at sea (Acts 27: 9, 21-42). Paul also exemplified “gnosis” when he lost his temper before the Jewish High Priest but turned the situation to his advantage. But as soon as he realized his mistake he tuned on a dime and dug himself out of the hole with a quick apology and quoted a text to turn the tide (Acts 23:1-9). This was a good example of knowhow, of moxie, of “smarts,” of getting oneself out of a jam in a hurry.
Oh, how often we wish we had that ability today when facing the banker, the creditor, the principal, the false accuser. Saying the right thing and in the right measure – this is something we have to ask our heavenly Father to help with, and he is more than willing to do so (James 1:5).
Self-control follows know-how. The Greek word is “egkateia.” It means that reason must always triumph over passion or emotion. Jesus showed “egkateia” that awful night in the Garden of Gethsemane when his human self cried out to escape the horror of the crucifixion. Through a supreme example of praying under pressure Jesus once more mastered his body with perfect self-control and stood up boldly to face what was coming. This is the kind of self-control we all need. One that will help steady us even in the face of death itself.
The Greek expert William Barclay claims that the English word “patience” or even “perseverance” is too passive a word to bring out the full meaning of the Greek “hupomone” which comes next. Hupomone is patience all right but it is patience applied to a desired end. It is not just waiting it is waiting in expectancy and even determination. The Greeks applied it to a plant which could thrive under hard and adverse circumstances. Hebrew 12:2 links it with a firm fortitude that bears up and even thrives under hardship because of an expectation of victory. It is patiently waiting for healing when we are sick, for example, or for the favorable outcome of a petition from God. “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits and I trust in his Word” say numerous Psalms. Accompanying such requests is a firm reliance on God’s loving power to be arrayed against the negative circumstances of the one who is praying.
There is a liveliness and an optimism attached to “hupomone” that will not go down. It is stronger even than our fear of death.
“Eusebia” is the word for the next trait, titled “godliness,” a word not common today, but colorful and robust in that it points out how God’s people are imbued with a sense of calling and commitment that helps them strive always for the best approach as opposed to doing what comes naturally. People at work – a boss, a partner, a fellow-worker – may try our patience and even sometimes go out of their way to treat us unjustly or to trip us up spiritually. But a commitment to godliness means we will react in a Christian way. Paul’s words are always there to caution the Christian who has to interact with this world: “Do not repay anyone evil for evil…as far as it lies in you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friend, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written; ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord” (Romans 12:17-19).
Everyone has to admit that these are some of the hardest words to live up to in the whole Christian Bible. But Paul doesn’t just leave it there. He takes us onto a higher plane of existence, a godly plane, when he says, quoting Proverbs 25:
“’If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:20-21).
This is quite a calling God has given us, isn’t it? But wouldn’t godliness change things in the board room, the cabinet room, the living room? Of course it would. Godliness always does.
Various New Testament commentaries point out that these two traits are not really identical, though often used so today. “Affection” is the well-known word “Philadelphia” – the ability to love all men as brothers, which is a fine concept and wonderful as it stands. Unfortunately we limit that application today when we extend affection only to people who are just like us. That is a dangerous use of affection for this can lead to cliques, clubbiness, divisiveness and a party spirit which the New Testament deplores. Cliques are bad because they turn inwards and often develop their own inner dynamic, leaving hard shells that bristle when someone tries to break through. In his famous work, People of the Lie, psychologist Scott Peck showed how some of the greatest evils he encountered were perpetuated by people in groups, such as soldiers in battle who felt alone and betrayed and that they must be loyal to each other no matter who gets hurt.
This is a perversion of natural affection. Love, however, the Greek “agape,” is immune to this distortion. Agape breathes the spirit of “all things to all men,” (1 Corinthians 9:22). Barclay calls love the characteristic virtue of the Christian faith. ”This agape, this Christian love, is not merely an emotional experience…it is a deliberate principle of the mind, and a deliberate conquest and achievement of the will. It is in fact the power to love the unlovable, to love people whom we do not like…Christian love must extend [even] to the enemy” (New Testament Words, pages 20-21).
This is why love is the foremost of the virtues. This is where Peter’s Ladder of Virtues has led us. Love is always ahead of us, calling us to stretch ourselves, to keep ourselves in check, to turn over and over to our own best instincts and attitudes amid the turmoil of life, to cherish those attitudes that have been bathed in the warmth of God’s precious Holy Spirit.
The quest for Agape, to always be thinking of the Other’s own best interests, this is enough to keep us motivated all through 2011…and beyond.