IF YE DO THESE THINGS.
“For if ye do
these things, ye shall never fall; for so an entrance shall be ministered unto
you abundantly into the everlasting
kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”-2 Pet. 1 :10, 11.
THIS statement of the
Apostle Peter is suggestive of several important thoughts: (1) It
indicates the possibility to the class addressed of “an abundant entrance into
the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” This is the prize
of the high calling of the overcoming saints of the Gospel age. True, when we
consider its exceeding glory, faith is prone to stagger at the promise that,
poor and imperfect though we be, God proposes in the ages to come to show the
exceeding riches of His grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
(Eph. 2:7.) Nevertheless, such is the case: “unto us are given the exceeding
great and precious promises, that by these we might be partakers of the divine
nature, having es-caped the corruption that is in the world through
lust”-through the worldly desires, “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the
eyes, and the pride of life.”-2 Pet. 1:4 ; I John 2:16.
These exceeding great and precious promises con-template the adoption of these
called ones by the great Sovereign of the whole universe as his sons and heirs;
as joint-heirs with his only begotten Son, the heir of all things: they shall
be with him where he is and be-hold his glory; and they shall put off this
mortality, and, like him, who is “the express image of the Father’s person,”
they shall be clothed with immortality. So shall they be forever with the
Lord, and see him as he is; for they shall be like him. Having overcome the
world, they shall sit with him in his Kingdom, even as he overcame and sat down
with the Father in his Kingdom.-Rev. 3:21.
“Fear not, little flock,” says the prospective bride-groom of the Church, “for
it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom,” “for
the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me and have believed that
I came out from God.” Nor will he give the Kingdom to his beloved grudgingly;
for Peter says, “an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly;”
there will be a glorious welcome, a joyous greeting and a coronation jubilee
among all the heavenly hosts when the laurels of victory are placed upon the
heads of all the overcoming soldiers of the cross, the heroes who nobly fought
the good fight of faith-who kept the faith, fought the fight against the world,
the flesh and the devil, and finished their course in faithfulness even unto
death.
All this abundance of grace and glory is the pos-sible inheritance of even the
weakest saint who, trust-ing not to his own ability to make his calling and
elec-tion sure, humbly looks to God for strength from day to day to endure
hardness as a good soldier. If any man attempts to do this in his own
strength, he must surely fail; for the fiery trial that is to try every
one will prove too much for the mind of the flesh; but God who worketh in
the consecrated to will and to do his good pleasure, will so fortify and equip
those who de-pend upon his grace, that, with the Psalmist, they can say, “It is
God that girdeth me with strength. . . . By thee I have run through a troop,
and by my God have I leaped over a wall;” and with Paul, “I can do all things
through Christ, who strengtheneth me.”-Psa. 18:32, 29; Phil. 4:13.
(1) Let us not fear, then, to lay hold upon the exceed-ing great and
precious promises when we are so fully assured that he who has begun the good
work in us will finish it, if we let him. (Phil. 1:6.) “This is the victory
that overcometh the world, even your faith”-not faith in ourselves; for we can
have no con-fidence in the flesh. The poor, weak and faltering flesh does not
warrant us in reposing confidence in its ability for the great responsibilities
of soldiers of the cross. We must draw our supplies of wisdom and strength
from above: they are not within us except as implanted there by the spirit of
God.
(2) We next notice that while Peter’s words en-couragingly indicate
the possibility of the glorious in-heritance to all who are called, there is
also the implied possibility of failure to enter into it. There is an “if,”
a contingency, upon which the scales of divine judg-ment as to our worthiness
or unworthiness of the in-heritance must turn. And it is in view of this
contin-gency that Paul urges all the called ones to great so-briety of mind and
carefulness of conduct, saying, “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed
lest he fall;” and again, “Let us therefore fear lest, a promise being left us
of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.” It is
not enough, therefore, that we have consecrated ourselves to God as
living sacrifices; that we have covenanted to follow in the foot-steps
of Jesus; for the consecration, the covenant, the promise, will avail nothing
if we prove unfaithful to it, except to rise up in judgment against us.
“Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not
pay.”-Eccl. 5:4, 5. See also Deut. 23:21-23; Prov. 20:25; Heb. 10:38, 39 ; Psa.
15; Luke 9:62; John 15:6; Acts 5:4, 5.
(3) Our attention is next drawn to what is implied in this expressed
contingency-“If ye do these things,” What things?-The reference is to the
things mentioned in the preceding verses; viz., that with all diligence
we add to our faith fortitude; and to fortitude knowl-edge; and to knowledge
self-control, and to self-control patience; and to patience godliness; and to
godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness love.”
It is important to observe here that while all of these virtues are imperative
requirements of those who would be esteemed of God as faithful, they are only
of value as they are added to, or built upon, a founda-tion of faith-“Giving
all diligence add to your faith,”-your “precious faith,” as described in
verse 1. This faith is our abiding confidence in the divine plan of
salvation, which centers in the redemption accomplished through the precious
blood of Christ, who freely gave himself a ransom for all. No righteousness of
our own without this foundation of faith can avail anything to commend us to
God. All our works of righteous-ness must be built upon this faith.
But is not faith in Christ sufficient unto salvation without the
subsequent doing of any thing? To this the Scriptures plainly answer
that a faith that Christ will save us in our sins-while we still love sin and
do the works of sin-is a misplaced faith; for Christ never proposed to save us in
our sins, but from our sins; and God is faithful and just to forgive
sins and to cleanse from all unrighteousness those who come unto him by
Christ,-through faith in his shed blood (sacrificed life) as the propitiation
or satisfaction for our sins, and in his cleansing power. “He that saith, I
know him [Christ, as my Lord and Savior], and keepeth not his commandments [to do
the works of righteousness, and to bring forth the fruits of repentance of
sins], is a liar,” says the Apostle John, “and the truth is not in
him.” (1 John 2:4 ) Therefore the Apostle Paul also ex-horts believers,
saying, “Beloved, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to do of his good
pleasure.”-Phil. 2:12, 13.
It was God that provided for us the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus, and it is God that has drawn us unto himself and that has
promised us all needed grace to walk in the paths of righteousness; and more,
even to follow in the footprints of Jesus in the way of self-sacrifice.
While, therefore, with fear and trembling,-with great carefulness-we
endeavor to work out our salvation, it is our privilege always to realize the
promised grace to help in every time of need, and to be confident that our best efforts toward
righteousness are accept-able to God when presented through the merit of the
righteousness of Christ, imputed to us by faith.
Having this foundation, then, and “having es-caped the corruption that
is in the world through lust”-through the desires of the flesh-and having by
faith laid hold also on the “exceeding great and precious promises” of
being made partakers of the divine nature and joint-heirs with Christ of his
Kingdom and glory, and being anxious to make our “calling and election sure,”
let us consider these additions to our faith, which, if possessed and
continuously cultivated, are the assurance that we shall never fall, and that
an abundant entrance into the Kingdom shall be granted to us.
The first addition (virtue) is fortitude or strength of
character in righteousness. This implies the cultiva-tion of the strictest
integrity in our dealings, both with God and with our fellow men,-scrupulous
honesty, justice and truth being the only standard. The Psalm-ist
clearly defines it thus, saying, “He that walketh uprightly, and worketh
righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth
not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach
against his neighbor; in whose eyes a vile person is condemned; but he honoreth
them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not [i.e.,
who will not violate a contract found to be unfavorable to him]. He that
putteth not out his money to usury [taking unjust advantage of the necessities of
others], nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things
shall never be moved.” (Psa. 15.) Such a one is a virtuous man, a man of
fortified or strong character.
The second addition is knowledge-the knowledge of God and of his righteous
will concerning us (revealed through his Word, by the holy spirit). Neglect of
this divinely appointed means of knowledge is equiva-lent to setting up our own
imperfect standard of right-eousness and ignoring the divine standard. It is
there-fore important that we give all diligence to the study of the divine
oracles that we may be fortified in faith and works accordingly.
The third addition, self-control, is one of the most important elements
of good character. He that ruleth his own spirit is greater than he that
taketh a city, is the coun-sel of the wise man; and many a victorious general
has yet to learn to conquer and control himself. Self-con-trol has to do with
all our sentiments, thoughts, tastes, appetites, labors, pleasures, sorrows and
hopes. Its cultivation, therefore, means a high order of character
development. Self-control, accompanied by faith, forti-tude, knowledge from on
high, implies increased zeal and activity in divine things and increased
moderation in earthly things, in judgment, in conduct, in the re-gulation of
temporal affairs, etc. Let your modera-tion be known unto all men.”
The fourth addition is patience. Time is a very necessary element in
the process of perfecting every good thing. The fruit hastily plucked is the unripe,
hard, sour, bitter fruit. Time, as well as pruning and fertilizing and
cultivating and shower and sunshine, is necessary to the ripe and luscious
fruitage that de-lights the taste. So it is also with the fruitage of plans
and purposes, of education and of grace. God’s deep designs work out slowly,
not only in his great universal government, but also in the hearts and minds of
his intelligent creatures. God is operating all things according to his own
will along the lines of the fixed prin-ciples of his wise and righteous
laws-physical, moral and intellectual. To be impatient in any case is
fool-ishly to insist upon having the unripe, hasty, sour, bitter fruitage,
which, if the Lord grant it, will prove a sickening penalty for the impatience
that demanded it. “Let patience have her perfect work,” wait God’s time: “Rest
in the Lord, and wait patiently for him.” Wait the Lord’s time and way and the
indications of his will in every case, both with regard to ourselves and others
and “they that put their trust in him shall never be confounded.”
Faith, fortitude and knowledge prepare God’s people to have patience with every
effort toward good, however weak,-patience with the poor, blinded world, with
the “babes in Christ,” with the slow and stupid, with the excitable and
blundering, with the over-con-fident Peters and the skeptical Thomases. But to
have patience or fellowship with “the unfruitful works of darkness” and sin, is
the perversion of this grace; for these, wherever found, should be promptly and
sharply reproved and rebuked according to their evil intent; with
patience, nevertheless, toward the repentant prodigals, and always with
meekness.
It is noticeable that the Lord seems to forewarn his people of great need of
patience in the “harvest” or end of this age: patience toward fellow men and
pa-tience, in the warfare against evil, and in waiting for the Lord’s time and
method of setting right the wrongs of “the present evil world.” The poor
world, lacking faith, fortitude, knowledge of the divine plan and patience will
fall a ready prey to unrest and anarchy in the near future. The Word of the
Lord to his people is,-“Ye have need of patience.”
The fifth addition is godliness, godlikeness, piety,-that devout,
controlling reverence for God which yields a hearty, cheerful, loving
conformity to his will-fervency of spirit in serving the Lord. This is a later
development and vital element in the Christian character. Piety, godliness,
springs spontaneously from appreciative and grateful hearts, whose delight is
in the law of the Lord, in meditation upon his precepts and promises, and in
secret communion with God in prayer and praise. Loving, cheerful activity must
re-sult from such an inner life; for out of the abundance of the heart the
mouth speaketh, and the whole being is quickened to new life. Only those who
have a living faith in God, and who are fortifying their characters
against evil and growing in knowledge and self-control and patience are
prepared to appreciate the grandeur of the divine character; and only such are
really ener-gized by a desire for God-likeness.
The sixth addition is brotherly kindness, which of necessity grows out
of godliness. As god-likeness presupposes the other graces mentioned, so its
develop-ment implies an appreciation of divine justice and benef-icence, and
will broaden and deepen our sentiments toward all the well-disposed, however
imperfect, and especially will it enlarge our hearts to all who are of the
household of faith-“the brethren”
The seventh addition is charity, love,-the bond of perfectness which
unites all the other graces, and as a name stands for them all. Love to God
alone is not the full manifestation of this grace; nor can there be, according
to the teach-ings of God’s Word, a sincere love for God, without a
corresponding love to man: “If a man say, I love God,” says the Apostle John,
“and hateth his brother, he is a liar, for he that loveth not his
brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?”
( 1 John 4:20.) And Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that ye are
my disciples, if ye have love one to another”-John 13:35.
It is the abounding of these graces of character added to our faith in
Christ as our Redeemer and Savior that insures the soul against the possibility
of falling: “If ye do these things, ye shall never fall.” The con-tingency is not in the doing of these things perfectly,
and regardless of the righteousness of Christ to cover our transgressions and
compensate for our daily shortcomings; but if, added to our faith in the
imputed right-eousness of Christ, we have cultivated all these graces to the
extent of our ability, we shall not fall. When we have done all that we
can do, we are still unprofit-able servants, not daring to trust in our own
righteous-ness, but in the ample robe which is ours by faith in Christ, while,
with consistent “diligence,” we work out our own salvation with fear and
trembling, know-ing that the righteousness of Christ is only applied to such as
desire to forsake sin and to pursue that “holi-ness without which no man shall
see the lord.” -Heb. 12:14.