Explore the Bible Series for May 6: Growing up in Christ

Posted: 4/28/07

Explore the Bible Series for May 6

Growing up in Christ

• 2 Peter 1:1-11

By Kathryn Aragon

First Baptist Church, Duncanville

The other day, my son came to me asking about salvation. Although his first questions revolved around fire insurance, what he really wanted was more. Aren’t we the same way?

All too often, we are drawn to God out of fear of eternal punishment. Yet after reciting a prayer and receiving assurances of eternal security, we’re dissatisfied. There has to be more, we tell ourselves.

Fortunately, there is. This week, we begin studying the book of 2 Peter, in which Peter reminds us to move beyond our salvation experience into an intimate relationship with God.

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Knowing God

Reciting a salvation prayer does not a relationship make. Relationship is far more than fire insurance.

Relationship is a give and take. It involves time and effort. It demands we pay attention to the other person. Imagine a friend who never returns your calls, can never make room for you in his schedule and never cares to find out about the ups and downs of your life. That relationship is sure to end.

God calls us to an intimate relationship with him. Intimacy with someone we can’t see, though, often feels like friendship with someone who won’t return our calls. We must be able to get past the apparent distance from a spirit God and realize God is with us, walking beside us, every minute of every day.

Peter tells us God calls us “by his own glory and goodness” (v. 3). At salvation, we become heirs to God’s promises, and it is through these promises we achieve intimacy with God and escape the corruption of intimacy with the world. The trouble is, this doesn’t just happen. We must pursue godliness. We must strive to achieve Christlikeness.

Developing Christlikeness

Christlikeness is a funny thing. While it smacks of behavior modification, it is really open-heart surgery. Analyzing our faults will not develop Christlikeness. Neither will Bible study or church attendance. Only radical changes to our internal make-up will remove our ties to world-likeness. Paul likes to refer to this as putting the old man to death.

We might also think of it as heart transplants. As we pursue a relationship with God, his heart begins to infuse our hearts. As the process continues, we find ourselves beginning to think like him and even act like him.

How easy it would be if Christ-likeness were merely a set of rules or behaviors. Paul makes it clear in Romans 2:28-29 that this is not the case: “For he is not a (Christian) who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a (Christian) who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.”

Outward changes will never signify an internal change. Only changes to our internal make-up evidence our intimacy with God.

But how do we achieve this? Peter gives us a blueprint. Rather than trying to achieve a complete heart transplant in one radical surgery, we can more easily focus on one change at a time. In verses 5 through 7, Peter tells us to develop faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love.

Not all at once, but one at a time. “Make every effort to add to” the previous attitude or behavior. Instead of relying on appearances of change, focus on one skill at a time and practice it until it becomes natural.

Of course, no one can perform surgery on himself. For a true heart transplant to occur, we need the heart surgeon, Jesus himself. So where is the balance? How do we seek godliness, all the while knowing we can’t achieve it without God’s help?

We must focus on moving past our moment of salvation and begin growing up in Christ. Like growing up physically, it means moving past a diet of milk and learning to eat meat. But unlike fleshly maturity, in which we grow more independent, we must develop increased dependence on God. We must spend time with him, talking with him, reading his word and developing our awareness of his presence. Actively seeking him out, we must confess our desire to be like him and then allow him to change us.

Remember, heart surgery hurts. All too often, we say we want change while resisting the pain change often brings. But we also can remember there’s no better surgeon than Jesus. If we’ll submit to his perfect will, we’ll hardly notice the heart-pangs of change for the enjoyment of his presence.

Discussion questions

• In Peter’s list of qualities we must develop, faith is first and love is last. On a sliding scale from faith to love, where are you in your maturation process?

• Have you developed the awareness of God’s presence at all times? What are ways you could grow in that awareness?