Connect360: Spiritual Health - Baptist Standard

Lesson Two in the Connect360 unit “Find Us Faithful: Standing Firm in Our Faith” focuses on 2 Peter 1:5-8

Though salvation and the promise of eternal life may seem like the goal, these are just the first tastes of forever with the Lord.

We have entered into a glorious new relationship, and belief in Jesus is only the beginning. When we put our faith in him, he seals us with his Spirit and enables us to partake in his divine nature (1:4).

But we do not automatically reflect all his traits the moment we become Christians.

Just as the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23) are characteristics that he produces within us, so are the supplemental principles of faith.

But we cannot be passive just because these traits come from him. Being a partaker of his divine nature means we must participate.

We are required to give all we have to this relationship, making every effort to be spiritually healthy.

So, with a good foundation of faith, we can begin building and growing.

The first trait we should add to our faith is virtue. This word is translated as “excellence” in verse three when referring to God.

So, virtue is a divine attribute that we cannot attain on our own, a goodness that excels basic human goodness.

The classical Greek word meant “a god-like ability to perform heroic deeds.” Goodness that comes from God stands out above all other goodness and can be obtained only with the help of the one who possesses it to begin with.

So, if we want goodness that exceeds what we can attain on our own, we need to let God show us how to be morally excellent by being attentive to the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

But we can also understand the kind of goodness that excels the world’s by adding knowledge to our virtue.

Reading God’s word teaches us what he calls good and bad, right and wrong.

We can only obey what we know, so this is important.

But the Bible also reveals the type of goodness the Lord possesses. Seeing it demonstrated helps us understand how to follow him better.

So, we learn his ways by listening to his teachings and paying attention to his character. Knowledge added to virtue only makes us more virtuous and faithful as we see the world through his eyes and rely more on him.

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