Final Thoughts (Part 2): The Diligence of a Disciple

The Diligence of a Disciple

As we close out our Defenders class, we’ve been thinking about the character qualities of a disciple of Christ listed in 2 Peter 1:3-11. There is one quality that ought to be characteristic of our pursuit of all of these virtues. Peter says “make every effort” to cultivate these virtues. That speaks of the Biblical quality of diligence. That is to say, we are to be zealous, steady, and relentless in pursuing these virtues. We need to be diligent in adding to our Christian faith these sorts of character qualities that befit a disciple of Christ.

Let’s not miss the promise that goes with this command in 2 Peter 1:8ff:

For if these things are yours and abound, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

What a fantastic promise! If you want to live a life that is bearing fruit for Jesus Christ, a life that is effective in carrying out the ministry that God has given you, then these character qualities are sufficient for that. Having these character qualities in abundance will prevent you from being ineffective or unfruitful. They will guarantee a fruitful, effective Christian life and ministry.

Peter goes on to say,

For whoever lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be the more zealous to confirm your call and election, for if you do this you will never fall;

What a promise! Do you worry about whether you will persevere to the end? Will I fall away and apostatize? Here Peter says this is the guarantee – that you will persevere and you will not fall away. If these qualities are yours and abound then you will never fall.

so there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I think you can see how essential and important it is to try in our Christian lives to develop the character of Christ and to abound in these Christ-like qualities.

At the same time, although we are to be diligent about this (Peter says make every effort to do this), still this can be really discouraging or put you under the pile because nobody by human effort can bring his life into conformity with the character of Christ. The more you try, the more you realize how far short you fall of the standard to which we aspire. So if we are not to lead Christian lives of defeat and constant discouragement, how can we develop these sorts of qualities and a victorious Christian life? The answer, I believe, is through the fruit of the Spirit. It is the filling of the Holy Spirit that will enable a person to live a life which increasingly conforms to the image of Christ and produces these sorts of qualities in abundance.

Look at Galatians 5:16, 22-23. Paul says, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Then he goes on to talk a little bit about characteristics of the flesh. But then in verse 22 he says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” As we are filled with the Holy Spirit, that is to say, under the control of the Holy Spirit, empowered by the Holy Spirit in our lives, the result of that will be this so-called fruit of the Holy Spirit. These are really the earmarks of the spirit-filled life, not charismatic gifts like speaking in tongues or miraculous healings. When you look at the church of Corinth for example, they abounded in charismatic gifts like speaking in tongues and miracles and so forth. And yet Corinth was the most carnal church in the New Testament. The real sign of the fullness and the power of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life is the production of the fruit of the Spirit – these character qualities that result from walking in the power of the Holy Spirit.

As you look at this list of the fruit of the Spirit, you immediately notice the overlap with the list of character qualities that Peter says are key to the successful, fruitful, persevering Christian life. For example, one of the fruits of the Spirit is love. That matches up with one of the qualities on Peter’s list. Joy and peace don’t seem to be found on Peter’s list. These seem to be products of the filling of the Holy Spirit in your life – a joyful and contentful Christian life. But then notice patience and faithfulness. When these two are had in combination, that results in perseverance. If you are faithful and patiently endure then you will persevere. Kindness is also found on Peter’s list as brotherly kindness or affection. Goodness is the same as virtue – the production of moral goodness in our lives. Gentleness I don’t really see on Peter’s list; but then there is self-control which is explicitly mentioned in Peter’s list. As for godliness: godliness, you will remember, is having a spiritual orientation, not a material orientation. That is, of course, produced by the power of the Holy Spirit.

So if we want to have the kind of character qualities that Peter says are so vital to the Christian life, these will be had through being filled with and walking in the Holy Spirit. As our lives are yielded daily to the empowering and convicting and guiding presence of the Holy Spirit, we will be changed and the Spirit will produce in us exactly these kinds of qualities.

Do you notice, however, there is one quality on Peter’s list that is not produced by being filled with the Holy Spirit? Knowledge! I think this is really interesting. Knowledge is something you’ve got to get on your own. Being filled with the Holy Spirit isn’t going to give you a knowledge of Christian doctrine. You are going to have to study or take a class or read some books or something like that. So the fruit of the Spirit will help to produce most all of these Christ-like virtues in our lives, but knowledge is something that we are going to have to get by studying the Scriptures and reflecting upon them philosophically in order to develop sound Christian doctrine.

So I think you can see that while what we are doing in Defenders class is not by any stretch of the imagination a full-orbed curriculum in Christian discipleship, it does deal at least with one essential part of it; and that is knowledge. For the rest what we need to do as individual Christians is to yield our lives daily to the power and the guidance of the Holy Spirit so as to develop these Christ-like qualities in us.

As you think about these qualities, these aren’t the sorts of things that just happen overnight. These are virtues that develop over time. So it is not just a matter of being filled with the Holy Spirit at a certain time. It is a matter of what Paul calls “walking” in the Spirit. That is to say, logging time in the Spirit – being filled with the Holy Spirit, empowered and guided by him day-by-day, year-by-year, over a long period of time. So in Galatians 5:16, 25 Paul says, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. . . . If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”

So I would encourage you every day before you get up, before your feet hit the floor, ask the Lord, “Lord, fill me today with your Holy Spirit. Help me to walk today in a way that is pleasing to you in word and deed and thought. Convict me of sin when I am not yielded to your Spirit but am yielded to my own flesh instead.” When you become convicted of that, confess it immediately and ask God to fill you again with his Spirit and to take control of your life and to guide you. Keep short accounts with God. Don’t let sin fester or be swept under the rug. The moment you are aware of it, confess it immediately, claim his promise that if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Then ask him to fill you again with the Holy Spirit. As we do that – as we walk in the Spirit – then his promise is that the fruit of the Holy Spirit will be produced in our lives and thereby the character that ought to attend a true disciple of Christ and that will guarantee a fruitful and effective ministry.

These are some of the thoughts that I wanted to leave with you as we wrap up our Defenders curriculum. And now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the eternal covenant equip you with everything good to do his will, to do what is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory and honor forever and ever. Amen.^[1]