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A Tribute to David Streater
The Rev. David Arthur Streater
David and his wife Valerie, and their children came to South Africa from England in the early 1970’s and served as Rector of Christ Church, Blairgowrie where he worked for a number of years.
However, for a number of reasons he returned to the U.K. for a period before being asked to come back to what was then still known as Rhodesia serving in Fort Victoria. From there he and the family moved to Kalk Bay where he taught at the Bible Institute of South Africa (B.I.). He was particularly responsible for the Church of England students at B.I. He was known as the Warden of what was the precursor of what we know today as George Whitefield College. He had a great influence on a good number of students who are still serving in the ministry of REACH SA.
On his retirement from G.W.C. David and Valerie returned to England where he became Rector Kingham with Churchill and Daylesford in the Oxford Diocese. He joined the Church Society in 1991 until his retirement in 1998 and became House for Duty minister at All Saints Church, Odell before finally retiring in 2003 in Wales.
He passed into the presence of the Lord on Tuesday 6 March 2017.
Our sympathies go to Valerie and the rest of the family.
Perspective - A Vision for the Lost
How will ‘Reach500’ capture our imagination and energy this year? God might ‘switch you on’ to the urgency of reaching 500 people with the message of Jesus in any number of ways, but one way that is guaranteed, is for us to remind ourselves of where the ‘good news’ of Jesus begins. Although it may come as a bit of a surprise, the gospel begins with some very bad news. It gives us an uncomfortable insight into this world, ourselves and God. Regarding the world, John says that all the desires and priorities of this world don’t come from God the Father. Therefore, the world and its desires will soon be destroyed. (1 John 2:16-17).
However, the gospel goes on to say that the trouble of this world is also a crisis for every individual. In Philippians Ch 3 Paul says that those who live as enemies of the cross of Christ have their mind set on this world only. As a result, ‘their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach and their glory is in their shame.’ (Phil 3:19). This quite rightly provokes the justice and judgment of God. So much so, that in Ephesians Ch 2 Paul explains that before we have been saved by grace, ‘we were by nature, deserving of God’s wrath.’ (Eph 2:3) The longer we ignore the starting point of the good news, the more it will sap the urgency out of making new disciples for Christ. ‘We so easily settle into a comfortable week by week church existence, where we are happy to be together and to help each other grow as disciples of Christ, and to be frank, are reasonably content with the world around us going to hell in a hand basket. We stop appreciating how deep is the prevailing darkness, how lost and blind are our neighbours and friends and community, and how desperate and sad is the plight of the millions who remain in darkness.’
William Booth’s famous (and shocking) ‘A Vision of the Lost’ springs to mind.
“I saw a dark and stormy ocean. Over it the black clouds hung heavily; through them every now and then vivid winds moaned, and the waves rose and foamed, towered and broke, only to rise and foam, tower and break again. In that ocean I thought I saw myriads of poor human beings plunging and floating, shouting and shrieking, cursing and struggling and drowning; and as they cursed and screamed they rose and shrieked again, and then some sank to rise no more.
And I saw out of this dark angry ocean, a mighty rock that rose up with its summit towering high above the black clouds that overhung the stormy sea. And all around the base of this great rock I saw a vast platform. Onto this platform, I saw with delight a number of the poor struggling, drowning wretched continually climbing out of the angry ocean. And I saw that a few of those who were already safe on the platform were helping the poor creatures still in the angry waters to reach the place of safety.
On looking more closely I found a number of those who had been rescued, industriously working and scheming by ladders, ropes, boats and other means more effective, to deliver the poor strugglers out of the sea. Here and there were some who actually jumped into the water, regardless of the consequences in their passion to “rescue the perishing”. And I hardly know which gladdened me the most – the sight of the poor drowning people climbing onto the rocks reaching a place of safety, or the devotion and self-sacrifice of those whose whole being was wrapped up in the effort for their deliverance. As I looked on, I saw that the occupants of that platform were quite a mixed company. That is, they were divided into a different “sets” or classes, and they occupied themselves with different pleasures and employments. But only a very few of them seemed to make it their business to get the people out of the sea.
But what puzzled me most was the fact that though all of them had been rescued at one time or another from the ocean, nearly everyone seemed to have forgotten all about it. Anyway, it seemed the memory of its darkness and danger no longer troubled them at all. And what seemed equally strange and perplexing to me was that these people did not even seem to have any care - that is any agonizing care – about the poor perishing ones who were struggling and drowning right before their very eyes… many of whom were their own husbands and wives, brothers and sisters and even their own children.” 12
A Vision of the Lost – written by Scott Tubman. Original article can be found here.
12 The full text of William Booth’s A Vison of the Lost is available online here https://salvationarmy.org.au/Global/State%20pages/Victoria/Crossroads/Spiritual%20Care/vision%204%20lost.pdf
Killing me softly
Christians never set out to be caught in scandalous sin.
The pastor never set out to have an adulterous affair. The member of his church first came to see him after her close friend had died. She came for counselling to help her grieve.
They cried together and hugged and made another appointment.
At the next appointment, the pastor held her hand – he thought it would be a comfort – and when she left, after they made another appointment, they hugged again and shared a quick kiss. Meanwhile the pastor himself was feeling stressed out and undervalued; finally, there was someone who really appreciated his ministry.
The church appointments became home visits. The hugs lingered. The kissing increased. And they ended up sleeping together.
Until one day, her husband arrived home early.
Neither she, nor the minister, intended committing scandalous sin. But because of a series of small compromises, sin snowballed, as it always does, and caused spiritual ruin – not to mention broken families, broken relationships and a broken church.
We hear stories like this way too often.
Dear Christian, we are called to conquer and kill sin. We are called, as God’s people, to stand firm against temptation and the devil’s lies. We are called to do battle against lust, pride and discontentment. This is not just an earthly battle; our battle has earthly and spiritual consequences.
Compromise with sin leads to ruin – every time.
A porn addiction starts with one click, an affair starts with a cup of coffee, a drug addiction starts with one high.
Sin may be snowballing for you right now.
Kill it. Turn from it. Turn to God.
Kill sin before sin kills you.
“Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”
(Isaiah 55:6-7)
Written by Andre Visagie. Original article can be found here.
News from the Presiding Bishop
“Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.” (2 Corinthians 7:1)
The word “holiness” has fallen out of favour in the 21st century, even in Christian circles. Somehow the ‘spirit of the age’ has lulled God’s people into thinking that free and full salvation in Christ means that holiness doesn’t matter. Yet it is interesting that this transitional verse in 2 Corinthians 7 directly follows verses citing the Hebrew scriptures connecting Israel’s salvation to the required response of holiness (Isaiah 52:11). The striking reality is that the promises of God’s Fatherhood are only given to those who show themselves to be holy (2 Cor.6:16-18) It's clear that those who are sons of God in Christ are those who display a holy life. “Without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14).
It may well be true that the current climate of casual Christianity means we are ripe for a disciplining visit from God’s Holy Spirit. Our decaying morality should be a warning sign to us all. It seems we are becoming too familiar with our selfish, sexualized and sensual culture. In a world that is becoming increasingly desensitized let’s resolve before the Lord to discipline ourselves to ongoing obedience and prayer for revival. May God grant us a holiness of life that reflects our Saviour far more effectively than just pointing fingers and throwing accusations.
#REACH500
This year is the 500th anniversary of the Reformation and part of that celebration is the #REACH500 challenge. For those who are not yet aware of this, the goal is to get each local church to share the gospel with 500 new people. There can be no better way to celebrate the return of the gospel to the people than to take the gospel to the people. A number of projects have been launched by our local churches. Examples are: Guest evenings; Dinner gatherings; Speciality speaker events; personal evangelism programs; kids and family events and 1-2-1 meetings.
Let us know what you or your local church are doing. #REACH500
Ultra Heights Campus Tour
This month also sees the launch of our nationwide campus outreach.
After a year where we have seen so much bad news on our campus it's time for some Good News to be proclaimed to our struggling students.
Pray for souls to be saved and changed for Christ. The Lord is at work.
Post of the Month
Come Out! Come Out! Whoever you are.
- Roydon Frost, Christ Church Midrand
Prayer
- Pray for our God to be at work in the leadership of our country. Pray that they will see fit to consider the many objections to the proposed Hate Speech law (including one from REACH-SA) and remove the bill.
- Pray for the Ministers and Bishops in our churches that God will strengthen them for the task of gospel ministry in 2017
Perspective - True Repentance
“From that time on Jesus began to preach: ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near’” Matthew 4:17
“When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said ‘Repent’, He willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance”. With these words, Martin Luther began his 95 Theses, the list of 95 points for debate which he nailed to the church door at the Castle of Wittenberg in October 1517. Luther himself tells us that his action was borne out of “love for the truth and a desire to elucidate it”. His desire was to enter into debate with the church of his day, a debate which Luther, a loyal servant of the church, hoped would lead to a reformation of belief and practice bringing the church into line with the teaching of Scripture. Sadly, the church responded with stubborn hostility and the rest, as they say, is history – not the reformation of the Church of Rome, but the birth of Protestantism, a new alignment centred on the authority of Scripture, rather than the authority of human tradition, reason or experience. Needless to say, the new movement was accused of departing from the orthodox religion, but in reality, its goal was to return to Biblical orthodoxy as expressed in the plain teaching of Scripture.
This emphasis on ‘return’ explains why Luther began his 95 Theses with a statement about repentance as a way of life. To repent in Biblical terms is to turn away from what is wrong and to turn back to what is right, first in one’s thinking and then, as a result of this change of mind, in one’s daily life. And as Luther saw clearly, and as the Bible itself affirms, this change in mind and life was not a simple once-off thing, but a daily process. It was to this life of repentance that Jesus called people during His earthly ministry, and it is to this life of repentance that He continues to call people today.
As we think about this subject of repentance more carefully, there are a number of things that we need to note. First, repentance is not the same thing as remorse. Remorse is in the main an emotional response of guilt or shame or regret borne out of the consequences of one’s actions. It may be linked to a recognition that a particular action was in fact wrong, but this is not necessarily the case. Remorse is thus almost always a subjective experience. As anyone who has faced addiction knows, it is all too easy to feel remorse but not in fact to change. Repentance on the other hand, though motivated by a recognition that one has acted in a way that is wrong and though often accompanied by feelings of guilt and shame, goes far beyond mere feelings. Repentance involves change, change shaped by an objective standard from which one has departed, change not only in thinking but also in behaviour.
Second, given the reference to an objective standard, we need to note that in Biblical terms, repentance involves turning away from the authority of self, and submission to the authority of God, as it is expressed in the Bible. What the Protestant Reformers recognized and what the Bible itself teaches is that as valid as our tradition, or experience or rational reflection may be, the final authority in all matters of faith and practice had to lie with the Bible as understood in its plain historical and grammatical sense. This view was of course based upon the Bible’s self-identification as the Word of God. For repentance to go beyond what was simply cultural or arbitrary it required a standard of truth to stand in judgement over our thoughts and actions, and for Protestant Christians that standard was and is the Bible.
Third, and this was a key point in Luther’s thinking and a turning point in his understanding of the Christian Faith, repentance of necessity needs to be accompanied by a belief in the grace of God and in the reality of forgiveness. Biblical repentance begins with turning back to God and since God is personal and relational, holy and gracious, true repentance on the part of people calls forth a response of grace and forgiveness on God’s part. It was for this reason that Jesus preached not just repentance but the importance of faith, faith not in our repentance but faith in Jesus who died and rose again so that all who turn to Him may be forgiven and reconciled to God. But as Luther also understood from the Bible, such a willingness to turn to God in repentance and faith was not natural to any person and would only come about by the grace of God turning our hearts back to Himself. Luther’s own experience of God’s grace in his life, lead him to a recognition that a restored relationship with God, while involving our repentance was based on the teaching of Scripture alone and in the end, by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone and to the glory of God.
Written by Mervyn Eloff. Original article can be found here.
500 years on - does the reformation still matter?
When all is said and done, the fundamental question for every human being is, ‘How can a sinner like me stand before God on the Day of Judgement?’
Does this still matter? There is only one answer.
This year we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. The Christian faith and the Church appeared early in Britain. But over the years, the teaching of the Church obscured the good news of the Gospel of Jesus. By embracing the doctrine of the Protestant Reformers, the Church of England returned to its biblical foundations. It was not a new Church, but the Church reformed.
Our English Bible, our Prayer Book and the Articles of Religion were the product of those who were prepared to lay down their very lives for the truths which had gripped them. As far as they were concerned, the gospel itself was at stake. And that was more important than institutional unity.
We should regret the way in which lives on both sides were taken for the sake of the truth. But this in no way lessens our appreciation of and thankfulness for, those who were martyred for the biblical gospel. Their faithfulness made the gospel available to us.
What did martyrs like Archbishop Thomas Cranmer emphasise? Well, first of all, the sinfulness of sin and the mortal danger of the human soul. How can a sinner stand before the Judgement Seat of God?
They gave a clear and biblical answer.
Down Proud Heart, Down Vile Clay
The first thing they stressed was the sinfulness of the human race.
They stressed that sin is universal. There is only once Person who has lived without sin.
They stressed that sin is deadly. We will be judged by God for our sins and we deserve his condemnation.
They stressed that sin is a transgression of the revealed will of God, especially in his commandments. Sin is an offence against God himself.
They stressed that we are inwardly corrupt. Even the evil desires of the heart are sinful in themselves.
They stressed that we are enslaved by sin. We cannot even begin to turn to God in our own strength.
They stressed that we are helpless to help ourselves. Even our good works are tarnished by sin.
The Church of England produced a set of official sermons, called ‘Homilies’. They were to be read to congregations as setting forth the beliefs of the Church based on Scripture.
In particular, the first five of these are worth our study today, because they set out the nature of the biblical gospel. The first homily is on the place of Scripture. The second homily sets out very clearly, ‘the Misery of all mankind’. Given the teaching outlined above, it is not surprising that the homily says to us:
‘Let us look down upon our feet, and then down peacock’s feathers, down proud heart, down vile clay, frail and brittle vessels.’
Sin constitutes the essence of the human problem and leaves us with no capacity to help ourselves. No amount of human preening and optimism can save us.
In the centuries which have passed, two things are clear. The biblical analysis as given to us by the reformers remains true. None of us ever have to teach our children to do the wrong thing – they do that without help from us. The wickedness and evil of the human heart is on display every day; when we fail to see it in others it is because we are accustomed to it; when we fail to see it on ourselves it is because we are hiding from the truth. When we fail to see it in history and in the headlines it is because we have deprived ourselves of the capacity to make sound moral judgements based on the law of God.
Secondly, the human race has an inveterately good opinion of itself. In particular, there have been cultural movement in the last centuries which have rejected the biblical account of our slavery to sin and our deserving of judgement and have inserted instead an optimistic account of human capacity and progress.
Unfortunately even some of the heirs to the Reformers in the Protestant Churches have embraced this unbiblical optimism. There has even been the suggestion that Christians can achieve perfection in this life. Often, too it has been taught that we must choose God and contribute something to our own salvation by good works.
Even more astonishing, we see in such movements as the prosperity gospel the worship of faith itself as though human faith is a power which will move God, instead of seeing it as taking all its strength from Jesus and exalting him alone.
This is all a long way from the Reformation re-statement of the gospel of God’s grace. If you want to see the Anglican teaching, you can study – and pray - the General Confession in the services of the Prayer Book of 1662. You can also study Articles 9 and 10 of the 39 Articles and the Homily of the Misery of Man.
These sources will give you a very different account of what it is to be human from the optimism of so many in the Church and the world. And they will lay the proper foundation for understanding what God has done for us in Christ.
If you don’t understand the extent, power and horror of human evil, you cannot understand the Gospel of the grace of God.
Written by Archbishop Peter Jensen. Original article can be found here.
Jesus is Enough
In my first year of proper work after Bible college, I saved like mad and bought a ticket to Thailand for my summer holiday. I had no accommodation, no plan and very little money – yet it was a great holiday.
In Thailand, I was amazed to find all kinds of very fashionable branded clothing, like Puma, Adidas, Nike and Ray Ban, for very, very cheap – a fraction of the normal cost.
The problem was that the articles were not genuine and not authentic, they were counterfeit. The T-shirt or sunglasses may look good initially, but usually you soon discover that the product is inferior, substandard, deficient and second-rate.
The same is true when it comes to religion.
The Bible tells us about Jesus, about his life, death, resurrection, ascension into heaven, heavenly rule and promised return. It tells us that by trusting in Jesus we are forgiven of our sin and declared right with God. It’s this gospel or momentous news about Jesus that saves us and it’s this gospel that keeps us growing as Christians.
We never move beyond the gospel of Jesus: the gospel is the genuine article.
Fake gospel
However, there are all kinds of religious practitioners offering counterfeit and false gospels – often under the banner of Christianity. They will use Christian words and Bible verses, call themselves prophets or apostles or ministers, but what they’re peddling is a counterfeit product that is inferior, substandard, deficient and second-rate. And not only that, it is extremely dangerous.
How often are there so-called Christian conferences that promise you the latest secret to spiritual growth, the newest insight to true victorious living, the undiscovered power of positive thinking or special experience that you give you the edge.
The unsaid presumption is always the same: the simple gospel of Jesus is great to start with, but for really successful Christian living you need something more (and they’ll tell you what in exchange for a small donation).
Peter, in the letter of 2 Peter, says that this is nonsense.
Peter says that in the gospel of Jesus we have everything we need and more. We can never move beyond the gospel. What we need is to be reminded of the gospel and to grow in our understanding of and obedience to the gospel.
Fake teachers
When Peter wrote this letter (about 65 AD) many people had believed the gospel of Jesus and become Christians. These new Christians were in danger of being misled by false teachers who were promoting a fake gospel.
These false teachers were promoting their false and counterfeit gospels in the guise of Christianity (2 Peter 2:1). They promised freedom: freedom from sin, freedom from the hardships of this world, and a new victorious living in Christ. They promised freedom, but they themselves were not free, they were slaves of sin (2 Peter 2:19).
Notice how the great Apostle Peter, close friend of Jesus, integral member of the 12 disciples and leader of the early church, addressed the Christians he wrote to:
“…To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours….” (2 Peter 1:1)
The Christian’s faith, says Peter, is not deficient or sub-standard, but it’s as precious and valuable as the faith of the Apostles.
Why? Because the Christian’s relationship with God does not depend on the quality of one’s faith, but on Jesus – and thank God for that because my faith is not that great at the best of times.
“…To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:1)
The Christian’s faith is as precious and of equal worth to the Apostles’ faith because the righteousness of Christ has been credited to the Christian.
This is extremely important. False teachers generally say that you need to increase your faith and then God will give you what you pray for. They say that trusting Jesus is not enough and you need something more.
The Apostle Peter says that your faith in Jesus is enough because it depends, not on you, but on who Jesus is and what he’s done. Christians don’t need a conference to somehow top-up their faith or add to their faith; they simply need to be reminded to keep trusting and obeying Jesus. (2 Peter 1:5-7, 12-15)
Either a Christian or you’re not; you either trust Jesus or you don’t; there’s no levels of Christianity.
Jesus plus
You don’t need Jesus plus healing or success or speaking in tongues or an experience or good works or breaking the blood curse or appeasing the ancestors. All you need is Jesus.
If anyone tells you that they have discovered the secret to Christian growth or a new insight into victorious Christian living, please tell them to read 2 Peter!
If you simply trust Jesus, you are the genuine article. You have all you need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). You don’t need an extra blessing, a new experience or a fresh-outpouring of the Spirit, all you need is Jesus.
Written by Andre Visagie. Original article can be found here.
Too fast to furious (a hot-heads guide to anger)
Fly off the handle lately? Are you set to a constant simmer, ready to boil over at any second? Has your road rage started to follow you home, and into the office? Know anyone who struggles with short-fuse syndrome? Maybe it’s time to revisit the Biblical counsel on anger.
Idioms of anger
Whether Biblical or contemporary, the idioms of anger teach us that we have a powerful and potentially dangerous force at play. In the Bible anger is fire. Both God and men “burn with anger”. Anger “smolders”, is “stirred up” and it “flares up”. The suggestion is that anger can be unpredictable and destructive. Our modern speech suggests the same thing. Angry people lose their ‘temper’ (emotional balance), lose their ‘head’ (wisdom), and they ‘get mad’ (lose their sanity). The connotations are not good.
Hang on, we protest angrily, isn’t there such a thing as righteous anger!?
God’s anger and yours
There is. But the only perfectly righteous anger belongs to God. Generally speaking, the difference between God’s anger and yours, is the difference between His purity and your filthy rags, His omniscience and your tunnel vision, His longsuffering and your tinder-box temperament. In what other area of life are we perfectly righteous? Our motives are always mixed. Our actions are always some alloy of sin and good intent. Jesus shows us that righteous anger in a human being is possible, but he was without sin. We, on the other hand, are far too quick to label our latest outburst as righteous anger.
OK fine. So my anger is mostly unrighteous. So now what? The first step is to acknowledge this: God’s anger is righteous. Our anger is sinful. Jesus died to deal with both.
Jesus has dealt with our anger. He has dealt with His Father’s anger. The cocktail of the two no longer ends in spontaneous combustion. Now, forgiven in the power of the Spirit, we are free to live a life without anger. We don’t have to be angry. But how?
Dousing the flames
1. Be slow.
(James 1.19-20). We need to slow down. That means you don’t press “send” or “post”. You don’t say the first thing that comes to mind; you don’t rush to conclusions. Take a moment. Sleep on it. Consult an older, wiser head for perspective. Breathe.
2. Be quick.
(Col 3.13). Be quick to forgive. A readiness, an instinct to forgive, is the mark of one who follows Christ. And the thing that will motivate you is what you have been forgiven in Christ. What is this small-change offence against the national debt of your life of sin? If you are in Him, if you are His, you will be ready to forgive, and that leaves anger bankrupt.
3. Beware.
(Eph 4.26). Anger can be sinful in itself. It also leads to other sin. Who hasn’t said a sharp word, or raised a hand in anger? Anger is a foothold for the devil, and he will take it. We must learn to recognize the tell-tale signs of anger in ourselves, so that we can exercise self-control, which is a fruit of the Spirit. When you feel the red mist rising, take a seat until it passes. If you charge ahead like a madman, blind with your rage, you are going to fall into a hole.
4. Be patient.
(Rom 12.1, 19-21). People can do heinous things to us. Things that make us deeply, profoundly angry. We can harbor that anger for months, and even years. It can enslave us, embitter us, make us cynical, and poison our relationships. It can even drive us into evil out of a desire for revenge. But, in view of God’s mercy, we are to leave vengeance to Him. He is the only one qualified to judge justly, to defend your cause without infringing another. We, on the other hand, are called to overcome evil with good. When we get into a feud, our only weapons are kindness, forgiveness and love. In our fallen anger, we are called to trust in Him whose anger is perfect.
Written by Royden Frost. Original article can be found here.
Being an effective Christian in 2017
Here’s the challenge for 2017: will you grow as a Christian and be effective and fruitful?
Your Christian growth will positively influence your relationship with God, your home life, your work life, your social life and your church life.
The problem is that this is what some Christians think: “God has saved me and given me all I need; so, I don’t have to make any real effort in anything. I’ll live a mediocre Christian life and take the route of least resistance.” The catchphrase, “Let go and let God”, epitomizes this way of thinking.
2 Peter 1:5 says that is not a Christian attitude. The Christian’s life is a life of “making every effort”.
Every effort
For this very reason, make every effort… (2 Peter 1:5)
The Christian life should be a life of effort, a life of labour, a life of expending energy.
It says “for this reason”. What is “this reason”? Since Jesus has given us his power and promises (2 Peter 1:3-4), we should not sit back and do nothing, but rather make “every effort”.
Every effort in what?
…to supplement your faith…. (2 Peter 1:5)
This does not mean we must add something extra to our faith in Jesus so that it becomes Jesus plus something, but rather that our faith is supplemented and accompanied by something. By what?
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue (goodness, moral uprightness), and virtue with knowledge (get to know Jesus better), and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness (perseverance, trusting Jesus in the tough times), and steadfastness with godliness (living a life that pleases God), and godliness with brotherly affection (deep love and kindness for other Christians), and brotherly affection with love (a real love for God and love for other people in general). (2 Peter 1:5-7)
What Peter is saying is that Christians are not simply to trust Jesus and fill their heads with the knowledge of Jesus; they must make every effort and work hard to live out that knowledge in their behaviour.
No auto growth
Jesus’ power and promises will enable Christians to be holy; and Christians must also make every effort to be holy. In other words, Christian growth does not happen automatically.
D.A. Carson wrote:
People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.
Fruitless
What happens if we don’t make every effort?
For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so near-sighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. (2 Peter 1:8-9)
It’s possible to be an ineffective and unfruitful Christian. It’s very possible to be a Christian slacker, who in your blindness, short-sightedness and forgetfulness, you no longer appreciate that Jesus forgave your past sins, nor do you appreciate your present rebelliousness.
2017
Do you need to make Bible Study and church more of a priority?
Do you need to make TV or gaming less of a priority?
Do you need to grow in brotherly (and sisterly) affection as you volunteer in a ministry at your church?
Do you need to get some software to check your online surfing habits?
Maybe you need to work on not getting angry?
Maybe you need to be more patient and self-controlled with your family?
Maybe you need perseverance through a tough time?
Will you make every effort?
Written by Andre Visagie. Original article can be found here.