Lesson 3

The Value Of Virtue

2 Peter 1:5b

The Christian life begins with faith in Christ. We are saved by grace through faith, justified by faith, we live by faith. Please understand that it is not faith that saves but faith in Christ that saves. Faith is only as good as its object. You might trust your car to get safely to your destination. But your faith in the car does carry you anywhere and your faith is only as good as the car itself. When we say that one is saved by faith, it is understood that the object of the faith is Jesus Christ and what He accomplished on the cross. Eternal life begins with faith in Christ. Grace means that God did for us what we could never do for ourselves. He loved us when we were sinners without merit. He mercifully forgave our sins and gave us the gift of eternal life because He punished our sins on the cross of Christ. Eternal life begins with faith.

But where there is life there will be growth. Conversion to Christ is followed by a process of growth. Life leads to growth and growth leads to fruitfulness, see Jeremiah 17:5-8; John 15:4-5.

This growth process requires diligence on our part. A good gardener knows that, in order to produce a crop, there must be some diligent effort on his part. He must work the soil - plow it and till it; he must plant the seed, water and fertilize it; he must nurture the plant - dress and cultivate it. You don't just toss the seed thoughtlessly into the ground, wait a few days and eat fresh fruit. It requires diligence for there to be growth and fruit.

it is the same in the Christian life. Growth and fruit requires "giving all diligence" (v. 5) with the end result being a fruitful life (v. 8).

Peter says that this fruitful life starts with faith and then he lists seven things that must be added to your faith (vs. 5-7).

We might say that faith is the bedrock foundation and that we then stack these seven stones on that foundation in the building of a fruitful Christian life. Or we might say that this is the recipe for a fruitful life. These individual ingredients are essential in this recipe - faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity.

The order is also important. I reach that conclusion because Peter doesn't just say add virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity to your faith. No. He says it much more precisely than that. Add to you faith virtue and to virtue knowledge and to knowledge temperance. Etc. For a recipe to turn out right, it is essential that you have both the right ingredients and that you follow the directions orderly.

Now note. Peter says that the first thing you should add to your faith is virtue. What is virtue? The dictionary definition for the English word "virtue" and for the Greek word "arete (ar-et-ay)" both say that this word means "moral excellence." Moral excellence or we might say excellent morals. The Old Testament speaks of a virtuous woman three times (Ruth 3:11; Proverbs 12:4; 31:10) and her value is particularly stressed in Proverbs 31. The New Testament uses this word "virtue" only five times and three of

them are in our text (vs. 3,5,5).

Paul uses the word in Philippians 4:8 when he writes about our thought lives and Peter uses this same Greek word in his first epistle to express that we live our lives to the praise and glory of God.

Christianity is a personal faith relationship with Jesus Christ which leads to a standard of ethics and morals by which the believer lives. Becoming a Christian will change your life. Becoming a Christian will change your morals, your ethics, the standards by which you live.

Christianity will cause a lazy person to go to work, a liar to tell the truth, a drunk to get and stay sober, an adulterer to be faithful, a fornicator to live in purity, a couple who are living together to get married, a gambler to not risk and waste his money, a brawler who is full of anger to be loving. Those that went naked will be clothed and in their right mind like the transformed demoniac (Mark 5:15). Those who stole will steal no more (Ephesians 4:28). Headstrong wives become submissive; selfish and domineering husbands become tender and loving; disobedient children begin to honor their parents (Ephesians 5:22 - 6:1).

There are morals that accompany Christianity. Verse 3 says that God has called us to virtue. And so then, we are commanded to add virtue to our faith, v. 5.

Please note. First, excellent morals follow faith. Virtue follows faith. You start with faith and you add virtue. There must be first a foundation of faith on which to build. Excellent morals follow faith and do not precede it. Some people get these two qualities backwards. They attempt to clean up their lives before they become a Christian. It really cannot be done fully or successfully. You cannot make yourself somehow more deserving of God's gift of salvation. Faith comes first. It is followed by virtue, by excellent morals.

Second, please notice that excellent morals should immediately follow faith. The first thing that you are commanded to add to your faith is virtue - excellent morals. Before knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity comes virtue - excellent morals.

We live in an age where personal character is some-how separated from public life. Ours is an immoral, unethical, characterless culture. From the White House to the court house, to the school house, even to the church house, and to your house basic morality is missing. What has happened to our sense of good and evil, right and wrong? Isaiah 5:20-23 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! It is evident that this is no longer a Christian culture when basic morality and ethics are absent from the society. We need God in America again! Others are recognizing this. In recent days, for instance, William Bennett, Secretary of Education during the Reagan Administration, compiled and edited The Book Of Virtues with stories and poems about self-discipline, compassion, responsibility, work, and honesty.

And it must begin with God's people adding virtue to their faith.

There are some specific areas in our day where we perhaps should particularly set standards of moral excellence.

As Christians we believe that the Scriptures clearly delineate principles which govern our conduct. This includes the fact that our behavior should not hinder the faith of other believers (I Corinthians 8:13). We should do only those things which will glorify God and which will edify both the individual and the church. In addition, we must recognize our responsibility to maintain an appropriate testimony before unbelievers.

There are some cultural influences which have an unwholesome effect upon the church, the family and the cause of Christ. For example, much of media entertainment of our time is blatantly opposed to biblical thinking and behavior and is a threat to spiritual maturity. And so, if you are to add virtue to your faith, it will effect the movies you watch, the videos you rent, the television that you view, the music that you listen to.

Furthermore, in order to aid your spiritual growth and for the sake of your Christian testimony you should abstain from alcoholic beverages, tobacco, non-medicinal use of narcotic drugs, from participating in gambling, from the use of unwholesome media material or membership in secret societies. These are some areas of particular attention with regard to virtue in our time.

In addition, the Bible commands us to dress modestly and appropriately (I Timothy 2:9) another area of virtue. Our attitudes and thoughts should be virtuous (Philippians 4:8) and, thus, free from dishonesty, selfishness, damaging criticism, disrespect, unethical conduct and irreverence.

I want to add, that a virtuous life is powerful. Jesus said that when others see our "good works they will glorify our God in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). Paul wrote that a virtuous life will "adorn the doctrines of God" (Titus 2:10). Virtue is a powerful witness that makes our words about Christ believable. A virtuous life is a mighty weapon in the hand of God.

Beloved brothers and sisters, I urge you today to add to your faith virtue. I urge you on to the excellent morals to which you have been called by summons of salvation. I urge you to carefully examine your conduct. Does it glorify God? Does it edify God's people? Does it set a clear Christian example to the unbelieving world? Are their behaviors and activities which you have permitted in your life from which you should separate yourself? Sometimes there are people whose influence corrupts our morals, I Corinthians 15:33. Is your behavior virtuous? How about your thoughts? Beloved, "add to your faith virtue."