Fruitful and Effective Faith (from 2 Peter 1:5-8)
By Rev. Dr Fionna Chia
In Peter’s second letter to the believers spread throughout modern day Turkey, he encouraged them to ‘make every effort to support’ their faith with 7 characteristics. These are 7 fruits that, if we too possess and see increasing amongst us, make us effective and fruitful in our knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord. Perhaps in this period of re-instated restrictions you’ll have time to focus on one of these areas…
Goodness
Jesus spoke about a good tree not bearing bad fruit, neither could a bad tree bear good fruit, that you could tell the state of a tree by its fruit. He also spoke of trees that did not bear good fruit being cut down and thrown into the fire, and that that you could recognise false teachers by their fruits (see Matthew 7:15-20; 12:33).
This first attribute – goodness – is a quality all can recognise. It ought not be said of a professing Christian, “That one? That one’s a bad apple.” Amongst us, there ought not be thieves, drunkards, those who abuse their spouses, those who hurt children, the greedy, the unfaithful married, the verbally abusive … Paul says in his letter to the church in Corinth (1 Corinthians 6:9-11):
‘… this is what some of you used to be. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God’.
To fail to develop goodness after knowing Jesus, is to forget what he has done for us. Once you have known the acceptance and love of God, having been born anew, you cannot continue to sin, to do evil, to be labelled ‘a bad apple’, for you have ‘escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of lust’ (2 Peter 1:4). There is then firstly, a clear change in our behaviour, attitude and speech upon coming to faith that confirms we have heard the call of God in our lives. And we must make every effort to ensure this attribute of goodness continues to grow.
Knowledge
To goodness, make every effort to add knowledge. Regardless of how much you know about Jesus today, we should continue to add to our understanding and knowledge of him, of God the Father who sent him, and of the ways they work in the world. When we do this, we equip ourselves to respond when asked about our faith, about why we believe.
We have ample opportunities to support our faith with knowledge here at St Mark’s:
There are small groups you can join where we read and reflect on the Bible together; we upload our weekly sermons online so you can listen to any you have missed and even re-listen to some you felt challenging; you can study online with Ridley Melbourne; you could read the whole of Peter’s second letter which will set you up for the next 3 weeks as we preach through it. Make every effort to support your faith with knowledge.
Self-control
This is a much-needed attribute. It is surprising how we can have self-control in some arenas of life and yet show little in others. In the park, for instance, we might display great self-control when speaking with our child, but at home we may constantly have a short fuse. We might be very careful with our words in the office, but in our own kitchen we may be very vicious. We might be measured with how much food we eat on camp, but terrible when it comes to the 9pm cravings at home.
Just as Jesus demonstrated control over his responses, his words and his actions – and as God himself is in complete control over all – we, too, with the Holy Spirit’s divine power can increasingly develop self-control in more areas of our life.
Fasting is a centuries-old method for developing self-control. Perhaps, for the next seven days, you might choose to fast from 6pm or, for the next two weeks, commit to not touching your phone from 5:30pm until 10am the next morning. When I was a third-year university student, I decided that I wouldn’t drink alcohol for twelve months.
Endurance
To self-control we add endurance, for days as we know, especially now, can be long and tiring. We ought to be people known for our ability to endure even the most tiring of circumstances – for we have a true and living hope in Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.
We don’t give up on our faith and, because we have the power of God at work in us, we don’t give up on making every effort to support our faith. For he never ceases to work, he is always at work, even whilst we sleep. So, we can sing with all the saints:
‘no guilt in life, no fear in death,
this is the power of Christ in me;
from life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.’
Godliness, Mutual affection, Love
These last three are similar and, in a sense, overlapping. In fact, godliness was identified in 2 Peter 1:3 as the second of two things that God’s divine power was concerned to provide for us; that is, life and godliness. Life, not necessarily having any moral connotation, and godliness, clearly implying a life reflecting God’s character, his desires and his ways. Therefore, we are respectful of others, their decisions, and choices, whether teachers, parents, state leaders or colleagues. We are humble and refrain from making quick judgements. We develop a growing concern for the weak and poor.
When it comes to the household of God, we are brothers and sisters in Christ because we have been born into God’s family: There ought to be peace in the family of God, for Jesus said, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God’ (Matthew 5:9).
And finally, love. We must make every effort to support our faith with love – love for one another in particular. It is by our love for each other that the world will know we are Christ’s disciples. Jesus commanded us to love each other just as he loved us (John 13:34). As he has called each of us into his body, cleansed and welcomed us, we too must have this same concern for each other.
If there is anyone in the body of Christ you have ill-feeling toward, can I encourage you to pray for them. Pray God’s blessings of peace and wholeness for them, for his goodness to overflow in their lives. Pray that God would help you feel kindly towards them, to accept them in their present state, because he has. God’s spirit will soften our hearts so we can be gentler and kinder and more forgiving.
As you ‘make every effort to support your faith’, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. (2 Peter 1:3)
This is an extract from the sermon preached by Fionna on 2 Peter 1:1-11 on 12 July 2020. To watch this service click here.