A pathway to knowing!

Can a person embark on a journey that leads to knowing God? The overwhelming claim of the Bible is yes! Not only can anyone of us know the Lord and the Creator of everything that exists, we are invited---even urged---each one of us, to know him intimately, personally and deeply.

It is certainly evident today that the majority of people in the world neither know, nor want to know, the living God. The masses are totally indifferent to the One by whom all life is given. If He exists at all, He is evidently unimportant and irrelevant as far as making any difference in their daily lives from the cradle to the grave. Following what they say or emulating the way the majority lives is definitely the path of ignorance not the way to life.

Another class of persons in the human race claims to know God, or they say they are seeking him. Judging from the quality of their lives these folks shout to us that the Lord of glory is a disappointing, uninteresting Person or else he is never to be found at all in practical experience. Still, other people see representing God, (or rather misrepresenting him), as a way to get rich quickly or to gain power and influence in the world. Although there seem to be few true atheists around these days, religious confusion abounds and it is clear that not many enjoy the intended relationship for which God created them in the beginning.

Yet God is the ultimate reality in all the universe, and as the Apostle Paul says "from him and for him and to him are all things, to him be the glory forever." Those who genuinely desire to know him (as he really is) are never disappointed. In one sense knowing God is the easiest thing in the world, easier than falling off a log. Indeed the Bible says simply, "Draw near to God and he will draw near to you," and again, "Ask and it will be given you, seek and you shall find, knock and it will be opened to you." Jesus said, "Come to me all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am gentle and lowly of heart and you will find rest for you souls. My yoke is easy and my burden is light."

In another sense knowing and loving God is a lifetime process that follows that initial introduction we call regeneration or the "new birth." There are many pitfalls and difficulties in following God on a long term basis. Countless numbers of once-enthusiastic seekers drop out and fall along the wayside. Others make shipwrecks of their lives and write off God as unable to save them or put their damaged lives back together again failing to see the depths of his mercy. But it is He who said to Israel, "All day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people." So what is needed is a sure word, a clear instruction on how to know God and how to build a solid foundation for a life lived in fellowship and harmony with him.

The word religion is extremely rare in the New Testament and the writings of mystics. The reason is simple. Those attitudes and practices to which we give the collective name of religion are themselves concerned with religion hardly at all. To be religious is to have one's attention fixed on God and on one's neighbour in relation to God. Therefore, almost by definition, a religious man, or a man when he is being religious, is not thinking about religion; he hasn't the time. Religion is what we (or he himself at a later moment) call his activity from outside. --C. S. Lewis (1898-1963).

In the gospels, we can see Peter showing natural leadership and initiative. But he was impetuous and seemed to always be putting his foot in his mouth. His impulsive approach was often "Ready, Fire, Aim" (Chuck Missler). Then, after Pentecost, Peter emerged suddenly as a bold, articulate, and effective champion of the message Jesus had taught him during their three years together.

In his second Epistle, this great Apostle presents a wonderful, succinct program for living life as a follower of Christ. It's the kind of message we especially need to hear these days in a culture that insists on instant results and immediate gratification-we seem to have so little regard for long-term goals. As far as God is concerned what matters most is not whether we start the journey as professing Christians, but that we endure to the end and finish the race.

"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God" (Hebrews 12:1-4, 12-15).

Chapter One of Second Peter is one of those sections of the Bible which needs to be unpacked. There is more here than meets the eye. Here is the text:

Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours in the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature. For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these things are yours and abound, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 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; so there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:1-11).

One big help in digging into these verses is to examine the original Greek and look up the keywords in a Greek-English Lexicon. Then the verses can be paraphrased to better suit our contemporary language.

Peter opens the epistle by telling us ordinary Christians that we have a faith of equal standing, equal access, we are on the same ground--as the apostles. The word he uses--isotimos--means "equally privileged." The Apostles John and Paul say the same thing. These men who were personally trained by Jesus Himself are not "over us" in the Lord, but servants of God on our behalf. Here is a reminder that there is no hierarchy in the church of Jesus Christ. Neither are gentile Christians second-rate believers compared to the Jews.

Jesus said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you, but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave; even as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:25-28)

Each of us has a direct relationship with our Lord. Pastors, elders, apostles, mentors are the servants of God on our behalf. We are each justified before God by our faith. The righteousness we have has been credited to our accounts because of our faith in Jesus. Furthermore, we have been able to know God because of knowledge imparted to us by God in His mercy. (The entire passage in 2 Peter 1 places a strong emphasis on "knowledge" as will become clear). "So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ."(Romans 10:17).

"May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord" --the ordinary Greek word for knowledge (gnosis) is not used here. Peter uses epignosis (full-knowledge). Paul uses this same word in Colossians where he teaches that the knowledge which God grants to us is greater and more vast than the incomplete knowledge available from any secular source. Epi means "toward." Epignosis is knowledge which points to God and to an ever-increasing knowledge of Him. In his opening greeting Peter asks God on our behalf, "may peace and grace be yours in ever greater measure."

It may appear that it is God the Father and Jesus the Son (two Persons) who are referred to here in verse one, but actually the grammar indicates one Person--Jesus is both our God and Saviour.

Peter now tells us about our resources for living the Christian life. "His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness"

In Colossians, Paul tells us that God's mighty power is given to us so that we might be patient with people and persistently endure in difficult circumstances. Here in Second Peter we learn that God equips us with all the resources we need to live real life (zoen) and to live in "godliness" (Greek: eusebeia from eu = "well" and sebomai = "to be devout").God is never much impressed with one's external religious fervour. Isaiah Chapter 58 tells us this with regard to Israel's external religion which maintained its outward form long after the heart-values of loving God were gone.

"Pure and undefiled religion (threskeia) before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world." (James 1:27)

Continuing, "His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness"

"through the knowledge (epignosis = "full knowledge") of him who called us to his own glory (doxes) and excellence (arêtes = "virtue, moral excellence")" by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises" that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion"

to escape (apophugontes from apopheugo = "to escape completely, to flee as a fugitive.")

corruption (phthora = "rottenness," decay from within, as in a corpse)

passion (epithumia, = "strong desire," sexual lust, selfish desire, covetousness, lust for power or control").

Because the unbelievers of the world (kosmos = the world system) pursue self-interest and pleasure and not God (which is what we were designed for)--the result is death and inner corruption. "Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." (James 4:1-4).

Peter continues, and become partakers of the divine nature (theias koinonos phusis)."

That we may become "partakers of the divine nature" does not mean that men can become gods. That delusional lie was introduced into our race by the devil at the time of the fall (Genesis 3). As a result of believing what Scripture now calls THE lie (Rom. 1:25), men who live apart from Christ strive to run their own lives and pursue their own ambitions and goals without reference to God or His purposes for humanity. The truth is that normal humanity is supposed to be indwelt by God. We were designed to live in partnership, in union with, our Creator. "He who is joined to the Lord is united with HIM in spirit. (1 Cors. 6:17).

The Royal Road

For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

To supplement (epichoregein, lit., "to outfit the chorus," to equip an army, to equip the soul with all the necessary virtues for life)

faith (pistis, = believe, trust, "to lean one's entire weight upon Jesus")

virtue (arete = operative, or efficient, excellence). It can be used of land which is fertile; and it can be used of the mighty deeds of the gods. Arete is that virtue that makes a man a good citizen and friend; it is that virtue that makes him an expert in the technique of living well. Arete often means courage. Arete is very rare in the New Testament but it is the supreme Greek word for virtue in every sense of the term.

knowledge (gnosis, knowledge [of God]). In today's world we are flooded with secular knowledge and useless, ephemeral information, but the knowledge of God is in short supply.

self-control (egkrateia = "to get a grip on oneself.") When reason fights against passion and prevails we call it self-control, or sell-mastery. Egkrateia is one of the great Christian virtues; and the place it holds is an example of the realism of the Christian ethic. There is akolasia, which is the precise opposite; it is the state in which reason is entirely subjugated to passion; we might call it unbridled lust. In between these two states there is akrasia, in which reason fights but passion prevails; we might call it incontinence. There is egkiateia, in which reason fights against passion and prevails; we call it self-control, or self-mastery.

steadfastness (hupomene lit., "a remaining under," standing firm under pressure, patient enduring, steadfastness). "The voluntary and daily suffering of hard and difficult things, for the sake of honor and usefulness." Hupomone does not simply accept and endure; there is always a forward look in it. It is said of Jesus, by the writer to the Hebrews, that for the joy that was set before hm, he endured the Cross, despising the shame (Hebrews 12:2). It is the courageous acceptance of everything that life can do to us and the transmuting of even the worst event into another step on the upward way.

godliness (eusebeia = practical religion, godliness which means piety, or a sincere devotion to God). The word has to do with true religion: worship and dedication to God and at the same time service to one's fellow man. Eusebeia is the nearest Greek word for religion; and, when we begin to define it, we see the intensely practical character of the Christian religion. When a man becomes a Christian, he acknowledges a double duty, to God and to his fellow-men."

brotherly affection (philadelphia, tender love and affection for the brethren)

love (agape, that self-giving, self-denying love that seeks the best for the beloved no matter the cost to the giver).

The list given to us begins with faith and ends with love. This eight-step program, or "ladder of virtues" begins when we first trust Jesus Christ as Lord. For many of us, we have little knowledge of God or the Bible when we make our initial decision to become Christians. However, somehow we manage to reach out and place our trust in Jesus. This allows God to respond to us. He never comes into a human heart uninvited. When we act in faith God responds. Faith is empty and barren if it does not result in action on our part.

Obviously the list of virtues is not something we work through once and then stop--it's a pattern for day by day living for the rest of our lives. Peter is not telling us how to be saved by good works, but rather about our giving God the opportunity to mold us into the likeness of His Son. "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, because God is at work in you, both to will and to do according to his own good pleasure."

Step Two (virtue) means that our new-found relationship with Christ will lead us to make life-style changes. "Repentance" means to "have a different mind"-to see things differently and to change our behavior accordingly. Knowing Jesus causes our priorities to change. We abandon old habits and put in place new activities. New friends come into our lives and other deleterious relationships come to an end. We start to "try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord" (Eph. 5:20).

In the way of virtue, there is no standing still; anyone who does not daily advance loses ground. To remain at a standstill is impossible; he that gains not, loses; he that ascends not, descends. If one does not ascend the ladder, one must descend; if one does not conquer, one will be conquered.

Step Three asks of us that we acquire further knowledge. As we apply the truth we have received, it becomes part of who we are, and we then have the capacity to acquire new and deeper truth (On the other hand, truth not acted on is lost). The Christian must never stop learning and growing! "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

When we plateau in the Christian life, thinking that we now know enough to get by, we soon find ourselves running on autopilot, thus no longer exercising genuine faith. Real faith is always reaching out in trust for that which is beyond our immediate grasp. But "whatever is not based on faith is sin." Therefore standing still in the Christian life actually causes us to lose ground. Treading water upstream from the Falls in the Niagara River is not recommended. "Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him, actions are weighed." (Hannah in 1 Sam. 1:23)

Self-control, Step Four, is actually a part of the fruit of the Spirit. "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us have no self-conceit, no provoking of one another, no envy of one another..." (Galatians 5:22-26).

As we mature in Christ we become reliable, dependable, consistent, patiently-enduring--

Step Five. We keep our promises and stop the roller-coaster living that often marks our early Christian life. Jesus said, "If you continue in My word, you will become My disciples And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." (John 8:31-32)

Step Six is godliness. William Barclay says, "The word is eusebeia and is quite untranslatable. Even piety is inadequate, carrying as it does a suggestion sometimes of something not altogether attractive. The great characteristic of eusebeia is that it looks in two directions. The man who has eusebeia always correctly worships God and gives him his due; but he always correctly serves his fellowmen and gives them their due. The man who is eusebes (the corresponding adjective) is in a right relationship both with God and his fellowmen. Eusebeia is piety but in its most practical aspect. Eusebeia is the nearest Greek word for religion; and, when we begin to define it, we see the intensely practical character of the Christian religion. When a man becomes a Christian, he acknowledges a double duty, to God and to his fellow-men.

Finally, it is by faith that we discover how to show brotherly concern and affection towards our fellow believers. The self-giving love which comes from God is last on the list. Godly love does not depend on our emotions. We love by exercising faith--trust in God--by faith, just as we lay hold of all the other attributes in the above list of virtues by faith.

It is easy for us to forget that "God is love" and that all that the Law and the Prophets require of us can be summed up in two great commandments: to love God with one's whole heart and mind and soul and strength, and one's neighbor as oneself.

The word that describes a duty is pietas. We may best see the meaning of this word by looking at the man whom the Greeks held to be its finest example. That man was Socrates who is described as follows: "He was so pious and devoutly religious that he would take no step apart from the will of heaven; so just and upright that he never did even a trifling injury to any living soul; so self-controlled, so temperate, that he never at any time chose the sweeter instead of the better; so sensible, so wise, and so prudent that in distinguishing the better from the worse he never erred" The Roman idea of the man who possesses that quality is: "He is superior to the enticements of individual passion and of selfish ease; (pietas is) a sense of duty which never left a man, of duty first to god, then to father and to family, to son and to daughter, to his people and to his nation."

Eusebeia is the nearest Greek word for religion; and, when we begin to define it, we see the intensely practical character of the Christian religion. When a man becomes a Christian, he acknowledges a double duty, to God and to his fellow-men.

The ladder of Christian virtue must end in Christian love. Not even affection for the brethren is enough; the Christian must end with a love which is as wide as that love of God which causes his sun to rise on the just and on the unjust, and sends his rain on the evil and the good. The Christian must show to all men the love which God has shown to him.

For, if these things exist and increase within you, they will make you not ineffective and not unfruitful in your progress towards the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever does not possess these things is blind, short-sighted, and has lapsed into forgetfulness that the sins of his old way of life have been cleansed away. So, brothers, be the more eager to confirm your calling and your choice. For, if you do practice these virtues, you will never slip; for you will be richly gifted with the right of entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:8-11).

I realize that all that has been written here is incredible deep and if I was to sum up everything I have written here with one word it would be the word: SURRENDER. Surrender to the point of picking up your cross daily and follow HIM who sustains us daily. Much love!