Growing in Christ Part 5

Because we know God’s divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, the next logical question is why?

Why would God give us these things? Is it just so we might retain knowledge of them without living them out? Is it just so we can say we know all things that pertain to life and godliness?

To hear some men tell the tale, there is no reason God has granted us this knowledge but for the knowledge itself.

They insist, and ardently so that we have no need of applying the knowledge granted us to our daily lives, that we have no need to live out our faith and pursue righteousness with all tenacity, because such things are works, and works are the last thing any believer ought to be doing.

If this is the case, then why pray tell would God, by His divine power, give us all things that pertain to life and godliness?

If He had not intended for us to live out our faith, and live godly lives amidst the godless of this world, what would have been the point of God granting us such knowledge?

‘through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises’

The amazing truth about these things that we were given is that they were given to us through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue. It was not through some special incantation, it was not through some ceremony, it was not through some denominational edict, we were given all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.

Thus the importance of truly knowing the Christ, thus the importance of focusing all of our energy and desire in growing in Him, for without the knowledge of Jesus, we known neither the things that pertain to life, nor the things that pertain to godliness.

Once again we see the interconnectedness between the wisdom God gives, and the knowledge of God Himself. One cannot possess a true knowledge of life and godliness without possessing a true knowledge of God.

Yes, men claim they possess this knowledge absent the knowledge of God, but they are liars and the Word of God proves them liars.

So often we get distracted by worthless ideologies and empty doctrines, and these serve to take our eyes and our focus off Christ, thereby keeping us from knowing the fullness of Him.

The enemy is shrewd when it comes to keeping believers from knowing all of Jesus, because not only does He need to keep men from the full knowledge of Jesus, he also needs to keep men from the full knowledge of what it means to know the fullness of Jesus.

If men knew the key to unlocking all things that pertain to life and godliness resided in the knowledge of Jesus, and not in esoteric knowledge, or extra-biblical knowledge, then they would lay aside those useless things which rob them of their time, and focus their energies on discovering Christ.

Because the enemy has done such a masterful job of separating knowledge of the things pertaining to life and godliness from the knowledge of Christ, men dismiss the knowledge of Christ in lieu of other avenues to the things pertaining to life, all the while missing out on what they’ve been seeking all along because they’ve chosen to deprioritize growing in Christ in their lives.

It is through the knowledge of Jesus that we obtain the knowledge of all things that pertain to life and godliness. One avenue to these truths, one avenue to this wisdom, one avenue to this knowledge, and that is Christ Jesus the Lamb of God.

In this passage we are told that Jesus called us by glory, and by virtue.

It is a strange phrase, one that seems oddly out of place if glossed over quickly, but one that reveals the beauty of Christ to us once we begin to perceive the full meaning thereof.

Since we know the word ‘glory’ to mean ‘high renown won by notable achievements,’ we can understand what it means to be called by glory.

By virtue of his renown, by virtue of His notable achievements, by virtue of who He is, Jesus called us, and not only that but also gave us exceedingly great and precious promises if we answered His call.

Because of whom Jesus is, He is worthy of being answered when He calls. By virtue of what He did on the cross, it is within His ability to redeem, save and sanctify those who come humbly before Him and repent of their ways.

Jesus didn’t call men unto Himself just for the sake of calling them, but that they might be transformed by the knowledge they received once they came to know Him, and walk in the godliness revealed to them.

With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.