How to Become a Perfect Believer in Jesus Christ 6 (Perfecting holiness)
And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:5-8 KJV
This is episode six on the holiness teachings. In this episode, I will
use the holiness key of Apostle Peter. Jesus Christ chose Apostle Peter as the
head of the apostles because he understood the system of the kingdom (See Matthew 16:13-19). Peter
became the leader of the apostles when Jesus Christ ascended to His Heavenly
Father.
We cannot ignore the
teachings of Apostle Peter because he walked with Jesus Christ. Apostle Peter
is one of the most anointed disciples of Jesus Christ. He did a lot of tremendous
work and miracles in the kingdom. Ignoring the teachings of Apostle Peter makes the holiness
teachings incomplete.
Apostle Peter emphasized
on the fruits of the Holy Spirit. He said if we want to be complete in Jesus
Christ and become fruitful, we must grow in the fruits of the Spirit and live
in the Spirit.
The first virtue Apostle Peter talked about was faith. Faith
is one of the most exceptional spiritual seed every believer in Christ Jesus carries.
Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome that God has given His children a
measure of faith, and it is our responsibility to grow in that faith (See
Romans 12:3). Without faith, we cannot walk with God (See Hebrews 11:6). It takes the Spirit of faith to walk
and live in holiness.
Faith opens the door for
the Spirit of holiness in our life. It is like a car and an engine.
Without the engine, the vehicle may not respond. That is how faith works in our
life. The stronger our faith (engine), the
farther we can travel with the Holy Spirit. Faith moves the hands of God.
If you study the ministry
of Jesus Christ, you realize that He always responded to people of faith. There was no occasion
Jesus ignored a man or a woman who acted in faith. When God told Abraham to
depart from His father’s house, Abraham moved with faith. When God told Noah to build the ark, he acted in faith. God saw Noah as a righteous man because of his faith.
God told Abraham to walk with Him in perfection (See Genesis 17:1). Abraham applied the key of faith to walk
in holiness. If you ignore the key of faith, you cannot please God. Without
faith in God and His Word, your devotion will be useless. It is the key of
faith that commands the hands of God. Get my book, “How to Unlock the Gates of Faith” for a more profound
revelation on faith.
The key of faith unlocks
the gate of holiness in our spiritual walk with the Holy Spirit. Apostle Peter
further stated that walking alone in faith cannot make the Christian complete.
There are some virtues of the Holy Spirit that booster our faith.
He stated that we must acquire
knowledge. Knowledge is a great booster in the Spirit. If you lack knowledge,
you limit yourself in God’s sight. Ignorance makes God ignores you. Ignorance
is the doorway to destruction (See Hosea 4:6). If you want to be perfect
(complete) in Jesus Christ, acquire knowledge.
What you don’t know can
kill you. There are some Christians and unbelievers who never learn from others. They
pride themselves in their limited theology and knowledge. Such Christians cannot
perfect holiness in fear of God. Ignorance will make you exercise holiness in
fear of man, and that is a significant error.
The Bible says we must
perfect holiness in fear of God, not in fear of man. God is the one to judge us,
so why are you afraid of the opinions and condemnation of your fellow man. It is ignorance that
makes you think always pleasing man is holiness.
Get me right; I am not
saying we shouldn’t please a man. The bible encourages us to please man but on
the condition of God’s will. If a man tells you to do something that contradicts
the Word of God, you are at liberty to disapprove it. The Word of God is the
ultimate. Add to your faith knowledge if you want to become complete in Jesus Christ.
People act outside the
Word of God because of ignorance. Operating outside the Word of God is courage.
Such courage is dangerous because God will not commit Himself. God only
responds to His Word (See Jeremiah 1:12). This is one reason you must acquire knowledge. The more
you know, the greater the Spirit of holiness works in your spirit, soul, and body.
If you want to become a
complete Christian, acquire the relevant knowledge that can transform you in
the ways of God. The Word (Holy Bible) is the best material. It contains the mind of God.
Inside the Word, we find the wisdom of God, if you want to think like God, feed
and practice the Word. Acquire inspired Christian books that talk about holiness and Christian living and feed on them to enable you to increase in knowledge and wisdom.
Apostle Peter further
states that we must add to our knowledge self-control. The ability to control
our tongue, fleshly and soulish desires makes us wise. The devil uses the
unbelievers and carnal Christians to tempt us. If you cannot control yourself,
you limit the flow of the Spirit in your heart.
Faith and knowledge without
temperance (self-control) make us incomplete in the sight of God.
Apostle Peter added that
we must add to temperance patience and godliness. We must exercise endurance
and cheerfulness. Living a godly life attracts persecution from the world (See 2 Peter 3:12). We
must exercise good character because it builds us and makes others see the
nature of Jesus Christ in us.
The next virtue is one of
the best seed of the Spirit; we must exercise as Christians. This virtue is
called love. The King James Version of
the Holy Bible translates love as Charity. Love opens the door for faith and the other fruits of the Spirit to
operate. Without love, we limit faith. Faith can travel a longer distance if love
is at work in our hearts and actions.
It is like a seed and
soil. If the seed (faith) does not get a fertile soil (agape), the seed will die. Love is the
fertile soil and faith is the seed. The sunlight, water, and other facilitating
factors that makes the seed germinates are the other fruits of the Holy Spirit. If you want the Spirit of
holiness to lead you in your Christian life, express love to your neighbours, some enemies and build a consistent fellowship with the Holy Spirit through anointed spiritual songs and prayer. I have
explained the types of love in my previous article.
Some people express
erotic and emotional love. Such love is conditional and temporal. Real love is
agape (unconditional love).
Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Love does not brag,
it is not puffed up.
It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or
resentful.
It is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all
things.
Love never ends. But if there are prophecies, they will be set aside;
if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be set
aside.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Net Bible
Loving someone with the love of Jesus Christ is the
best expression of God’s love. I (Christians) don’t love you because of the
benefits I will get from you.
I love you with the love
of Jesus Christ. Walking in holiness without love is a Pharisee type of
holiness. Genuine love emanates from the heart. The unbelievers only express
love because of the benefits they can get. Such love is fake. We must reveal
Jesus Christ (love) because He lives in us in the person of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is the manufacturer of love.
I have seen nobody who
denies love. Anyone who denies love may be mentally ill or possessed with
demons. Even the animal’s desires love, how much human beings. The more we
express love towards our neighbours and God's creation, the greater the Spirit of holiness builds
His gifts, anointing, and seeds in us.
As the Apostle Peter
said "if these things
[faith,
virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, and charity] be in you, and abound, they make you that ye
shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord
Jesus Christ." If we allow these virtues
in our lives, we will become complete in Jesus Christ.
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To be Continued…
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