It is the selfish part of our human nature to place our energies on the showy but lesser virtues rather than upon the more difficult and greater virtues.\u00a0 Jesus said, \u201cWoe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone\u201d (Matt. 23:23).\u00a0 The lost world is steeped in fornication, violence, and profanity.\u00a0 The believer may feel good about himself that he does not do these obvious things, but having not committed adultery or killed or stolen or cursed, the believer neglects to go on to the weightier matters of virtue.<\/p>\n
The New Testament lists of virtues and vices begin with the prerequisite of faith.\u00a0 Paul, in Galatians 5, sharply contrasts the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit.\u00a0 John, in 1 John 1, divides those who are under the cleansing blood of Christ from those who are not.\u00a0 Peter, in 2 Peter 1, insists that you can only add virtue to true faith.\u00a0 In fact, Peter tells us that we have all things that pertain to life and godliness because we have escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (2 Pet. 1:4).<\/p>\n
The unsaved world is given over to fornication and violence because these are the greatest temptations to our sinful nature and they have no defense against them.\u00a0 Though even a lost man or woman can display human virtues, they generally gravitate to the baser things of the flesh and leave the weightier matters of civility and virtue undone.\u00a0 The unregenerate soul has little to no defense against sin.<\/p>\n
To the believer in Jesus Christ, it is a matter of serious immaturity to wallow in fornication, violence, and vulgarities and not proceed further to the better yet more difficult virtues of judgment, mercy, and faith.\u00a0 Peter says that we must first \u201cadd\u201d purity to faith and then add other virtues in similar order (2 Pet. 1:5).\u00a0 James said that the wisdom from above is \u201cfirst pure\u201d (Jas. 3:17).\u00a0 Paul reminded the Corinthians that they could not grow in knowledge because they had not first dealt with their carnality (1 Cor. 3:1-3).\u00a0 Peter says that when we have added virtue to faith, then we can add knowledge to virtue, and then temperance to knowledge.\u00a0 Temperance is usually translated self-control.\u00a0 After this there comes patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love.<\/p>\n
As a pastor, over the years I have watched believers stall out at the step of temperance or self-control (egkratos<\/i>, \u201cself-governance\u201d).\u00a0 We all start out our Christian life with our sins forgiven and being filled with the Spirit.\u00a0 We begin to add the knowledge of God\u2019s Word and we attempt to do the things we read but soon become discouraged at our lack of ability to do them consistently.\u00a0 At this point, rather than adding patience (the ability to bear under the load) to self-control, believers fall prey to sin, cycle back to the first things, and try again.\u00a0 The same scenario happens again and again and going on to the greater virtues becomes a revolving door to more defeat.<\/p>\n
As we have seen in Romans 6, the believer still has a sinful nature and still lives in the \u201cbody of sin.\u201d\u00a0 Therefore the believer can also wallow in the baser sins of fornication, violence, and vulgarity.\u00a0 These kinds of things are immediately satisfying to the flesh like sugary dessert to the palate.\u00a0 The tragedy is that they keep us from going on to the maturity and joy of the deeper virtues of life.\u00a0 We have seen too many moral failures among leaders, all of which do great damage to the cause of Christ.\u00a0 We should have out-grown the sins of our youth.\u00a0 Paul admonished young Timothy to be an example of the believer in purity (1 Tim. 4:12, 5:2) and to exercise himself rather unto godliness (4:7).\u00a0 We should go on to the greater virtues and not leave these basic matters of morality undone.\u00a0 This is surely one of the blessings of old age, but even senior saints can miss out on the blessings of the greater virtues.\u00a0 We need this spiritual growth in youth and elders alike in this permissive generation.<\/p>\n
The greater virtues then are not the showy things that others see.\u00a0 We can, after all, busy ourselves with serving to be seen of men; with social action that pleases the world; or with great swelling words of wisdom that attract a crowd.\u00a0 We can even be proud of ourselves that we have not killed anyone lately, robbed a bank this year, or committed adultery while married.\u00a0 \u201cThese things ought ye to have done!\u201d\u00a0 But what about those inward virtues that are even more difficult to manage:\u00a0 pride, meekness, a quiet and gentle spirit, patience, civility?\u00a0 These are also things which we must bring into subjection and for which we use our members as instruments of righteous.\u00a0 These are the things that are often lacking in our Christian life.<\/p>\n
Those early choices in life<\/span><\/p>\n It is almost impossible for a young man or woman to foresee how the early choices in life will determine most of the rest of life.\u00a0 The family teaching and conviction will greatly determine the college one chooses.\u00a0 The college one chooses will probably provide the mate one chooses for life.\u00a0 This life\u2019s mate will then determine family relations, your children and how you raise them, and even your children\u2019s children.\u00a0 These choices will in turn determine your church life and your adult convictions and choices about worldly and cultural things.\u00a0 It will be these relationships that one must rely upon in the older and needful years of one\u2019s life.\u00a0 Who could know these things early in life?<\/p>\n My mother used to say that it is a shame we don\u2019t have the wisdom of later years during those younger years when we teach our children.\u00a0 But she also admitted that she wouldn\u2019t trade the strength of those early years even for the wisdom of the later years (and vica versa!).\u00a0 But the Bible has a great solution to this dilemma.\u00a0 Listen to your elders!\u00a0 \u201cMy son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: for they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck\u201d (Prov. 1:8-9).\u00a0 \u201cHe taught me also, and said unto me, let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments and live\u201d (Prov. 4:4).\u00a0 This is a virtue that is being lost in our current culture.<\/p>\n A humble spirit<\/span><\/p>\n God said through Isaiah, \u201cI dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones\u201d (Isa. 57:15).\u00a0 Pride is the most profound effect of sin upon the human soul.\u00a0 The sinner finds himself without God\u2019s leading and protection and prides himself as the master of his universe.\u00a0 The believer must also guard against this sin because we still have this independent streak within.\u00a0 \u201cPride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.\u00a0 Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud\u201d (Prov. 16:18-19).<\/p>\n A humble spirit is not a resignation to failure.\u00a0 It is to rely on God and not on ourselves, to realize that He is the Owner and King of our lives.\u00a0 \u201cHumble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time; casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you\u201d (1 Pet. 5:6-7).\u00a0 \u201cFor whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted\u201d (Lk. 14:11).<\/p>\n The patience of Job<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYe have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy\u201d (Jas. 5:11).\u00a0 In the New Testament, patience either expresses the ability to remain under a burden (hupomen<\/i>\u0113<\/i>) or to take the long look (makrothumia<\/i>).<\/p>\n We all have burdens to bear in life and some have much greater burdens than others.\u00a0 \u201cLet patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing\u201d (Jas. 1:4).\u00a0 Sometimes we are persecuted for our faith and we are admonished to \u201ctake it patiently, this is acceptable with God\u201d (1 Pet. 2:20).\u00a0 We all wait for the coming of the Lord to deliver us from this present evil world, \u201cBe ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh\u201d (Jas. 5:8).<\/p>\n When we were young we wanted to grow up sooner; when we were in school we wanted to finish and get on with our lives; when we were single we wanted to be married; when we were in the lowest position at work we wanted to be the boss; when we became the boss we wanted to retire.\u00a0 Though the Lord wants us to \u201crun with patience the race that is set before us\u201d (Heb. 12:1), we are not very good at it.\u00a0 How much better and more useable our life would be if we were patient.<\/p>\n A temperance movement<\/span><\/p>\n As we have seen, we are to add to our Biblical knowledge temperance.\u00a0 This seems like an old word referring to that movement where marching women protested alcohol.\u00a0 It is something like that.\u00a0 The word means to be self-governed and the NKJV always translates it \u201cself-control\u201d except in 1 Cor. 9:25 where the athlete is said to be \u201ctemperate in all things.\u201d\u00a0 Neither is it a common word, appearing only in the New Testament three times as \u201ctemperance\u201d and three times as \u201ctemperate.\u201d\u00a0 We see that Paul reasoned or witnessed to\u00a0 king Agrippa about temperance (Acts 24:25); temperance is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:23); and, along with a long list of virtues such as holy, good, and just, we are also to be temperate.<\/p>\n It would do us well to initiate a little temperance in our everyday lives.\u00a0 Americans are very fortunate to have the life-style we enjoy.\u00a0 But for the most part we are opulent compared to the rest of the world and to history.\u00a0 We spend a lot of money on things we don\u2019t need; we eat a lot that we really shouldn\u2019t; we entertain ourselves in ways that are questionable; we even hoard our wealth rather than distribute to the necessity of the saints.\u00a0 It\u2019s not that God is a killjoy and doesn\u2019t want us to enjoy the world He\u2019s given us.\u00a0 But it is rather that we are here for a purpose; we are stewards of things that really belong to Him; and the greatest joys in life are more often the simple things that are already within our reach.\u00a0 Paul instructed the Philippians that whatever is true, honest, just, pure, lovely and of good report, \u201cif there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things\u201d (Phil. 4:8).<\/p>\n Minding our manners<\/span><\/p>\n In England when you step off the train you will see a sign at your feet that says, \u201cMind the gap\u201d which means that you are to pay attention to the space between the train and the platform.\u00a0 Someone long ago said that the only thing keeping a nation from either totalitarianism or anarchy was manners\u2014the ability to govern ourselves according to the moral law.\u00a0 Most of us were taught common manners when we were children:\u00a0 saying please and thank you, yes ma\u2019am and yes sir, opening the door for a lady, not speaking out of turn, etc.<\/p>\n When the Bible says that \u201cevil communications corrupt good manners\u201d (1 Cor. 15:33), it uses the word ethos<\/i>.\u00a0 That is defined today as \u201cThe character or attitude peculiar to a specific culture or group\u201d (American Heritage Dictionary).\u00a0 The NKJV has \u201chabits,\u201d and the ESV has \u201cmorals.\u201d\u00a0 Perhaps Paul\u2019s description of the attitude of Moses is best, \u201cAnd about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness\u201d (Acts 13:18).\u00a0 Sometimes we feel like that in our own American culture.<\/p>\n Sometimes the Bible speaks negatively of the \u201cmanners\u201d (or more common, \u201cmanner\u201d) of the heathen nations around His people Israel (e.g. Lev. 20:23).\u00a0 What are our manners like?\u00a0 Do we adopt an ethos of the lost people around us?\u00a0 Have our communications corrupted our good manners?\u00a0 What about our talking, social networking, self-expressions, and even modesty?\u00a0 These are virtues too.<\/p>\n Looking in the mirror<\/span><\/p>\n When you look in the mirror every morning, what do you see?\u00a0 Do you see a lot of things you don\u2019t like and wish you could change, or do you see someone made in God\u2019s image and someone for whom Jesus died?\u00a0 We have already seen that the things related to our sinful nature need to be worked on and changed for the good, and with God\u2019s help we can do that.\u00a0 But here I am talking about the way you are; the person you are; the DNA you were given at conception.\u00a0 These are things in your life that you cannot change and must accept.<\/p>\n It is a terrible thing today for people to refuse to accept their gender or their personhood.\u00a0 This is to reject God as Creator and to reject the image of God, the Imago Dei, in their very souls.\u00a0 Rather we should see our physical existence, our very life, as a gift from God which He treasures very much.\u00a0 After all, He will one day resurrect all physical bodies and fit them for eternal life.<\/p>\n \u201cKnown unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world\u201d (Acts 15:18).\u00a0 \u201cI will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.\u00a0 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.\u00a0 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written\u201d (Psa. 137:14-16).<\/p>\n I must not complain to God for the way I am made.\u00a0 He has made me, and each of us, a special vessel to be used by His own sovereign hand.\u00a0 He has given me gifts and abilities that only I possess.\u00a0 He has placed me in a unique time and place, among people and culture that I am made to minister.\u00a0 I may be a clay vessel, but I am His clay vessel.\u00a0 \u201cWhen I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou has ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him?\u201d\u00a0 (Psa. 8:3-4).<\/p>\n The faithful steward<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMoreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful\u201d (1 Cor. 4:2).\u00a0 Faithfulness, then, is the capstone of our greater virtues.\u00a0 God requires it of us because He Himself is faithful by His very nature and we are to be like Him.\u00a0 Jeremiah saw the destruction of Jerusalem and yet could say, \u201cIt is of the Lord\u2019s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.\u00a0 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness\u201d (Lam. 3:22-23).\u00a0 David said, \u201cThy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds\u201d (Psa. 36:5).<\/p>\n The Proverbs describe the godly man as \u201ca faithful ambassador\u201d (13:17), \u201ca faithful witness\u201d (14:5), a faithful man\u201d (20:6, 28:20), and \u201ca faithful messenger\u201d (25:13).\u00a0 Paul often described his fellow laborers as \u201cfaithful in the Lord\u201d (1 Cor. 4:17), a \u201cfaithful minister\u201d (Eph. 6:21, Col. 1:7, 4:7), and \u201cfaithful brethren\u201d (Col. 1:2).\u00a0 When we are faithful we are displaying the very characteristic of God.\u00a0 Even if we fail in this, \u201cyet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself\u201d (2 Tim. 2:13).<\/p>\n Faithfulness to God\u2019s house is a command of the Lord (Heb. 10:25;\u00a0 1 Thes. 5:27) as well as to the ordinances of His house.\u00a0 We may also be faithful in our service to the needy. But faithfulness also reaches to those unseen actions that are so easily left undone.\u00a0 Our prayer life and Bible study are the life-blood of our Christian walk and yet unfaithfulness to these leaves us spiritually anemic.\u00a0 Opening our mouths and speaking the gospel to the lost can be omitted for weeks, months, or even years.\u00a0 Faithfulness is a characteristic the Christian has because God is faithful.<\/p>\n And so . . .<\/b><\/p>\n The greater virtues are the harder ones, those no one sees but you and God.\u00a0 The question is, are they real in your life?\u00a0 Francis Schaeffer was a well-known apologist who wrote many books and did much speaking.\u00a0 He died in 1984 but his wife Edith lived for twelve more years.\u00a0 L.G. Parkhurst wrote a biography of the Schaeffers and said of Edith, \u201cEdith prays that as a Christian she will be like solid wood all the way through, and not like pressed wood with veneer on top hiding what is underneath.\u201d1<\/sup><\/p>\n It is easy to be a veneered Christian, showing the easier virtues on top of our lives, but it is harder to be a solid Christian all the way through.\u00a0 It is harder because it is not showy and no one else ever sees whether it is real or not.\u00a0 But I remind us all again of Isaiah\u2019s words, \u201cFor thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite one\u201d (Isa. 57:15).<\/p>\n \u201cWho shall ascend into the hill of the LORD?\u00a0 Or who shall stand in his holy place?\u00a0 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart . . . This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face\u201d\u00a0 (Psa. 24:3-4, 6).<\/p>\n Notes:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It is the selfish part of our human nature to place our energies on the showy but lesser virtues rather than upon the more difficult and greater virtues.\u00a0 Jesus said, \u201cWoe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[123],"tags":[167],"class_list":["post-7386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-christian-living-cross-discipleship"],"yoast_head":"\n\n