Bible Understanding Made Easy Bible Study Series

Christian Personal Responsibilities1

Christian Personal Responsibilities

Anthony L. Norwood

This document may be used and copied for personal Bible study and church Bible study classes. It may not be included in commercial publications without the express, written permission of Anthony L. Norwood

Christian Personal Responsibilities

When one becomes a Christian, he/she must take on a new lifestyle. As the Scriptures will shortly demonstrate, God’s desire is for us to live righteously. Thus, we have to bring all of our words, thoughts, desires, and deeds into subjection to what the Bible teaches as righteousness in God’s eyes. Faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, which means one’s Lord and Savior, is a great thing and one cannot be saved without it (Mark 16:15-16). However, our faith does not negate God’s desire for us to live righteously as well. Both faith and works, which means obedient Christian living according to our faith, is necessary to save us (James 2:20).

God has provided several passages of Scripture devoted to teaching us how to live righteously in God’s sight. Our primary focus today will be on 2 Peter 1:5-7. It reads as follows, according to the New King James Version:

5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self control perseverance, to perseverance, godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.

As you can tell, God uses the word “diligence” to describe the effort we must undertake inorder to achieve the consistent Christian characteristics He has planned for us. Diligence means that one must struggle to get it done. In reality, our own biggest enemy to living righteously is ourselves. We must desire to live righteously in order to accomplish anything for the Lord (Matthew 5:6). Furthermore, the Bible tells us that we are lured into sinful behavior by our own desires. Thus, we have to control our own desires and put them into submission through a diligent effort of resistance to Satan’s temptations (James 1:14-15; 4:7). On the bright side, whatever we set our minds to, God will help us accomplish it (Philippians 2:12-13). Thus, God’s call for living righteously is tough, but as long as we are trying to do right, He will respond to help us defeat the temptations in our lives. We are not strange since we are tempted to do wrong. This is common to all people who ever lived and will live on this planet. In fact, with each temptation, God always allows for a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13). Also, we have the avenue of prayer to ask for strength to overcome our own sinful desires and overcome Satan’s temptations (Ephesians 3:16).

In order to achieve strong Christian character, ask yourself the following questions:

Do I want to live righteously?
Will I let God help me through prayer when I need Him during the hour of temptation in my life?
Can I recognize the way of escape when God presents it to me?

Yes, we will make mistakes at times and there is a remedy for it. The hope is that we can regain God’s forgiveness by repentance, confession, and prayer (Acts 8:22; 1 John 1:7-10). In other words, as long as we change our sinful ways and pray that God will forgive us, He will do so. Our confession is us admitting to Him that we have sinned. Thus, we must have an honest heart in order to gain God’s forgiveness. We must realize that we cannot have pride when we do wrong. Instead, we must let the guilt of letting God down convict us before we will ever seek God’s forgiveness. Remember, the trick of the devil is called the pride of life (1 John 2:16). This is where Satan creates many arguments in our minds of self-justification. In other words, the enemy will try to persuade us not to change, pray, or confess our fault due to our egos! Do not let this be the case, because we cannot be saved if we let our pride get in the way. Keep in mind, everyone makes mistakes. God can forgive those that are honest in this area, but not those who remain in rebellion (Acts 5:1-11). One note of caution though. We cannot take on the attitude that God will forgive us before committing a sin. It is not always guaranteed that we will live long enough to restore our relationship with God. For instance, drunkenness is a sin and we can get drunk one night and drive our automobiles into a telephone pole; killing us instantly (Romans 13:13). There is no opportunity to change then. Thus, a person’s soul can be lost in sin at that moment. An example of God not allowing someone to live after sinning was Ananias and Sapphira. They were a Christian, married couple who lied about their offering. Since they would not confess their sin, God immediately took away their lives (Acts 5:1-11). No one knows when we are going to die. After death, there is no way to change and restore our relationship with God. As a result, we should stay obedient rather than to take the risk of sinning in the first place.

Now that we know the importance of living righteously, the hard work it takes, and the remedy for the moments when we sin, let’s discuss some specific characteristics God wants all Christians to possess.

First, God wants us to add virtue to our faith in Jesus Christ being the Son of God; meaning our Lord and Savior (2 Peter 1:5). In the original Greek language from which the New Testament was translated, the word “virtue,” means moral excellence. This means that our decisions should be the right thing to do at all times. This means that what ever we do helps someone and does not hurt them. We will always have the interests of other people in mind before we make a decision. This means that we will not lie, cheat, steal, hate, create violence, gossip, slander, or mistreat anyone else in any way imaginable. How do we know when we will hurt someone or not? Well, there are two ways. First, if there is a direct commandment against something in the Bible, then we know the act is wrong. This is because the Bible is man’s only standard of righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Furthermore, if there is no direct commandment in the Bible regarding a certain act, then the Bible uses principles to speak out against an evil thought or deed. For example, God tells us that if we would not want a certain deed done unto us, then we will not do it to someone else (Matthew 7:12). As a result, the Bible does not have to say, “Thou shalt not hit someone with a baseball bat,” directly. Since we do not want to be hurt with a blunt object, then the Bible is automatically speaking against the practice. So it is in most New Testament Scriptures. There may not be a direct commandment, but we know that certain thoughts and deeds are wrong due to the fact that the thought or deed would hurt our feelings, finances, and/or physical health. These principles are deterrents to keep us from hurting our fellow man.

Second, God wants us to add knowledge to our faith (2 Peter 1:5). In order to justify his lack of study, a Christian once said, “The Bible does not say you have to study your Bible every day.” Yes, this is true. There is no direct commandment to study the Bible every day of one’s life. However, the Bible tells us to make our lives a living sacrifice to God and holy unto Him (Romans 12:1-2). The Bible does not put a limit on what day of the week to make our lives a living sacrifice. Thus, our sacrificing our selfish desires is a 24 hour a day and seven day a week process. Remember, we are to pick up our cross and deny ourselves daily in order to truly follow Jesus (Luke 9:23). So, if God is commanding us to make ourselves a daily sacrifice, then part of that daily sacrifice must also be to study one’s Bible on a daily basis. Also, studying can be seen as a two way communication. How? Well, Christians often talk to God in prayer about whatever is in their hearts (Philippians 4:6-7). When one does not study, he/she is not allowing God to talk back to him/her. This makes the communication one-way and that is never good. Even between human beings, one-way conversation will eventually make someone in the conversation unresponsive and avoid future one-way conversations, because he/she is not given the opportunity to respond. If we can see this point, then we can see the value of studying our Bibles every day. It is a very small sacrifice considering the love Jesus showed for us by giving His life on the cross. Furthermore, to study our Bible is not only a command to us, it is also the means for us to discern between good and evil (2 Peter 1:5; Hebrews 5:14). Without being trained in what God desires for us through study, we cannot tell what is truly right and wrong according to God’s standard. As a result, we are constantly trapped in sin, because of ignorance to the truth if we do not study to improve ourselves on a daily basis. There is no way to live in a holy manner if we do not know God’s idea of holiness for us! Satan will outsmart us every time if we are not good students of the Bible. Even more, God is angered when we are not growing in knowledge of Him. In other words, He expects growth in Biblical knowledge from all of His subjects (2 Peter 1:5; Hebrews 5:12-14).

Third, 2 Peter 1:6 instructs all Christians to add self control to their faith. This shows us that we are to refrain from sinful behavior in public and private. This means that we are not to get drunk. We are not to engage in premarital sex even if between two consenting parties. We are not to view pornography as this takes us away from the holy thoughts we are supposed to have. We are not to curse in public or private. We are not to steal. The list of sins goes on and on. The difference between self control and moral excellence is that moral excellence usually applies to what one does toother people. Self control deals with all types of sin; including what we do to others, what we do to our selves, public sins, and private sins.

Moving forward, we find that God wants us to add perseverance to our faith (2 Peter 1:6). All Christians should be taught this principle early in their Christian lives. This is because many Christians come into Christianity with a view that all of their earthly problems will be solved when they become Christians. They also can come to a false realization that God does not love them just because they suffer hardships in this life. Elimination of all our earthly cares has not been promised to us. Not until Christians make it to the heavenly state will all trials, tribulations, and troubles end (Revelation 21:4). Instead and while we are all in the land of the living, we will have both joyful and trying times (Galatians 5:22-23; Acts 14:22). Nonetheless, from a mental standpoint, God gives us the ability to maintain peace of mind throughout the process of our hardships if we pray about the pressing situation (Philippians 4:6-7). He will always be with us and never abandon us (Hebrews 13:5). This thought gives us the strength to persevere, which means to endure the hardship and not lose our faithfulness to Jesus in the process. Satan, our enemy, is still active causing havoc in the lives of all mankind (Job 1-2). We have to understand that if we quit the Christian race, there is no home in heaven for us. As a result, we must maintain a great prayer life and persistent attitude that we will never leave the Lord as He will never leave us. Jesus commands us to stay faithful, which means a loyalty to continued faith and obedience, no matter what circumstances we face in this life. If we do so, He will give us eternal life (Revelation 2:10)! Stay strong and encouraged! Struggles are only temporary and not designed to last forever!

Moving on, godliness is the next character trait God wants us to add to our every day decisions. Godliness is very similar to virtue and self-control. In fact, one cannot be virtuous or under self-control without it. Godliness is related to one’s attitude. It is a desire to please God in every word, thought, and deed. Thus, it is “mind over matter” as some would say. Godliness is keeping our thoughts and desires under submission to God’s Will instead of our own. This is how Jesus could say that those who hunger and thirst after righteousness will be filled (Matthew 5:6). We will act right if we want to do right! Remember, all actions start in the mind first (Matthew 12:34-35). As a result, through attitude, prayer, Bible study, and resistance to temptation, we can gain control of our minds (James 4:7;Matthew 6:13;2 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 5:12-14; Philippians 2:12-13). God will certainly help us in this area!

Moving forward, Christians are also to add brotherly kindness to their faith (2 Peter 1:7). “brotherly kindness” is translated from the Greek word “philadelphia.” It means to have brotherly love. It means to maintain, genuine friendships and attachments one with another. This keeps Christians from being anti-social with each other. In fact, the only real way to truly achieve brotherly love is to fellowship one with another as the church is supposed to do. We know this is the responsibility of the church by the example of the first century Christians who remain in an unbreakable fellowship one with another (Acts 2:42). As a result, Christians need not rush out of the church building or meeting place after worship in an effort to avoid other Christians. Stop and have some small talk, because this will increase bonding. Also, support church organized events as well to build these friendship bonds. Even more, informally gather to engage in righteous activities that uplift each other and create bonds one with another.

Last, but not least, God wants us to add love to our faith (2 Peter 1:7). This word “love” is translated from the Greek word “agape.” How does it differ from brotherly kindness? Well, Biblical love is a higher form of love. It works independently of one’s emotions. It is the type of love God gave to mankind when He offered His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for you and I (John 3:16-17). It is also the type of love that Christians are supposed to have for friends and enemies like (2 Peter 1:7; Matthew 5:44-45). As a result, Biblical love is a harder form of love to achieve. It is a type of love that one chooses to do and not feel. Feelings get in the way of true Biblical love. Thus, this type of love means to deny feelings of hate, bitterness, unforgiveness, anger, and so on and replace these things with forgiveness, kindness, and gentleness despite the circumstances. Biblical love is not concerned with whether someone deserves to be loved or not. This is a self-sacrificial type of love. When one learns and applies this level of love, he/she is becoming a true imitator of God, Himself (Ephesians 5:1-2). Remember, God loves us despite our many faults and we must learn to do the same thing with our fellow man or woman (Matthew 5:44).

In summary, as you can see, the Christian is always a work-in-progress. We must continually desire to do what is right in God’s eyes in order to achieve any degree of righteousness in this life. This will be hard work and this is why God starts by telling us to be diligent about it. The good news is two-fold. First, if we desire to do right and put forth the effort, God will help us achieve our desires. Second, we are creatures of habit. The more and more we practice something, the better we will get at it. Thus, righteous living becomes a habit just like bad habits if we let it. Lastly, we must have the confidence that we can live righteously as well. Remember, we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us (Philippians 4:13). May God bless and keep you.