Virtue

"...make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue..." 2 Peter 1:5

"The greatest difficulty in conversion is to win the heart to God; and the greatest difficulty after conversion, is to keep the heart with God." -John Flavel

The term "virtue" (arete') was important to the ancient Greeks. It meant goodness, prowess, dignity, beauty, and the fulfillment of one's purpose or function. In the New Testament it means moral power (see Philippians 4:8), and can apply to God Himself in reference to His perfection and excellence. But where we are concerned, it is best translated "the power of God in us that produces moral change." What Peter is saying here is that real faith will bring change in us, and that change is itself a proof that faith is present.

Consider these Scriptures: "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith." (2 Corinthians 13:5). "And you, who were once alienated and hostile in mind...he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast...." (Colossians 1:21-23). "So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead" (James 2:17). So change, or "virtue," is a result of faith, and proves its power. Moral change is the greatest evidence of true faith and the new birth.

But of course there are dangerous pitfalls in that statement. Moral change does not mean instant perfection. In fact, the person who sees failure and sin in his life, and grieves over them, is probably more full of true faith than someone who believes he has achieved some awesome level of spirituality. The testimony of the church fathers was that the older they grew, the more imperfect they felt. Moral change is also slow. God works change in us over time through His Word and through circumstances, especially difficult ones. Calvin stated that the proof of a man's conversion was that he persevered in the faith until the end of his life.

If, however, we find that our Christian life is not producing fruit, the answer is not to try harder, but to go back to our foundation and make sure we understood the gospel--to review the facts of who Jesus was and what He did. Reviewing the gospel automatically builds faith.

Another problem we face is unreal expectations. Many converts come to Christ after being promised a bed of roses and a mansion in heaven. When the Holy Spirit begins to shape and mold us (usually with some pain), we are shocked by the seriousness with which God moves to change us. Part of hearing and receiving the gospel is being real about the costs. Reviewing the gospel means reassessing our utopian expectations. After all, God is molding us into the image of Jesus. He has His work cut out for him.

A "convert" who refuses to review the gospel and persists in living a "moral" life will move in one of several directions. He may become a legalist--he will live his life by a set of rules (which he also applies to everyone else), and will be self-righteous, cranky, and judgmental. Or he will suffer from faith in his conversion rather than faith in Christ--his faith is in his one time walk down the aisle, and he believes his decision saved him, in spite of how he lives. Both cases can be cured by a return to the basics of the gospel.

Next time: Knowledge.