The Truth is that "we have everything we need to live a life that pleases God." (2 Peter 1:3) The Truth is "...of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." (John 1:16-17) "The completeness of Jesus has been imparted to us! Not the fullness of a prime minister, president, celebrity, rock star, great athlete, or scholar, but the comprehensiveness of Jesus Christ Himself." --John Bevere. Wow. You have the full nature (Christ's characteristics and personality traits) of Jesus Christ in you! If you are like me, your response would be "What?!! That's ridiculous!" Going back to 2 Peter 1:3, we have EVERYTHING we need to live a life that pleases God. It's starting to make sense to me.
Think of a seed as the nature and qualities of something or someone. Okay, let's continue.
"Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever." --1 Peter 1:23
When we accept Jesus Christ's sacrifice, His wonderful gift of grace, we are born again of incorruptible seed. Incorruptible. Have you realized how incredible this is? YOU were born again and you now have this incorruptible nature and quality in you. The nature and qualities of Jesus Christ Himself. "As He is, so we are in the world." (1 John 4:17)
John Bevere brought forth the concept that we as God's children tend to think that we will be like Him when we get to heaven. However, as we read 1 John 3:2 we see that we are already like Him. "Beloved, now we are children of God." Not in the future, but now. It stands to reason that now we have his qualities because we are now His children. "We cannot possess inferior innate qualities if we are born of God Himself. His makeup is now part of us!" --J. Bevere. So, God did not only save us from eternal death when Christ died on the cross, but He also gave us His characteristics.
Wow! Are you catching this? We are no longer people of this world, but God's children. We are the ones who hold all of His characteristics and qualities.
John Bevere goes on to compare the law of the Old Testament and the grace we now live under. Matthew chapter Five repeatedly compares the laws to the standards God now has for His children.
Matthew 5:21-22 "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgement.' But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgement...But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire."
Matthew 5:27-28 "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that whoever look at a woman to lust for [desire] her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
"Simply put, under the law you had to do it; under the New Covanent of grace, all you have to do is want to do it!" -J. Bevere
What?! I am pretty sure that we all (at some point) have felt that grace was only to cover our sins and get us into heaven. Nope. That's not the only reason we have grace. Yes, His grace covers our sins, but by living under grace, we now have higher standards. To want to do something against God's will is a sin. However, His grace has given us the ability to now live in the Truth. Grace is, in a sense, a tool. As children of God, we now have all of Christ's characteristics and qualities. Therefore, God is holding us to higher standards. We have everything we need in order to live a godly life, a life pleasing to God.
The Scripture 2 Peter 1:3 has been written on my heart for years now. I am constantly reminded by the Holy Spirit that I now have (all because of Christ) everything I need to conquer my battles, run from my temptations and speak the Truth. I have all the characteristics and qualities it takes to become like Jesus Christ. Yay! Now all I have to do is choose. Choose to live like Christ lived. Choose to live like God created me to live. Choose to be who I am. Christ-like. For I now have His qualities.
I made this picture to remind myself of my choice. I am reminded so often of the battle for my heart. As a daughter of the King, I refuse to let this world turn me into something I am not. I am a child of God, and nothing short of it. I choose to live like it.
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