Many people who have received Christ and have the Holy Spirit living in their hearts still do not live as God intended. If a Christian lives like the unbelieving world, this person is a worldly Christian. This refers to a person who is controlled by human nature more than by the Spirit of God. In 1 Corinthians 3:1, Paul describes worldly Christians as “infants in Christ”.
In 2nd Peter 1:3-4, it reminds us that God has provided through His power, everything we need to live in godliness and righteousness so that we would ‘escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.’
God never intends for a Christian to be worldly. Yet some Christians are. Probably because they have not been guided in how to grow, they are still guided more by fleshly desires than by spiritual desires.
In 2nd Peter 1:5-9, we are told to add certain things to your faith that God has provided for you.
“Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is near-sighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.”
You need to remember that Christ secures your salvation, but you are still responsible for how you live. You are responsible for using His resources and for following Him.
Daily Thoughts: What did you get from today’s study?
What worldly desires are you struggling with that are keeping you from growing in your faith?
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This was the verse we talked about in making steps to adding all of these elements to your life in the small group wednesday (: I like it, and I'm going to do it! I think that I am struggling with jealousy. Which is a nasty one. Jealousy could lead to so many other things, like gossip, hatred, anger, etc. Which is very scary. It definitely has been getting better, thanks to God. I've been praying that he places nice thoughts in my mind about people and I've been doing pretty well. I remember the story about Abel and Cain and how that ended up.
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