chopping down axe-idental discipleship

Matthew 3:10

Even now the ax is ready to strike the root of the trees! Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

I am only borrowing one line from Chambers today.

No man is virtuous because he cannot help it; virtue is acquired.

You will not conform your life to Christ by accident. You will not happen upon godliness and virtue. If your plan for maturity consists largely of “going about business as usual,” you will not mature. You will only get older, which is just another way of saying that you will continue dying.

You cannot take a vacation from virtue and remain virtuous.

Being a man of character is hard, relentless work.

So hard, in fact, that if you try to do it fueled by will power and pride alone, you will fall.

It starts with faith.

Faith in God.

Faith in His Son.

Faith in God’s righteousness revealed.

Faith in His Gospel.

From that fuel and foundation, we can create character and validate virtue as we are conformed to the image of Christ more and more daily.

2 Peter 1:5-8

⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge,⁶ knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness,⁷ godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.⁸ For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ