Online Bible College ES105-19

Essential Truths II: Walking With God

19
Walking in Balance
God’s plan is for each believer to grow into a balanced, mature son of God (see
Romans 8:14,28-30). But maturity needs a standard against which growth is
measured. Ephesians 4:13 explains the standard that God has put in place:
“...until we all...become mature, attain-
ing to the whole measure of the fullness Walking with God
of Christ.” Walking as a Son
As one Bible commentary observed: Walking as a Servant
“[This is not merely] the maturity of doc- Walking as a Disciple
trinal conviction...nor a personal maturity Walking the Way of the Cross
that includes the ability to relate well to Walking Yoked with Jesus
other people...but the maturity of the
Walking in the Spirit
perfectly balanced character of Christ.”1
Walking in His Presence
This “perfectly balanced character of Christ”
Walking in Blamelessness
is the goal of your walk with God. And as we
have emphasized before, in moving toward Walking as an Overcomer
this goal, we are not to measure ourselves by Walking in the Ways of God
ourselves (2 Corinthians 10:12). Walking as a Family
There are two ways we can measures our- Walking in Guidance
selves by ourselves: Walking in Grace
Ü Measuring ourselves by our per-
Copyright © 1999, The Online Bible College.

Walking in Humility
sonal standards – Although we ex- Walking in Forgiveness
pect to change through the transfor-
Walking in Joy
mation that comes by the Holy Spirit,
EVENING STUDY

we mustn’t use our old life as the stan- Walking in Persecution

dard against which we measure our
▲
▲

Walking in Balance
new life. It is Christ himself, not the Walking in Perspective
“old you” which is our standard for
Walking in God’s Purpose
change.

Page 1
 Online Bible College ES105-19

Ü Measuring ourselves against those around us – Although we can

expect to see others growing into the likeness of Christ, we must not use
them as the yardstick against which we measure our own growth.
The sole measure of our growth is nothing less than “the whole measure of the
fullness of Christ.” It is against Christ himself that our growth is measured.
Read Ephesians 3:17-19

The Example of Jesus

Read Luke 2:51-52
In his youth, Jesus evidenced a rounded, well-adjusted growth. His maturing pro-
cess involved four equally balanced elements:
Ü “...in wisdom” – Intellectually
Ü “...in stature” – Physically
Ü “...in favor with God” – Spiritually
Ü “...in favor with...men” – Socially
Although Jesus was sinless from birth, the Bible tells us “he learned obedience
from what he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). He learned what it meant to walk a bal-
anced life, in complete obedience to his Father, and this is now the path that you
have been called to walk. God wants you to develop intellectually, physically, spiri-
tually and socially – to be balanced in your walk with the Lord.
The Lord has a goal for your life. That goal is full maturity in Christ. The Message
expresses this declared goal, paraphrasing Ephesians 4:13, with these words:
“...until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient
and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed
within and without, fully alive like Christ.”
God has set a high standard for your life. In fact, as we saw in ES105-09, God’s
definition of maturity is nothing less than being like himself.
Read Matthew 5:48

The Nature of God

Copyright © 1999, The Online Bible College.

Read Exodus 34:6-7

Here we have the great self-declaration of God’s nature. On the mountain, with
his hand shielding Moses, the Lord reveals his glory, proclaiming his nature. And
EVENING STUDY

what we discover is amazing. God is not only perfect in his nature and character;
he is also perfectly balanced. He is a holy God (1 Samuel 2:2; Isaiah 6:1-3), yet
also a God of love (Psalm 145:17; 1 John 4:8). He is a God of patience (Romans
2:4; 1 Timothy 1:16; 2 Peter 3:9), yet is also a God of justice (Isaiah 5:16) and a
God of faithfulness (1 Corinthians 1:9; Hebrews 10:23). He is a God who dem-
onstrates his righteous anger (Psalm 7:11), yet is also a God full of mercy and
Page 2
 Online Bible College ES105-19

compassion (Isaiah 55:7; Lamentations 3:22-23). God’s nature remains un-

changed (Malachi 3:6) but every part of it is in perfect balance with every other
part.
Read Psalm 89:14
Righteousness and justice. Love and faithfulness. These are all blended together
in every action God makes (note again Jeremiah 9:23-24).
Read Psalm 85:10-11
And guess what! The Lord is expecting you to have the same kind of balanced
walk. The nature of God – in its full, balanced perfection – is the measuring line of
your maturity. You are told to be:
Ü Loving like God (1 John 4:11-12; 2 Thessalonians 3:5)
Ü Faithful like God (Psalm 18:25)
Ü Patient like God (Galatians 5:22; Colossians 3:12)
Ü Merciful like God (Luke 6:36; James 3:17)
Ü Forgiving like God (Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13)
Ü Holy like God (1 Peter 1:15-16)
In short, you are to be balanced like God. This is what Jesus meant when he said,
in Matthew 5:48, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” The
context of this statement can be found in 5:17-47, where Jesus outlines the twin
aspects of holiness (verses 17-37) and love (verses 38-47).

Being Godly
Read Titus 1:1
Paul describes the path that you have called to walk as being paved with the
“knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness.” Godliness simply means to be
“like God.” It is the grace of God operating in your life, according to Titus 2:11-12,
that enables you “to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present
age.”
Read 1 Timothy 4:7-8
The Bible uses the word “godliness” to describe being balanced like God. Godli-
ness means being like God in thought, word and behavior. It means showing His
Copyright © 1999, The Online Bible College.

love as well as his holiness, his justice as well as his mercy.

Read 2 Peter 1:3
In this verse, which has set the pace for much of our study in God’s Word, we
EVENING STUDY

have discovered the attribute that God has intended to be the defining character-
istic of your life – his divine power, energizing you for “life and godliness.” And
just when you may have thought that we had exhausted all the meaning that is
laden in this verse, let’s mine for some new revelation in the “knowledge of the
truth that leads to godliness.”

Page 3
 Online Bible College ES105-19

Paul states clearly where this godliness comes from. In the same way that in
Titus 1:1, he declares that the “knowledge of the truth...leads to godliness,” so
here he writes that we are launched into godliness “through our knowledge of him
who called us by his own glory and goodness.”
Peter is using the picture of God calling us, down through the corridors of time, to
a life of godliness. But note that God calls us “by his own glory and goodness.”
Once again the Bible emphasizes that our godliness is defined by the measure of
God’s own glory and goodness. What we had fallen short of through sin (Romans
3:23), has now been opened up to us again through God’s “divine power.”
But Peter doesn’t leave it there. In 2 Peter 1:4, he goes on to describe how this
“life and godliness” takes place. He writes:
“Through these [his own glory and goodness] he has given us his very great
and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the di-
vine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”
The divine nature that God has called us to participate in his own glory and good-
ness! From beginning to end, it is God who defines the Christian walk. His glory
and goodness is the starting line, and his glory and goodness is the finishing line.
The Lord himself is the “author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2).

In Increasing Measure
The whole of the Gospel – the good news for your life – is a description of “how it
is possible for you to escape the inevitable disintegration that lust produces in the
world and to share in God’s essential nature.”1
But guess what! 2 Peter 1:3-4 is not the end of the story! In the next verses he
goes on to describe how this participation in God’s divine nature – this embracing
of God’s own glory and goodness – outworks in our day-to-day lives.
Read 2 Peter 1:5-8
Peter lists a number of attributes that he expects to outwork in your life:
Ü Faith
Ü Goodness
Ü Knowledge
Copyright © 1999, The Online Bible College.

Ü Self-control
Ü Perseverance
Ü Godliness
Ü Brotherly kindness
EVENING STUDY

Ü Love
These key attributes are the building blocks of a balanced walk with God. But
because Peter tells us to “make every effort to add” these attributes, one upon
the other, we might be tempted to think that it is only when we have become

Page 4
 Online Bible College ES105-19

perfect in faith that we can then add to the goodness, and when we are perfect in
goodness, we then add knowledge. But this is not what Peter is meaning.
Take a closer look at verse 8:
“
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.”
Peter is not talking about a once-for-all experience in any of these eight attributes.
These attributes are not one-off, “now-I’ve-made-it” experiences, but are ex-
pressed in increasing measure. They are the building blocks of your life in God.
Now take a look at verse 9:
“But if anyone does not have [these attributes], he is nearsighted and blind,
and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.”
Peter expects you to have this attributes working in your life. Even if you have
only just begun you walk with the Lord, you have already been “called...by his
own glory and goodness.” You have already been exposed to these eight attributes
of Christ’s character. You have already begun participating in the divine nature.
But what Peter is encouraging you to do is to begin to apply those attributes in
practical ways to your life.
Think of it this way. Many bricks make a house. Here we find Peter listing eight
types of bricks. But that does not mean there are only eight bricks in the building.
Faith is not one brick but many, since we are to “grow in faith” (2 Thessalonians
1:3). Each time you discover a new aspect of what faith means, and apply it to
your life, you are adding another “brick of faith” to the building. Upon this, you
are also adding other bricks – goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance,
godliness, brotherly kindness, love, faith, goodness, knowledge...
If we concentrate on only one kind of brick, the building becomes lopsided – our
life is unbalanced. But brick by brick, attribute by attribute, the mature Christian
life is built. It is in adding each attribute “in increasing measure” that we grow
into the “life and godliness” that has already been provided for us.
Now we’re ready to take a look at Peter’s closing statement in his exhortation to
us. In verses 10-11, he writes:
Copyright © 1999, The Online Bible College.

“Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and elec-
tion sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a
rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
EVENING STUDY

This statement can only be understood in the context of what he has just written.
Why does Peter encourage you to be “all the more eager to make your calling and
election sure”? What calling and election is Peter talking about?
According to 2 Peter 1:3-4, that calling is:

Page 5
 Online Bible College ES105-19

Ü Through God’s own glory and goodness (verse 3)

Ü To participate in the divine nature (verse 4)
It is “if you do these things” (meaning exhibiting these eight qualities in increas-
ing measure) that the calling you have received – to participate in glory and good-
ness of God – becomes like reinforced concrete in your life. Peter’s promise –
“you will never fall” – is possible only by experiencing the attributes of God’s
divine nature “in increasing measure.” And this will also result in being effective
and productive in your knowledge of the Lord’s glory and goodness (verse 8).
As The Message expresses 2 Peter 1:5-8:
“So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complement-
ing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert disci-
pline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and gener-
ous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these
qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet,
no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our
Master Jesus.”
Many people think of maturity as being at the end of the road, something that we
can never attain in this life. While it is true that “the whole measure of the fullness
of Christ” is the end-goal God has for your life, this does not mean that God does
not expect an expression of Christ-like maturity in your walk right now. Even
today the Lord expects you to live “holy and godly lives” (2 Peter 3:11).

What Balance is Not

Before we can truly walk a balanced walk with God, we must first understand
what balance is not. Balance is not...
Ü Compromise
Ü Lukewarmness
Ü Double-mindedness
Let’s take a look at each of these in turn.
Compromise
Balance is not compromise. Compromise is based not on a desire to please God,
Copyright © 1999, The Online Bible College.

but to please and accommodate man. In contrast to compromise, God’s principles

always stand firm.
Read 1 Peter 1:24-25
EVENING STUDY

The word of the Lord does not change according to the circumstances. It stands
firm, unchanging, yet eternally relevant. And because it is immutable, it doesn’t
compromise on sin. Yet a common human reaction to an understanding that God
is both loving and holy is to believe that God somehow compromises between the
two. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Page 6
 Online Bible College ES105-19

A wise man once said that the truth of God’s Word is not found in the compromise
between two extremes. It is found in both extremes. God is holy and God is love.
There is no compromise between the two. The truth of God’s nature is found in
both attributes.
Lukewarmness
Read Revelation 3:15-16
Lukewarmness is one of the worst forms of compromise, for it affects our rela-
tionship with God. It is a rejection of God’s love that brings more hurt to his heart
than even fully turning one’s back on him.
As the Lord Jesus himself says, lukewarmness is neither hot nor cold, but a mix-
ing of the two. This is not true balance.
Lukewarmness is often excused as “moderation.” After all, we shouldn’t be radi-
cal, should we? But the rule “everything in moderation” does not apply to your
walk with the Lord. God does not call you to moderation when it comes to partici-
pating in the divine nature. Nor does he call you to moderation when it comes to
escaping the corruption in the world.
As far as God is concerned, it is a black and white issue. You cannot mix the Lord
and the world. You cannot compromise the “divine nature” and “the corruption of
this world.” In John 2:15, John states uncompromisingly:
“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the
love of the Father is not in him.”
Double-mindedness
Read James 1:6-8
Double-mindedness is a hindrance to spiritual growth. It is described as being
like “a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind” and in Ephesians 4:14
this condition is equated with spiritual immaturity. In fact, James goes on to de-
scribe the double-minded man as “unstable in all he does.”
God is not double-minded. He does not change “like the shifting shadows” (James
1:17) and does not “in the same breath...say, ‘Yes, yes’ and ‘No, no’” (2 Corin-
thians 1:17). In the same way, we too are called to walk a stable, purposeful
Copyright © 1999, The Online Bible College.

walk, our eyes fixed on the hope set before us.

The Danger of the Pendulum Swing

EVENING STUDY

Read Ephesians 4:14

One mark of immaturity is being caught in the pendulum swing of shifting doc-
trine. Like a pendulum, many Christians swing from one direction to another,
from one extreme to another, “tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown
here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of

Page 7
 Online Bible College ES105-19

men in their deceitful scheming.”

Far too many Christians today are caught in the pendulum swings of faddish Chris-
tianity. When the latest fad comes, we all too often jump on the bandwagon. This
is reflected in the books we read and the types of seminars we attend.
Read 2 Timothy 4:3-4
God has not called us to swing from one extreme to another. It is not that we
focus all on God’s love, to the exclusion of other aspects of God’s nature; nor do
we then swing to a revelation of God’s holiness, leaving behind his love. No, our
walk with God is to be a walk of balance between these apparent extremes.
Think of it this way. When you walk, the only way you can move forward is to put
one foot in front of the other. It has been said that walking is controlled falling. As
you walk, you fall forwards but each step of your foot catches you and keeps you
moving forward. To a great degree, this pictures your walk with God. As you
walk, you risk falling, but a balanced motion keeps you moving forward.

The Balance Point

Every ballerina who attempts a pirouette needs a focal point in order to keep her
balance. In the same way, if you desire to walk a balanced walk with the Lord, you
need a focal point.
Read Hebrews 12:2
Jesus declared, “I am the truth” (John 14:6). Just as our physical body needs a
focal point to keep its balance, so Jesus is the focal point for our spiritual balance.
He is the focus of all truth in God’s word (John 5:39). We are walking in balance
only when we have the Lord Jesus as our focal point.
Let’s take a look at a story that combines both Hebrews 12:2 (keeping your eyes
fixed on Jesus) and Ephesians 4:14 (being tossed back and forth by the waves).
Read Matthew 14:22-33
In this famous story, Peter steps out of the boat at the invitation of Jesus and
begins walking on the water toward him. But then the story records how, dis-
tracted by the wind and waves around him, he breaks his focus on Christ and
begins to sink.
Copyright © 1999, The Online Bible College.

The story pinpoints two products of this distraction:

Ü Doubt (verse 31)
EVENING STUDY

Ü Fear (verse 30)

These are the products of an unfocused, unbalanced walk. Yet these are the two
very things that Jesus addressed when he called Peter to join him out on the
water. The Lord’s precise words were:

Page 8
 Online Bible College ES105-19

“Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

These two things – courage and trust – are the antidotes to doubt and fear, and
they only come about when your eyes are fixed on Jesus. He bids you to come out
on the water with him, and yes, you can walk a balanced walk on the water, de-
spite the wind and the waves, if you keep him as the focus of your walk.

The Key to Balance

Read Colossians 3:12-14
The key to the balance of God’s nature is found in love. True love takes the atten-
tion off ourselves and puts it onto other people. This kind of love acts like a bal-
ancing wheel for all other aspects of God’s nature:
Ü Knowledge (1 Corinthians 8:1-3)
Ü Power (Psalm 62:11-12; Nahum 1:2-7; 2 Timothy 1:7)
Ü Holiness (Nehemiah 9:17-21)
Ü Faith (Galatians 5:6)
Read Ephesians 4:15-16
Christian growth means growing in the likeness of God’s nature. As we grow in
our understanding of God’s nature, the Holy Spirit works to conform us to that
nature.
Read Colossians 1:10
Copyright © 1999, The Online Bible College.

1
2 Peter 1:4, paraphrased by J. B. Phillips, The New Testament in Modern English (London: Geoffrey Bles, 1966),
p.495.
EVENING STUDY

Unless otherwise indicated, all quotations from the Bible are from the New International Version, copyright © 1973,
1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

The Online Bible College can be accessed at www.online-bible-college.com

Page 9