Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Pursuit of excellence

How has God's divine power "granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness" (2 Pet. 1:3)? We have been given all things that pertain to life and godliness "through the knowledge of him who called us to [or by] his own glory and excellence,: that is, God in and through Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 1:3; cf. 1:2). Let that sink in for a moment. It is not by reading self-help books, or by meditating on quotes by famous people-whether Confucius, or Buddha, or Mahatma Gandhi-that we are equipped for achieving excellence. God has supplied us with all that we need to attain excellence through our knowledge of God in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is God in Jesus Christ who called us by (or to) his own glory and excellence. Thus, not only is God characterized by excellence, but so is Jesus Christ. Our pursuit of excellence must, therefore, not only be theologically oriented and fueled by some vague belief in God; it must be christological in nature, that is, grounded in Christian discipleship, in active, committed followership of the Lord Jesus Christ in every aspect of our lives in this world.

(Köstenberger, Andreas J. Excellence: The Character of God and the Pursuit of Scholarly Virtue. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2011. Print. 51)

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