Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence. 2 Peter 1:2-5.

Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:

Holy. My Son, by the blood of the Cross, has made you holy and blameless before Me. Now walk in holiness, without which you cannot see Me, and I mean see Me now. To live a holy life you must be walking in the spirit and not in the flesh. If you live only according to the flesh, your life will be useless to My Kingdom but useful to the devil in the realm of darkness. You cannot serve two masters.

You can only wash away and remove sin with the Blood of the Lamb but you clean and wash your mind with the washing of water with the Word. In the Tabernacle, for which I gave the plans to Moses, you started at the bronze altar with the sin offering and then you came to the laver to wash before entering the inner court and then into the Holy of Holies.

And in the Holy of holies all was peaceful, pure and beautiful. And it was there I spoke from above the mercy seat. A place where all was HOLY.

I have bestowed great love on you, calling you My children and heirs, for in Jesus you are, and I have made you holy and righteous in Him. You should be a mystery to worldly minded people who are walking in darkness as they see the light of your virtuous life, as you look forward with eagerness to the return of Jesus Chris to raise you in glory. Abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the unbelievers, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify Me in the day of visitation. 1 Peter 2:11-12. Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life. Philippians 2:14-16. And you will be like Him in sharing His glory. And you who have this blessed hope purify yourself, just as He is pure. 1 John 3:1-3. He lived a life of moral excellence and I have given you the power to do so.

And that is today’s life lesson in walking in holiness, “Moral Excellence.” Moral excellence is to walk in the light. And the light is truth with no lies. Deception has no place in the light, it hides in darkness for fear of being exposed. When you are deceived you walk in darkness whether you realize it or not.

The first sin was based upon a lie and all sins committed are based on a lie, the lie that the sin that is pulling you, which is lawlessness, will make your life better in the sense of more pleasure for your flesh and is based on selfishness and a lack of self-control. People call it doing heir own thing or determining what is right in their eyes, or even call it love, but actually it is being blinded by Satan and taken captive to do his will. He works upon ignorance. And that does not mean the person whom he deceives does not have a brilliant mind, Adam and Eve had minds of such great intellect that they were far beyond what now is born of the corrupted seed of Adam after his fall from grace, but they believed a lie and left the light for darkness. They thought the lie would give them everything they wanted with no restraints, but instead it gave them toil, death, and defeat. They became alive to sin and dead to Me, and that became slavery instead of the total freedom they believed to obtain. They did not walk in moral excellence. And it came from ignorance as to the absolute truth of My Word and walking in blessed obedience to that Word as imitators of Me so that My power can rest and work in those who believe.

My divine power has granted you EVERYTHING pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of who I AM who called you by My own glory and excellence. If you truly know Me and My Son and are diligent in the treasures of My Word you will walk in My glory and excellence. I have equipped you to answer this call. When I, the God of peace, brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, Jesus your Lord, I equipped you in every good thing to do My will, working in you that which is pleasing in My sight, through Jesus Christ. Hebrews 13:20-21. I am at work in you both to will and to work for good, so work out the power that is working in you with reverence and awe. Philippians 2:10-12-13. Live pure.

And My Son defines eternal life as knowing Me and My Son, Jesus. John 17:3. And by this, in Jesus, I have granted to you My precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of My divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 2 Peter 1:2-4. But do not stop here, there is more that you need to add to the base of faith in Jesus, like one instrument playing is quite different than a full symphony. In order to live the holy life there is growth in maturing in holiness. A baby is selfish, but as he grows and develops he learns self-control and how to be considerate of others and to care for others’ interests as his own. That is, if he matures and does not keep the infant mentality of selfishness even though his body develops into an adult and he becomes more skillful in worldly abilities and pursuits.

Walking in moral excellence, that is, a life of good and upright behavior that does not veer from the path of morality and truth, begins with faith in Jesus. Here is where all growth begins. He is the foundation upon which you must build your life to be fruitful in good works and to have an everlasting reward. But once saved, having become a new creation in Christ, you are now at the infant stage and must be trained, that is, renew your mind in My Word.

And as you increase in knowing My Word, your faith will begin to be supplemented with the qualities that you produce attached by faith to the vine of My Son. And to do this you must apply all diligence, and with each step of growth you increase in holiness until you are completely mature to the fullness of Christ, lacking in nothing. And you grow in and take these steps in faith. And the first supplement to your faith is moral excellence, and in your moral excellence comes knowledge, and in your knowledge comes self-control, and in your self-control comes perseverance, and in your perseverance comes godliness, and in your godliness comes brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness comes love. It is a divine flow as you partake in My divine nature. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of your Lord Jesus Christ. He who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, be all the more diligent to make certain about My calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.

Today we are looking at the first step of faith in the growth to holiness: Moral excellence. The word in the original Greek in which this was written is areté (: ἀρετή), which means moral goodness, virtue. So, I tell you that, applying all diligence (which is active participation and consistency) add to your faith moral excellence. You may be wondering how you add moral excellence to your faith. Let Me show you. When you believe in My Son as Lord and that I raised Him from the dead after He had borne all your sins and diseases you are saved, born again, and My Spirit comes to dwell in your spirit. This is good but now you need to renew your mind with My Word and grow in your knowledge of Jesus.

In My Word I define moral excellence for you in many places, but you can get the practical definition in Proverbs 6:16-19, Psalm 34:13-14, and Colossians 3:8-9, 12-13. And a good example of moral excellence is the conduct of Jacob’s son, Joseph. He refused to get pulled in to bitterness, unforgiveness, anger, or depression. He let his brothers’ cruel conduct to him go and rejoiced in all the amazing things I was doing through, in and with him. He walked in the light and let no one get him out of the light into darkness.

In Proverbs 6:16-18, I tell you that there are six things which I hate, yes, seven which are an abomination to Me: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers. These are things to avoid in order to have moral excellence. You see what they are: pride, lying, abusive behavior, thoughts that devise plans that harm others, and spreading strife and division among people, especially those of your family of faith.
That tells you that moral excellence consists of humility, truthful speech, kindness, compassion, and being a peacemaker.

In Psalm 34, I put it this way: “Who is the man who desires life and loves many days that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” Psalm 34:13-14.

And in Colossians, I tell you are to put aside anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. That you are no longer to lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to My image. Colossians 3:8-10. And so, as those who have been saved, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as I forgave you in Christ, so also should you. Colossians 3:12-13. And I forgave you by His blood. And that is what paid you also for others’ sins.

These Scriptures all tell you how to add moral excellence as you grow in your faith attached to the vine who is Jesus. And I will work in you both the desire and the will to do these things. But you too must use diligence to watch your thoughts and words so that you keep your tongue from lies and evil and your mind from proud thoughts. Instead be thankful. Be conscious of your words so that you do not hurt those who hear you but build them up. And I will give you the grace to do this but you must do your part like an athlete training for the Olympics must do his. I give you the power, the grace, and the ability and you must guard your heart and mind from thoughts that cancel out My Words.

Jesus walked in moral excellence and the devil had no part in Him. Moral excellence is a lifestyle of honor and integrity. I also tell you that Jesus was anointed with the oil of joy above His companions. Despite opposition, rejection and betrayal Jesus was filled with joy. He rejoiced in the Holy Spirit. Jesus loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; and therefore I anointed Him with the oil of gladness above His companions. Hebrews 1:9. Loving righteousness, and hating wickedness gives you a free life filled with His joy. Living a pure life of moral excellence brings the anointing of the oil of joy.

I love you. It is time to take up your place on the Highway of Holiness. The devil is looking for someone to devour, but it won’t be you if you walk in moral excellence. In that place there is no entrance for he devil. You will have shut every door tightly.