The Bible Has Everything – Part 1

I’ve gotten in trouble with this question before, so I don’t know why I’m going to risk opening up a can of worms again, but somehow I stumbled on a point-less, never-ending debate on a religious forum (I wouldn’t recommend visiting, LOL), and I was frustrated at how afraid we all are to address this simple question:

Well, coffee makers might not fall into my thoughts here, but maybe they do.  What does the Bible say?

Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that that called us to glory and virtue:  whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises:  that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.  (2 Peter 1:2-4)

Not so long ago, I would have said that yes, the Bible gives us every thing we need for life and godliness, because in the pages of God’s Word we can find the knowledge of God.  However, the Pharisees were well trained in the knowledge of God, yet we can tell from their actions that they did not exhibit much of “the divine nature.”  (See verses 5-8 for further description of what that nature looks like.)  In addition, the Pharisees knew all the right behavior that was required in the law, but how well did they really know God?  Personally?  Intimately?

So if knowledge of the Bible is all that it takes to be given “all things that pertain unto life and godliness,” then why did so many Pharisees — and so many modern Christians — lack glory and virtue in their lives?  Why have we failed to escape “the corruption that is in the world through lust”?

It seems to me that the answer lies in the gift of his divine power.  The knowledge of God is just the tool God uses.  So now the question of the day remains:  How do we receive this divine power?  And how do we find the knowledge of God?  Finally, what is included in “all things that pertain unto life and godliness”?  Does that include how to fix coffeemakers, or must we confine our pursuit to just spiritual matters?

To be continued…