Excellence of Character

In 1 Peter 1:5, Peter encourages us to add goodness to our faith. The type of goodness Peter had in mind is moral excellence. But what is moral excellence? Moral excellence is not only doing what is right, but it is also desiring right over wrong, good over evil, and holiness over commonness.

How do become morally excellent? Do we get it by hard work? Do we get it by following the rules? Paul tells us that we get it through faith in Christ, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor. 5:21, NIV). Peter expresses it similarly, "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and grace" (2 Pet. 1:3).

Moral excellence is only possible through faith in Jesus Christ. It is his righteousness that is credited to us by God's grace. Apart from Christ, all of our moral acts are like filthy rags before the Lord.

But moral excellence isn't perfection. It is a process through which we increase in our likeness to Christ. Job was a good example of this. God says of Job that he was "blameless and upright," and that he feared God and shunned evil (see Job 1:8).

In Christ, we are called to walk in faith. True faith has an obedience component. We cannot truly say we trust Christ if we don't obey him. As we walk in the Spirit by faith, we learn to put off the old things. We learn to say no to ungodliness (shun evil) and delight in righteousness (fear God).

Galatians 5:16-26 does an excellent job of contrasting a life devoted to the flesh against a life devoted to Christ. Colossians 3:1-14 also paints a powerful picture of a life fixed on Christ.

There is no doubt that Christ's followers are to walk in moral excellence. The good news is that Christ enables them to do so. We have everything we need for life and godliness. Are you pursuing excellence of character?