Articles
Nobility
The British have ‘the royals and some Brits treat them like many Americans treat Hollywood movie stars [or vice versa]. The ‘royals’ are born into a family with inherited social and, once, political status and stature; their nobility comes with birth, and those born into the family are scrutinized and analyzed much more publicly and to a higher degree than a commoner.
While we may not be born into such nobility, there is another form of nobility we can achieve — one more worthwhile, too. This kind of nobility is "nobleness of mind, character, or spirit; exalted moral excellence." [Random House Dictionary] That we can achieve, and should strive to achieve, if we seek to please our Lord.
Moral excellence is something every disciple should strive for but, more importantly, it is something every disciple must demonstrate. A casual examination of our current society tells us that there is a dearth of moral excellence; many are satisfied with moral mediocrity, or — more commonly — immorality. It should be a given that those who follow Christ and His ways are supposed to live by a higher standard of morality but, sadly, not all who claim to be His are demonstrating that; we should daily demonstrate moral excellence, and any and all who observe our daily lives should see such.
Peter's admonition to all disciples is that we should with “all diligence, add to your faith virtue” (2 Pet. 1:5); virtue, by definition, is moral excellence. What this means is that we should never be content to only say we have faith, but should be striving to achieve and maintain moral excellence in every aspect of our lives. The world is always watching, whether we know it or not, and many are looking for some evidence of hypocrisy and moral weakness in disciples so they can justify their unbelief; don't give them the ammunition by which they will criticize you and the faith!
For this reason, Peter also admonished the early disciples to “abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Pet. 2:11, 12). God knows there are many men who want nothing to do with God or righteousness, but are not satisfied to simply leave it alone; some want to malign, discredit, and besmirch anyone who strives to follow God's ways. The only answer to the critic is, then, honorable conduct that demonstrates moral excellence and gives no one any reason to blaspheme the Lord's name because of us.
Moral excellence — spiritual nobility, if you will — is not like the British royalty where you are naturally born into nobility; but neither is it something that comes by accident. Since all men have sinned (cf. Rom. 3:23), no one could claim to have any real moral excellence in and of self; we must be led by the life and words of the only perfect Man who has lived on earth: Jesus Christ. Since we are spiritually inferior because of our sins, we rely on the noble blood of our Lord and Savior to wash us from our sins, where we begin the life anew, perfected by the One who declares us citizens of His Kingdom once we submit to Him.
Once we become a part of His Kingdom, though, we must maintain that noble life and constantly strive for moral excellence. Again, this is not something that comes by accident; each disciple must make a concerted effort and be motivated by a strong desire for moral excellence, else we will only drift back into spiritual mediocrity or immorality. If it is moral excellence we desire, then as with most everything we do, we must begin in the heart; we must be thinking about moral excellence before we will ever demonstrate moral excellence. It is for this reason Paul urged the brethren, “if there is any virtue…meditate on these things” (Phil. 4:8).
Thinking on the things that demonstrate or exemplify moral excellence means we do so to the exclusion of those things that are morally degrading and base [as per God's definition]; one cannot have a heart set on the world and on morally excellent things and ever hope to be pleasing to God. As Jesus said, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things” (Matt. 12:35); simply put, we are not going to be demonstrating moral excellence if we are filling our minds with immorality. If we want to be of noble character, we must meditate on the virtuous.
It is the personal responsibility of every disciple to “keep oneself unspotted from the world” (Jas. 1:27), so we know that effort is needed. We also know that we must constantly resist the one who is ever seeking to drag us back into immorality (Jas. 4:7) if we truly want to demonstrate a life of moral excellence. We cannot be morally excellent if we succumb to our fleshly desires, or while wallowing in the filth of sin. Let us also be aware of our true standing, lest we think we are living morally excellent lives when, in reality, we are merely mediocre.
As is fitting for nobility, those in Christ's kingdom wear ‘clothing’ that demonstrates a higher standard of living — in our case, spiritual in nature. When we are joined to Jesus in baptism, we “put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:22-24). We “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts” (Rom. 6:14). We ‘wear’ righteousness and holiness, and reject the filthy clothing of the world as unbecoming of God's people. While this may sound elitist, please remember that we are talking about children of the Most High God and disciples of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who came to this earth and died for the sins of mankind. God's people are noble by His plan and power, and it is only right that we should manifest the highest standard of moral excellence.
And when we consider that we are to live morally excellent lives — that we are spiritual nobility, it only makes sense because we are children of the King! As we might remember, being children of the King means we are also heirs! As Paul wrote, “if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:17). No earthly kingdom promises the commoners an inheritance from its king, but those who are a part of the Lord's Kingdom enjoy every spiritual blessing in Christ (cf. Eph. 1:3) and an inheritance reserved in heaven (1 Pet. 1:4). In short, we have everything we could possibly need, and much more we didn't know we needed!
Yes, we are blessed to be called God's children (1 John 3:1) ,but let us not take it for granted; let us live lives demonstrating moral excellence that our Lord may truly be honored. Let us live so others will know we are of spiritual nobility. —— Steven Harper
