Command 27: Beware of Leaven

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Virtue vs. Weakness

Virtue is the moral excellence and purity of spirit that radiate from my life as I obey God’s Word.

The Hebrew word chayil is translated three times as virtuous and more than two hundred times as man of valour, valiant, strength, power, might, strong, army, host, forces, riches, wealth, substance, or other similar words.

Two Greek words are translated virtue: dunamis and arete. Dunamis is translated only three times as virtue but more than 100 times as power, might, miracle, strength, mighty, or mighty work. Virtue is the Godly influence of a life that is in a right relationship with the Lord and is filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Power of Virtue

Virtue is like static electricity that builds up in a person’s body after walking on carpet in a dry atmosphere. If someone touches that person, there will be an electrical shock. In a similar manner, Christ was filled with the Holy Spirit and then led into the barren wilderness, where He was tested and tempted for 40 days. He returned “in the power [dunamis] of the Spirit” (Luke 4:14), and He began to minister to the multitudes. The people soon realized that the power of God was in Him; therefore, “the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue [dunamis] out of him, and healed them all” (Luke 6:19).

It is the will of God for every believer to experience this same power of virtue and use it to benefit others, who in turn will glorify God.

How the Power of Virtue Is Lost

When virtue is defiled through lust and immorality, there is a loss of power. Thus, Scripture warns young men, “Give not thy strength [chayil] unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings” (Proverbs 31:3).

Solomon warned his son, “The lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two edged sword. … Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house: Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel: Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger; And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed” (Proverbs 5:3–8).

How the Power of Virtue Is Gained

Paul explains the process by which virtue is gained. “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power [dunamis] may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body” (II Corinthians 4:6–10). The more Paul successfully responded to trials and tribulations, the more power he had to give the life of Christ to others.

In this same letter, Paul describes how he discovered the source of this power. “… There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength [dunamis] is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power [dunamis] of Christ may rest upon me.

“Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (II Corinthians 12:7–10).

This sequence of rejoicing in suffering in order to experience the power of virtue is repeated several times in Paul’s epistles. He said to the believers in Philippi, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” (Philippians 3:10).

To the believers in Colosse he said, “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness” (Colossians 1:10–11).

Personal Evaluation: How Virtuous Are You?

This character lesson is taken from The Power for True Success. For further study, this book may be purchased from our Online Store.