Virtue

"The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult, and left untried" (G.K. Chesterton). The Greek word for virtue (arete) is used only four times in the New Testament. * Paul uses the word one time in all his epistles (Philippians 4:8). Peter uses the word three times (I Peter 2:9; II Peter 1:3,5). The word in classical Greek "denotes whatever procures pre-eminent estimation of a person or thing" (W.E. Vine). It was an intrinsic eminence or moral goodness belonging to the gods. Writing to the Philippians, Paul uses the term only in 4:8. He says if there is "any virtue." He is careful not to imply that Christians can attain moral goodness from within. He is setting forth the ideal of moral goodness that comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ. In writing to fellow Jews, Peter uses the word in the sense that Jesus Christ is the pre-eminent Person who is the ideal.