How to Be Fruitful: His Grace

3According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4Whereby 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. 5And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 7And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 8For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. 10Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: 11For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1: 3-11)

This passage was a focus of study for me for a long time.

I was focused on all the attributes listed in Second Peter.

"Add to your faith, virtue, etc"

I was focused on the list, when Peter explains how such things do not appear in our lives:

"9But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins."

I did not believe that I was purged from my past sins.

Why?

Because I was looking at the sin in my flesh, as though it was something that I had to do something about.

I was not informed that everything has been paid for. The blood of Jesus is an eternal consequence, putting away all sins and thus making them all ancient:

"As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us." (Psalm 103:) 12)

He has removed our transgressions, our sins from us.

Yet the fight of faith which we must fight today is a struggle of resting in the truth that all our sins have been put away.

That is the fight. Everything in this life wants to send the message that you are not OK with God, that there is still something more that you must do.

The counsel of the ungodly has every interest in keeping people busy in this respect.

If we want to remain fruitful in all the graces listed in Second Peter, God our Father invites us to keep receiving from Him the gift of righteousness today (Romans 5: 17) and forever more (Daniel 9:24).