Text Of Interest:
“But ye are come unto mount
Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an
innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the
firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the
spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new
covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that
of Abel.”
Heb 12:22 – 24 (KJV
In concluding his admonition to
believers Apostle Peter reiterated an important fact which cannot be overlooked
and that is, I quote “For 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. But he that lacketh these
things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged
from his old sins.” (2 Peter 1:8-9). This is very interesting because like
I said in the earlier episodes that, it is important for someone to be in
Christ, because that is the eternal intent and purpose of God for every
individual on this planet earth. God didn’t make it a mere intent but He goes
ahead to back it up with an action by providing His only begotten Son to die
for the sins of the world (John 3:16). So as far as God is concerned, everyone
is saved because He has done what is required for all to be saved, and on the
other hand it becomes a matter of choice to be saved. Whoever that decides to
be saved and accepts Jesus Christ as his or her Lord and Savior is accepted
into Christ and in Christ, God has made everything necessary to sustain man
available, “According 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.” (2 Peter 1:3).
Therefore, in Christ God will not give us, rather He has given us all things as
pertain to this ‘life and godliness’, nothing is in short supply.
Notice that in the quotation above,
Apostle Peter says that “For 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.” (2 Peter 1:8), I
like the way he used the word ‘if’ in the quotation,making it a conditional
statement, which on the other hand suggests that it is in the hand of the
believer and not in the hand of God. Another thing to consider is that the ‘if’
also suggests that these things are already available and the believer needs
not to struggle to make them available anymore; what is required is for him or
her to draw them to himself or herself. Also, he went ahead to state that these
things will not just be in the life of the believer but must be in abundance,
therefore, they are not something one can say, “let me do it often” no it
should be available always and must be used in the life of the believer when
the need arise. The establishment of these attributes in the life of a believer
is very vital because based on these attributes he says a believer, “shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in
the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”The barrenness and fruitfulness of
a believer is in direct proportion to how much or less of these attributes can
be found in the believer; this should prickle and stir up important thought in
the life of every believer.
Again, interestingly, he says that the
barrenness and fruitfulness is geared towards “the knowledge of Christ”, this
suggests that the yardstick to measure barrenness and fruitfulness is the
knowledge of Christ. Therefore, someone can be considered barren if he or she
is barren in the knowledge of Christ, and in the same vein someone can be
considered fruitful if he or she is fruitful in the knowledge of Christ. It
also depicts that if someone is barren outside the knowledge of Christ and
fruitful in the knowledge of Christ he or she is to be considered successful in
life and vice versa.These statements are not just mere words they are factual
and understandable in the light of Christ. Apostle Paul while writing to the
Colossians made an interesting statement to them and I quote “In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge.”(Col 2:3). Remember, the barrenness and fruitfulness should
be in the knowledge of Christ and here, in Christ “are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”This implies
that there are no wisdoms and knowledge elsewhere except in Christ, because in
whom (in Christ) all wisdom and knowledge is hid. It didn’t say some but all,
which means that no one in Christ should lack wisdom and knowledge unless he or
she has chosen to be so and if that is the case Apostle Peter, has this to say
to him or her.
“But
he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath
forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.”(2 Peter 1:9). Ifanyone in Christ has chosen not to
grow in the knowledge of Christ which is where all wisdom and knowledge is
found he or she will definitely find himself or herself in the situation stated
above by Apostle Peter. How to grow in the knowledge of Christ is by adding the
above discussed attributes to one’s life and if the reverse is the case, that
person though in Christ, “cannot see afar off.” This is a very demeaning
disposition or placement for any believer to occupy, and therefore should be avoided
by believers. He goes on to say that such a person has forgotten that “he was
purged from his sins” this implies that lack of these attributes means that
person cannot live a life of righteousness though he has been purged from his
sins. He still lives like an unbeliever. It is a sorry state to be!
However, he reminds us in verse 10 as
I quote “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling
and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.” This
quotation sums it up because it is an indication that when we add these
attributes to our faith definitely we are making our calling and election sure
and failure will not be our portion.
To be continued…..
Till I come your way again, keep on
basking in the Arena of Indubitable Truth!
Chukwuemeka C. Asiegbu
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