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2 Peter 1:9


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2 Peter 1:1-11
1   Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
2   Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
3   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:
4   Whereby 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.
5   And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6   And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7   And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8   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.
9   But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
10   Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
11   For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
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I've heard verse 9 (taken alone) used to say that a Christian can forget that they're even saved.
 
I know what I believe the verse is saying, but I would appreciate any input from others. 
 
Thank you.
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This seems more to be pointing to those who have fallen back into some of their old ways. They have "forgotten" they are new creatures in Christ. Rather than walking in the Spirit, they have devolved back into walking in the flesh. They don't remember the old is passed and all things have become new. They are not fighting the old flesh which has risen up again, they are just going about their life as if nothing has changed.

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Thanks everyone.  While reading all of 2 Peter, I noticed that several times (in one way or another), Peter seemed to emphasize our need to increase our knowledge in Christ...to keep these things in remembrance.

 

2 Peter 1:3 is very eye-opening.  I've heard people quote part of that verse when speaking about the fact that we've been given everything that pertains to life and godliness...and that's where the quote will usually stop...the last part of the verse tends to be left off...

 

2 Peter 1:3
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:
 
Our knowledge of him is directly tied to our having all things that pertain to life and godliness! In other words, if we aren't growing in our knowledge of him, we will be stunted and miss some of those things that pertain to life and godliness.
 
Peter lists some prerequisites that increases our knowledge of Christ...
  1. Exceeding great and precious promises (found in God's word...we need to know God's word)
  2. This is followed by eight characteristics that closely align with the fruits of the Spirit...
  • faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity

...and if those things are in us AND abound, we won't be barren or fruitless in our knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ!

 

Those who lack those things...have forgotten that they were purged from their OLD sins.  So, this has to do with growing in our knowledge of Christ.  I'm sure all of us (at times) have "forgotten" what it was like after we were first saved...the joy, excitement, the willingness and hunger to know more, etc. tends to diminish over time.  When we get like that, we are blind and can't see far off.  If we're honest with ourselves and the Lord...when we've lost our first love, we can tie it directly to not doing the things that Peter listed...we have stopped growing in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

I personally believe that when we stop growing in our knowledge of him, when we start living for self rather than Christ, our human nature takes over, our love for Christ grows cold, and we forget that we were purged from our old sins.  In other words, we lose the thankfulness that we once had for our salvation and all that Christ did for us. We lose the love we had for Christ. Our salvation loses its importance in our lives.  I'm not so sure that we literally "forget"; rather, it becomes like a distant memory that we once enjoyed, but now we don't think about it.

 

This might be a bad example, but it's all that I can think of to somewhat compare my thoughts to.  When a man and woman first meet, date, and marry...their love is deep, and they're inseparable.  Sadly, over time, many couples lose that.  They become mere acquaintances in their relationship.  When their past deep-love is brought up, it doesn't mean much (if anything) to some couples (or one of the partners in the marriage). They've "forgotten" their first love.

 

Friends, grow in your knowledge of Christ! Don't let your love for him wane!

 

2 Peter 3:17-18
17   Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
18   But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
 
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