“For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins” (2 Peter 1:8-9 NKJV). We see two different Christians here: one who possesses these Christian qualities and is increasing in them and the other who lacks these Christian qualities. Why do some Christians not increase in these Christian qualities?
They have forgotten that they have been cleansed from their old sins. The main reason that some Christians’ spiritual lives fall apart is they have forgotten that they have been cleansed from their old sins. They have forgotten that:
God so loved them (John 3:16).
The Gospel is the power to save (Romans 1:16).
Christ died for their sins according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
The Son of God, who loved them, gave Himself for them (1 John 1:7).
By grace, they have been saved through faith (Ephesians 2:8).
According to His mercy, He saved us (Titus 3:5).
To forget is to die spiritually.
Some Christians are blind and cannot see far. When we do not possess the Christian qualities of 2 Peter 1 in increasing measure, we cannot see far; we are spiritually blind. Yes, we are blind, and cannot see:
All the spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3)
A way of escape when temptations come (1 Corinthians 10:13)
Evil people will ruin a good life (1 Corinthians 15:33).
Pleasures are only for a moment (Hebrews 11:25).
Heaven truly has mansions (John 14:1-3).
A good example of spiritual blindness is the church at Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-17).
God help us never to forget that we have been cleansed from our old sins. If we are to see beyond this life and its troubles to the mansions of Heaven, we must possess these Christian qualifications. “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love” (2 Peter 1:5-7).
