Election sure

(2Peter 1:10) “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.”

“Make you election sure” is an encouragement given to the believer by the Apostle Peter and he attaches a promise to it and if applied correctly we “will never fall”, wow! Time to sit up and take note; for far too long have I been duped by the lie of “its OK you only human”. We are new creatures in Christ and our conduct must prove that truth. You shall know a particular tree by it fruit. To name a variety of fruit trees without the evidence of their fruit attached to their branches would be far more difficult than if they had produce ready to be plucked and eaten. To differentiate one fruit tree from another by their leaves alone would require a skilled eye. Hence the Lord Jesus made this statement; “you shall know a tree by its fruit” and not its leaves. The Christians testimony must be above reproach; something I have failed dismally in, throughout my lifetime, however if and when God begins to renew a right spirit within an individuals heart, who can halter the God given change that begins to germinate? I Praise God for that. Excuses for living in the flesh and succumbing to the temptations we face throughout the day as the norm, is not the way forward for the Christian, but rather a corrupted understanding of a twist on Christian life. A mind-set that now robs us of our victory in Christ is this lure, “has God said”; Satan’s lure to confuse a Christian’s conduct.

It would be good for the one who claims Christianity as their own and often makes these types of confessions; “I LOVE YOU LORD” to pay careful attention to what Peter is teaching us. He summonses us to obverse the divine nature of Christ of which we have been privileged to share in; if understood and heeded we will escape this world’s corruption and its sinful desires. Until then we will be like the man who constantly falls into that dark ditch, a place most Christian have ended up somewhere along their journey. Sadly the slow learners like me have taken some hard knocks because of it. However, God is long-suffering towards His called, which even now I am eternally grateful for. Without His protection I truly understand that that dark ditch would have been my lot in life. But praise God for His willingness to discipline His children. Thank you Father for the love that you have bestowed upon me, I can see a lot clearer now.

To believe that “once saved always saved” if not understood correctly will trick the pretender into believing that they are in fact safe when they are not. There has to come a time in a believer’s life when it is obvious to all that they in fact do belong to the Lord Jesus, no differently to the fruit tree that has fruit on it. A believer may find themselves in the throws of discipline and only the mature believers will understand if their faith is in fact real. For the sake of the gospel we must all move through those transition periods in our lives as fast as possible. How is this achieved? Obviously everything is linked to the grace of God, but Peter gives us some instruction on how this can be accomplished. In order for us to escape the corruption of this world with its sinful desires and “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2Peter 1:5-8) – If and when we lack these attributes in our lives he concludes; “for whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.” (2Peter 1:9) – However if we begin to live under the guidance of the Spirits counsel correctly, this promise will be ours; “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.” (2Peter 1:10)

The called will learn to live under the rule of God’s Spirit and God will get them home, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone