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.
II Peter 1:8 KJV
II Peter 3:18 tells us to “…grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ…”
God expects our knowledge of His Son to grow. For how can we be more like Christ if we don’t know what Christ is like?
When Peter says “For if these things be in you, and abound,” he is referring to the character qualities from the previous three verses: faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity.
We know that by displaying these godly traits we exemplify the love of our Savior, but possessing these qualities also reveals that we’ve developed an in depth knowledge of our Lord and Savior. When these traits freely flow from the nature of Christ within us, they abound. And when they abound, our knowledge of Christ also abounds.
Barren means more than unable to bear offspring; it means unprofitable. Unfruitful also means unprofitable or not producing good results. Therefore, we don’t want to be barren or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior. Because that knowledge leads us:
- to the truth of God’s Word.
- to Christ our Creator
- to the Great Shepherd
- to the Bread of Life
- to eternal life.
If these character traits abound in you, they make you profitable in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, your knowledge of Christ abounds with greater understanding and you’ll begin to recognize Him as the I AM of the Old Testament.
II Peter 1:3-4 says, “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: 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.”
Through the knowledge of Christ, we also receive “all things that pertain unto life and godliness” and “exceeding great and precious promises” that we might be partakers of His divine nature.
II Peter 1:2 says, “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord.”
So it’s crucial that our knowledge of Christ be not barren, nor unfruitful.