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.
Knowledge of Christ is not a dead doctrine but a living root that bears fruit; whoever boasts of knowing Him while lacking love, patience, and other virtues has never truly learned His teaching. Progress in these gifts must be continual, for we remain far from the goal and ought always to advance.
AI summary
You have obtained precious faith already, yet you must not rest there as if perfection were reached. Without all diligence you gain no ground in holiness; the slothful make nothing of religion. Strive, or you will not enter in at the strait gate.
AI summary
Commenting on 2 Peter 1:5-11
There is a barren knowledge of Christ, mere theory without inward experience, no application to oneself, no fruit in life. But there is a spiritual knowledge where the soul trusts Him, appropriates Him, and performs His commands in love. The second kind is neither barren nor fruitless, like a tree by water.
AI summary