Abundant grace and peace

2 Peter 1

1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:

2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

These are short verses from Second Peter this morning but so important I wanted to stop and think on these today. It's comforting to know that we have grace and peace in abundance through the knowledge we have about God and Jesus who is our Lord. That's why it's important for us to continue to study. It's in the constant seeking that we become more and more what God would have us be.

Just like our relationships here on this earth are dependent on nurture, so is our relationship with God. As a Baptist, I believe that once you are saved, you are always SAVED. Some say that this belief gives Baptists license to sin without consequences. Not true. What I believe is that if you are truly saved you will not want to sin and you will not want to be or go anywhere else except walk with Jesus.

As Christians we are not exempt from sin, but when we do sin, we have that tug at our hearts that compels us to ask for forgiveness. Those that are not truly saved don't have this tug. That's what I believe. Another thing to understand is that Jesus, as our Shepherd, is always taking care of us and if we stray, is always calling and looking for us. That's another way we know we are His. Once you are saved you always hear His voice. Sometimes some might try to ignore His voice, but He will always call. That's the once saved always saved call, or you could put it another way and say once His always His.