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Why We Need Fellowship In Our Quests


For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things. (II Peter 1:5-15) 
            There are some who believe that it is possible to lose one's salvation. I'm not one of them, but I confess there are many times when I have wondered. Many times when I've been absolutely sure that God was disappointed with me. Many times when I've been fairly certain that my Christianity is a joke. (This is not to say that Christianity is a joke, but that my profession thereof is sorry enough to make someone laugh.) 
           This is one of the reasons we need other Christians, people who can reassure us that we are making progress with regard to faith, goodness....and love. It's why we need other Christians to point out when we aren't making progress. We need other Christians to show us what all those things look like. On our own, we tend to be nearsighted or blind, thinking that we are doing well, or badly, when we are not.
            This is also why we need to review the basics regularly. Scripture constantly returns to the basics. Sometimes, that seems demoralizing. We go through something and think we have it nailed, then find ourselves back to square one. Something that helps me with this is classic fantasy stories like The Lord of the Rings. The character leaves home, experiences dangers, overcomes incredible odds and returns home, only to discover that home isn't home any more, and they aren't who they were when they were last there. It may take a long time to notice the more subtle changes, which takes us back to the beginning of the last paragraph and the need for other Christians to see what we can't.

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