Brothers and sisters often suffer from one addiction or another. They sincerely try to get rid of the things that are destroying their lives and the lives of their loved ones, but they often fail. Sometimes willpower is enough to hold out for a week or even several months, but then the person breaks down again, and it all starts over. They go to pastors and leaders, who pray for them, and it seems to help for a while, but then it happens again. How can a brother or sister break this vicious circle and come out of it into freedom?

Knowing the Truth

Jesus once said to His disciples: “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (Jhn.8:32) These are wonderful words, of course, but it isn’t clear what truth we need to know in order to be set free. From preachers you can hear all kinds of methods of fasting and prayer, of strengthening your faith or renewing your mind and so on, but it all sounds rather complicated, and Jesus Christ is rarely mentioned in such methods. It all comes down to what a person needs to do in a given situation to resolve it. Even faith, which has nothing to do with human works, can turn into one more work. Yes, our faith is a work, but not ours — God’s. (Jhn.6:29)

As I was rereading the verse “and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”, the Lord drew my attention to the word “and” at the beginning of this verse. That is, Jesus first said something, and then added: “and you shall know the truth.” In other words, knowing the truth is not a personal effort or achievement, but the result or fruit of something else. Let’s read the previous verse:

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
–John 8:31

Notice that Jesus said these words to people who believed in Him. If you believe in Jesus and you need freedom from any problem or addiction, these words of Jesus are addressed to you: “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.”

“There you are, Brother Paul, we need to abide in His word, and you say we don’t need to do anything,” someone will point out. You’re right, brother, but what does abiding in His word mean to you? If you think it means praying endlessly or reading the Bible day and night, it again comes down to our works. But a believer, as the apostle Paul wrote, lives not in works but in faith, and faith, it is written, is not of works, lest anyone should boast. (Eph.2:9) Otherwise it turns out that you prayed for 3 weeks from morning till night, then got some temporary relief — and what will you testify about your deliverance? Of course you will say: “I prayed for three weeks and God saved me! Glory to God!” Whom will your listeners give the glory to? To you, of course, my dear! After all, you are so diligent and hard-working that you activated God Himself by your efforts! Perhaps I’m exaggerating a little, but the fact remains that if a person makes some personal effort, he will always squeeze his own part into God’s work. No, my dear — Jesus is Lord and Saviour, not me plus Jesus. And our faith is a gift of God and a fruit of the Holy Spirit, and gifts are given and fruit is produced by God Himself, without any effort on the part of the drowning man. (The Good Shepherd found the lost sheep and laid it on His shoulders; it did not jump up there itself.)

So how do we abide in His word in order to know the truth? Notice that His word is singular, that is, we need to abide in just one single word. That makes it easier straight away, doesn’t it? The word abide in Greek is meno (G3306), and it literally means to remain, to wait, to await. And His word, in which we need to remain, is the Word that was in the beginning, that was with God, that was God, and that then became flesh. This Word is our beloved Lord Jesus Christ Himself, in whom God has placed us out of His great love, and now He tells us: “If you remain in Christ, if you don’t climb out of the ark while the waves of the flood are raging, if you don’t open the door anointed with the blood of the lamb to the destroyer, you will truly be His disciples, and you will know the truth.”

Unfortunately, the enemy deceived the Galatians, and they climbed out of the safe place and began to live by the works of the law. Jesus redeemed us from the curses of the law by becoming a curse on the cross in our place, so that we might live in the blessings of Abraham. But if a believer relies on his own works and his own efforts to be diligent and decent, he won’t get far that way. Everyone will last only as long as his own flesh is strong, but you can never overcome the lusts of the flesh with the flesh. Only the Spirit of God can produce the fruit we need.

God’s Gifts

as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
–2 Peter 1:3

Having read this verse, I want to draw your attention to the fact that God has already given us everything we need for life and godliness. Daddy God has given us the Kingdom of God, which is already within us, and we have no need to ask or beg Him for anything. Everything we need for life is already inside us in the form of Daddy’s gifts. All that remains is to look into the box and see what is inside. I don’t think this needs any special skills or effort. Watch children and how hard they “try” when they open their presents at Christmas or New Year. In this case, opening the presents and finding out what is in them is nothing other than the knowledge of Him who called us.

In the next verse Peter continues: “by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (2 Pet.1:4) What wonderful words, although at first glance they look too complicated and hard to understand. Oh, how our heavenly Daddy loves to give gifts! But this is not about ordinary gifts or promises — it is about exceedingly great and precious ones. These words have such a pleasant smell, like freshly baked bread when you are hungry. It even makes my head spin a little.

So these exceedingly great and precious gifts were given to us through His glory and virtue. The Greek word for virtue here is arete (G703), which means excellence, excellent qualities. In other words, we have received exceedingly great and precious gifts thanks to the glory and excellence of Jesus Christ. Wow! These words just blow me away. That is, my house is packed with Daddy’s very best gifts in the whole universe only because Jesus is so beautiful, perfect and without a speck of blemish. Once more, to chew this delicious food well and swallow it: “Daddy has filled my house to overflowing with His exceedingly great gifts because Jesus has excellent qualities.” What great grace — words simply cannot describe it!

That was only about how we received these gifts, and already there is so much delight! But now let’s open them with childlike ease and look inside. And there it is written that thanks to God’s gifts, or promises (if someone wants to be closer to the original), we have become partakers of the divine nature — or, to put it in modern, understandable words, we have become like God Himself. Whoa! Don’t joke like that, Paul. But I’m not joking: the apostle Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, says that we are now like God Himself, or that we are now as He is. And what is He like? Look at Jesus and come to know His excellence! As He is — perfect, beautiful and without blemish — so are we. (1 Jhn.4:17)

Precious brother, you think of yourself in a way you ought not to. You think you have this addiction and you are sinful, but God says that if Christ lives in you, you are now like Him, like a twin. And that is exactly how, according to the Word of God, the Lord has saved you from the corruption that is in the world through lust. And if you do not show the excellent qualities of the One in whose image you were created, it is only because you have become blind and have forgotten that you were cleansed from your old sins.

Forgiveness of Sins

So, having let us know that we have now become like God in everything, the apostle Peter continues: “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.” (2 Pet.1:5-7) Someone may say: “That’s exactly what I lack — this self-control, when I break down and do something shameful.” Well, my friend, self-control is not the result of your efforts or of some kind of training, but the result of this: “For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Pet.1:8) All these wonderful qualities are the fruit of knowing Jesus Christ — His excellent qualities, which are now ours too, and His perfect work on the cross, through which He made us like Him! You received the revelation that Jesus is obedient to the Father, and thanks to that you are now obedient too, and you gradually begin to show this obedience — or rather, it is not you who shows it, but the grace of God that is with you.

“But what if I don’t show them?” someone may ask. The apostle Peter answers this question right away: “For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.” (2 Pet.1:9) What happens when a brother forgets that Jesus paid for every single one of his sins on the cross, and paid not only for his sins but also for the sins of the whole world? (1 Jhn.2:2) Such a brother loses his spiritual sight and stops showing the excellence of Jesus Christ that the heavenly Father has so generously given him.

So, precious brother or sister, today the Spirit of God reminds you that Jesus paid with His holy blood for all your sins, iniquities, mistakes and shameful deeds, without exception. This is how the Spirit of God testifies: “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” (Heb.10:17) Yes, yes, Daddy God does not remember or know anything bad about you, so when you ask Him to forgive you for something you have done, He has no idea what you’re talking about. I didn’t make this up — this is what the Holy Spirit testifies, and who am I to disagree with Him?

Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;
–2 Peter 1:10

Perhaps the word diligent resonates in our mind as a call to some religious works, but that is not what this is about. The Greek word translated as be diligent is spoudazo (G4704), which literally means to hurry, to make haste. Zacchaeus climbed a sycamore tree to find out who Jesus was, and Jesus, passing by, said to him: “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” (Luk.19:5) The fig tree [sycamore-fig] is a type of the law, so while living by the works of the law Zacchaeus did shameful things — he stole and cheated. But when the Lord called him to come down to Him quickly — for God resists the proud and those who exalt themselves, but gives grace to the humble — Zacchaeus, set free from the law, received Jesus into his house and found grace. And what was the result? Zacchaeus began to add to his faith virtue: “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor“, and to virtue knowledge: “and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.” (Luk.19:8)

Once he came down from the tree of the law, Zacchaeus’s calling became sure, and he gained a foundation. His foundation was no longer his own knowledge of good and evil, but Jesus Christ. And when Jesus Christ is our foundation, we will never stumble. Precious brother or sister, if your righteousness or obedience depends on your own efforts and good behaviour, you will soon stumble, but if Jesus Christ is your righteousness, you will never stumble! Amen!

“For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth.” (2 Pet.1:12) You see, even if we know and are established in the fact that our sins are forgiven, we still need reminding, because living in this world, the cares of life distract us from the truth and we begin to forget who we are in Christ Jesus. But we have the Spirit of God, our Comforter, who reminds us that Jesus has already paid for all our sins with His blood. He redeemed us from all curses, including generational ones. Now only the blessings of Abraham, which Daddy has given us in Christ Jesus, are to show in our life. Even if you don’t see quick results, don’t despair. Look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Come to know His excellence and His beautiful qualities as your own, and through this knowledge the Spirit of God will produce virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and, most important of all, love, which is the bond of perfection!