GRACE, FRUITS AND WORSHIP
By Bishop Mike Okonkwo
Saturday 29th March 2025
“But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, band hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.” (2 Peter 1:9 KJV)
The Bible did not say that we are going to be purged of our sins, but that we have already been purged. You must know and accept this, in order for you to manifest the fruits of righteousness. The reason why believers in Christ lack fruits is that they have forgotten that God has purged them of their sins. You are lacking the fruits of righteousness in your life because it is either you have refused to accept that your sins have been forgiven, or you have refused to accept that there is no condemnation for you or you have forgotten it all together. As a result, fruits cannot manifest.
In the book of Psalms 130:4 (KJV), it says, “But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.” The Bible did not say God is feared because He judges, He is feared because He forgives. First, He gave you forgiveness, and as a result, you have reverential fear for Him. This fear is not the fear of the devil or the fear of God. The fear in this scripture is talking about worship.
Jesus described what this fear means when He during his temptation in Matthew 4. He quoted from Deuteronomy where the bible says “Thou shall fear the Lord thy God.” So one can say, the worship of God is the fear of God.
When you realize that God forgave you when you deserved to be judged, condemned and punished, you will worship Him. You will love and appreciate Him. When you truly appreciate the Grace of God upon your life and see how much He forgave you, worship will become a lifestyle.
He went into the miry clay to bring you out. His love brought you out of the mess. The fact that He loved you first should make you to desire to love Him back. Not only that, it should also make you want to live your entire life to please Him.
Further Reading: 2 Peter 1:2-9
Daily Bible Reading: Morning- Judges 4-6; Evening- Luke 4:31-44