It’s right there in 2 Peter 1:5-10:
“In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.
So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away.”
We live in a culture that’s very skeptical when it comes to guarantees. So when the Bible says we will never fall away, you may wonder, “Really? Can you truly promise that?”
How could Peter honestly make that claim?
To answer that question, we have to go back to John 6.
Scripture says Jesus was preaching to the multitudes that day, and he started to touch on some pretty serious topics. At that point, many of his disciples turned away and deserted him, unable to accept the hard truths. Peter had a front row seat to the moment.
He recognizes that falling away is a whole lot easier than we first think.
In fact, Peter himself denied Jesus, three times! It’s such a big moment, it’s recorded in all four gospels.
Hebrews 2:1 says, “So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it.”
We all know someone—or several people—who have drifted from their faith. Even people you never would have guessed would. And not one of us is immune to the pressures that push and pull us away from a close relationship with God.
For most people, falling away doesn’t happen all of a sudden. It’s a gradual drifting over time. The Bible says Satan goes around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He has the long game in mind, waiting for just the right moment to distract you and start that slow drift.
First, we have to stop focusing on what we can get away with and see what we should get away from. Following Christ is about leaving the old life behind and embracing the new life He has for us.
In 1 Peter 2:1, Peter gives this instruction: “So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech.”
He tells us, plain as day, to be done with all evil, not just what we deem to be harmful, hurtful, or destructive, but all evil behavior.
Paul adds onto Peter’s instruction in Galatians 5:19-21, saying the sinful nature is marked by behaviors like sexual immorality, lustful pleasures, hostility, fighting, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfishness, envy, and drunkenness.
Paul and Peter are clear, to keep ourselves from drifting away, we have to get away from destructive behaviors like these because they won’t get rid of themselves.
As 1 Peter 1:14-16 says, “So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.””
Everywhere you read in the Bible, you see people doing two things: Having a life-changing transformation, or walking away angry. We have the same choice.
God is calling each of us to live in the incredible story He has for us, and that starts with living a life of holiness. It requires us separating from sin, removing the evil behaviors in our lives, and cleaning up the areas we’ve been avoiding.
1 Corinthians 6:20 says you were bought at a high price, so stop living your life in a cheap way. Some of us have to take a spiritual hatchet to our lives to cut away the evil things and sinful behaviors that are holding you back, so you can live fully in the purpose you were bought for.
It all begins with getting close to Jesus, so he can transform the way we think, which changes the way we act.
If you’re getting closer and closer to Jesus, you’re getting further and further away from sin and the way you used to live. Living holy never leaves you worse off, it only makes you better.
If never falling away or drifting from God is something you want to experience, you have to be over-the-top, with everything-you’ve-got in love with Jesus.