A bit of theology on salvation. We are saved. It is done. We cannot add to it nor subtract from it.
It is only through Christ that we escape from the sinful desire of this world.
So, why then, should we improve? Why don’t we just sit and listen to our gut? Why do we get up, go to the gym, work, remain faithful to our vows, and do our duty? Why do we aim to be more virtuous and more wise?
Because it will glorify God. That should be enough of a reason.
But there is a second reason: this world is fallen.
Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
(2 Peter 1:1-11 ESV)
The trouble is that if you do not have self-discipline and seek the virtues you forget what truth is. You forget what virtue is. You forget what beauty is. You are shut off from the muse, you lose sensitivity, and you abrade any empathy you had away. The noble pagans knew this: admittedly the foolish petunias denigrate them as “dead white males”, not considering that half of them were not white, and some were female.
Because Confucius counts as a noble pagan, as does Lao Tse, or the Buddha: The fact I need to remind people of Hildegarde of Bingen or the other female doctors of the church is a sign that this generation, raised in a hothouse, checking their privilege and monitoring for micro-aggressions, are not educated.
Be not them, not like them. They are near-sighted in the spirit: though their glasses may correct their vision.
Instead, it is a time for discipline: get fit, or as fit as you can while injured (this blogger is spending too much time at physiotherapists at present), get into the word and prayer, avoid those foods that will make you gluttonous, and pray for wisdom while today you practice virtue. For we are going to be under attack: the attack is spiritual and uses this secular politically correct world as a proxy.
But know this, if you do not practice the disciplines now, you will be unprepared when the attack comes.