The Science Of Addition

1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: 2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 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. 9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. 10 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, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 12 So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. (NIV)

1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. 10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: 11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 12 Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. (KJV)

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Illustration: Robby Zaccarius, Christian apologist and founder of the radio show Let My People Think, relates a story of his days in college in England. It is the story told every semester by a professor of philosophy to his class of first-year students. It goes something like this.

One day a man woke convinced that he must be dead. He turned to his wife and told her of his fears. She grumbled something under her breathe and rolled over to go back to sleep. Later that morning he again approached his wife with the news that believed he was dead. This time she replied that she understood and that he needed to go off to work and make a living.

This went on for weeks. His wife and children were simply unable to convince him that he was alive. Now fear began to grip this man’s wife and she sought the help of the medical field. He went to a series of psychologists and psychiatrists with no luck in convincing the man he was not dead. With little else they could do they sent the man to his family doctor to a physical and routine check up.

This doctor experienced the same sort of block with the man. He simply refused to believe that he was not dead. Finally the physician decided the best approach was to educate the man concerning the living. He explained how the lungs breathe in fresh oxygen and exhales carbon dioxide. The heart pumps the blood throughout the body to provide fresh oxygen to the cells. He explained that this flow of blood was basic to the human body and without a person would be dead. He went further into forensic medicine and explained that doctors can determine whether a person was cut before or after death by whether the corpse shows signs of bleeding. In short, living people bleed. Dead people cannot and do not bleed!