Imagine a person imprisoned for a crime. They know their guilt and that their imprisonment is just. But then somebody sets them free by making things right in ways that they could never have hoped to do on their own. This person makes arrangements for the prisoner to leave their cell and lead a happy and productive life outside.
How tragic would it be if the very next day they forgot that they had been freed and continued to live their life in prison as if nothing had changed?
In the verses leading up to this passage (see 2 Peter 1:4-8) Peter encourages us to exercise godly virtues such as diligence, temperance, patience, and kindness. He then promises that if we will do so, we will not be "unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." We are warned however that if we don't strive to develop these attributes, we can forget the light and knowledge we once possessed, reverting to living life as we hadn't been forgiven and saved from former sins.
As dire a warning as this is, it can also give one hope, for the inverse is also true. If we want to increase our knowledge and understanding of our Savior and our confidence in His ability to free us from the ills of this world as well as the negative effects of our misdeeds, we can do so by being more charitable, more patient, and more loving to those around us. For by doing these things we will be more closely modeling our life after Christ's perfect example.
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