2 Peter 3:14-16
Therefore, dear friends, since you are waiting for these things, strive to be found at peace, without spot or blemish, when you come into his presence. And regard the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as also our dear brother Paul wrote to you, according to the wisdom given to him, speaking of these things in all his letters. Some things in these letters are hard to understand, things the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they also do to the rest of the scriptures.
You cannot be at peace with God without receiving His grace. Forgiveness is offered to us, but we can only receive that forgiveness when we realize that we are in desperate need of it. Our “effort”, is to receive the grace of God. It is by grace through faith in Christ Jesus that we are saved, and it is through grace that the Holy Spirit makes His home with us, and that we become obedient to Him in confessing the gospel. You do not need to, and in truth cannot, prove yourself worthy of God’s gift of salvation. Jesus atoned for your sins. We have but to receive that gift and surrender to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.