EXPLORE THE TEXT
Believers are to devote themselves to holy living as they await Christ’s return.
11 Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way,
it is clear what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and godliness
12 as you wait for the day of God and hasten its coming.
Because of that day, the heavens will be dissolved with fire and the elements will melt with heat.
13 But based on his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth,
where righteousness dwells.
14 Therefore, dear friends, while you wait for these things,
make every effort to be found without spot or blemish in his sight,
at peace.
The Greek word (lou) suggests
something that is breaking apart or falling apart at the seams.
It is being untied or unraveled and is useless.
A similar term was used in John 11 when Jesus commanded that Lazarus’s graveclothes be removed.
Peter had used the word in verse 10
to illustrate the melting of elements that would take place on the day of the Lord.
Here, he used it to set the stage for a statement of practical living.
Since believers knew the end was coming and the earth would be dissolved,
they needed to consider how Jesus’s return should affect their lives in the here and now.
He would return to it again to define the total devastation of creation in verse 12.
Create a two-by-two chart on the board.
columns: Followers of God and Followers of false teachers.
rows: Daily living and Devotion.
contrast how each was embodied and record responses in the boxes.
(Followers of God:
holy living; devotion to God)
(Followers of false teachers:
fleshly/sensual living; devotion to the world)
Talk about what Peter meant when he said that living well would hasten the second coming.
identify how this pursuit of holiness fits into our everyday lives as Christ followers.
The truth of His return should determine what kind of people we are and how we should live our lives.
Knowledge of the world’s imminent end should inspire Christians to pursue holy conduct and godliness with a passion.
God has held back nothing His children need to live accordingly.
First, Peter taught that there is a sense in which, in waiting, believers hasten (speudontos) the return of Jesus.
There is a relationship between our prayerful waiting and the timing of Jesus’s return.
Second, we wait not only for the destruction of this earth, but for the arrival of the new one where righteousness dwells.
There is salvation in Jesus’s return, as well as judgment.
Finally, our waiting makes room for energy and effort to go toward the pursuit of holiness:
to be found without spot or blemish.
Of course, we cannot muster enough righteousness to reach this on our own. We can only do it
as we rely on the righteousness of Jesus working through us and changing us.
If we walk in holiness as we wait for Jesus’s return, we will have peace.
The peace that believers have is not an emotional tranquility or absence of outside pressure.
It is the peace of knowing that they have been reconciled with God (Rom. 5:1)
and that He is in control of their destiny.
Peter ended his letter with both a warning about those who misrepresent the Scriptures and encouragement for believers to grow in their faith.