2 Peter 3:11-16 – Godly living

In the light of the impending judgment, Peter’s concern was on how believers ought to live their lives. He called on them to aim at cultivating holy behavior and doing godly deeds. He wanted them to have a life set apart unto God and separated from sin. Furthermore, believers should look forward to Christ’s Second Coming and hasten it.

The word “hastening” in verse 12 had been taken by some to mean “earnestly desiring”. In other words, they see this as Peter asking believers to earnestly desire the return of the Lord. However, there are also some others who take this to mean that believers by praying and actively preaching and reaching the world could hasten the Lord’s return.

In the phrase, “the day of God”, Peter was probably referring to a time in the future when God’s ultimate rule will be firmly established. Hence, he said that on account of that day, the heavens will be destroyed by burning and the elements melt with intense heat. God promised that in place of the existing heavens and earth, new heavens and a new earth will be created. The latter will be where righteousness shall prevail. Peter said all these to motivate believers to live right.

In verse 14, the connective “Therefore” looks back to all that he had said. Peter was not looking back to the heavens and the new earth where righteousness dwells. He was making a reference to all that he had been talking about from verses 10-13. The intention of this admonition was clear. It was calculated at stirring believers to work diligently to be at peace with God. They should also strive to be spotless, meaning free from any form of defect, as well as being blameless i.e. giving no justifiable cause for reproach. 

In verse 15, Peter returned to re-emphasize on the Lord’s patience and salvation, which he had dealt with in verse 9. The two-fold purpose of God in His patience is implied. Christ’s delay is to give time so that all unbelievers may repent and be saved, and that all believers may go through the process of sanctification. Here, he also borrowed Paul’s teaching to add weight to what he had said. Paul also had taught on the importance of living right in the light of Christ’s Second Coming. Paul spoke and taught with the wisdom given Him by God in all of his letters. 

Here, Peter concurred that some of the things Paul had taught were also hard to understand and accept. Hence, the false teachers being uninitiated, unschooled and unstable in these truths, had twisted and distorted them. Peter said that they did not just distort these eschatological issues but all the rest of Scriptures too. All these they did to their own peril and destruction. These false teachers did not realize that in their attempts to destroy sound teachings, they were also destroying themselves.

No wonder Paul tells us to be circumspect in life, to live as wise and not as fools. We are urged to understand what the will of God is, and to redeem every opportunity because we live in evil days. Let us live to please God!