“Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found spotless and blameless by Him, at peace.”
2 Peter 3:14
Peter has just been speaking about the coming day of the Lord and the promise of “new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.” (2 Peter 3:13) Because believers are looking forward to these things, Peter tells us how we should live while we wait.
He says we are to be diligent. We are not to become careless simply because we know Christ is returning. In fact, the opposite should be true. Knowing that we will someday stand before Him should cause us to take our walk with God seriously.
Peter tells believers to be found “spotless and blameless by Him, at peace.” This does not mean we become completely sinless in this life. It does mean we should be pursuing holiness, dealing honestly with sin, and living in such a way that we are not ashamed of how we have spent the life God has given us.
Paul gives a similar instruction in Philippians 2:15, saying believers should be “blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.”
The question is not merely, “Am I waiting for Christ?” The question is, “How am I living while I wait?”
“and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you.”
2 Peter 3:15
Some people wonder why Christ has not returned yet. Peter has already answered that question earlier in the chapter.
“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.”
2 Peter 3:9
What appears to us as delay is actually patience. Every additional day is another day in which people can repent, believe, and be saved. God’s patience should never be mistaken for indifference. It is mercy.
Peter also mentions Paul and says that Paul wrote according to the wisdom given to him. This is important because Peter is recognizing the authority of Paul’s teaching.
“as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which there are some things that are hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.”
2 Peter 3:16
Peter admits that some of Paul’s writings are hard to understand. Hard to understand does not mean impossible to understand. It means we must be careful, humble, and willing to study.
Peter gives a serious warning here. Some people twist Scripture. They do not simply misunderstand it; they distort it. They force the Bible to say what they want it to say instead of allowing Scripture to speak for itself.
That danger is just as real today.
People often begin with what they already want to believe and then search for a verse that seems to support it. That is backward. We should come to Scripture asking, “What does God say?” and be willing to change our thinking when God’s Word corrects us.
Peter says those who distort Scripture do so “to their own destruction.” That should make us careful teachers and careful students of the Bible.
“You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unscrupulous people and lose your own firm commitment.”
2 Peter 3:17
Peter tells believers to be on guard.
That means false teaching is not harmless. Error can pull people away from truth. A Christian should never assume, “That could never happen to me.”
We need to know Scripture well enough to recognize when someone is twisting it. Acts 17:11 says the Bereans were “examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” They did not accept teaching simply because someone sounded convincing. They compared what they heard with the Word of God.
That is still the safest thing we can do.
“but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”
2 Peter 3:18
Peter ends with the answer to the danger he has just described.
Grow.
Grow in grace. Grow in knowledge. Grow in your understanding of Jesus Christ.
A believer who is growing in the truth is less likely to be carried away by error. Growth does not happen by accident. It comes through Scripture, prayer, obedience, correction, and a steady walk with Christ.
Peter began this section by telling us to live carefully while we wait for Christ, and he ends by telling us to keep growing.
That is a good picture of the Christian life.
We are waiting, but we are not idle.
We are watching, but we are still working.
We are looking for Christ, but while we wait, we are to pursue holiness, guard ourselves from error, handle Scripture carefully, and continue growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.