During Advent, we also think about Christ’s return. In 2 Peter 3, Peter warns us to be on guard while we’re waiting. What does that involve?
Scripture:
2 Peter, chapters 1-3; John, chapter 1
2 Peter 3:14-18 (CEB):
Therefore, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found by him in peace – pure and faultless. Consider the patience of our Lord to be salvation, just as our dear friend and brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given to him, speaking of these things in all his letters. Some of his remarks are hard to understand, and people who are ignorant and whose faith is weak twist them to their own destruction, just as they do the other scriptures.
Therefore, dear friends, since you have been warned in advance, be on guard that you aren’t led off course into the error of sinful people, and lose your own safe position. Instead, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. To him belongs glory now and forever. Amen.
Observations: “While You Are Waiting”
We spend a lot of time waiting. Sometimes we wait for other people. We also wait for events to transpire. Often, we wait for “the right time” to act. This sort of waiting often involves situations that can change our lives in one direction or another. But we also spend time waiting in little ways every day – waiting for
- A stoplight to change
- Someone to answer our call
- Replies to a text
- Answers to our questions
- And hundreds of other situations to develop, throughout our lives
In this passage – Peter’s conclusion to his second letter – Peter says, “While you are waiting for these things to happen.” What things? The first part of chapter 3 tells us about the coming day of Christ’s return – “the day of the Lord.” “On that day the heavens will pass away with a dreadful noise, the elements will be consumed by fire, and the earth and all the works done on it will be exposed” (2 Peter 3:10). Someday, Jesus will return; as we saw yesterday in 1 Peter 1:13-21 (“Be Holy in Every Aspect of Your Lives”), God calls us to be holy, because He will judge all people according to their actions.
“Make Every Effort to Be Found in Peace”
Instead of calling us to holiness (again), however, Peter says that while we are waiting for that day, we should make every effort to be found by him in peace. Of course, the Biblical concept of peace is far more than just an absence of conflict. The H ebrew word shalom includes the idea of wholeness, being in a right relationship with God and with each other.
So how do we do that? Peter says that to be in peace means to be pure and faultless. It’s important to realize that we cannot do those things on our own. True purification comes from the work of the Holy Spirit. God declares us to be faultless through His forgiveness of our sins (1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” [NASB, emphasis added]).Through God’s cleansing, we are made pure and faultless. Our response is to live in harmony with Him and each other, so that we continue to be pure and faultless.
“Be on Guard”
Peter closes this passage by challenging us to be on guard so that you aren’t led off course into the error of sinful people, and lose your own safe position. There’s a lot of meat in that verse! First, we need to be on guard; we cannot just “go with the flow” of society or culture – or even others who profess faith but do not live according to the example of Jesus. We also need to be on guard against false teachers; Scripture warns us that in the last days there will be many.
“Being on guard” means more than avoiding false teaching, however; it also includes listening to true teaching. Too many people seem to think that they don’t need to listen to spiritual teachers. But why would Jesus give teachers to the Church (Ephesians 4:11-12) if we didn’t need them? If we don’t listen to sound teaching, we may end up like those that Peter describes in verse 16: people who are ignorant and whose faith is weak twist [Paul’s writings] to their own destruction, just as they do the other scriptures. God has given us teachers and His Holy Spirit to lead us in truth. Be on guard!
Application: “While You Are Waiting, Be on Guard”
Peter identifies the danger of false teaching – whether from others or our own ignorance: so that you aren’t led off course into the error of sinful people, and lose your own safe position. Why would Peter warn us against this if it were not possible for us to lose our safe position? I believe God wants us to understand that He calls us to be holy because that is the best way to live, but also because it will help us to stay on course.
Years ago in seminary, a professor (from a different “stream” of Christian theology that I am) said to me, “You Wesleyans who think that you can fall from grace; who do you think is holding you up?” My response was, “Who ever said anything about ‘falling’? God’s not going to drop me – but I can still jump.” That’s why it’s important to be on guard. “In the last days scoffers will come, jeering, living by their own cravings, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of his coming?’” (2 Peter 3:3-4). Instead, God calls us to be on guard…while we are waiting for these things to happen.
Prayer:
Father, thank You for reminding us that it is important for us to be on guard. We know that we are living in the “last days”; the world has been ever since Jesus came the first time. Someday, He is coming again; while we are waiting, help us to be on guard and to live according to Your word. Amen.
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