Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish and at peace. 15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. 17 You, therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 18 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 3:11-18
All the universe will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn. That is the result of the real global warming, not this current minor warming that many claim is the fault of human activity. Call me skeptical. What Peter is writing about is the final judgment on this universe that is polluted by human sin, so this global warming is caused by humans but brought about by a righteous Judge. What follows is the New Heaven and New Earth in which righteousness dwells. No more broken world that we are constantly trying to fix.
What we believe determines how we behave. If we believe this passage written by Peter, we will live differently than if we don’t believe it. I am joyously looking forward to the future. This New Heaven and New Earth is part of what the Father has promised throughout human history. Its reality is getting closer and closer in time. It may not arrive before I am laid in the ground to wait for the resurrection, but it is coming and is closer than yesterday.
The juxtaposition of these two scenes of the dissolving of this cosmos and the introduction of the new cosmos displays the righteous judgment of God. The reality of this picture should have a powerful impact on our behavior.
Be diligent
Peter gives us two exhortations: be without spot or blemish and be at peace. Spot and blemish are synonymous metaphors for a pure and sinless life. Sinless perfection is not what Peter has in mind. Other Scripture clarifies that sinless perfection is not a possibility in this life. What he does have in mind is a life of essential holiness. We are all being changed from glory to glory toward transformation into the image of Jesus. (2 Corinthians 3:18) The glory of what lies before us motivates us to leave all sin behind.
Along with our pursuit of holiness, Peter exhorts us to peace. There are two ways to understand the peace Peter writes about. One is the inner peace that is the product of a right relationship with God. I believe this other understanding makes more sense in the context. It refers to peace with my brothers and sisters in Christ. We are so far from this. At least we are in America. Over the past decade or so, a whole class of “ministries” has developed who thrive on criticizing their fellow believers. Some call them “heretic hunters.” I am committed to sound teaching and agree with calling out errors and false teaching. However, the term “heretic” should be reserved for those who teach doctrine that offends the core essentials of the Christian faith, like those found in the creeds of the early church, the Nicene Creed, the Anathanasian Creed, the Apostles Creed, and the Chalacedonian Creed.
I believe that many of these so-called discernment ministries are sinning in the delivery of what they mean to be helpful. It is possible to sin while attempting to do a good thing by doing it in a sinful manner. Trying to bring correction to false teaching while manifesting a bitter and angry spirit ourselves is sinful. (James 3:17-18) One who behaves this way is not “without spot or blemish.” And they are not pursuing peace between the brethren. I don’t believe it is correct to pronounce someone a heretic when the disagreement is around secondary or tertiary matters.
Count patience as salvation
It is appropriate to be anxious for the coming of the end of the age and the entry of the New Heaven and New Earth. We would like to hasten that day. Why does God wait around and not deliver the fullness of the new creation right away?
Peter counsels us to be patient. God is waiting to allow for the salvation of more of us sinners. He admits that this may be hard for us to understand. He compares this dilemma to the writings of Paul, which contain things hard to understand. Grasping these mysterious truths takes work. It takes study and prayer. It takes submitting to the teaching of gifted men and studying their work in good commentaries and other enlightening books. It is short-sighted to assume that all I need is Me, my Bible, and the Holy Spirit. This position fails to recognize something your Bible teaches that he has given teachers for our upbuilding. So, add at least one component: Me, my Bible, the Holy Spirit, and the teachers that Jesus has given to us. (Eph. 4:11-13) The creeds I mentioned earlier in this article are the distilled teachings of many gifted teachers in the early church. We should definitely consult these creeds.
Careful! The ignorant and unstable can and often do twist the Scriptures to their own destruction. Paul gives us good advice regarding prophecy that applies to teaching as well. “Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.” (1 Thessalonians 5:20-21) The same thing is true of another spiritual gift, the gift of teaching. Don’t just swallow what is taught but measure it against what you know from other Scriptures and against teaching that the church has accepted for centuries as orthodox.
Take care
Some teachers teach false doctrine. We have to take advantage of a couple of thousand years during which the church has examined all kinds of false teachings and addressed those false teachings in the creeds that multiple godly teachers developed. We are fools if we don’t take advantage of the work of other gifted men who addressed these problems without the background of the creeds.
False doctrine will destabilize us. Peter exhorts us to take care of listening to these lawless people who teach error and end up losing our own stability. If you are not familiar with the creeds that established the doctrine of the church, I encourage you to go to this page that contains the four early creeds that are almost universally accepted as the declaration of orthodoxy. Take time to study them. Some of the language is difficult to understand, so google it.
Grow in grace
Peter’s final encouragement is that we grow in grace and the knowledge of Jesus. Grow means that we aren’t done yet. Grace is the basis of our growth. Elsewhere, the Scripture says it is good for your hearts to be strengthened in grace. (2 Timothy 2:1) I contend that growth is only possible when we grasp the grace of God and get away from a performance standard to please God.
To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
“The day” is an important phrase in the Bible. It comes in various forms but refers to the same thing. It is the day of the Lord, that day, the day of eternity, and the day of God, etc. These usages of the day all refer to what Peter is referencing: the dissolving of this age and entry into the new creation, the New Heaven and New Earth. It is the climax of this age. Some call it the end of the world, and I guess it is for those who do not know the Lord and follow Jesus because they will not enter the new creation.
