by Doy Moyer<\/p>\n
At the end of Peter’s second epistle, he writes that the Lord is returning in judgment (II Peter 3). While many mocked this as they followed their own sinful desires, they overlooked the fact that God always keeps His word and has judged the world before in the flood. Yet God’s timing is not the same as man’s, for with God, “one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day<\/em>” (II Peter 3:8 ). Even so, the Lord is not slow about keeping His promises the way we count slowness, but is longsuffering, “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance<\/em>” (II Peter 3:9). The Day of the Lord will come, the heavens and earth will pass away, and the new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells will be a reality (II Peter 3:10-13). Embedded within these promises is a question that needs answering: “Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God…?<\/em>“<\/p>\n What sort of people ought we to be? There are some matters over which we have no control. We do not control God’s timing, His judgments, or details about what happens when the Lord returns. We do, however, control our response to truth. God has given His word, and it will happen. Knowing this, the question is put forth: what sort of people ought we to be? How should we live in view of the return of Jesus Christ?<\/p>\n While we can find answers to this question throughout Scripture, let’s just focus on the context of II Peter. What does he have to say about the kind of people we ought to be? The full answer requires a complete reading of the book (which I recommend), but I want to think about three primary areas on which Peter lands as it concerns how God’s people are to behave in light of the coming of the Lord.<\/p>\n First, Peter shows that we ought to be people growing in character. We are to have “lives of holiness and godliness<\/em>.” In chapter one, Peter writes that God’s people have been called to God’s glory and excellence (II Peter 1:3). We have escaped the corruption of the world because of sinful desire desires (II Peter 1:4). Consequently, we are to “make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love<\/em>” (II Peter 1:5-7). These are not independent of one another but grow in harmony (much like the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-24). We must diligently add these to our faith so we do not stumble (II Peter 1:9-11). This indicates that faithfulness, holiness, and godliness result from diligence in growing and increasing these qualities.<\/p>\n Second, Peters shows that we ought to be people with an unwavering commitment to truth. In chapter two, Peter warns of false prophets and teachers who would “secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction<\/em>” (II Peter 2:1). Many would follow their destruction path as the “way of truth<\/em>” is blasphemed. No one is immune to this influence, and even angels fell to the delusions of false words as they came to despise authority. The point is that God’s people must be vigilant in their stand for truth, understanding that there are many ways to go astray and that “ignorant and unstable<\/em>” teachers twist the Scriptures to their own destruction (II Peter 3:16-17). Christians are dedicated to reality, and truth corresponds to what is real. If we give up our commitment to truth, we become slaves of corruption and error.<\/p>\n Third, Peter shows that we ought to be the sort of people looking for the Lord’s return. This brings us full circle back to the text in which Peter asks the question. Scripture is full of examples of God judging the unrepentant. All judgments point us to a final judgment, the proof of which is found in the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Acts 17:30-31). Peter says we are to be “waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God<\/em>” (II Peter 3:12). Other passages concur with this (e.g., Titus 2:11-14; II Thessalonians 4:13-18). Because we trust God’s promise and await His Day, we are dedicated to lives reflecting God’s glory and excellence.<\/p>\n In the conclusion of the epistle, Peter reminds us<\/p>\n May God help us be the people we are called to be as we await the Day of God’s visitation.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Doy Moyer At the end of Peter’s second epistle, he writes that the Lord is returning in judgment (II Peter 3). While many mocked this as they followed their own sinful desires, they overlooked the fact that God always keeps His word and has judged the world before in the flood. Yet God’s timing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1327,295,1139,410,238],"class_list":["post-80130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-godliness","tag-holiness","tag-ii-peter","tag-judgment","tag-righteousness"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":29686,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-ii-peter-38-mean-gods-days-are-different-from-peoples-days\/","url_meta":{"origin":80130,"position":0},"title":"Does II Peter 3:8 mean God’s days are different from people’s days?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 23, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: \"But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day\"\u00a0(II Peter 3:8). I don't understand this verse? Didn't you say that God's days and people's days weren't different? Answer: \"Knowing this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18093,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/will-the-earth-be-destroyed\/","url_meta":{"origin":80130,"position":1},"title":"Will the earth be destroyed?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 9, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Will the earth be destroyed? Answer: \"Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":82739,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/ii-peter-3-and-new-creation-theology\/","url_meta":{"origin":80130,"position":2},"title":"II Peter 3 and New Creation Theology","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 1, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Chris Reeves via Unmasking Sophistry, Vol. 5, No. 1, January-March 2025 Peter's words in II Peter 3 are being used today to teach that the righteous will come back after the judgment day and live on a renovated earth for all eternity. Jehovah's Witnesses have used II Peter 3\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10960,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-extraterrestrials-exist\/","url_meta":{"origin":80130,"position":3},"title":"Do extraterrestrials exist?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 6, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do aliens or extraterrestrials exist? If they do exist, then how do we respond biblically? I've heard some Christians state that they are fallen angels and that Christ has spoken of things happening from heaven (universe) in Luke 21:11, to provide support for any existence of aliens. But then\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42197,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/gods-timing\/","url_meta":{"origin":80130,"position":4},"title":"God’s Timing","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton \"But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day\" (II\u00a0Peter 3:8). \"Where is the promise of His coming?\" (II Peter 3:4) is the question Peter has been addressing. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24113,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-think-god-would-judge-us-by-our-lives\/","url_meta":{"origin":80130,"position":5},"title":"Do you think God would judge us by our lives?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 21, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: did you really think that god would go by our days? have you takin a look at what was made? Read the bible again if you wan to go by that cause he says no one will life past a day seems to me not on even the oldest\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80130\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n