When Peter was writing his Second Epistle he was conscious “that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle” (1:14). He must soon put off the tent of his body, which formed a temporary home for his soul. But he was also very much looking on to the end of the world, “the day of the Lord” (3:10), when the Lord Jesus will return to bring all the events of time to a conclusion and to gather all who have ever lived in the world to the judgement seat. On that day, says Peter, “the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up”.
In spite of their Christian heritage, most people in the West today ignore or reject such teachings although they are implicated in them (or because they are implicated in them). “We must all appear”, Paul insists, “before the judgement seat of Christ” (2 Cor 5:10). But to deny the second coming of Christ is not a new error. Peter writes about scoffers in his own time who were “walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (2 Pet 3:4). They were assuming that, because the main features of the landscape had remained unchanged for many generations, they could continue, for the indefinite future, in their lusts without any fear of judgement.
But they were wrong, in every way. Things had not continued unchanged since the Creation. Peter goes on to explain: “This they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished” (vv 5,6). While accepting the fact of creation, they were happy to ignore what is recorded in Scripture about the destruction, by the Flood, of the whole human race except Noah and his family. Today, by the same kind of uniformitarian thinking, people deny not only the Flood but also the biblical account of Creation. There is the same reluctance as in Peter’s time to listen to what God has revealed, which means that people willingly remain ignorant of the second coming of Christ and all its implications for themselves. They do not consider the need to be prepared for appearing before Christ in judgement. And so they do not consider the need for forgiveness, of a new heart and of leading a godly life.
But Peter considered these things seriously. He, in common with those to whom he was originally writing, was looking for “a new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (3:13). The expression, a new heavens and a new earth, had already been used by Isaiah (65:17, 66:22) and is explained by J A Alexander to mean: “a promise or prediction of entire change in the existing state of things”. Isaiah was prophesying of “a change of dispensations” – from that of the Old Testament age to the New. Peter, on the other hand, is referring to the entire change from the existing state of things in the Christian dispensation which would result from the second coming of the Lord Jesus. He is referring to the eternal state of believers, which is characterised by perfect righteousness.
In this significant section of his Second Epistle, Peter strongly emphasises the implications for this present age of Christ’s second coming. The Apostle has just referred to the new heavens and the new earth and assumes that the focus of believers’ lives is on that eternal world. “Seeing that ye look for such things,” he tells them, “be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless” (3:14).
How could Christ find Peter in peace at the time of his death, and again at His second coming? Only because he was united to Christ by faith, having trusted in Him as the Saviour appointed by God the Father. So Simeon, after taking the child Jesus in his arms, said: “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word: for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation” (Luke 2:29,30). Simeon had not only seen the Messiah with his bodily eyes but had also now looked to Him by faith in the light of the fact that the Old Testament promises on which he had been relying for salvation, probably for many years, were now being fulfilled.
So Peter, when the time came for him to leave this world, may well have looked again by faith to his Saviour in the light of the words which he had written in his First Epistle: “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit” (3:18). Both Simeon and Peter entered eternity looking to the Saviour and, accordingly, they were found of Him in peace – reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. The blood of Jesus Christ had cleansed them from all sin; they were free from the guilt of every defiling spot and from everything worthy of blame.
Peter directs us to diligence in this matter, as earlier he writes: “Give diligence to make your calling and election sure” (2 Pet 1:10). The matter of eternal peace is so desperately important that diligent effort is called for to make sure that we are new creatures in Christ Jesus, trusting in Him alone for salvation. Thus we may know that we have been effectually called – and if we have been so called, we may safely infer that we are among God’s elect. But if we must conclude that we are still in our sins and have never trusted in Christ, let us now seek Him diligently, yet not trusting in our diligence. He still calls: “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (Is 45:22).
Although believers are in a state of peace with God, their peace of conscience may be disturbed by transgression. They must therefore be diligent, in dependence on God’s grace, to keep from sin. Peter, referring to the end of the world, exhorts: “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness” (2 Pet 3:10). Believers need to live as those whose citizenship is in heaven, whose focus is not on the things of this life and whose pleasure does not come from the entertainments of this world. They need a higher focus, that indicated by Paul: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col 3:1,2).
Preaching on these verses, C H Spurgeon exhorted: “Let us . . . quit . . . carnal enjoyments, wherein men seek to satisfy themselves with provision for the flesh. Let us not live by the sight of the eye, nor by the hearing of the ear. Let us not live by the amassing of wealth, or the gaining of fame, for these ought to be as dead things to the man who is risen in Christ. Let us not live for the world which we see, not after the fashion of men to whom this world is everything. Let us live as those that have come out of the world and who, though they are in it, are no more of it. Let us be unmindful of the country from whence we came out and leave it, as Abraham did, as though there were no such country, henceforth dwelling with our God, sojourners with Him, seeking ‘a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God’.”
At the longest we will not be spared for many years in this world; indeed our remaining days may be very few. How vitally important it is to be ready to meet our Maker! And we should recognise how important it is to live out our remaining days or years to the glory of God, seeking, as did the Apostle Paul, who was remarkably consistent in his godliness, “to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men” (Acts 24:16). Then we can expect to “be found of [Christ] in peace, without spot, and blameless”.
1Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah, Zondervan reprint, 1978, vol 2, pp 452,479.
2Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Banner of Truth reprint, 1971, vol 26, p 199.