What Sort Of People Ought We To Be?

II Peter 3: 10-18

But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief, 

This term, Day of the Lord, can refer to the whole time from the Second Coming of the Lord, through His 1000-year Reign and the final destruction of this Earth and the Universe. (I Thessalonians 5:4 says that the Lord's Second Coming shouldn't take us unexpectedly like a thief, we should be expecting Him.) 

Peter is saying that this will happen suddenly.  

in which the Heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the Earth and its works will be burned up. 

Here he's talking about the end of Earth's 1000-Year Golden Age, when Satan is released and gathers the armies of the World to attack King Jesus' capital city, and fire came down from Heaven and devoured them (Revelation 20:7-9). 

That's when the Earth shall explode, the Universe will implode, and all matter will go back into the tiny, heavy dot, to explode again into a new Heaven and a new Earth (the Big Bang theory). 

Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 

Since we know that all the material goods we are gathering for ourselves will not last, we need to put less focus on these and more on what will last, people who have Eternal Life.  

Looking for and hastening the coming of the Day of God, 

We are to be anticipating His coming again, eagerly looking forward to it. And to hasten that day, by sharing with other people in our little worlds how God loves them and will do for them what He has done for us. Jesus said that when everyone alive has been given the opportunity to choose to accept or reject God's offer of Salvation, then the End will come (Matthew 24:14). 

because of which the Heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! 

This should motivate us to get to work building His kingdom! Because all our stuff will go, and we won't even miss it at all! 

But according to His promise we are looking for new Heavens and a new Earth, in which righteousness dwells. 

The New Universe with the New Earth-like planet for us to live on will be built on a whole new basis of existence, with no more curse for sin. No more winding down or wearing out. No more Second Law of Thermodynamics. Only right beings and right doings, nothing wrong or amiss, all righteousness. And all new stuff! 

Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, 

So we need to be living our lives now in the best way we can. Doing all we can to follow our Lord in His footsteps, not veering off, but earnestly endeavoring to be right and kind and compassionate with everyone, and keep ourselves from being soiled by the World around us. 

And regard the patience of our Lord as Salvation; 

Because He hasn't come yet, we still have time to witness our faith to others, so they can be saved, too. 

just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to all the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 

Peter is talking about Paul, also having written Epistles. 

As also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, 

He says Paul also wrote about how we are to be living our lives for the Lord and His Kingdom. 

in which are some things hard to understand, 

When something is unclear, we need to understand it by what is clear. 

which the untaught and unstable distort, 

Some people who don't know how to study to get out what God put in, but instead look to put into it what they want it to say.

as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, 

Peter is already, at this early date in history, considering Paul's writings as Scripture, on a par with the Old Testament; already compiling the Books of the New Testament. 

to their own destruction. 

Those who twist Scripture will suffer the consequences.  

You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, 

Peter has already talked about false teachers. Here he is reminding his readers again to not be suckered in to following these slick deceivers who are preaching error instead of God's Truth.

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

Grow up spiritually being nourished by the Truth that gives life, the graciousness of God, and knowing Jesus better as our Savior, and more intimately as our Newlywed Groom.

To Him be the glory, both now and to the Day of Eternity. Amen. 

And all the credit goes to Him, the Father and the Son. 


And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Christ and Lord and King, to the glory of God the Father.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!