Peter’s second letter concerns the prophetic word and remaining true to it. In this letter, he reminds the readers that Jesus is coming again soon and will reward those who persevere in faith and good works.

J. N. D. Kelly says that “to be found by the Lord when He comes…is a clear reference to the judgment” (p. 370). He means the Great White Throne Judgment. Kelly thinks all will be judged there. But Peter is talking about the judgment of believers, which occurs at the Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Cor 5:9-11), 1,000 years before the Great White Throne Judgment.

Remember when the Lord found Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden after they sinned? He was walking in the Garden in the cool of the day and found Adam and Eve hiding from Him in shame (Gen 3:8)!

When Jesus returns, He will find us spotless and blameless (lit. unblemished) or spotted and blemished. Compare confidence versus ashamed in 1 John 2:28.

In his commentary on 2 Peter in 1-2 Peter and Jude Zane Hodges explain Peter’s words in this way,

The words spotless and blameless do not indicate sinlessness but rather lives lived free of the general depravity and corruptness all around them, especially of the sort encouraged by the licentiousness of the false teachers (p. 170).

Peter says the readers should “consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation.”

In what sense is the Lord’s longsuffering “salvation”? Peter is not speaking of salvation from hell here, though most commentators suggest he is.

In his commentary, Zane Hodges thinks that deliverance (sōtēria) here refers to the Rapture. When the Lord comes, we will be delivered from the Tribulation wrath as He catches us up into the air to meet Him.

We will be delivered from this evil age and its false teachers. If we keep looking to the Lord Jesus, we will be found spotless and blameless.

Peter reminds us that Paul had written about the need to focus on Christ and live righteously in light of His soon return. Hodges suggests Peter is thinking of 1 Thessalonians.

With a very human touch, Peter says that things in Paul’s letters are hard to understand. Can’t we all say “Amen” to that?

He also says the untaught and unstable twist Paul’s words “to their own destruction, as they do the rest of the Scriptures.” Peter called Paul’s writings Scripture!

“Beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness” (2 Pet 3:17). The readers were currently steadfast.

Note the contrast between the steadiness of the readers and the instability of false teachers (2 Pet 3:16).

Because there are people who twist the Scriptures (v 16), wicked men who teach error (v 17), we must beware lest we fall!

We all remember people who used to be regulars at our church and walked with the Lord but who have since ceased to walk in fellowship with the Lord.

It can happen to any of us. We’re not safe from the danger of falling. We all need regular fellowship in God’s Word to remain steadfast.

The way we keep from falling, the way we remain steadfast, is by continuing to grow in the grace and knowledge of God (2 Peter 3:18).

Compare Jude 24. God can keep us from falling.

If you are growing, you will not fall unless you stop growing. As long as you continue to hear and apply God’s Word as it is taught, you will grow more and more.

Zane Hodges makes a super observation about the need to maintain a proper understanding of the grace of God in both our justification and our sanctification:

In the modern evangelical church, when a born-again believer is ensnared by doctrines that mix grace and works, growth in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and of His word comes largely to a halt. This is not surprising since our fundamental relationship to God is based on His saving grace to us in Jesus Christ. When someone is confused about that, his confusion throws a veil over Scripture as a whole. Progress necessarily stops (1-2 Peter & Jude, p. 173, italics his).

Notice that we are growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The Christian life centers on Christ. We grow by getting to know Him better.

He is the One who deserves glory “both now and forever.” He is glorious. And we should glorify Him with our lives.

Michael Green points out, “It is fitting that the glory of Christ should close this epistle which has had so much to say about…the ascended Lord” (p. 152).

We do not live in a world that promotes a proper view of the Lord Jesus Christ and His teachings. Even teachers who call themselves Christians often twist and distort the clear meaning of God’s Word.

We must be on guard, lest we fall away from the Lord. We need to keep on growing.

Ultimately, if we aren’t moving forward in the Christian life, we are moving backward. That is why we call Christians who have fallen backsliders.

The Lord Jesus has promised that He will come again soon. And He keeps all His promises.

Live each day as though the Lord might return today. Live in light of the Lord’s soon return and your judgment at the Bema.

We want to be found by Him without spot and blemish. Don’t we all want to hear our Lord and Savior say, “Well done, good servant”?