By Bob Wilkin
Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul… which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen. (2 Peter 3:14-18)
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.
MOST COMMENTATORS UNDERSTAND PETER TO BE WARNING ABOUT THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT
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.
Davids agrees:
The point our author is making is that purity in the eyes of the Lord …is something to make every effort to gain. It alone has lasting value. It is the lack of this purity that marks the lives of the teachers our author opposes. And this lack of purity will condemn them to destruction since purity is the natural result of submission to Jesus as Lord (2 Peter and Jude, p. 295).
Schreiner is even clearer: “Hence, there is little doubt that believers need to be “spotless and blameless” to be saved” (1, 2 Peter, Jude, p. 393).
PETER WAS TALKING ABOUT THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST
Peter was writing to believers, not unbelievers. He calls them beloved twice in this closing passage (vv 14, 17) and twice earlier in chapter 3 (vv 1, 8). In the opening verse of 2 Peter, he writes: “To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Believers will not be judged at the Great White Throne Judgment (John 5:24). Peter is talking about the judgment of believers, which occurs at the Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Cor 5:9-11), a thousand years before the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev 20:11-15).
When Jesus returns, will He find us spotless and blameless (lit. “unblemished”) or spotted and blemished? The Apostle John said that if we (“little children”) abide in Him we will have confidence before Him when He comes, but if we do not abide, we will shrink back in shame before Him (1 John 2:28). The Lord also spoke of these two possible outcomes occurring at the Bema (e.g., Matt 24:45-51; Luke 8:11-15; 19:16-26).
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).
Other than Hodges, the only commentator I could find who seemed to understand this as the Bema was Clive Anderson, and even his statement is not crystal clear: “The process of being made holy, called sanctification, is a divine act—it is something God does in us by his Spirit” (2 Peter, p. 105).
THE DELAY OF THE RAPTURE REMINDS US OF HIS GREAT LOVE FOR US
Peter says the readers should “consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation.” Longsuffering about what? Salvation from what?
Hodges notes: “Peter once again warns them not to be discouraged by the delay of the Second Advent (a delay of which the scoffers would make much: 3:3-4)” (p. 170). The Lord has been longsuffering toward sinful humanity for nearly two millennia. He has not yet sent the cataclysmic judgments of the Tribulation. He delays the Tribulation as long as there is sufficient repentance on earth (2 Pet 3:9). Hodges wrote concerning 2 Pet 3:9: “What is therefore implicit in the text is that a worldwide repentance could postpone the Day of the Lord for as long as such a repentant attitude prevailed” (p. 153).
Noah’s flood was delayed for 120 years––until the sins of the world were filled to the brim. Sodom would not have been destroyed had there been ten righteous people in it. Nineveh escaped destruction because it repented under Jonah’s preaching.
Peter was not speaking of salvation from hell here, though most commentators suggest he is.
In his commentary, Hodges interprets deliverance (sōtēria) here as deliverance from the Tribulation via 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 (1 Thess 4:16-17). Note that Peter said that Paul spoke of that very deliverance in his epistles (v 16). Surely Peter had 1 Thess 4:13–5:11 in mind.
Believers 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.
SCRIPTURE REQUIRES SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT TO BE UNDERSTOOD
With a very human touch, Peter says that things in Paul’s letters are hard to understand. Of course, Peter carefully studied Paul’s letters and came to understand them. But others did not understand Paul’s writings. They twisted Paul’s words “to their own destruction, as they do the rest of the Scriptures.” Peter called Paul’s writings Scripture in around AD 66!
BEWARE LEST YOU FALL
“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 Him.
It can happen to any of us. We are not safe from the danger of falling. We all need regular fellowship centered around God’s Word in order to remain steadfast (Heb 10:23-25).
The way we keep from falling, the way we remain steadfast, is by continuing to grow in the grace and knowledge of God (2 Pet 3:18).
Compare Jude 24. God can keep us from falling.
If you are growing, you will not fall. If you stop growing, you will. If 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 that “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.
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. We want to hear our Lord and Savior say, “Well done, good servant.”
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Bob Wilkin is Executive Director of Grace Evangelical Society. He and Sharon live in Highland Village, TX. He has racewalked twelve marathons.
