2 Peter 3:14-16 Podcast
14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. (2 Peter 3:14-16)
In light of the end time results, Peter implores us in 2 Peter 3:14 to do three things: 1) be found spotless, 2) be found blameless, 3) be found at peace with God.
To be found spotless, blameless and at peace with God by whom? First, be found by God. Second, be found by the people with whom we have influence.
If we are not declared by God as spotless, blameless, and at peace with Him, what is the point? We must be diligent to make sure that we are in Christ, if we are to be found by God in this way. These three are not the products of our own doing. No, these are the products and gifts of God to us through His Son's finished work on the cross.
To be spotless is to be without spot. The Greek word that Peter uses here for spotless is "aspilos", which means without defect or blemish. aspilos is used four times in the New Testament. This word is also used in 1 Peter 1:19 where Peter describes the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus on the cross. In light of being made spotless by Christ in the eyes of God, believers should strive to live a life that is without spot or blemish in order to point the unsaved to Christ. That they may cry out to Him for the gift of salvation through His shed blood on the cross.
To be blameless is to not be in a position to be charged for anything wrong. The Greek word Peter uses here is "amōmētoi." Like "aspilos", this is a word that is used of the Lord Jesus and applied through His cross to the believer. It is as if God sees us through the lense of His Son. Yet, Peter encourages us to live out of the position of being blameless.
Believers in Christ are to be found by Him at peace with Him. The Greek word Peter uses here for "peace" is "eirene" which means the absence of strife. Since there is no strife between God and the believer in Christ, the believer should be at peace with all men.
The goal of all of this is that the culture of God would not be distorted and men of all walks of life would come to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Believers in Christ should be the most secure people in the world, because God has chosen us to be on His side. And, He wants to use us in the process of bringing others to faith in His Son.
G.K. Chesterton wrote in this regard, "Orthodoxy is like walking along a narrow bridge: one step to either side is a step of disaster. Jesus Christ is God and Man; God is love and holiness; Christianity is grace and morality; the Christian lives in the world and lives in the world of eternity. Over stress either side of these great two-sided truths and at once destructive heresy enters in. One of the most tragic things in life is when a man twists certain Christian truths and holy Scripture into an excuse and even a reason for doing what he wants to do, instead of taking them as guides for doing what God wants him to do."
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