Peter's Final Words | 2 Peter 3:15-18
Peter concludes his letter with four goals that define the Christian life: (1) salvation, (2) stability, (3) growth, and (4) glory. This sermon is part 8 in "A Fisherman's Truth," Bryan Craddock's series of verse-by-verse sermons on 2 Peter.
Time is a precious commodity. In Psalm 90:12, Moses asked the Lord, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” In Ephesians 5:16 and Colossians 4:5, Paul encouraged Christians to make the best use of the time. But I cannot help but wonder if our yearly shift to Daylight Savings works against our stewardship of time.
Every spring we set our clocks ahead one hour to “save daylight” all summer. So, rather than having an early sunrise while we are still asleep, we have a late sunset, and that is supposed to save energy. But as small as it seems, that one-hour adjustment is never easy. Of course, we get it back in the fall, but it feels as if that one hour is lost forever, subtracted from our divine allotment!
In 2 Peter 3:12, Peter speaks of hastening the unfolding of end times events in the day of God. Obviously, giving up an hour in daylight savings is not what he had in mind! In fact, I don't think Peter would have been excited about losing any time. As I mentioned at the beginning of this series, during one of Jesus’ resurrection appearances to the disciples, he told Peter how he was going to die (John 21:18-19). He did not say when it would happen, but that knowledge must have heightened Peter's sense of urgency.
In 2 Peter 1:14, he says, “I know that the putting off of my body will be soon.” Some early church leaders say that Peter was crucified in Rome under the reign of Nero, who used Christians as scapegoats for the burning of Rome. Peter probably wrote this second letter as that persecution was beginning. There is an account of his last days in a writing called the Acts of Peter, but it is not considered to be a reliable source.
So, from the standpoint of biblical authority, we look to this letter as the final words of the fisherman turned apostle, and we come today to his concluding thoughts in verses 15-18 of chapter 3. In them we find four goals that define the Christian life. You might assume that everyone would be clear about such things, but history has shown that people easily lose sight of them. To some Christianity is a matter of family heritage, national identity, or cultural tradition. They call themselves Christians but lack faith and devotion.
How could this happen? In his letter, Peter warns us about false teachers in chapter 2 and about scoffers in chapter 3. Both attacks aim to redefine spiritual life. False teachers emphasize experience and power but ignore obedience. Scoffers exalt independent observation above God’s revelation. So, Peter began the letter in chapter 1 by focusing on the privileges, commitments, and sources for knowing God. His closing words build on that foundation, showing us goals that we should pursue, and that God is also working to bring about in our lives.
Salvation
One of the little perks of life in the digital age is the pause button. Broadcast media on radio or TV doesn’t stop. If you get interrupted, the program keeps going and you miss out. But the ability to put it on hold gives you control. It would be nice if we could control other areas of life that way. We can’t, but God does. He does not freeze time. But in his sovereignty, he perfectly orchestrates how things unfold.
In 2 Peter 3, Peter has spoken of the day of the Lord with its fiery judgment as the next major step in God’s plan. Like a thief in the night, it could come at any moment. But for now, we could say that God has put it on pause, and his goal in doing so is the salvation of souls. In 2 Peter 3:15 and the first part of verse 16, Peter says,
And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters.
Peter spoke of God’s patience as he responded to scoffers in verse 9. There he argued that we should not regard the delay in Christ’s return as an indication that God is slow to fulfill his promise. Instead, it reflects his desire for all people to repent, turning away from their sinful path to follow Christ. So, we should regard his patience as part of his saving work.
Now Peter appeals to Paul’s writings for support, yet some insist that a great divide existed between these two apostles. In Galatians 2, Paul does mention a time when he confronted Peter about separating from Gentile believers. But apparently, Peter heeded Paul’s reproof and held no grudge against him. He calls him, “our beloved brother,” and acknowledges the wisdom that was divinely given to him. So, their writings are doctrinally consistent. Furthermore, this reference demonstrates how quickly the apostles’ writings were disseminated and accepted as authoritative.
So, what does Paul say about the Lord’s patience and salvation? His teaching is not simple. As we will see in a moment, Peter says that some things in Paul’s writing are hard to understand. In Romans 2:4-5, he stresses human responsibility in responding to the opportunity that God’s patience presents. He says,
Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.
But then in Romans 9:22-24, he speaks of God’s patience in the context of his sovereign plan, and says,
What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory--even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?
Though they seem to contradict, we must accept both human responsibility and divine sovereignty. So, have you taken the opportunity to be saved? If not, then take the responsibility to do so today by repenting and believing in Christ. If you have been saved, then recognize the incredible privilege that God has bestowed upon you by sovereignly choosing you and calling you.
But we cannot let God’s choice harden our hearts toward others. We must use this opportunity to proclaim the gospel. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:1-2,
Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, "In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you." Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
Christianity is all about salvation. But some people define salvation too narrowly, treating it as nothing more than an admission ticket to heaven. So, we need to grasp other goals that flow out of it.
Stability
It’s a terrible feeling when you unexpectedly step onto a slippery patch of ice. Even the slightest shifting of your foot triggers a reaction in your core. Your muscles instinctively tense up. Your arms might involuntarily flail. Your body desperately tries to keep from falling. When I first moved to Michigan, someone told me to put bottle caps on the soles of my shoes.
We all sense the importance of physical stability, but we have an even greater need for spiritual stability that we may not recognize. We need to be anchored in the truth of the gospel as our source of hope and peace. Here in 2 Peter 3, Peter highlights this goal in the second half of verse 16 and in verse 17. After speaking of Paul’s writings, he says,
There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.
As I mentioned earlier, this passage shows that Peter considered Paul’s writing to be Scripture. The difficulty is not that Paul’s writing or other Scriptures are unclear. It is that God’s ways are higher than our ways, and his thoughts than our thoughts as Isaiah 55:9 says. In Romans 11:33, Paul himself says, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” So, even though the essential ideas of the gospel are easily grasped, there is a complexity that we must respect as we seek to understand the full counsel of Scripture.
People often disregard that complexity, however, bringing their own agenda to Scripture. Peter says that they are ignorant, or the King James Version says, “unlearned.” It is not that they lack knowledge but that they refuse to learn. They are unteachable and unstable. Peter may mean this in an intellectual sense. They might be quick to shift their views and latch onto the latest big idea. But their instability is also evident in their behavior. He calls them lawless people. This disobedience is rooted in unbelief, so when they are judged, their choices will lead to their eternal destruction.
So, as believers we must take care that we do not lose our stability by being carried away by such people. How can we do that? We start with how we relate to the Bible. We should regard it as the inspired word of God. We should treat it with reverence, trusting it and obeying it. Paul’s instructions to Timothy capture this attitude. In 2 Timothy 2:15, he says, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”
To handle it rightly, we must recognize that God used human authors to write it. They were not simply recording something that was dictated to them. They wrote with purpose, and we should seek to understand their intent. They used the normal language of their time. So, we must consider their history and culture. Learning the Scriptures requires work. But God works through our efforts to develop our stability.
Another important component in our pursuit of stability is the church. In Ephesians 4, Paul describes how God provides gifted leaders to equip the saints for the work of ministry. We should all be actively engaged in building up the body of Christ by speaking the truth to one another in love. Paul describes stability as the goal of these efforts in Ephesians 4:14 by saying,
so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
The world can be a slippery place, but the study of God’s Word and the ministry of the church helps us keep our footing. Salvation and stability lead us directly to a third goal.
Growth
As a tree’s roots sink downward, they enable it to grow upward. They keep it anchored so that it doesn’t fall over. They absorb water and nutrients so that it can blossom and bear fruit. When someone is saved and rooted in the truth, something similar should happen in their spiritual life. In his final word of instruction at the beginning of 2 Peter 3:18, Peter says, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Some New Testament passages speak of growth as God’s work. As Paul talks about ministry in 1 Corinthians 3:7, he says, “So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” He is probably referring more to the church as a whole, but in Galatians 5:22-24 he speaks of fruit as something that the Holy Spirit produces in the life of the individual believer.
But in Galatians 5:16, Paul also emphasizes the believer’s personal responsibility to walk by the Spirit, and Peter does something similar in 1 Peter 2:2 when he tells believers, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation.” As we crave the milk of the word and drink it down, it produces growth.
But here at the end of 2 Peter, Peter is more direct. He simply commands us to grow. It is our responsibility to adopt that as our goal. Yet it is also something that we must pursue in complete reliance upon the Lord, because Peter calls us to grow in grace.
He does not say much about grace in this letter, but he refers to it several times in his first letter. He tells us that God gives grace to the humble (5:5). The Old Testament prophets prophesied about it as they anticipated the coming of Christ (1:10), yet our fullest experience of it will happen in the future when Christ returns (1:13). Until then, we are stewards of grace as we lovingly use our gifts to serve one another (4:10). So, to grow in grace is to become increasingly absorbed in the hope of salvation so that we obey God and serve others better.
Peter also calls us to grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In 2 Peter 1:3, he said that everything pertaining to life and godliness is granted us in the full knowledge of God and of Christ. To be a Christian is to have a personal relationship with God.
So, to grow in the knowledge of Christ is not just an intellectual effort. It is the process by which our lives come to increasingly reflect who he is. We show his lordship as we worship and obey. We reflect his salvation in our gratitude, our hope, and the mercy that we show toward others. Ultimately, our growth in the knowledge of Christ should make us more like him. In Ephesians 4:15, Paul says, “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.”
Are you growing? Are you bearing fruit? Are you becoming more like Christ? If not, why? Are your roots weak? Is your growth stifled by sin? Put it aside. Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! He is worthy! That leads us to one final overarching goal.
Glory
Who deserves to be in the spotlight? Who is the star of the show? Who is worthy to be celebrated, honored, and praised? The overarching storyline in the Bible is that the Triune God deserves all glory. As the Creator of all things, this is his story. Creation itself testifies to that. Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”
But he allows us as his created beings to exercise our own will, and we try to steal the spotlight for ourselves. This rebellion started with the angel that we now call Satan. He then tempted Adam and Eve to be self-willed. Since that time, we all twist everything around and act as if the story is all about us. So, the goal of the Christian life is to give God glory, shining the light where it belongs. Peter concludes 2 Peter 3:18 by saying, “To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”
In eternity, the glory of God will be universally recognized. Back in verse 13, Peter referred to the coming of the new heavens and earth in which righteousness dwells. Part of the righteousness of that future existence is that God will be honored and worshiped as he deserves. In Revelation 21, John says that there will be a new Jerusalem there, and he describes it in verses 22-24 by saying,
And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it,
So, how will God’s exaltation come about? Peter has spoken of the fiery destruction of the current heavens and earth. Other passages speak of this universal recognition of God’s glory being accomplished through the return and reign of Christ. In Philippians 2:9-11, Paul says,
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
When Christ returns, every knee will bow either willingly or by force. Those who resist until the end will be sentenced to eternal punishment. So, it is far better to start giving him glory now.
We begin by acknowledging his authority and confessing our sins (Josh 7:19). The glory of his grace is shown as we place our hope and trust in his salvation (Eph 1:12). It comes out in our words as we praise him and speak his truth and in our actions as we obey and serve him. As we live with a grateful heart, even the most mundane choices can exalt him. In 1 Corinthians 10:31, Paul says, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
Make it your goal to live for his glory in everything you say and do. That's the best way to prepare for eternal life in his presence.
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Peter’s final words show us the goals that define the Christian life: salvation, stability, growth, and glory. Is that what you are pursuing? If not, I urge you to start today. Receive salvation in Christ. Begin your relationship with him. Perhaps you've never thought of it this way. If you want to learn more about the biblical view of the Christian life, Colossians 1 would be a good place to read.
Perhaps you are a Christian but have lost focus. Don't allow yourself to drift. What steps could you take this week to grow and become more stable? What needs to change for you to glorify God more consistently?
Let's make the best use of the time that the Lord gives us!
Reflect
How does your understanding of the Christian life need to change?
What steps could you take to grow?
What could you change in your life this week to better glorify God?