2 Peter 3:11-18

Rachel Workman: 11 Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, 12 looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. 13 But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness. A world filled with God's righteousness sounds pretty good to me right now. I'm not sure we can truly imagine a world with no evil.

14 And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight. The word peaceful stands out to me right now. People around me are hurting. I'm hurting. Peaceful, I would like that. May our hearts never be hardened against a hurting person.

15 And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him— 16 speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction.

17 I am warning you ahead of time, dear friends. Be on guard so that you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing. 18 Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We really do need to be on guard and on an even smaller scale than you think. We need to be on guard against the gossip we hear and hatred that gets spewed. We need to guard ourselves and above all we need to guard our hearts. And the same for our children. I like to think that we are all growing in grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.

All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen. I love the ending of this letter. All glory to him. I want to be sure that I am giving him all the glory he deserves. I know I fail miserably at that most of the time.

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Krista Cook:  ¹¹ Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, ¹² looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. ¹³ But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.

¹⁴ And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.

- as we wait, we must make sure we are living like He would have us to - according to all He has shown us in His word

¹⁵ And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him— ¹⁶ speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction.-

- be sure you are not being swayed by those who are twisting the Word

¹⁷ I am warning you ahead of time, dear friends. Be on guard so that you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing. ¹⁸ Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.

- I love the verse about growing in grace and knowledge.  That is what we are to be doing daily.  And being able to have these scriptures pop up on our phones/computers is helping us to this.  Always take the time to read, study and grow!

  

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John Burnett:  ¹¹ Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, ¹² looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! ¹³ But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.  I liken our hastening to that of Christmas morning and the opening of gifts.  One year I got a three wheeler ATV and I thought it was the greatest gift I ever received I received from Santa.  I now realize that the greatest gift I was ever given was not on the holiday where Christ was born but on the day Christ died.  He bought me so that I could spend eternity with Him in the new heavens and new earth.

¹⁴ Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, ¹⁵ and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, ¹⁶ as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. ¹⁷ You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, ¹⁸ but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.  We are to be careful and watchful not only for Jesus Christ’s return but for those who teach things that are contrary to the truth of the Gospel.  It is through God’s grace, that we are given the Holy Spirit who main job is to glorify Jesus Christ by increasing our knowledge of Him.

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Mike Grimm:¹¹ Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, ¹² looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. Realizing that the earth is going to be burned up, we should put our confidence in what is lasting and eternal and not be bound to earth and its treasures or pursuits. We need to stop worrying about material possessions and concentrate on being more Christlike. ¹³ But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness. God’s purpose for people is not destruction but re-creation. God will purify the heavens and earth with fire; then He will create them anew.

¹⁴ And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight. We should not become lazy and complacent because Christ has not yet returned. Instead, we should live in eager expectation of His coming. What would you like for Christ to see you doing when He returns?

¹⁵ And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. Remember that the Lord is patient so that you can receive salvation.  This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him— ¹⁶ speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction. Today, many people still think that Paul’s letters are difficult. We should pray that God will help us to understand the Bible. We must never change what it means. And we must not explain it in a false way. Instead, we should learn from good Bible teachers and mature Christians.

¹⁷ I am warning you ahead of time, dear friends. Be on guard so that you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing. There are still false teachers today. They try to lead people away from the truth about Jesus. ¹⁸ Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.

No matter where we are in our spiritual journey, no matter how mature we are in our faith, the sinful world will always challenge our faith. We still have much room for growth. If every day we find some way to draw closer to Christ, we will be prepared to stand for truth in any and all circumstances.