What does 2 Peter 3:14 mean?
Jesus will return in God's perfect time. With Christ will come God's fiery destruction of the heavens and earth in judgment for the sins of humanity (2 Peter 3:10–12).After that, God will institute a new heaven and a new earth and will come to live with His people (2 Peter 3:13). That's the moment Christians are longing for, even if we don't always realize it. That's the moment when "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore" (Revelation 21:4).
If we, as Christians, do indeed long for that day, how should we live? Peter writes that we should live in a state of preparation. We should be motivated by the idea of how Christ will find us when He returns. This, of course, will require work, but its work we should embrace. Peter writes that we should take on the tasks of being found spotless, blameless, and at peace with God.
We must be careful here. As Peter himself has made clear, God has already made His people holy through faith in Christ. He counts our sins as fully paid for by the blood and death of Jesus. He has given us credit for Jesus' righteous life. All saved believers have peace with God in Christ, and He does view us—in Christ—as spotless and blameless. Eternal salvation is not something we work for or earn.
Peter echoes the beginning of his letter here. He says that Christians now, in God's power, should work to live up to those things that are true of us in Christ. We should work to root the sin out of our lifestyles and to fully engage in our peaceful relationship with God. We don't do this to earn our place in God's family; we do it because we already have one.
2 Peter 3:14–18 concludes Peter’s letter. Because Christians are looking forward to the new heavens and earth, we should be working now to set aside sin and live in peace with God. Peter acknowledges that Paul is a writer of Scripture. False teachers twist the words of God. Since Christians know God’s Word, though, we are responsible not to be misled by the false teachers. Instead, we should continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus and to give Him glory.
Peter dismantles the arguments of false teachers working to mislead Christians in the early church. He counters their idea that since Jesus has not yet returned, He must not be coming. Peter reminds His readers that God created the world. The flood of Noah's day is evidence that He is willing to bring judgment on the earth for sin. God is not late, He is patient and merciful. But the day of the Lord will come eventually. Everything will be destroyed. A new heaven and earth will be established. Christians should live as if that’s true.
