2 Peter 3:14
So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.
Truth to Learn
We are to be at peace awaiting and looking forward to the return of Christ.
Behind the Words
The expression “looking forward to this” comes from the Greek, prosdokōntes tauta. Tauta means “these things,” and prosdokōntes means “looking toward or looking for, with expectation.” Hence, we could paraphrase this as “looking forward to and expecting these things.”
The word translated “spotless” is aspilos, which is made up of the privative a, meaning “not or without” and spilos, meaning “a stain or a blemish.”
“Blameless” is from amōmētos, made up of the privative a, meaning “not or without” and a form of mōmaomai, meaning “to censure or to blame.”
Both of these words are expressed in the nominative case, meaning that grammatically they are subjects, not objects. Hence the end of this verse is more appropriately translated as “be diligent, spotless and blameless ones, to be found by Him at peace.”
Meaning Explained
Peter is saying, “Because the world will be destroyed by fire and a new heaven and earth will be created (which will only be inhabited by the righteous), therefore (or so then), we are looking for these things to come to pass just as he said they would. We have no reason to be like the scoffers who don’t believe God anyway, we have every reason to believe the message about the future… and we should be preparing for it.
If we believe that this earth and all earthly deeds that we do will be burned up, we should focus not on the things of this world but on the things that pertain to godliness. In order to expectantly look forward to something you have to believe in it. If you don’t believe it will happen, then you won’t be expecting it.
And, if we believe these things will come to pass, then we are to be diligent to be at peace when He comes for us. Since we are in Christ Jesus, we are under no condemnation from God and should truly have peace. This is exactly how He should find us when He returns to judge the world.
Notice Peter calls us spotless and blameless ones. I think he does this intentionally to show the contrast between us and the false teachers he was talking about in the previous chapter where the words “blots and blemishes” are the same root words as “spotless and blameless” without the privative a in front:
They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. (2Peter 2:13)
Application
Are you expecting Him to return at any time? If so, do you have peace about it, and do you have confidence that He will return to take you home with Him?
If you’re truly saved then this peace is yours because in God’s eyes you are spotless and blameless!
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2009 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
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