To Him Be Glory Now and Forevermore! 2 Peter 3:11-18
We started our study of Peter’s first letter back in January of 2024. Today we will finish our study of Peter’s second letter to the followers of Jesus who were scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, five provinces of the Roman Empire which were located in what is today known as Turkey.
I hope you have grown in your walk with the Lord as we have gone through this rich study of such important biblical truths. In both of Peter’s letters we have learned that God has given us, through Jesus, everything we need to live out our faith in this world which is so often, and in so many ways, opposed to the things of God. We have been reminded time and time again, in both 1st and 2nd Peter, that Jesus is coming back again for His own. That day will be a day of judgment where those who have rejected Jesus will be eternally separated from God and those who have trusted in Jesus’ saving power will inherit the King and His Kingdom for all of eternity. We have been reminded that we are called to live a holy life, a set-apart life that glorifies and honors God in everything we say and do. Peter describes Jesus’ followers as “aliens and strangers” whose true home is not in this world, in 1 Peter 2:11, and in 2 Peter 3:13 he says we are “looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.” I could go on and on listing the powerful lessons Peter has taught us during the past 18 months, but the most powerful lesson of all is this: It is all about Jesus!
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, at the age of 22 was the chief clinical assistant to Dr. Thomas Horder, the renowned British physician who provided medical care for King Edward VII, King George V, King George VI, and Queen Elizabeth II. Dr. Horder said Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones was “the most acute thinker I have ever known.” With such a promising career before him, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, at the age of 27, walked away from his position as a Harley Street doctor to preach God’s Word. Why? Why would he give up such an honorable career, such a prestigious career, to become a preacher of God’s Word? Dr. Lloyd-Jones said it was because he became more concerned for people’s souls than their bodies.
I read Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ sermons on Peter’s letters. As he comes to the end of his study he looks back upon all that Peter had written and he draws a conclusion. Listen to this.
You cannot read these letters of Peter, you cannot read any of the New Testament letters whatsoever, without seeing that Jesus Christ is the centre of all, and He is the constant theme. It is a Book about Him, everything looks to Him–forward to Him, back to Him; it is all an exposition of Him. We are reminded, then, that the Christian life is essentially a life of relationship to Him. Christianity is Christ. It is not a number of views or a collection of ideas; it is not a number of terms and categories which, if we apply them and use them and meditate upon them, will do certain things to us. It is all about Him… Peter cannot keep away from it. He has to deal with various problems, but all along he brings them back to Christ. (Lloyd-Jones, Martyn. Expository Sermons on 2 Peter. pgs. 254-255)
What Peter has written, what the entire Bible seeks to get across is that it is truly all about Jesus. Peter wants the followers of Jesus, both in his day and in every age to come to know that Jesus is the Source and Solution. He is the Source who supplies meaning and purpose for our lives. In a world filled with options and possibilities, many of which look so attractive, but which are truly destructive and detrimental to our minds and souls, He is our Guiding Light, our Shepherd, to lead us on the path to our eternal home. Along life’s journey which will be filled with trials, troubles, and tribulations of every kind imaginable, He is our Solution, our Strength to stand strong and have faith that He will never abandon us, just like He never abandoned those who have gone before us. He, and He alone is our Source and our Solution. Peter’s letters along with all of God’s Word points to Jesus from first to last. What a comfort! What a source of strength for you and for me! Let’s turn to our Scripture found in 2 Peter 3:11-18.
11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. 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. 17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen. (2 Peter 3:11-18 NIV)
In verse 11, Peter picks up on what he had written in verse 10, which we read last week. Let’s read it again.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. (2 Peter 3:10 NIV)
The “day of the Lord will come like a thief.” When it comes the heavens will disappear, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. That’s verse 10. I read this and want to hear more, but Peter turns his attention to a more important topic, which is found in verses 11-12. Peter writes,
11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. (2 Peter 3:11-12 NIV)
If Jesus is on His way and upon His arrival He will judge the people of the world and separate His followers from those who have rejected Him, what should be on our agenda today? I’m asking the question, but Peter doesn’t ask us how we ought to live, he makes a bold statement. The New Living Translation is more clear. Listen to this.
11 Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live… (2 Peter 3:11 NLT)
We talked about this last week so I won’t spend too much time on it now, but if we knew Jesus was coming back on August 5 at 12 Noon, just two days from now, I have to believe that the lives of the followers of Jesus would look radically different than they have this past week. I can’t speak for you, but I will tell you that there would be an urgency that would overwhelm me. I would be so much more bold, I would be willing to take any and every risk of being mocked and ridiculed in order to share Jesus’ love with others. I would be laser-focused on what Peter calls living a “holy and godly” life.
I can remember when I was a kid, before I ever became a follower of Jesus. If you were to ask me back then what it means to be “holy” I could have given you a definition even though I knew absolutely nothing about the Bible. I knew people, we called them “holy rollers,” and they were so weird to me. They were self-righteous, they looked down on other people like me, and they had this syrupy pseudo religious persona that wasn’t hard to see through at all. That would have been my definition of holy.
I’m pointing this out to you because oftentimes we create definitions for biblical words that actually have nothing to do with the biblical definition of the word. The Greek word for “holy” is one of those words. The Greek word translated “holy” is “ἅγιος” (hagios) and its most basic meaning is “set apart.” In the Hebrew Bible the priests were “holy,” they had a set apart purpose that was different from the other people in the community. The sacrifices that were made at the temple were “holy,” they were set apart for the Lord. In the New Testament God calls us, the followers of Jesus, to be set apart, not weird, but set apart. We have a different purpose from the rest of the population of humanity. Let me give you an example from God’s Word. Turn with me to Romans 12:1-2.
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-- this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-- his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2 NIV)
We are not to conform, we are not to fall in line with how our peers or the rest of the world lives, thinks, or behaves, but we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. The primary tools of transformation are the Word of God, the Holy Spirit, and the body of Christ. How do we maintain our focus and passion for staying engaged in the process of transformation? Paul says to keep God’s mercy at the forefront of our thoughts. His incredible mercy poured out upon us in a never ending stream, this is what we should be mindful of each and every day. His mercy is our motivation, our focal point as we live and grow throughout our lives. Our desire to grow in our relationship with the Lord and to become more Christlike isn’t to set ourselves apart from others in some prideful, self-righteous way, but to let His light shine so that others might be drawn to Jesus. In Peter’s first letter he describes one of the purposes of the set apart life. Turn to 1 Peter 2:11-12 with me.
11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. (1 Peter 2:11-12 NIV)
This leads me to the second thing I’ve learned this week. In verse 12, Peter says we are to “look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.” Look forward to the day of the Lord, the day when the elements will be destroyed by fire and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare? That sounds terrifying, not something that we would look forward to don’t you think?
Those of you who were in school in the 70s remember the “Duck and Cover” drills we had in school. They were to prepare us for the possibility of a nuclear attack from the former Soviet Union. When the drill was announced we would get under our desks, put the thickest textbook we had over our heads, and that was supposed to protect us if an atomic bomb was dropped on us. Looking back on that now, as an adult, that was the craziest drill ever. A desk and a textbook? As a little kid, it was terrifying to think about. I don’t know the details of how the day of the Lord will unfold, but it is pretty obvious that it will be unlike anything we have ever experienced. Peter says we, those of us who are followers of Jesus, should look forward to that day. The Greek word translated “look” is the word “προσδοκάω” (prosdokaō) and it means “to wait for, look for, or to expect.” Peter uses this same word two more times in the next two verses. Read them with me.
13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. 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. (2 Peter 3:13-14 NIV)
Those who are not followers of Jesus have no hope beyond this life, but we are looking forward “to a new heaven and earth, where righteousness dwells.” I want us to stop for a moment and talk about the “new heaven and the new earth.” Tre has led us through a study of Revelation and I remember his study on Revelation 21. John “saw” the new heaven and the new earth. Look at Revelation 21:1-3 with me.
1 Then I saw "a new heaven and a new earth," for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. (Revelation 21:1-3 NIV)
If you know the story of Genesis then you know that God created the earth, the universe, and everything in them. At the end of each day of creation God said, “It is good.” At the end of the sixth day of creation, we are told “God looked at what he had done. All of it was very good!” But in no time, by the time we get to Genesis 3, sin enters the world and all of creation is tainted, marred, and scarred by sin. What happened? Genesis 2 tells us God created a garden and in the middle of the garden were two trees: The Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam and Eve could eat from any and every tree in the garden except for the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. What did they do? They chose the one tree in the entire garden they were not allowed to eat from and sin entered the world. They were ushered out of the garden never to enter again. Life and all of creation has been tainted ever since. Life, our lives, and all of creation is marred by sin. Paul wrote, in Romans 8:22, that all of creation has been impacted by sin. Listen to this.
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:22-23 NIV)
In 1667, John Milton wrote his epic poem about the Fall, Paradise Lost, which consists of over 10,000 lines of verse. Paradise was lost, because of sin, but in Revelation we find Paradise restored in the new heavens and the new earth. In Genesis we find the creation of the world. In Revelation we have the new creation, a new heavens and a new earth. In Genesis we find Adam and Eve fleeing from God, hiding from God after they sinned, but in Revelation 21 we find God dwelling with His people: “God himself will be with them and be their God.” In Genesis, God created the sun, the moon, and the stars, but in Revelation there is no need for the sun because “the Lamb is its lamp” (Revelation 21:23). In Genesis, Adam and Eve were barred from the Tree of Life and its fruit, but in Revelation we find the Tree of Life appearing once again. Read Revelation 22:1-3 with me.
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. (Revelation 22:1-3 NIV)
For us, Paradise was lost, the Tree of Life was never seen again, but it is there my friends. It is there in the new heavens and the new earth and this shows us that God’s plans cannot be thwarted and we can look to the future with the utmost confidence and hope. No wonder Paul wrote,
9 …What no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived— God has prepared these things for those who love him. (1 Corinthians 2:9 CSB)
I want to point out something interesting about all three of the occurrences of this Greek word which Peter uses in verses 11-13 to urge us to look forward to that day. They are all three in the present tense. We are not to have looked forward to Jesus’ return, the new heavens and the new earth, at some time in the past, but we are to presently, constantly look forward to that day. We are to be continually looking forward to Jesus’ return when all of these things will take place. In verse 14, Peter says “since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.” With this in mind, constantly in mind, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with him.
In the last chapter of Peter’s letter, while he was describing false teachers, he wrote that they were “blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures…” In Peter’s first letter he described Jesus as “a lamb without blemish or defect.” Now, Peter calls on his dear friends, the followers of Jesus to make every effort to follow in Jesus’ steps and not those of the false teachers. Read 2 Peter 3:14 with me.
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. (2 Peter 3:14 NIV)
What does it mean to “make every effort?” Is making every effort simply going to church on Sunday, most Sundays anyway, or maybe attending a Bible study once in a while? Does making every effort mean that we give a little money to good causes now and then, maybe at Thanksgiving or Christmas? Does making every effort mean that we read God’s Word when there is nothing better on TV or when we have some free time? Is that what “make every effort” means? I know none of us would answer the question with any of these answers, but are these indicative of the efforts we are currently making? I was thinking about Peter’s urging us to make every effort this past week when I remembered something Paul wrote to the people in Corinth. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 9 and let’s read together beginning in verse 24.
24 Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! 25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. 26 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. 27 I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27 NLT)
We need to move on to the last verse of our study for this morning. In verse 18 Peter closes his letter to his dear friends by urging them to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Then, the last sentence of Peter’s letter is a doxology, praise to Jesus “both now and forever! Amen.” Read the verse with me.
18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen. (2 Peter 3:18 NIV)
How do we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? That is a very important question. First of all, for anything to grow it must have life. The Bible teaches that we were born “dead in our sins” (Ephesians 2:21), we have been “made alive with Christ” (Ephesians 2:5 NIV). Apart from Jesus we are still dead, physically alive, but spiritually dead and absolutely unable to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For those who are followers of Jesus, we can grow through our devotion to the Word of God by the enablement of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to teach us, to increase our knowledge of the grace of our Savior. I meet with several men each week who want to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus. The first thing I have them do is to get a Study Bible. I urge them to read every note at the bottom of the page so they can begin to understand more and more. A good Study Bible like the ESV or NIV Study Bible will help you more than anything else if you want to grow.
It is not enough to simply acquire knowledge about Jesus through the study of God’s Word. We must also then make the decision to live out what the Holy Spirit teaches us through our study of God’s Word. How do we apply the lessons and teachings to our everyday life? As we study the way Jesus lived, what He said, and what He did–how do we then follow in His steps? That will be discovered through much prayer and the fellowship of other brothers and sisters in Christ. I will assure you, if you will make these two commitments a part of your daily life, you will grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Last of all, Peter writes, “To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.” For what reason does Jesus deserve all glory, both now and forever? I could fill the rest of the year describing those reasons for you and me, but let me close with only one. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection you and I have the possibility of life, abundant life in the here and now, and eternal life forevermore. I don’t want to mislead anyone. Abundant life doesn’t translate into an easy life, but it is a life overflowing with the grace and mercy of the Lord for every day of our life. He is good and His mercy endures forever!
He has opened the door for sinners like you and me so that we can be forgiven and find new life in Him. He has promised us that He was going to prepare a place for us in the new heavens and the new earth and He will come back for us so that we might be where He is. If you will say “Yes!” to Jesus this morning then you too will join Peter in giving glory to the One who is both Lord and Savior, now and forevermore. Won’t you become a follower of Jesus this morning?
Mike Hays
August 3, 2025
