Living in Light of the End

Having described the sudden, cataclysmic nature of Christ’s return (2 Peter 3:10), Peter now asks one of the most searching questions in all Scripture: “What sort of people ought you to be[?]” (v. 11). This is a pastoral challenge grounded in the reality that the world around us is temporary. The buildings we inhabit, the institutions we build, the economies we depend on, the very elements that compose the physical universe—all of it will be dissolved when Christ returns.

If we truly believed this, it would change the way we live. That, of course, is Peter’s point. Doctrine that does not shape conduct is doctrine that has not been properly understood. The false teachers whom Peter has been opposing throughout this letter separated belief from behavior; they claimed theological knowledge while living in moral abandon. Peter insists that true understanding of the last things produces a specific kind of life: one marked by “holiness and godliness.” “Holiness” refers to our separation from sin, the daily effort to put off the old self and put on the new. “Godliness” describes a reverent awareness of God’s presence that permeates everything we do, from our work to our worship to our relationships. Together, these qualities paint a picture of a life lived consciously before the face of God, in the knowledge that every moment matters because every moment leads toward the day of His appearing.

Peter adds a striking phrase: Believers are not only “waiting for” but also “hastening the coming of the day of God” (v. 12). How can finite creatures hasten the plans of the sovereign Lord? Peter is not suggesting that human action can force God’s hand or alter His eternal decree, for the Father has already set the day and hour of Christ’s return (Matt. 24:36; Acts 1:7). But God has also ordained that certain secondary causes, such as the preaching of the gospel to all nations (Mark 13:10), the ingathering of the elect, and the prayers and holiness of His people, will precede and accompany that return. As the church grows in faithfulness and the gospel advances across the earth, the ordained conditions for Christ’s return are being fulfilled. The pursuit of godliness is not merely a private spiritual exercise. Every act of obedience, every turning from sin, every faithful proclamation of the gospel moves the story forward toward its glorious conclusion. As we wait, we labor in the confidence that our work in the Lord is not in vain (1 Cor. 15:58).