Jump Start # 1056

2 Peter 3:14 “Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless.”

Peter ends his second letter reminding brethren that the Lord is coming. When He comes, Peter says, it will be to destroy the earth. A new Heaven and earth are promised. Things are not going to go on forever as they now are. Peter then shifts the thought to the type of behavior that is an appropriate response to the coming of the Lord. There is an anticipation about these things. Twice Peter uses the word “look” – looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God; since you look for these things.

Our verse identifies what our response ought to be. Instead of running and hiding, we look for these things. Instead of giving up all hope and living by the mantra of ’eat, drink and be merry,’ we are diligent to be holy. Peter uses three different words:

Be found by Him in PEACE. The opposite of peace is war. Peace with others. Peace with God. The bridge to peace is forgiveness, grace and love. When those things are missing, so is peace. Instead of peace, some hold grudges. The one at peace sleeps well. The one at peace is content. The one at peace has a calm soul. Those upset, bothered, irritated, mad at others or at God, are restless at night. They are agitated and unsettled. Be found by Him in peace. Get over things. Let things go. Bury the past. Bury the hatchet. Fall to your knees and beg God to forgive you. Apologize. Make things right. Some have a hard time with this. Five minutes into a conversation and you hear the horror stories of how terrible they have been treated at work, home or in the congregation. Some of those stories go back ten, fifteen, twenty-five years. They still carry the wounds and have not moved on. They are not at peace. They cannot talk without telling others about how unfair they were treated. Some congregations have been at odds with each other for decades. The principle causes are forgotten. The people involved are often dead. Yet, in a community there they exist. Two small congregations that ought to merge, but pride and past will forever keep that from happening. Be found by Him in peace.

  Be found by Him SPOTLESS. Spotless leaves the impression of clean. Nothing is worse than dressing up to go out and once you arrive you notice spots on your outfit. This is not what Peter is talking about. He is talking about a spotless soul. In his first letter he stated that we are to be holy as He is holy. Spotless and holiness go together. To be spotless is to be forgiven and pure. On our own, we cannot be spotless. We must have God’s help. We must have God’s grace and forgiveness. Spotless is how God sees us. Be found in His grace. Be found forgiven. Be found pure. This comes about when one is walking with the Lord. This comes from a relationship of obedience, trust and love towards God. Peter is saying, Jesus is coming. The world is going to end. Be found spotless. Jesus said that when He returned he would divide the sheep from the goats. The sheep represents the righteous. The spotless. The goats, everyone else. That’s it. That’s how God sees us. We have so many layers and categories of seeing people. There is educated and uneducated; racial differences; age difference; gender differences; regional differences; economic differences, and on and on we go. Not with God. Spotless or dirty. Sheep or goats. Doesn’t matter if you lived back then or you live today. Doesn’t matter if you are poor, graduated, young, talented, married, good looking—sheep or goats…spotless or spotted. That’s it. You become spotless by faith in Christ. Baptism washes us. Walking with God keeps us clean. John said as we walk in the light as He is in the light, the blood of Jesus cleanses us. Cleansed. Washed. In Revelation it says we are washed in the blood of Jesus. Only the blood of Jesus can remove the spots caused by sin. Being good won’t do it. Being generous won’t. The spots are still there. God still sees them. Only Jesus’ blood can remove those stains. Spotless. Peter said, Jesus is coming. Be spotless.

Be found by Him BLAMELESS. This word is used often in the N.T. it is one of the requirements for a person to shepherd God’s people. All of God’s people are to be blameless. The difference between spotless and blameless is the direction. Spotless is how God sees us. Blameless is how others see us. Our interaction with others is to be blameless. Without blame. This comes from being honest. This comes from being helpful and going out of your way. This comes from correcting your mistakes. This comes from apologizing when wrong. This comes from having a good reputation with others. This is how your family sees you. This is how your co-workers see you. This is how brethren see you. Blameless. Blameless is not perfect. There will be fumbles along the way. The blameless doesn’t hide those, excuse those or justify those. They apologize and do better. There is no blame. A person can be blameless before man and NOT spotless before God. Spotless deals with our soul. Blameless deals with our character. Close, but not the same. Iet’s next to impossible to be blameless and not at peace. Peace and spotless go together. Peace and blameless go together.

Three different terms that God expects us to be. Three words that are up to us to be. Be found by Him. Be at peace, be spotless, be blameless— Jesus is coming. There’s no stopping that. Get about making peace…being spotless…and living without blame.

Roger