The Second Letter of Peter- 11
Pastor Marty Tuesday, October 6, 2026 at 1:10PM Subtitle: The Impact of Judgment Day
A link to the audio can be found at the bottom of this article.
2 Peter 3:11-13. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, October 4, 2026.
Peter has reminded us that the Day of the Lord will come upon the world like a thief. They will not be ready for it, even though they have been warned for twenty centuries and more. He even warns us that these heavens and this earth are going to be melted down in which all bonds are broken apart. He then ties this to the promise that God will create new heavens and a new earth (generally understood to be from the same material).
Let’s look at our passage.
The proper response to this (v. 11-13)
In verse 11, the phrase “all these things” refers back to all that he has just mentioned about God’s judgment and the melting down of the universe. It is then followed up with an exclamation declaring how we should then live in the light of those things.
Some versions translate this as a question, “What manner of persons ought you to be…?” The sentence goes through verse 12, so the question mark is generally found at the end of it. It is true that a word is used that implies a question. However, there is another word present that causes this to be more of an exclamation and exhortation simultaneously. This has a more powerful exhortative feel to it as opposed to a simple question that he seems to answer for them within the question itself. “What manner of people ought you to be…! Peter can see no other proper response to the judgment of the universe than to embrace the holy conduct and godliness of Jesus himself.
This is in contrast to the earlier response of the scoffers to these matters. They did not believe it, and so they are among those who will be caught by surprise. Our response is in contrast. We do believe it, and it affects how we live our lives in the present. We are not among those who will be caught by surprise at these events.
What sort of people ought you to be is not so much a question but a declaration that we should be inspired by these things to follow Jesus with even greater zeal.
He first mentions that we should respond in holy conduct or behavior. It should be holy because we have been called to God’s purpose in Jesus. Our life should be to accomplish his purpose and for his glory. Technically, all of humanity was created for such a holy purpose. However, in our sinfulness, it takes the redemption of Jesus and our response of faith in that redemption to secure our holy purpose in this life.
Holy conduct also carries the connotation of being pure. The destruction of all that we see and is around us should inspire a conduct that is different from those who do not believe. This is not a holier-than-thou attitude. Rather, it is a head down, doing what Christ told us to do, which is to love people with the same love that Christ gave to us. Jesus told his disciples to love one another as he had loved them. Jesus loved them, loved us, sacrificially and at his own cost.
Peter adds another description of our life, Godliness. The underlying word refers to the good response (good piety) of a person to God. Godliness is a reminder that we were created as image bearers of God. We can fight against this nature and use this imaging ability to image the devil, but it is our true nature to image God, regardless. The man Jesus was the perfect imager of God the Father. To see him is to see the Father. Doing things the way that Jesus would do them is the definition of godliness. We could also recognize that this is the same thing that the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, leads us to do from within us.
I know that a new believer may feel like praying is unnatural. However, that is more a product of your upbringing than it is of your true nature. It is a product of the broken way of life that you have lived for so long. There is nothing more natural than to address the Creator who made us all. Just like a newly wed couple may feel strange in each other’s presence for a while becoming accustomed to one another, so we can come to enjoy talking with God about our lives each day.
In verse 12, Peter mentions that we should live with an expectation of the coming of the Day of God. It is not just a looking of trying to find something, i.e., when is this going to happen. It is a looking forward to in the sense of an excited expectation that affects our life today. This is a promise given to us from God which gives us great hope in the present.
This is not so much an expectation that He is supposed to come today. This is not about a daily disappointment that He didn’t come back today and then pinning our hopes on tomorrow. No. This is a deep-seated confidence that it is coming. It is a deep-seated confidence that our response is proper. It is a confidence that we do not need to fear that day but can rejoice as God removes wickedness from our daily experience.
It is important to realize that the things around us are not as real and solid as they seem to us now. In a moment, everything on this planet could melt down at God’s command. Yes, we must deal with them as they are substantially here, but we want to be on the good side of the future melt-down that is coming. In fact, God wants us to be on the right side of that as well.
It is good to note that Peter refers to the “coming” of the Day of God. The word here speaks of a coming of presence. Christ is here by the Spirit of God, but on that day, his presence will come to this earth to deal with the rebels and their rebellion. Such a coming has several stages to it. It is not so much about an instant in time when he arrives. It is a series of events that initiates the removal of wickedness and the recreation of all things. Christ is coming back physically. This will initiate a series of events that will eventually lead us into new heavens and a new earth.
Peter also mentions that we should be “hastening” the coming of the Day of God. Hastening is the idea of speeding something along as opposed to slowing it down or as opposed to being an observer only. Our holy conduct, godly lives and looking forward to his coming will actively participate in the coming of Christ and the Day of God. Somehow, it speeds up this coming.
We may not know all the ways that it speeds it up, but we can use Scripture itself to gain some understanding. Jesus mentions that the end of this age will not come until the Gospel goes to the ends of the earth (Matthew 24:14). Thus, as we take the Gospel to the ends of the earth, we bring the world closer to the end of this age.
Another aspect to note is that Scripture speaks of God restraining the devil’s plans for this earth (2 Thessalonians 2:5-12). As we take the Gospel to the ends of the earth, it not only triggers the end of the age in the coming of Christ, but it also triggers the end of the restraint of great evil. The breaking forth of the Antichrist with multitudes taking his mark and pledging allegiance to him will also speed up the coming of the Day of God.
The Gospel saves some, but it also provokes others. Satan does not like humans at all, but he hates true Christians deeply. Many who side with him will become channels of his vehement vitriol.
Though the destruction of this universe should inspire godly living today, there is a good hope on the other side of that judgment. Verse 13 reminds us that we are looking for (excitedly expecting) the fulfillment of God’s promise of new heavens and a new earth. God is not just going to judge all things. He is also going to re-create all things in which no evil thing can reside!
Though we are excitedly looking forward to such things, it should not inspire an attitude that discounts this world, e.g., “Good riddance!” Jesus did not do that.
I have seen some Christians accuse those who promote righteousness as trying to “polish the brass on a sinking ship.” Jesus taught his generation the truth. They crucified him for it. However, he taught them knowing what they would do to him. He laid his life down for them knowing that many of them would not believe. Was he polishing brass on a sinking ship? Or what was he doing? He was offering the love of God to people who didn’t deserve it, to people who would cast it aside. Yet, many did believe.
There is a tension between this world being your hope and this world being the field in which you labor for Christ. If all of your hopes are on the things of this world, then maybe you are simply polishing the brass on a sinking ship. However, if you are attempting to save some of the people on that ship so that they do not perish, then you are doing more than polishing brass. You are being a channel of the love of God to a perishing people.
We are to share the Gospel and demonstrate right living to the world. How this impacts our neighbors, city, Republic, or world, is between them and God. Our is to be faithful. This life is good and meaningful when it is lived in Christ. Yet, God has something even better ahead!
Notice that Peter describes the new heavens and new earth with the phrase, “where righteousness dwells.” This description of them reminds us that God will have removed all unrighteousness. The word “dwells” may even intentionally tie back to Peter’s theme of Christians being sojourners in this world. We are only passing through this temporary world. While we live here for a season, we witness to the world around us of a city, a universe, whose builder and maker is God. A place where no wicked thing is allowed (see Revelation 21:27). It is a dwelling place for The Righteous (those who believe in Christ) and for only righteousness. Imagine a place where we will never experience evil from another person or spirit again! Or even better, where we will be made perfectly like Jesus and not interested in giving ourselves to wickedness at all towards one another!
This is God’s plan for us, for you! Let us be the righteousness of Jesus sojourning on this planet until He brings us into our permanent and perfect home!