The Second Letter of Peter- 11

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!

Impact audio

The Second Letter of Peter- 2

Subtitle: Growing in Godliness- 2

2 Peter 1:10-15.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, July 19, 2026.

Today’s passage transitions from Peter’s list of virtues that we need to be adding to our lives in verses 5-7.  Peter had then warned in verse 9, “he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.”  This leads to our passage today which begins with the word “therefore.”

Today’s message is the logical imperative to those who understand this warning.

Let’s look at our passage.

Peter gives a final exhortation

Make certain your calling and choosing by Jesus. (v. 10-11)

Whether we view our calling and choosing as something the Father does or something Jesus does (as it says in this passage), it is all the same.  What the Father wills the Son and the Spirit go forth to do.  Jesus is the executor of the Father’s will.

What is meant by calling versus choosing, i.e. election?  Calling refers to all the ways that God’s choice, or election, is made known to people.  The various theological positions deal with this differently, so here is my explanation of what I see in Scripture.

The first truth is that God has made the choice to save humanity from its fallen state and back to its proper state in relationship with Him.  Yet, He also chose the particular, righteous way that this saving (or redemption) will be done.  The sending of the Eternal Son to take on human nature and provide salvation for “whosoever believes in him [Jesus]” is God’s particular way.  God will save anyone of humanity who puts their faith fully in Jesus.

Because of His nature, God also knows the individuals who will choose to do so.  This bothers some.  They believe that the foreknowledge of God regarding what a person will choose removes the true freedom of that person to choose Him.  Of course, nothing about foreknowing a situation logically makes the situation happen.  We easily see this among humans.  If you see someone throw a ball onto the table, you quickly make the calculation that it is rolling too fast to stay on the table.  You know that it is going to roll onto the floor and choose whether you will do something about that.  Your knowledge (though after the fact of the throw) does nothing to affect the throw or its velocity.  It simply is something that exists within your mind.

Of course, with God, He has prior knowledge, and His knowledge is complete, i.e., He knows for sure without error.  This still does not affect the choice of people.  Let’s picture salvation as a plate of food.  God places the plate laden with food before us.   He knows whether we will eat it or not, but we are still completely free to eat it or not.

Someone may argue that the person is not completely free to choose because they are in bondage to sin.  How can a person in bondage be free to choose?  Just as the person can eat food because God has put it in front of them, so a person can choose to take hold of salvation because the Spirit of God is calling them and will help them to overcome every hurdle, if they will believe.

So, God’s election or choice of saving humanity through Jesus is brought to people through an external and an internal witness.  Christians are the external witnesses that share the words of life and live out the words of life before those who do not yet believe.  At the same time, the Holy Spirit is working on the inside of a person to recognize that there is something in those words and in those people.  Though these are all influences, they do not remove a person’s freedom to choose.

Jesus represents this choice and calling that occurs in our lives.  What does Peter mean by making our calling and election sure or certain?  The calling and election are always certain from God’s side of the equation.  He will not change His mind about saving humans through faith in Jesus.  The plate of food in front of you may be certainly there, but it is not certain that you will fully eat it.  Peter is focusing on our side of the equation.  We are not saving ourselves, but we are “certainly” taking hold of what God makes available to us.  This is the imperative.  A similar phrase used of this idea is the many imperatives to “walk worthy” of the calling of Christ (Eph.4:1; Col. 1:10; 1 Thess. 2:12).

Peter then states that those who “practice these things” will never stumble.  Practice is essentially living out these godly virtues by faith.  The help of the Holy Spirit will ensure that this will happen in increasing measure.  It could also be translated as simply “those who are doing these things.”  The point is not about doing them without fail, but a continual applying of ourselves to these things by faith and by the help of the Holy Spirit.

Different versions can affect how we understand the word “stumble.”  Peter is not saying that those who do these things will never make a mistake.  Stumbling and falling are used in Scripture to refer to a spiritual problem.  Regardless of what words you use, the idea is two-fold.  We can stumble in doing these things, but we do not fall away from Christ.  You could also describe it as falling from the path but not falling away so as to never recover.

Peter is stating that those who live a life of pursuing these virtues by faith will never fall away from Christ completely. 

In Romans 11:11, Paul uses similar terminology about the nation of Israel.  As a people, they stumbled in the first century. Paul wants Gentile Christians to know that this stumbling was not so that they would fall forever (without recovery).  Rather, their stumbling was so that the Gospel would go to the Gentiles and provoke them to jealously over the relationship they have with God.  This would cause them to desire to turn back to the Lord.  If the stumbling of the nation of Israel meant grace to the Gentiles, then what would recovery of the nation of Israel mean but life back from the dead!

The point is that God is always working to make us like Jesus.  Even when we stumble, He is not seeking to cut us off, but rather, He seeks to bring us to repentance.  A person who is seeking to grow in godliness is continually repentant for the ways in which they fall short.  This keeps them moving forward in the growth of godliness.

Peter then connects this to missing out on the everlasting kingdom of Jesus.

Verse 11 says, “in this way…”  It may be good to think of our growth in godliness as a path whose endpoint is being completely like Jesus in these things.  This path will proceed to the end of our mortal life and will finish at the resurrection of the righteous.

Essentially, Peter is telling us that those who do not abandon this path will never fall away from Christ.  This leads to the implication that those who do abandon this path will find themselves shut out of the Kingdom of Jesus.  Their faith was not actually in Jesus because in the end they refused to follow the godly path that he has made for us.

Such people can have various ideas in their heads.  Some are playing games.  They don’t think it is real while imagining some benefit by joining the Christian community.  Others may have a twisted theology.  They imagine that Jesus paid the price for all their sins, so they don’t have to worry about how they are living.  Often there will be a reference to grace versus works.  However, Jesus did not die on the cross so that we could keep on sinning in this life.  Even if you imagine a life with no sin “in heaven,” to believe you are not supposed to become like Jesus in this life is a refusal to listen to the Word of God and the Holy Spirit that inspired it.  The Spirit is working at all times to help you be more like Jesus.  We refuse to listen at our own peril.

By the way, the Bible is not against works.  We are warned against dead works and encouraged towards the works of faith.  Dead works are when we think that our life is acceptable to God on its own merits.  However, this is not what Zacchaeus was doing when he gave money back to all of those people.  He was so happy to be saved that the Spirit that he volunteered doing more than the law required.  These are the works of faith.  Following Jesus is a work of faith.

When Peter speaks of being “abundantly supplied” an entrance into the Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, it is speaking of a specific entrance that is in the future.  They had all entered the kingdom in the sense that it was within them by the Spirit of Christ.  He is our Lord and we obey his commands.  However, Peter is looking ahead into that grand entrance that will occur at our death.

Our spirit will either go into the grave awaiting judgment because we refused to believe in Jesus, or our spirit will enter into God’s throne room where Jesus is.  This life is part of our entrance.  However, we must endure by faith to the end.  Thus, our entrance is not complete until we stand before Christ.  Of course, we will then experience a resurrection at some point and join Christ as he takes control of the kingdoms of this earth.  Jesus will reign on this planet in person for 1,000 years.

Notice that we are not trying to get to heaven so much as we are being joined with Jesus never to be separated again.  In John 14:3, when Jesus told his disciples he was leaving them, he also promised that he would come back for them so that “where I am, there you may be also.”  The point is relationship and presence, not place.  Thus, at death, my spirit is with Jesus in heaven.  In the Millennial Kingdom, my spirit, now in a glorified body, will be with Jesus on this earth.  In the Final State (Revelation 20-22), we will enter the new heavens and the new earth with Jesus regardless of what we will be doing and where it will be done.

Let’s not forget that Christ is king over this earth right now.  However, Christ is not enforcing his kingship.  It is our duty to teach, to disciple, the nations in following him.  When he takes up political control at his Second Coming, then his kingdom will be fully upon the earth.  It is here now in us but not yet fully.

He does not want us to forget these things. (v. 12-15)

In view of The Entrance that Peter has just mentioned, his exhortation turns to deal with the forgetfulness of humans.  The stakes before us are too high to jeopardize by forgetting the things Peter has spoken.  To forget is to fall away and lose out on this great kingdom and all that God has for us ahead.

Peter says that does not want to be negligent to remind them always.  Kids can become annoyed with the reminders that adults give them.  However, kids and adults have proven throughout history that forgetfulness comes easy to us.  What is important today can easily be not important tomorrow.  Peter is writing this letter so that it can stick around and remind them when he is gone.  If they forget, it will not be because Peter was negligent.

How about you and me?  If our loved ones are to forget these things, let it not be because we were negligent in these matters.  May we remind them as we live and leave behind reminders for when we are gone.

Peter says in verse 12 that they know these things and are established in them.  They are presently doing well!  Peter is not saying that they are not doing enough.  Rather, he understands how perseverance works.  Perseverance is hard.  People need encouraged in these things.  Oh Lord, remind us from what You have saved us and to what You are bringing us.

Peter likely knows that he will be martyred for Christ.  Perhaps some of these Christians he addresses will also face such a trial.  Why would I risk an immortal life in order to keep a temporary life?  May God strengthen us all to remain established in the faith and growing in godliness.

In verses 13-14, Peter refers to his “tent.”  There is a certain urgency to his letter because he knows that he will shortly (soon) put off his mortal body.  This is what the tent symbolizes here.

God dwelled among Israel in a temporary tent until they entered the promised land.  God eventually dwelled among them in a permanent structure.  This symbolism is on purpose.  Our mortal life is pictured by that tent made from animal skins, always on the move in the wilderness of this life.  However, there is a day that is coming when we will be given a fixed or permanent body in the resurrection.  God will still dwell within us, but now He will be within us, and we will be what He has been making us to be.  The path of becoming godly like Jesus will have come to an end!

Peter knows he is going to die and will be unable to remind them again.  This is why he is writing a letter.

He emphasizes that this has been revealed to him by Jesus.  He could be talking about the discussion in John 21.  Jesus told Peter after his own resurrection that “when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.”  That event was over thirty years ago.  I believe that Peter has had a recent revelation from Christ that his time was near.  He is most likely arrested and held in Rome.  Jesus has prepared him for the judgment of a wicked man that will come upon him.

In this letter, Peter ensures that his diligence at the moment will provide a harvest of reminders later.  They will be able to remember his teachings, but this letter will ensure that the fog of time will not hinder this remembrance.

Today, the apostles are all gone, but their writings remain.  We call it the New Testament.  Those impacted by their ministry have created a wave of faith across the world and down through history.  All of this is headed somewhere.  Jesus is going to return with the saints in glorified form.  If you want to be in that group, if you want your loved ones to be in that group too, then we need to apply the same diligence that Peter applied.  It starts by keeping ourselves immersed in the word of God and following the leading of the Holy Spirit in living out the righteousness of Christ.  We are believers today because of the diligence and faithfulness of people before us.  This work has been helped by the Holy Spirit down through the years and is still operating here today.  May God help us to work with the Holy Spirit in order to promote the purpose of Jesus across this earth to save people from their sins and provide their entrance into His eternal Kingdom!

Growing in Godliness 2 audio

The Second Letter of Peter

Subtitle: Growing in Godliness- 1

2 Peter 1:1-9.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, July 12, 2026.

As we begin to look at Peter’s second letter, we should note up front that Peter clearly treats this letter as if it will be his last.  He states that he will shortly put off his body, as the Lord has shown him. 

Let’s look at the letter.

Introduction (v. 1-2)

The letter starts off with a statement of who is writing or sending it.  This is the Apostle Peter.  This is just as he introduced himself in his first letter.  However, Peter adds the name Simon.

In some ways, this is his name, and it is normal for him to use it.  However, in the first letter, he did not do this.  There he introduced himself only as Peter.  It was Jesus who gave him the name Peter.  Thus, Peter emphasizes his new life following Jesus his master.  Yet, Simon would also emphasize that he is that same Simon who has been being transformed by the teaching of Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit.  God was redeeming Simon through Jesus, making him into the rock that Jesus had called him to be.

Peter also adds that he is a slave of Jesus Christ.  This may seem contradictory in light of the Apostle Paul’s emphasis that the Jews time serving under the law was a slavery.  In Jesus, they are now set free from the law of sin and death.  Yet, Peter is not calling himself a slave because Jesus has made him one.  No, Jesus has set Peter free.  Yet, Peter so loves the Lord Jesus that he considers himself a slave of Christ.  He volunteers to live only for the purposes of Jesus and not his own.

Peter does not address this letter to a specific group.  However, in 2 Peter 3:1, he will mention that this is his second letter.  Thus, it seems reasonable to think that this letter was sent to the same people as the previous letter (central Asia Minor).  Yet, it is possible that it had a wider circulation.  He simply says in verse 1 that he is writing “to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours.”  He is essentially addressing it to believers.

Faith involves what we do but also is a description of the truth about Jesus that we are called to believe.  We are walking out the faith that others before us have passed down to us, but we are also walking in the faith to which the Holy Spirit has drawn us, even stirred up within us.

This faith has been made possible by “the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.”  It is his righteousness that lays the foundation for our faith.

It is important to note that in English this phrase could be read as either calling Jesus God, i.e., he is both God and Savior, or it can be read as speaking of two persons, the Father and Jesus.  The Greek grammar behind this phrase is fairly clear that God and Savior are both describing the same person, Jesus.  This is one of those clear places in Scripture where the divinity of Jesus is explicitly declared.  We see a similar statement in Titus 2:13. You may find some Greek Scholars who dispute this, but it is generally seen to be a conclusive statement of the divinity of Jesus.

Peter ends his introduction with a salutation of “grace and peace be multiplied to you…”  Grace is the good gifts of God in a variety of forms.  Peace is both an external peace (no longer enemies with God) and an internal peace (an assurance of right standing with God resonating in our hearts).  Peter prays for it to be multiplied to them (as it is needed), but particularly in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.  The knowledge of God has been given to mankind through Jesus.  When we understand all that Jesus has made available to us, it becomes a source of never-ending grace and peace to the believer.

Peter gives a final exhortation (v. 3-21)

What we have been given (3-4)

Chapter 1 lays out a final exhortation of the Apostle.  He starts out by describing a couple of things that believers in Jesus have been given (or granted).  These have been granted by “his divine power.”   Jesus exercised divine power throughout his ministry, death, and resurrection.  On top of this, his divine power has secured many important blessings for believers.  Peter sums this up by saying that we have been given everything we need for life and godliness.  When you feel like you can’t do what God has given to you to do, remember that Christ has supplied everything you need to live a life that displays the godliness of our lord Jesus.  Yes, our flesh fights us and even wins some battles.  However, in the end, we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ our Lord.  We must learn to thank God for His supply in every situation.  We must learn to walk in faith knowing that He is going before us to make the way.

We must be clear that it is the purpose of Jesus that we should live a godly life in his name.  Yet, at the same time, it is he who also supplies everything we need to do that.  He has supplied the message of truth, the presence and empowering of the Holy Spirit, the family of believers along with many who are spiritually mature and can help us, and finally, he has supplied us with the Scriptures that have been confirmed and proven trustworthy.

The second thing that has been given to us is “his precious and magnificent promise by which we partake of the divine nature.”  This is a mouthful and says a lot.

The promises of Jesus are that he will not abandon nor forsake us in this life.  He will also send the Spirit to aid us.  He will bring us to himself so that where he is we may be there too.  He has secured an inheritance within the kingdom of God for us.  We will be his jewels on the day of his second coming.  These are only some of the great promises of Christ for those who follow him in faith.

What does he mean by “partakers of the divine nature?”  It does not mean that we are becoming gods ourselves.  Rather, God is supplying to us things that are His by nature.  He is eternal by nature, but He has made it possible for us to partake (have a portion) in his eternal life.  We also partake in the eternal fellowship among the Godhead.  This is about a relational bond and life that we can share with God.

The flip side of this partaking is that we are those who “have escaped the corruption that is in this world through lust.”  By nature, we are those who are being corrupted by the lusts of the flesh.  By partaking in the divine nature, we are enabled to escape the death that is brought about through the lusts of men.

In your faith, diligently add these things to your life (v. 5-9)

Faith is the foundation of our walk with Christ.  However, we need to add some things to our faith.  In fact, we need to be diligent in this matter.  The following list is similar to Paul’s fruit of the Spirit.  It is clear that they are not intended to be exhaustive.  Rather, Peter is telling us not to settle for faith alone.  We must go on to let the Holy Spirit help us to bear the fruit of His presence.  These character traits are to be in our lives.  They will ensure that we are not stuck doing one thing to the exclusion of all other virtues.

To our faith in Christ, we need to add virtue (moral excellence).  How we live matters.  To our virtue we need to add knowledge.  Peter is not talking about the knowledge of humanity.  We need to add the knowledge of God that has been made available in Jesus.

Let me just insert here that this may sound strange.  How can I supply virtue to myself?  Though Peter does not make this explicit, the previous mention of the fruit of the Spirit is part of the answer.  God is supplying His Spirit in order to transform us into the image of Jesus.  However, this requires me to “supply” the faith and courage to walk these things out.  I must be intentional.  The question is never about God’s supply.  He is faithful.  However, the question is whether I will take up what He is supplying and adding it to my life.

To knowledge, we must add self-control.  Notice that knowledge in and of itself can puff us up with pride.  Thus, all of these virtues working together keep us from falling short of the image of Christ.

To self-control, we are to add perseverance.  Many people can do good things for a short time.  We are called to stick in there and endure to the end.

To perseverance, we are to add godliness.  Sometimes people who have endured many hardships can become arrogant and hard towards others.  We can cease to be like Jesus in our care for the lost.  We need both.

To our godliness, we are to add brotherly love.  This emphasizes the relational love that develops between family and friends as we do life together.

Finally, we are to add love (agape).  This is a love without condition.  It is love for the sake of Christ.  I love you, not because we have done life together and I have a bond with you, but because Christ compels me to do so.  This seems to serve as the capstone of Christ-like character we are to emulate.

Peter then makes a conditional statement.  “If these are yours and are increasing…”  It is up to you to listen to Jesus and to his apostle.  You can add these things because God is faithful to help you, supplying all you need to do it.  Instead of calling for a certain level, Peter emphasizes that they are increasing.  It may be hard to know if you are increasing in love over the short term.  However, over time, we can see how God transforms our life as we trust Him and obey.

If we have these and they are increasing, then we will not be useless and unfruitful.  Without Christ, our lives are essentially that: useless to God and unfruitful for the things that matter.  As God pours into your life, He is also working to make you spiritually fruitful to others in your life.  He will be able to use you to impact people who are spiritually lost, or brothers and sisters who need a helping hand.

Jesus even told his disciples that God will sometimes prune perfectly good things out of our life in order to make us more fruitful.

As we read verse nine, we can see that certain people were kicking against Peter’s command to grow in godliness.  Thus, Peter challenges those who refuse to follow this instruction.  They are blind and short-sighted.  They are blind to all that Jesus is trying to do in their life, and they are short-sighted to the day when they will give an account to the Lord they claim to have trusted.

They have forgotten their purification from former sins.  This is what Jesus is doing.  He has first legally purified us from our sins.  Yet, he then enlists us in a lifelong task of cleaning sin out of our lives.  We are not saved because we do this.  Rather, we do this because he has saved us.

For the life of me, I do not understand how some people have twisted grace into the idea that they don’t want to “work.”  Somehow you are encroaching on their freedom if you challenge their sin.  Jesus did not die to give us freedom to sin as we please.  He died to set us free from sin.  If we are not blind to the deleterious effects of sin in our life, then we will rejoice to have his help in this.

Praise be unto Jesus who delivers us from these bodies of death!

Growing in Godliness audio

The First Letter of Peter- 12

Subtitle: Our Witness before the World- Part 4

1 Peter 3:1-6.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, February 8, 2026.

Today, we will once again visit this area of husband-and-wife relationships.  We dealt with this when we were going through the letter to the Colossians (See Weekly Word October 12, 2025).  There Paul told women to submit to their own husbands.

We talked then about two very different approaches to passages like this: Complementarian and Egalitarian.  Essentially, we are asking what God’s original intention was in the Garden of Eden.  Was God setting up a hierarchal union or a horizontal union of two people?  A picturesque way to think about it is to use the idea of a team.  Is Eve given to Team Adam so that he would have a better chance of winning (“Go, Adam, Go!”).  Or is God asking Adam and Eve to unite in one purpose for the sake of Team Husband and Wife?  If you think the hierarchy is baked into God’s design, then you will be complementarian.  If you think it is a result of the fall, then you will be egalitarian.

Throughout history, women have found themselves in cultures that had a varying degree of respect for them from much to little.  Yet, wives, just like all believers, need to let Jesus be the Lord and focus of their relationships.

We are going to deal with men next week so hang in there, ladies, and hold your peace, men.  Let’s look at our passage.

Wives should submit themselves to their husbands (v. 1-2)

Some translations will say “be submissive,” but I don’t think this is as good as “submit yourself.”  God is asking women to choose something for themselves called submission.  The culture of that day had the husband as the ruler of his home.  Depending upon the husband, a woman could chafe severely under this expectation or be happy to do so because he was a wonderful husband.  We do have some differences between Roman and Jewish culture, but both of them saw the man as the head of the home.

Peter’s emphasis is on the way a wife can be a witness for Jesus.  This is why he follows up this challenge for women with a phrase of purpose, “so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives.”

Not all Christian women had believing husbands.  Peter asks her to submit herself to her husband in order to win him over to Christ.  He speaks of these men as being “disobedient to the word.”  This is talking about the Scriptures, but more specifically, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Paul states it this way in Acts 17:30-31.  “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, “because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained.  He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

If your husband is a believer, then this whole area will take on a completely different complexion.  This is not an adversarial thing where we are fighting for dominance, but a mutual submission for the sake of modeling the relationship between Christ and the Church.  We should work together to glorify Jesus to a lost world.

However, sometimes that lost person is your spouse.  It is somewhat idyllic to think of laying your desires down in order to save another person, especially your spouse.  However, what if he never believes in Jesus?  Can I do it for God in order to glorify Jesus?  Is He worth it?

Peter speaks of the “behavior” of wives.  This conduct or behavior of submission is like the conduct of Jesus.  Notice that the verse opens with the phrase, “in the same way.”  This is referring to the section right before this passage that describes the example of Jesus laying himself down in order to save us!  Peter had given this as an example to household slaves, but he is now pointing wives back to that same example.  These slaves could be suffering under oppressive masters, just as some of these women could be suffering under oppressive husbands.

This may seem unfair and even evil to some.  However, there is nothing evil in choosing to follow Jesus Christ who sacrificed all that he could be in his mortal life in order to save us (while we were yet sinners even).

Wives need to look to Jesus as an example and as a source of strength particularly in situations where the husband is not reasonable. 

Peter gives two words describing this behavior.  “Chaste” is a word that is similar to holy.  It emphasizes purity.  Her life is not defiled with ulterior motives, ill intentions, and selfishness.  Rather, she is trying to serve God.

He also describes this good behavior as “with respect.”  An unreasonable husband who does not want to believe in Jesus may not be worthy of respect.  However, we can still respect the purpose of God in trying to turn his heart away from sin and towards the Lord Jesus.

Let me just give a caution.  God does not intend for women to be physically abused or even killed.  Peter is not talking about physical abuse.  In those days, there would be very little that a woman could do about physical abuse because the society around marriages gave little power to her.  Two thousand years ago a woman could not divorce a man.  If she was caught having an adulterous affair, he could have her killed.  On the other hand, if she caught him having an adulterous affair, there was little that she could do.  Yes, she could make his life miserable, but then that would make her life even more miserable.

In this unfair situation, God is asking wives to serve His greater purpose in the same way that Jesus did.  Women can only do this by entrusting themselves to the One who judges righteously!  God will make all our sacrifices worth it in the end!

Wives should adorn themselves with virtue (v. 3-4)

In verse three, Peter speaks about how a wife adorns herself.  She needs to adorn herself with virtue more than the external things that an ungodly world uses.  Peter lists three areas that were common for those days.  Though they come across as complete prohibitions, it is clear from other passages (see 1 Timothy 2:9) that this is not a prohibition but a call to modesty and proper focus on your internal spirit. 

Paul in 1 Timothy 2:9 speaks of adorning with “proper clothing, modestly and discreetly…”  The problem of objectifying oneself is often a self-preservation mechanism.  It is the one area in which women have power over men (to some degree).  Yet, this is the world’s answer, not God’s.

It was common for the upper-class women to copy the hairstyles of the nobles, seeking out extremely costly garments with costly jewelry.  Clothing could overtly accentuate sexual features.

This hasn’t changed all that much today.  Definitely the styles have changed, but the dynamics have not.  Sometimes we can be dressing as a means of elevating ourselves above other women in the group or community.  There can be class distinctions that purposefully keep poorer women in their place.  We should avoid outward adornments that focus on making ourselves the envy of others.

Of course, there are times when a woman can be dressing to feel powerful over men who seem to be unable to keep themselves from slobbering over a seductive woman.  The line of what is too sexy for public changes with the times.  However, the art of stepping over that line just enough to excite others but not be looked down upon has been practiced in every age.

Peter calls for wives not to focus on complex hair braids, gold jewelry and dress (expensive/seductive).  Instead, they should let it be the internal imperishable things. 

It has been said that beauty is only skin deep.  However, Peter is calling for wives to be beautiful all the way to the core of their hearts (“the hidden person of the heart”).  No one knows what is exactly in your heart, but our speech and actions demonstrate what is on the inside to some degree,

What is my inner life like?  Am I focused on being like Christ, or am I focused on me?

Peter particularly emphasizes two virtues: gentle (meek) and a quiet spirit.

Gentleness is the sense of strength under control.  It is not about being weak but being controlled. 

A quiet spirit is the idea of a person who is peaceful inside.  This person is not a raging sea of anger, ambition, and strong desires.  It doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t say what you think.  It is talking about the peace that comes from the Holy Spirit dwelling within you and knowing that God is pleased with the way you are choosing to serve Him.

This kind of adornment is imperishable because it never grows old (the beautiful spend a lot of money trying to stay beautiful), and it never goes out of style.  This contrasts with the constant changing of trying to keep up with current fashion trends.  Instead, let Christ in you be your beauty.

The example of holy women in the past (v.5-6)

Peter then reminds wives of the godly women in the Old Testament who “hoped in God,” as opposed to their husbands or the things of life.  Their hopes were not in things, “I must have this or that!”  Their hopes were not in their husbands, “He must be this or that!”  Instead, they were looking to God to be their help in the present and reward in the future.

Peter describes them as doing what he has been saying, submitting to their husbands.  He then turns to Sarah and Abraham as his example.

Did Sarah and Abraham ever have any friction in their marriage?  Yes, they did.  Yet she is being used as an example of submitting herself.    This ought to make it clear to us that submitting oneself does not mean you can never put your foot down.

Peter doesn’t explain what he is thinking about when he says that she “obeyed Abraham.”  However, from the story, we know that she followed him into a foreign land.  She trusted that he was hearing from God.  She pretended to be his sister before Pharaoh.  So, we see that she followed Abraham’s lead even when he was being a blockhead.

Peter refers to her calling him, “lord.”  This is probably a reference to Genesis 18:12. This was actually an internal thought that she had when the man eating with her husband said that she would have a child.  Of course, that man was the LORD, and she was very old and couldn’t have children.  “Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord [Abraham] being old also?”

The point is not about the title, but about how Sarah is even internally respecting her husband.  Lord was a term of respect for a man of Abraham’s standing.

Peter declares that wives who follow the example of Jesus will be like Sarah, doing what is good (virtuous).  Such a woman need not be frightened by any fear on this earth (external or internal) because she is living for the Lord Jesus.

Wives can be a light to their husbands, to other women, and a light to the world around them.  In such a light, Jesus can be seen by those who are blind to truth.  May God strengthen all wives as they seek to serve Him.

Witness 4 audio