An Expression of Hope

“Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.”

(2 Peter 3:14 ESV)

When it comes to our salvation, our tendency is to place our hope in ourselves. We tend to place our hope in our own performance. We tend to think that, if we live a good enough life, we just might make it into heaven. We focus our efforts that we might have a chance to be saved.

The problem with this mindset is that we never know if we’ve done enough. We never know if we’ve been good enough. Even if we believe we have a shot at gaining salvation, we know there’s also a chance that we may not.

An even greater problem with this mindset is that nothing we do could ever merit salvation. Even if we could perfectly keep the law of God from this point on, it would not be enough. The simple fact of the matter is that we are sinners. And, because we’re sinners, we deserve only judgment.

Peter has been sharing with us about our great hope, as believers in Jesus. He’s been discussing the return of Christ and the end of this present age. And his encouragement, in this passage, flows from this hope.

Because we are waiting for these great blessings, he says, we’re to be diligent, we’re to make every effort, to be found by him without spot or blemish. We live for the Lord not that we might have hope. We live for him because we have hope.

Our lives are to reflect the hope that we have in Christ. Because we’ve been saved by him from sin, death, and the devil, we are to live in that freedom. We are to live for the Lord because of his salvation.

When we live this way, we recognize that our salvation is found only in him. And by living for him, we are expressing this faith. We are rejecting our sinful desires and tendencies, we are abandoning all efforts to save ourselves, and surrendering ourselves to him.

We are also called, by Peter, to be found at peace. And this is where that peace is found. We are able to be found at peace because of what Christ has done for us. We are able to live with confidence in the fact that we are saved. And this puts all of the questions and doubts, when it comes to our eternal destiny, to rest.