“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.
“Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
“Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” 2 Peter 3:10-18 NASB
Peter was talking to Christians, to those who believed in Jesus Christ. And he was talking to them about the day of God’s judgments on the earth. And then he challenged them with this thought. Since they knew that this was coming, what sort of people ought they to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, the day of judgment on the earth and on the people of the earth. But why?
Why did he challenge them with that thought? Well, he went on by saying that, since they look for these things, they should be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless. And they were to be on their guard so that they were not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from their steadfastness. But they were to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So, why the warning?
Why, if they were born again Christians, and if their salvation was secured, would they need to be warned about how they live? It is because our salvation from sin is not a one-time deal and then we are “good to go.” Our salvation is progressive sanctification, and we must continue in walks of obedience to our Lord in holy living, by the Spirit, daily putting sin to death and walking according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh.
And our salvation does not come about merely by giving lip service to the Lord, either. We must be crucified and buried with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. Sin must no longer be our practice. For if sin is what we obey, in practice, and if godliness, righteousness, and obedience to our Lord we don’t obey, then we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what our lips profess.
So, how we live our lives on this earth, in practice, will determine for us where we will spend eternity. For Jesus said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one DOING the will of God the Father. And he said if anyone would come after him he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our sin, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, and obey our Lord, we have eternal life in him.
So, during our lifetime on this earth, while we wait for our Lord’s return, we are to be living holy and godly lives, pleasing to our Lord. We are to be living lives which are separate (unlike, different) from the world and unto God because we are being made to be like God in his righteousness and holiness. And we are to no longer walk (in conduct, in practice) in sin, but now we are to walk according to the Spirit in obedience to our Lord Jesus.
And if you are not living like this, but if sin is still your practice, then you need to genuinely repent of that sin, i.e. forsake your sins, get rid of them out of your life, and now follow Jesus in obedience to his ways. For none of us are guaranteed tomorrow. But this can only happen as you humble yourself before God and surrender your life to him and let him now be the Lord (Owner-Master) of your life, and as you follow him now in obedience, but not in your own power, but in the power of God, by his Spirit.
Those of us who are walking by the Spirit and not according to the flesh, and for whom Jesus is truly Lord of our lives, when he returns, we have the hope of eternal life with God. And we are looking for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells, when sin will be no more. But for those who are still walking in deliberate and habitual sin, and who have not put sin to death, by the Spirit, they do not have that hope nor that promise. They are promised that they will not inherit eternal life with God.
So, we all need to be walking in holiness and godliness and righteousness and not in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord. And this is not claiming absolute sinless perfection, but that sin is not to be our habit, what we obey, in practice. And righteousness and obedience to our Lord must be what we practice, as a matter of life course. And this isn’t just so we end up in heaven and not in hell, but it is so that we are able to serve the Lord in ministering his love and grace to others in hopes they will be saved, too.
[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897
Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.
O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.
O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.
Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg
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