2 Peter 3.17–18
v 17–18 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
Scriptures prophetic hope is one of Grace and Condemnation, of hope for a new Creation that rises from the destruction of all, the known and the unknown, heaven and earth. The Truth revealed in Jesus Christ, that there is a life promised in him beyond death, is the hope that is revealed of the Father’s will for his Creation, and is the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who believe in the faith they have received from God.
With the life we have in Jesus Christ, we know that when we are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that we can endure it (1 Corinthians 10.13). As long as we obey the Son’s teaching to “Remain in me, as I also remain in you” (John 15.4), we know that we have a secure position. Against this position, this life which is no life of man but the life of the Son of God in man, we are confident that even if the rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against our life in Christ would not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock (Matthew 7.25). This Son of God, our teacher who revealed the Word of God and the Grace of God that by faith and confession of our need for God’s Grace we might live eternally in him, provided in his instruction and life the perfect example of a life lived in free obedience to the Father with the anointing power of the Holy Spirit. He is who we have come to know by the diligent searching of the Scriptures, by acquainting ourselves with the Law, and the Prophets, and the Psalmists, and by appealing to the Spirit of Truth, of whom Jesus Christ promises will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you (John 14.26). Jesus Christ is the one we meet in the testimony of one who speaks the Testimony of the Son of God, and it is he whom we know through the Spirit of Truth. Accordingly, we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands (1 John 2.3), for those who know him, know the Truth and the Way and the Life that he provides to live in fellowship with God.
By the fulfillment of the Word of God in the person of Jesus Christ, we have revelation and invitation into the hope for God’s eternal will of Grace for Creation. The Father’s will and plan for salvation of his Creation was from the beginning, and was so marvelous as to mean fellowship with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ (1 John 1.1–3). God’s intent for salvation of his Creation is sealed by his covenant with man, sworn by his own Name as guarantee, and sealed in the passage of history and flesh by the seal of his Spirit. By this seal and this guarantee, man has been changed: Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. (Colossians 2.11–12). By the Name of God as guarantor and seal, those whom he has called and redeemed are to not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall. Made by free obedience to the faith received from God, they are servants of the one living God, and as servants, to their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand (Romans 14.4). Any temptation to oppose the will of God is a threat of an alternative authority apart from God. Regardless the motivation or justification, be it one of personal locus or societal, be it related to high minded thoughts of wisdom or sensuality of the flesh, be it derived from any fear or love apart from God, the wisdom of the Son of God, who only and perfectly served the Authority of the Father, should stay our hearts: do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10.28). Our hope is that no Authority other than the Father has dominion over our eternal judgement, and we have an advocate with the Father — Jesus Christ, the Righteous One who despite our failings is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2.2).
By the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those baptized into the Body of Christ by faith received of the Father by the Son, we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is by his anointing that we may participate in the divine nature, and we are confident that the one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them; this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. (1 John 3.24). By this Spirit, we will let the peace of Christ rule in our heart, we will let the message of Christ dwell among us richly, and whatever we do, whether in word or deed, we will do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him (Colossians 3.15–17). By this work of God’s miracles in us, we will live a life to the Glory of God, with the purpose of a life beyond death hidden in Christ, to be revealed when he returns in Glory. For such things beyond man’s grasping and holding, beyond both heaven and earth, the conceivable and the inconceivable, the Spirit of Truth guides, corrects, rebukes, and affirms, so that to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be glory both now and forever!
When all of Creation, heaven and earth, is destroyed so that all which remains is his Glory, it is only those who are hidden in his Glory who have a hope to take the free gift of the water of life (Revelation 22.17). Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city (Revelations 2.14). Blessed are those who have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator (Colossians 3.10). Blessed are those who acknowledge and are rooted in their core essential foundations of being in God’s testimony, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life (1 John 5.11–12). Blessed are those who make every effort to confirm their calling and election and thus will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are called to this Grace by the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit. In God we have this life, hope, and purpose. Amen.
