The Ethics of Eschatology

Introduction

Peter has spent the lion’s share of chapter 3 dealing with specific false teachers and false doctrines that have been permeating the church.

Peter has been operating here in two layers, which we have seen. The first layer deals with principles. In effect, Peter is giving us, by example, the principles we need to effectively deal with the wolves in the midst of the flock.

What are those principles?

Pastoral reminders of the truth are a sure guard against false teachers.

God’s Word is the great two-edged sword by which we may defend ourselves against false teaching.

It is critical when dealing with false teaching to be specific. Name the false teachers, name the false teaching, and thereby warn others against their deceptions.

Use multiple lines of reasoning to address and rebuke false teaching. You can see that Peter uses accepted historical realities and accepted theological realities to rebuke the false teachers of his day. Tonight we will see that Peter also reasons from an ethical perspective as well.

The second layer deals with specifics. Peter, by rebuking the false teachers attacking these churches, is teaching us how we are to understand the second coming of Christ, the promises of God, and as we will see tonight, the ethical implications of the coming of Christ.

So tonight then, having dealt with these false teachers historically and theologically, Peter now draws out some ethical implications of our doctrine of the second coming, and uses these implication to further indict the false teachers and simultaneously exhort and encourage the church.

We will break down these verses into a basic 2 point outline, looking first at Peter’s command and then looking at the reasoning he uses to justify or validate that command.

The command

The command comes in verse 11, interestingly, in the form of a rhetorical question. The more word for word translations render this phrase rather awkwardly. The NIV provides the sense in English in a plainer way by restating one of the phrases. The rhetorical question is this: what sort of people ought you to be? How should you act? What should you do? How should you live your life?

Now Peter’s use of a rhetorical question carries a specific implication. What is the purpose of a rhetorical question in discourse? It is used to demonstrate, often implicitly, to the reader that they should already know the answer to the question.

So what Peter is doing here is indicating to his readers that he is about to say something that they should already know. He’s about to repeat himself.

On a deeper level, we see that Peter is again following his own counsel. He is doing exactly what he said he would do back in both in 1:12 and in 3:1 - reminding them of the truth, strengthening them in the truth, stirring up their sincere mind by way of reminder.

But like a good pastor, Peter doesn’t just ask the rhetorical question. He actually answers it himself for the purpose of reminding his hearers of something. So what type of reminder is this?

It is an ethical reminder, addressing Christian behavior in the world.

Peter therefore gives four exhortations here regarding Christian ethics or behavior.

Be holy in your conduct

Peter’s first exhortation is to holy conduct.

We would do well to understand the Biblical definition of both these words as we study tonight.

First, holy. Holiness is a word that gets thrown around in the Christian world and Christian lingo but I am afraid that too often we fail to understand it rightly.

In order to understand holiness in human terms, we must first understand it in divine terms. In other words, before we can understand the holiness of the Christian, we must understand the holiness of God.

We can recall that both the Old and New Testaments affirm holiness as God’s primary, principal, and controlling attribute. How do we know this? Simply because it is only the word holy that is used to describe God in what we might call the “super-superlative.” In both Old and New Testaments God is described as holy, holy, holy. In fact, when He is described as such, the angels making the proclamation do not feel the need to express anything further about God. He is simply thrice-holy, holy to the absolute degree, infinitely and eternally and incomprehensibly holy.

We can therefore rightly say that, more than other attribute, God’s holiness controls, surrounds, deepens, and broadens every other of God’s perfections. God is not simply love. He is holy love. He is not simply justice. He is holy justice. He is not simply creator. He is the holy Creator.

If I may, I would lean a bit outside the scholastic affirmations of simplicity and impassibility to say that God’s holiness is the chief of His attributes and the most important.

How might we define God’s holiness? Simply, it is his purity and perfection, it is his glory and majesty, it is his transcendence and other-ness. Words fail to capture with any kind of adequacy the proper bound and definition of this word, which is why every time a mere mortal is faced with the holiness of God they yield a remarkable physical reaction. Moses, Isaiah, Peter, James, and John all collapsed to their faces, prostrate and still before the holiness of God. Isaiah was so moved that he began wailing and sobbing uncontrollably, and John echoed the sentiment 800 years later.

And yet, despite this indescribable perfection of God that we call holiness, holiness is not an incommunicable attribute. In other words, just as God possess holiness, so too human beings can possess it as well. Holiness is communicable. It can be manifested and cultivated within humans.

How are humans holy? I believe they are holy inasmuch as they are committed to faithfully reflecting and bearing the holiness of God in themselves. Be holy as I am holy, goes the command of God in Exodus, repeated by Peter in his first epistle. Be pure as I am pure. Be perfect as I am perfect. Radiate my glory. Reflect my majesty. Transcend this mortal plane as you live for something bigger and better and beyond yourself.

A life of holiness is perhaps nowhere better summarized than by Paul in Romans 12:1-2

Romans 12:1–2 LSB

Therefore I exhort you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice—living, holy, and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may approve what the will of God is, that which is good and pleasing and perfect.

The whole-life worship-service of the Christian is to be living, pleasing to God, good, and perfect. This is the life of holiness.

Peter likewise clarifies that the Christian life is to be holy specifically in conduct. This word would seem to signify that Peter has the entire public life of the Christian in mind.

Conduct is always portrayed in Scripture as public behavior. Therefore, Christians are to be visibly holy before all men, both inside and outside the church.

This connects directly with one of the primary themes of 1 Peter, specifically in 1 Peter 2:11-12

1 Peter 2:11–12 LSB

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul, by keeping your conduct excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good works, as they observe them, glorify God in the DAY OF VISITATION.

Peter uses these two verses to establish the entire theme of 1 Peter 2-3 and now in his second letter, he continues the theme: the Christian is to be a Christian publicly, for the purpose of winning mockers and scoffers to Christ and giving glory to God.

We see therefore that Peter is teaching his readers another way to combat false teaching, by dipping back into the principles he taught us back in his first letter.

The holy conduct of the church in this age serves as an indictment against false teachers. Just as the slanderers and persecutors of 1 Peter were put to shame by the holy conduct of the church, so also the the false teachers will be put to shame by the holy conduct of the church.

Therefore as a church today, we must be committed to holy conduct, to God-glorifying behavior in the public sphere if we are to rightly anticipate the coming of Christ

What are some ways that we can pursue holy conduct as Christians right now?

Be godly

Peter’s second command is to godliness. If we can define holy conduct as God-glorifying behavior in public, we might define godliness as God-glorifying behavior in private.

To be Godly is to have integrity. To be Godly is to live your private life in accordance with the Scriptures.

Are you a Christian when no one is watching? That is Godliness.

Are you a Christian when no other Christians are around? That is Godliness.

Public Christianity is good, right, and necessary. But when divorced from private piety, the public display of Christian ethics and doctrine becomes simply a shell, a facade, pounds of cosmetics to cover up a gaunt, unhealthy, and dying face.

Our question tonight then is this: are we girding ourselves up to oppose false teachers and simultaneously anticipating and preparing for the day of Christ’s return by a commitment to private, inward piety? Are we honoring God with what we do behind closed doors, in the dark, all alone? This is Peter’s call to Godliness.

What are ways that we can practice inward, private Godliness in our lives?

Look for the day of God

A third exhortation, a third mark of the church and the Christians she contains is that she would look for the day of God.

The word here translated look might, more properly, be translated wait expectantly or look expectantly.

Perhaps a good illustration of this would be the child awake at 4am on Christmas morning, trembling with excitement at the prospect of waking up to open gifts. Waking up is of course used loosely because this child is already awake, eyes wide open and mind racing through all the gifts that might await him under the tree.

A child who doesn’t experience some level of eager anticipation of Christmas gifts might be labeled an odd or ill-adjusted child. And Peter says that the Christian who does not anticipate Christ’s coming in the same way is likewise ill-adjusted.

Recall that Peter is asking this question rhetorically. He’s assuming that this should be common knowledge, basic information.

How disappointed Peter would be, I think, in the manner in which many Christians live today in this regard. Rather than anticipating Christian return with eagerness and hope, we secretly wish that Jesus would hold off for a few more years or decades so that we can get all the stuff done that we want to get done. I confess that I often find myself lost in that mindset, fixating on the temporal and the here and now rather than holding this life loosely as I long for the next.

Therefore a critical and central part of the Christian identity is a longing, eager anticipation for the return of Christ.

As Christians, are we like men who are waiting for their master, ready to immediately open the door when he knocks? Are we like those whom Christ will bless when He returns and finds us awake?

As Christians, do we anxiously long for the revelation of Christ? Do we groan within ourselves, awaiting our adoption as sons and daughters?

As Christians, do we consider our citizenship to be in heaven as we eagerly wait for our Savior, who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory?

We must be anxious, eager, and hopeful in our anticipation of the future grace and glory to be revealed to us at the coming of Christ.

Hasten the day of God

Peter’s final exhortation, his final mark of a Christian whose behavior repudiates false teachers and embraces the doctrine of the second coming and the future judgment, is that they are to hasten the day of God.

Now there is some confusion as to what this means, and I believe many interpretation are colored by attempts to fit all of Scripture rigidly into a specific box of eschatological understanding. In other words, people misconstrue this command to try and make it fit their interpretation of what’s going to happen at the end of history.

I think, however, that Peter makes himself quite plain here. The key is, you have to understand some of Paul’s works to understand Peter here. What’s great is that in just a few verses, Peter explicitly acknowledges his engagement and agreement with the apostle Paul, so we don’t have to wonder if Peter intended us to read his works alongside Paul.

So what does it mean to hasten the day of God?

It’s actually very easy. The Greek word is speudon. Sound familiar? That’s because this is where we get our English word speed. The word is used throughout the New Testament as well as throughout Peter’s Greek translation of the Old Testament, and it is often translated into English “hurry” or “hurry up.”

So to hasten the day of God is to hurry it up, speed it up, or make it come faster.

Now you might ask, how would this work? If only God knows the day and the hour, how can I contribute to a speedier return of Christ?

In order to understand that, we have to understand what the Biblical writers perceive as the certain signs that we are near the end of history.

We can mark these signs in various ways. Many people will say that wars or earthquakes or the restoration of Jewish autonomy in Israel or the rebuilding of the temple are the marks of the end.

But Peter is not telling us to go start wars and rumors of wars. He’s not telling us to take a backpack of dynamite to the San Andreas Fault and start an earthquake. He’s not telling us to go on a crusade and liberate Israel from the Palestinians and tear down the Dome of the Rock.

On the other end of the eschatological spectrum, neither is Peter telling us to forcibly subject all nations, government, corporations, and institutions to Biblical law.

These are not the things that will hasten the day.

Rather, I believe Peter is making a subtle nod to Paul’s argument in Romans 11:25-26

Romans 11:25–26 LSB

For I do not want you, brothers, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.”

For Paul, the surefire mark that Christ’s return is imminent is in two parts: The fullness of the Gentiles will come in, and all Israel will be saved, and then the Deliverer will come.

And if that is not enough, Peter is making an explicit nod to Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 24:14

Matthew 24:14 LSB

“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in the whole world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Both Peter and Paul and ultimate Christ Himself demonstrate that it is folly to try and associate the second coming of Christ with any earthly and visible marks or signs. Rather, their encouragement is to look to the spiritual markers: the building of the church, the discipleship of the nations, the continual conversion of every nation, tribe, language, and tongue, true spiritual revival.

The apostles do not want us to anticipate the second coming based on geopolitical events, whether in Washington DC or the Middle East or at the World Economic Forum or anywhere else. Rather, they want us to anticipate the second coming based on spiritual events that happen right here between these four walls.

So how do we hasten the day? What do we do to walk in obedience to Peter’s command here?

It’s simple:

Matthew 28:19–20 LSB

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to keep all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Make disciples by going, baptizing, and teaching.

You want to hasten the day? Preach the gospel. Pray for the conversion of sinners. Proclaim the whole counsel of God. Pray for true gospel revival.

Pray for God to use you and to use His church as a master builder uses his tools to build a house. Pray that we would play an influential part in the discipleship of the nations.

There is more day-hastening power in these things than in all the geopolitical and sociocultural initiatives we could muster. If we want to follow Peter’s command to hasten the day of God, we will proclaim the gospel to a lost and dying world.

The reason

Peter provides two grounds or reasons for why we are to live this way. Certainly we affirm that we are to conduct ourselves in holiness and godliness, eagerly await the day of the Lord and also hasten the day of the Lord, but why? Peter explains by way of a double description of what will happen on the day of God.

Unexpected destruction of the old heavens and old earth

The first reason that Peter gives for these exhortations is this: the old heavens and old earth will be unexpectedly destroyed.

First, let’s deal with Peter’s description of the destruction. This is absolutely compelling from a scientific perspective.

The heavens burning will be destroyed with intense heat. This word destruction is actually most often translated untie in the New Testament.

What Peter is telling us is that the heavens, and by the heavens he means everything outside the earth’s atmosphere. Large scale, space, the heavenly bodies, larger than the human mind can comprehend. The heavens will be destroyed, literally untied. The molecular rope as it were that has tied these heavenly bodies into an orderly shape and direction for thousands of years will be undone. The day of God is a day of cosmic chaos. The stars and planets unmoored from their docks, physically unhinged. This is apocalyptic destruction on a macrocosmic scale.

Likewise, the elements will melt with intense heat.

What are the elements? Peter is describing the most basic building blocks of space and matter. It would seem that Peter, before any humans knew that such things existed, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is speaking of atomic and subatomic particles, the tiniest molecules that are woven together into the fabric of our physical reality.

Now what do I mean by unexpected? I don’t mean unexpected in the sense that the church will be unprepared. In fact, quite the opposite. What I mean by unexpected is that it will come at a day and time that we do not know.

Peter says in the previous verse that the day of the Lord will come like a thief. This is a reference to Jesus’ teaching on the end of history.

Matthew 24:32–51 LSB

“Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. “For just as the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. “For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. “Then there will be two in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. “Two women will be grinding grain at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left. “Therefore stay awake, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. “But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. “For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. “Who then is the faithful and prudent slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? “Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. “Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. “But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’ and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The coming of Christ is unexpected in the sense that we do not know exactly when He will return. This means that we must be watchful and vigilant, over ourselves, over our ethics, over our doctrine, over our churches, for we do not know when He will arrive.

As Coach Shooter might say, we can’t get caught watching the paint dry! We must be disciplined and diligent in our holy conduct, our godliness, our longing for the day of God and our hastening the day of God.

To put it more eloquently, Jonathan Edwards’ 19th resolution says this:

Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if I expected it would not be above an hour, before I should hear the last trump.

Do we live our lives like this? Do we live our lives in such a way that we would not be ashamed if Christ appeared right now?

Expected creation of the new heavens and new earth

Same eager anticipation

Holiness, godliness fitting us for a new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells and sin has no place

Isaiah 65:17–25 LSB

“For behold, I am creating a new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come upon the heart. “But be joyful and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing And her people for joy. “I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be joyful in My people; And there will no longer be heard in her The voice of weeping and the voice of crying. “No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, Or an old man who does not fulfill his days; For the youth will die at the age of one hundred, And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred Will be thought accursed. “They will build houses and inhabit them; They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit. “They will not build and another inhabit; They will not plant and another eat; For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands. “They will not labor in vain, Or bear children for terror; For they are the seed of those blessed by Yahweh, And their offspring with them. “And it will be that before they call, I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will hear. “The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil nor act corruptly in all My holy mountain,” says Yahweh.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. In the end, He will do the same. The difference? The new heavens and the new earth has a full orbed knowledge of the fullness of God’s grace, mercy, and redemption.

Applications

Always important to draw out the ethical implications of false teaching

The consistent ethical commitments of the church will thwart false teachers

Live in light of the end