2 Peter - Verse-by-Verse Biblical Exegesis

VUL
2 Peter 3:13 novos vero caelos et novam terram et promissa ipsius expectamus in quibus
iustitia habitat
LWB 2 Peter 3:14 Therefore, beloved [members of the royal family], since you are
eagerly looking for these things [signs of the coming of the day of the Lord], be
diligent [by doctrinal inculcation] to be found by Him [Jesus Christ] spotless
[supergrace A status] and blameless [supergrace B status], in prosperity [ultrasupergrace
status].
KW 2 Peter 3:14 On which account, divinely loved ones, since you are looking for these
things, do your best to be found with reference to Him irreproachable and unblameable,
in peace.
KJV 2 Peter 3:14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may
be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
TRANSLATION HIGHLIGHTS
Since his readers are going to be eagerly looking forward to the signs of the coming of
the day of the Lord (Causal Participle), he commands them to be diligent in doctrinal
inculcation (Imperative mood). Peter wants them to be found by Jesus Christ when He
returns (Result Participle) in one spiritual stage or another – as opposed to carnality and
reversionism. The ingressive aorist means he wants them to start being more diligent in
their spiritual life; the culminative aorist points to their ultimate evaluation at the
Judgment Seat of Christ. Some commentators see the next three items as a mere list:
spotless, blameless, and in prosperity. Thieme sees these three descriptions as stages in
the spiritual life. Spotless (Latin: immaculate) refers to supergrace A status, blameless
(Latin: inviolate) refers to supergrace B status, and in prosperity (Latin: in peace) refers
to ultra-supergrace status. However you see them, they are honorable goals to aspire to in
the Christian way of life – not to mention a great 3-point outline!
RELEVANT OPINIONS
This word “to make every effort” stresses the responsibility of the individual Christian to
exert himself in developing Christian conduct. (S. Kistemaker) This life, this growth, this
process demands constant cultivation day after day, week after week, year after year. There
is no end to the process of maturing in spiritual things. The one who has been a believer fifty
years has before him yet unpossessed land, just as the one who has been a believer for five
years, or five months, has before him unpossessed land. (J. Pentecost) What are your goals?
Are you a productive Christian moving toward a worthwhile goal? What is really the object
of your life? Is it to live for God? If you live for God, all of the secondary issues, I believe,
will take care of themselves. (J. McGee) Instead of following the teaching and example of
the false teachers, themselves “spots and blemishes” (2:13), let the readers endeavor to be
like their Lord, “without spot and blemish.” (D. Hiebert)
2 Peter 3:14 Therefore (inferential), beloved (Voc. Address;
members of the royal family), since you are eagerly looking