The document discusses the significance of living a godly life in anticipation of Christ's return, emphasizing the importance of holiness and godliness as a response to being saved and the promise of eternity. It draws from various scripture passages, particularly focusing on 2 Peter, which encourages believers to make every effort to adhere to their faith and live righteously while awaiting Christ's second coming. The text further warns against false teachings and underscores the need for believers to actively spread the gospel and cultivate their relationship with God.

1. How Shall We Live?
2 Peter 3:11-18
Adapted from a
David Owens sermon
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2. In those days Caesar Augustus issued a
decree that a census should be taken of the
entire Roman world. (This was the first
census that took place while Quirinius was
governor of Syria.) And everyone went to
his own town to register. So Joseph also
went up from the town of Nazareth in
Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of
David, because he belonged to the house
and line of David.

3. He went there to register with Mary, who
was pledged to be married to him and was
expecting a child. While they were
there, the time came for the baby to be
born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a
son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed
him in a manger, because there was no
room for them in the inn. And there were
shepherds living out in the fields
nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at
night.

4. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and
the glory of the Lord shone around
them, and they were terrified. But the angel
said to them, ―Do not be afraid. I bring you
good news of great joy that will be for all the
people. Today in the town of David a Savior
has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
This will be a sign to you: You will find a
baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a
manger.‖

5. Suddenly a great company of the heavenly
host appeared with the angel, praising God
and saying, ―Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace to men on
whom his favor rests.‖ When the angels had
left them and gone into heaven, the
shepherds said to one another, ―Let‘s go to
Bethlehem and see this thing that has
happened, which the Lord has told us
about.‖

6. So they hurried off and found Mary and
Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the
manger. When they had seen him, they
spread the word concerning what had been
told them about this child, and all who heard
it were amazed at what the shepherds said
to them. But Mary treasured up all these
things and pondered them in her heart.

7. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and
praising God for all the things they had
heard and seen, which were just as they
had been told.
Luke 2:1-20 NIV
The Savior of the world has come. We must
not leave Him in the manger because the
reason He came as a human would not
happen till about 33 years later. The writer
of Hebrews tells us the importance of what
He did.

8. Hebrews 9:11 NET But now Christ has
come as the high priest of the good things
to come. He passed through the greater
and more perfect tent not made with
hands, that is, not of this creation, 12 and
he entered once for all into the most holy
place not by the blood of goats and calves
but by his own blood, and so he himself
secured eternal redemption.

9. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and
the ashes of a young cow sprinkled on
those who are defiled consecrated them
and provided ritual purity, 14 how much
more will the blood of Christ, who through
the eternal Spirit offered himself without
blemish to God, purify our consciences from
dead works to worship the living God.

10. 15 And so he is the mediator of a new
covenant, so that those who are called may
receive the eternal inheritance he has
promised, since he died to set them free
from the violations committed under the first
covenant. 16 For where there is a will, the
death of the one who made it must be
proven. 17 For a will takes effect only at
death, since it carries no force while the one
who made it is alive.

11. We know He was not doomed to remain
dead, rotting in the tomb. The Savior, Our
Lord was raised from the dead. Notice the
end of the writer‘s prayer.
Hebrews 13:20 NET Now may the God of
peace who by the blood of the eternal
covenant brought back from the dead the
great shepherd of the sheep, our Lord
Jesus Christ, 21 equip you with every good
thing to do his will, working in us what is
pleasing before him through Jesus
Christ, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

12. The prayer is Now may the God of
peace…equip you with every good thing to
do his will. When we do his will we prepare
ourselves & others for the promise He
made. John 14:2 NET There are many
dwelling places in my Father's house.
Otherwise, I would have told you, because I
am going away to make ready a place for
you. 3 And if I go and make ready a place
for you, I will come again and take you to be
with me, so that where I am you may be
too.

13. Where did He go & where does He want to
take us? Acts 1:9 NET After he had said
this, while they were watching, he was lifted
up and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10
As they were still staring into the sky while
he was going, suddenly two men in white
clothing stood near them 11 and said, "Men
of Galilee, why do you stand here looking
up into the sky? This same Jesus who has
been taken up from you into heaven will
come back in the same way you saw him
go into heaven."

14. The story is told of a minister who visited an
elderly woman in the nursing home. The
young minister said, ―At your age you
should be thinking about the hereafter!‖ The
older woman said, ―Oh, I do all the time. No
matter where I am – in my room, down in
the cafeteria, or down in the recreation
room – I ask myself ‗What am I here after?‘
‖

15. C.S. Lewis said, ―It is since Christians have
largely ceased to think of the other world
that they have become so ineffective in this
one.‖
Popular author and preacher, Joseph
Stowell wrote, ―When we begin to believe
the reality of the other side, we start
behaving differently on this side.‖

16. All true believers hold firmly to the fact that
Jesus will come again. We might disagree
about what exactly will happen when He
returns, but we know that He is coming and
when He comes everything will be changed
forever.

17. In light of God the Son, Jesus, coming as a
human baby, shedding His blood for our
sins, ascending to Heaven & His certain
return, we must ask and answer a very
important question: ―How Shall We Live?‖
How should we be living in order to be
ready? What should we be doing in order to
be living a life that is pleasing to God?

18. Let‘s see how Peter answers this important
question. The admonition that best
summarizes Peter‘s answer is ―make every
effort!‖ Peter has employed this idea before.
Peter admonished, For this very
reason, make every effort to add to your
faith excellence, to excellence, knowledge;
2 Peter 1:5, NET

19. 5 verses later he
commanded, Therefore, brothers and
sisters, make every effort to be sure of your
calling and election. For by doing this you
will never stumble into sin. 2 Peter 1:10
NET
Then 5 later, Indeed, I will also make every
effort that, after my departure, you have a
testimony of these things.
2 Peter 1:15 NET
Let‘s look at this final section of the letter
and see what we must make every effort to
do in light of the coming of Christ.

20. 2 Peter 3:11 NET Since all these things are
to melt away in this manner, what sort of
people must we be, conducting our lives in
holiness and godliness, 12 while waiting for
and hastening the coming of the day of
God? Because of this day, the heavens will
be burned up and dissolve, and the celestial
bodies will melt away in a blaze!

21. 13 But, according to his promise, we are
waiting for new heavens and a new earth, in
which righteousness truly resides. 14
Therefore, dear friends, since you are
waiting for these things, strive to be found
at peace, without spot or blemish, when you
come into his presence.

22. Because we realize that the world will be
destroyed, and that even the elements will
be disintegrated, we fix our hope, not on
anything in this world, but only on the Lord.
Because we don‘t know when all this will
take place, we must be constantly ready for
His return. This expectant attitude ought to
make a difference in our personal, daily
conduct.

23. Our conduct should be characterized by
holiness (Grk “in holy conduct” NETnotes) and
godliness. Holiness entails separation from
evil and dedication to God. Godliness
relates to piety and worship – it describes
the person whose life is devoted to pleasing
God. Commentator John McArthur
describes holiness and godliness this way:
―Holy conduct refers to action, godliness
refers to attitude.

24. Holy conduct refers to the way I live my
life, godliness refers to the spirit of
reverence within me by which I live my
life…
Peter is saying what kind of person ought
you to be in heart and in behavior, in motive
and in action, in attitude and in duty.‖
Be holy in action and godly in attitude.

25. The result or conclusion of our effort to be
holy and godly is addressed in verse 14
Therefore, dear friends, since you are
waiting for these things, strive to be found
at peace, without spot or blemish, when you
come into his presence. It is interesting that
Peter used these same words in reference
to Jesus in 1 Peter 1:19 NET but by
precious blood like that of an unblemished
and spotless lamb, namely Christ.

26. Let‘s contrast this with Peter‘s description of
false teachers. 2 Peter 2:13b,c NET …By
considering it a pleasure to carouse in
broad daylight, they are stains and
blemishes, indulging in their deceitful
pleasures when they feast together with
you. 14 Their eyes, full of adultery, never
stop sinning; they entice unstable people.
They have trained their hearts for
greed, these cursed children!
No peace or purity found in them.

27. We want to be like Jesus, and we want to
be at peace with Him & His people. This
peace results from our efforts to please the
Lord, and from the forgiveness we receive
through our relationship with Christ.
Ultimately, those who are ―found at
peace, without spot or blemish,‖ have put
out of their lives the things He hates, and
have put into their lives the things God
loves.

28. Other New Testament writers also teach
that an eager expectancy of the Lord‘s
return ought to motivate us to godly living.
Paul, in his 2nd letter to the saints in
Corinth, talked about the reality of the loss
of our earthly tent, and our appearance
before the judgment seat of Christ. Paul‘s
conclusion is that this should cause us to
make it our goal to please the Lord and to
try to persuade others.

29. 2 Corinthians 5:1 NET For we know that if
our earthly house, the tent we live in, is
dismantled, we have a building from God, a
house not built by human hands, that is
eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this earthly
house we groan, because we desire to put
on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed, after
we have put on our heavenly house, we will
not be found naked.

30. 4 For we groan while we are in this
tent, since we are weighed down, because
we do not want to be unclothed, but
clothed, so that what is mortal may be
swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who
prepared us for this very purpose is
God, who gave us the Spirit as a down
payment.

31. 6 Therefore we are always full of
courage, and we know that as long as we
are alive here on earth we are absent from
the Lord — 7 for we live by faith, not by
sight. 8 Thus we are full of courage and
would prefer to be away from the body and
at home with the Lord. 9 So then whether
we are alive or away, we make it our
ambition to please him.

32. 10 For we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, so that each one
may be paid back according to what he has
done while in the body, whether good or
evil. 11 Therefore, because we know the
fear of the Lord, we try to persuade
people, but we are well known to God, and I
hope we are well known to your
consciences too.

33. In John‘s first letter, he made these
motivating points:
1 John 2:28 NET And now, little
children, remain in him, so that when he
appears we may have confidence and not
shrink away from him in shame when he
comes back.

34. 1 John 3:2 NET Dear friends, we are God's
children now, and what we will be has not
yet been revealed. We know that whenever
it is revealed we will be like him, because
we will see him just as he is. 3 And
everyone who has this hope focused on him
purifies himself, just as Jesus is pure).

35. It is easy to see how the second coming
should motivate us to live holy and godly
lives. When Jesus returns we must strive to
be found at peace, without spot or blemish.
Since Christ is coming back, we first of all
must make every effort to live godly lives.

36. 2 Peter 3:15 NET And regard the patience
of our Lord as salvation, just as also our
dear brother Paul wrote to you, according to
the wisdom given to him, 16 speaking of
these things in all his letters. Some things in
these letters are hard to understand, things
the ignorant and unstable twist to their own
destruction, as they also do to the rest of
the scriptures.

37. Here we notice that verse 15 continues the
thought that Peter began back in 2 Peter
3:9 NET The Lord is not slow concerning
his promise, as some regard slowness, but
is being patient toward you, because he
does not wish for any to perish but for all to
come to repentance. God had every reason
long ago to judge the world and burn up its
works, but His merciful desire to see more
people repent, has kept Him from fulfilling
the promised return.

38. The Day of Judgment is coming, but until
then, we continue to live in the time of the
Lord‘s patience which results in the Days of
Salvation. Unfortunately, while we make
every effort trying to win the lost, Satan is at
work trying to foil our efforts. Satan has
many tricks up his sleeve for keeping the
lost lost. One of the tragic ways Satan
works is through false teachers.

39. Peter classifies Paul‘s letters as
Scripture, the inspired Word of God, which
shouldn‘t surprise us since from the
moment of their composition and delivery to
their recipients they had the authority of
commands of the Lord through his apostle.

40. Peter points out that Paul‘s letters contain
some things that can be hard to
understand, which makes them easily used
for distortion and false teaching.
What happens to people who twist…the
Scriptures? Peter says that they do it to
their own destruction.

41. It leads to destruction because it is the
rejection of God‘s way and the setting up of
one‘s own way in opposition to God. This is
why it is so important for us to correctly
handle the Word of God. (2 Tim. 2:15)
G.K. Chesterson once said, ―orthodoxy is
like walking along a narrow ridge; one step
to either side was a step to disaster.

42. Jesus is God and man; God is love and
holiness; Christianity is grace and morality;
the Christian lives in this world and lives in
the world of eternity. Overstress either side
of these great two-sided truths, and at once
destructive heresy emerges.

43. One of the most tragic things in life is when
a man twists Christian truth and Holy
Scripture into an excuse and even a reason
for doing what he wants to do instead of
taking them as guides for doing what God
wants him to do.‖
May God help us to correctly handle His
Word – to understand it, abide by it, and
lead others to Christ through it!

44. Let‘s notice one final thing before we leave
this point. Back in verse 12, Peter
mentioned that it is possible for us to hasten
the return of Jesus. Peter wrote: ―while
waiting for and hastening the coming of the
day of God.‖ How can we Christians
hasten, speed up, the coming of Jesus? It
can be done through prayer. Jesus taught
us to pray, ―Thy Kingdom come.‖
(Mt. 6:10)

45. It can be done through preaching and
witnessing. If God is delaying the return of
Christ so that more can be saved, then if we
are busy bringing people to Christ, that will
speed His coming.

46. It can be done through penitence
(repentance and obedience).
In Acts 3, Peter preached, Therefore repent
and turn back so that your sins may be
wiped out, so that times of refreshing may
come from the presence of the Lord, and so
that he may send the Messiah appointed for
you — that is, Jesus.
Acts 3:19,20 NET

47. Since we know that the day of Christ is
coming, and since we can speed its
coming,
1 - let us make every effort to live godly
lives.
2 – let us make every effort to win the lost.

48. 2 Peter 3:17 NET Therefore, dear
friends, since you have been
forewarned, be on your guard that you do
not get led astray by the error of these
unprincipled men and fall from your firm
grasp on the truth. 18 But grow in the grace
and knowledge of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. To him be the honor both now
and on that eternal day.

49. It is heartwarming that Peter writes with
such affection in this last chapter. Four
times he began his statements with ―dear
friends.‖ These concluding two verses touch
on the two main themes of the letter and
summarize its contents. First, there is the
reminder that his reader be on your guard
that you do not get led astray by the error of
these unprincipled men.

50. The word translated ―guard‖ carries the
meaning of constantly guarding yourself. (to
watch, keep watch [Thayer]) Peter said his
readers knew the truth, but he warned them
that knowledge alone was not sufficient
protection. They had to be on their guard;
they had to be alert.
Second, there is the exhortation, But grow
in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ.

51. Did you notice in verse 17 that a person‘s
secure position is something they can fall
from by being led astray by the error of
these unprincipled men. Peter is
emphasizing that this is serious business –
we must guard ourselves or we may fall
being led astray.

52. So how can we maintain our steadfastness
and avoid being among those who are led
astray? Peter says we can do so by
growing in the grace and knowledge
of…Jesus... This command to grow carries
the meaning of constantly growing.
Someone said: ―The Christian life is like
riding a bicycle – unless you keep
moving, you fall off.‖ Peter says that we
must keep on growing in the grace and
knowledge of…Jesus...

53. To Grow in the grace of…Jesus… includes
many things. We are saved by grace and
we must grow in our understanding and
trust in that grace. To Grow in grace also
has to do with becoming more like Jesus in
our character and in the way we treat
others. Grow in grace also means being
strengthened by grace, (2 Tim. 2:1-4) being
able to endure suffering through grace (2
Cor. 12:7-10)

54. But, we must not only grow in grace, we
must grow in the knowledge of our Lord.
Consider the balance of these two things.
Knowledge without grace is a terrible
weapon, and grace without knowledge can
be very shallow. Notice that we are not
challenged to grow in the knowledge of the
Bible, as good and necessary as that is.

55. No, we are challenged to grow in the
knowledge of our Lord. It is one thing to
know the Bible, but it is another thing to
know the Lord, who is the central theme of
the Bible. We should know the Bible so that
we can know the Lord, not just the Bible.

56. The diligent Christian must constantly be
guarding themselves, lest they be led away
into error, and the diligent Christian must
make every effort to constantly grow in the
grace and knowledge of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. All of this requires
diligence, and demands discipline.

57. Nobody automatically drifts into spiritual
growth and strength, but anyone can drift
out of spiritual security and strength. That‘s
why the Hebrew writer wrote: Therefore we
must pay closer attention to what we have
heard, so that we do not drift away.
Hebrews 2:1 NET

58. Physical and spiritual growth follows pretty
much the same patterns. We grow from the
inside out. We need nourishment and
exercise to grow. We grow best in a loving
family environment. We need to grow in a
balanced way. Imagine if your left & right
arms or legs grew at different rates. How
awkward. That‘s why we want to grow in
grace and knowledge.

59. Peter has reminded us there will be false
teachers and we must be on guard. Peter
has reminded us Jesus is coming back, no
matter how long His return is delayed, we
must be ready.

60. Today we have learned we can be ready by
giving attention to three things.
What action plan do you need to put into
place as you leave here today?

61. What changes do you need to make to be
living a more godly life?
What actions do you need to begin to be
reaching out to the lost?
Who do you need to invite over for dinner or
desert?
Who do you need to invite to worship?
Who do you need to have a spiritual
conversation with and offer to study the
Bible with?

62. What steps do you need to take to guard
yourself and to begin growing spiritually?
Do you need to be more regular in your
daily or weekly spiritual disciplines? Do you
need to ask someone to be your mentor or
your accountability partner? Let‘s be sure
we leave here today ready to do something
to be more ready for Christ‘s return.

63. Do you remember the reports of air traffic
controllers falling asleep on the job? A lone
air traffic controller at Washington D.C.'s
Ronald Reagan Airport admitted to falling
asleep during his shift. A little after
midnight, the pilots of two commercial
planes were unable to reach the tower, but
they were in communication with a regional
air traffic control facility about 40 miles from
the airport.

64. Regional air traffic facilities handle aircraft
within roughly a 50 mile radius of an
airport, but landings and takeoffs are
handled by controllers in the airport tower.
Another incident occurred when an air
traffic controller was found sleeping while
on duty at an airport in Knoxville, TN.

65. The airport control tower was staffed with
one air traffic controller who worked both
the radar and tower positions and handled
seven aircraft over a five hour period
because the radar controller was
unresponsive. Unlike the controller at the
Washington, D.C. airport who fell asleep in
his chair, The Knoxville air traffic controller
allegedly made a bed out of couch cushions
and covered himself with a blanket so he
could be more comfortable.

66. According to a anonymous federal official, a
co-worker checked on the controller several
times, each time shaking him awake.
The controller would promise to stay awake
and do his job, but, each time, he would
return to his makeshift bed and sleep.

67. The last thing we want to do is to be found
asleep on the job when Jesus returns. We
don‘t want to be caught off guard and by
surprise. That means we need to be alert
and ready at all times. The one who testifies
to these things says, "Yes, I am coming
soon!" Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! The grace
of the Lord Jesus be with all. Revelation
22:20,21 NET
To Him be the glory both now and forever!
Amen!