![]() ![]() 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Peter gives us a little insight into that aspect of God's will when he says,Ĩ But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. In other words, God's timetable is affected in some way by our behavior, but exactly how and why it is affected is, again, shrouded in mystery, and mystery, of course, is the third general aspect of the will of God. Who is to say, however, that that day is not affected by both our obedience and our disobedience? There are numerous instances in the Old Testament in which God's judgment on Israel for their disobedience was delayed because there were repentance and revival. The Day of the Lord and the return of Christ will proceed according to the Father's plan. Is God's decretive will in any way threatened by the spiritual lapses of his saints? No. Since in the context of 2 Peter 3, Peter is exhorting believers to live holy and godly lives, by implication believers can fail to live up to God's standards for holy and godly living. His permissive will, however, gives his volitional image-bearers a degree of latitude in shaping the when of that denouement, though not its how. The decretive-or Sovereign-will of God assures us that God's plan for the ages will come about and that God will have the final word regarding the when and the how of its denouement. Even Jesus, the Son of God, was willing to defer to his Father in the timing of these events (Matthew 24:36). The Day of the Lord, in general, and the return of Jesus Christ for his own, in particular, are shrouded in mystery. "Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is." ( Mark 13:33) Live like Christ is coming in the next minute. Live doing the works of the Spirit and not those of the flesh.Īs Matthew Henry's Commentary describes itįrom the doctrine of Christ's second coming, we are exhorted to purity and godliness.īut Colossians 3 makes a better summary of what it is to live in the Spirit, rejecting the works of the flesh. So "looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God." could mean "waiting and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God." And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. ![]() For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. It comes from the heart's desire that Jesus Christ our redeemer come soon and free us from this body of death, to complete His work in us.įor the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. ![]() Σπεύδοντας, insted of hastening (hurry) can be translated also to desire earnestly. We should be "looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God." I agree this question would fit better on the Biblical Hermeneutics site but I don't know how that can be done. 6:10), and advance the kingdom of God in other ways, they do “hasten” the fulfilment of God’s purposes, including Christ’s return.Īs we eagerly anticipate the time of the Lord’s return we do our utmost to share the gospel with others and do all in our power to advance Kingdom interests by living holy lives which points others to Christ. But when God set that day, he also ordained that it would happen after all of his purposes for saving believers and building his kingdom in this present age had been accomplished, and those purposes are accomplished from a human perspective, when Christians share the gospel with others, and pray (cf. That does not mean, of course, that the Lord has not foreknown and foreordained when Jesus will return (cf. Hastening (Greek speudo, “hurry ”) the coming of the day of God suggests that, by living holy lives, Christians can actually affect the time of the Lord’s return. My English Standard Version Study Bible offers this explanation with regard to “waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God” in 2 Peter 3:12: ![]()
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