Paragraph 3:14–16

In this paragraph and the following one, Peter told the people to whom he wrote this letter that while they waited for the day when Christ would return, they should try very hard in every way to behave in a manner which pleases God and to carefully guard themselves against those people who would cause them to doubt what they believed.

3:14a

beloved: See note on 3:1a.

these things: The Berean Standard Bible translates the Greek pronoun as these things because the form in Greek is plural. Most scholars think it refers to the new heavens and the new earth, but it could also refer to all the events that Peter, in the verses immediately preceding this one, had said would happen on the Day of the Lord. These events will include God’s creation of new heavens and a new earth after he has destroyed the old ones.

3:14b

to be found at peace—spotless and blameless: The verb to be found applies to at peace and spotless and blameless. Peter was telling his readers that they were to do their best so that when Christ returned, God would find them pure, blameless, and at “peace” with him.

to be found…spotless: This means “that God may see that you are pure,” or “that you may be pure in God’s sight.” Most scholars think that this refers to being in this pure condition when Christ returns. But some people think it means being pure now and always. Whatever it means, in order to be sure that God will consider a person pure when Christ returns, that person needs to try hard to remain spotless at all times.

spotless and blameless: These two words are very similar in meaning. People often used them to describe a perfect animal which was fit to sacrifice to God. When people used these words about an animal they were going to sacrifice, they were referring to the physical condition of the animal, but here Peter was referring to the spiritual condition of the people to whom he was writing. He wanted them to guard themselves so that they would not do wrong in any way.

If it is difficult in your language to find two words with this meaning, you could use only one and strengthen it by using “very” or “completely.” For example:

completely pure

in His sight: The Greek word that Berean Standard Bible translates as in His sight could also mean “to him” or “by him.” Because the order of the words in Greek is ambiguous, it is not certain which other part of the sentence this phrase belongs to. Some scholars think that it goes with “at peace,” while others think that it goes with “to be found” or with “spotless and blameless.” So there are the following interpretations:

(1) “at peace with him,” or, in other words, at peace with God.

(New International Version (2011 Revision) and New Living Translation (2004 Revision) translate it in this way.)

(2) “to be found by him,” or, in other words, he sees them in this condition.

(New Revised Standard Version and The Jerusalem Bible translate it in this way.)

(3) “spotless and blameless to him,” or, in other words, in his sight.

(Berean Standard Bible translates it in this way.)

According to the second and third interpretations, Peter did not say with whom the readers should be at peace. He was probably talking about peace with God, but he may have been talking about peace with their neighbors and fellow Christians, too.

Some versions seem to combine (1) and (3). For example:

to be pure and blameless in God’s sight and to be at peace with him. (Good News Translation)

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.