Warning: This post may contain heresy.

A couple of weeks ago I was looking at 2 Peter 3; the whole chapter about God cleansing the earth with fire and Him being patient towards unbelievers. I started looking into it because it’s one passage that seems to indicate that the present earth is going to be destroyed and a completely new earth will be made at the end of the present age.

In studying that, I kind of got sidetracked when I realized that Peter writes, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward YOU, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (3:9). I’ve always read that verse as God being patient towards unbelievers, but the subject is believers! This is confirmed in verse 8 where he makes it clear that he is speaking to believers.

This was a bit of surprise and it got me thinking and exploring. I’m not sure why he is speaking to believers here when he is expressing God’s desire for all to come to repentance. Aren’t believers saved and not in need of repenting?

But what if God is waiting to bring the final judgment of fire on the earth so that believers will shine brighter on the day of judgment? Or that we might not suffer regret?

By the way, the idea of “destroyed” in 3:10-13 seems to be more about making pure or setting free than about a physical destruction. So the fire of God will cleanse the earth and set it free from the effects of sin and loose it from its groaning.

I’ve been pondering texts like Rom. 2:14-16, 1 Cor. 3:15 and 2 Cor. 5:10, and wondering, where is the place of works in the believers salvation? Or even, is there such thing as purgatory? Not in the old Roman Catholic view of indulgences and such, but a time of cleansing after death where a believer is cleansed by fire in a process similar to sanctification. Crazy? Perhaps.

So back to 2 Peter… He talks about the day of the Lord (3:10-13) as a day of fire and judgment on unrighteous works and men. So is their a continuity in our works from this age into the next age? (Paul hints at this in 1 Cor. 15:58.) Why does Peter in 3:15 tell us to “regard the patience of the Lord as salvation”? Not salvation for others, but for ourselves. Aren’t we already saved? Why do we need more time to pursue blamelessness?

Just something to ponder. Don’t stone me yet. I do believe that we are saved by faith, but I am wondering what place the final judgment based on works has in the believer’s salvation and life. And if there is any sort of “santification” after death. Oh, and don’t get me started on the Gospels.