2 Peter 3:10-12 English Standard Version

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!

There are four ways to look at this and most people will have a hard time seeing it any way except their own. While I believe one way it is possible for me to see how others will see it their way.

Belief is the core element of who we are in respect to faith. There are three core faiths that stem from Abraham, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The fourth is faith in anything other than God.

All can honestly say bring it on from their point of view.

Israel is looking for the coming Messiah.

Christianity is looking for the second coming of Christ.

Islam is looking for a Caliphate.

All three are looking for the same event from three different applications of faith.

The fourth, everyone else, has no faith in God and says bring it one as they think our faith is in vain. 

Only Christianity has a word of hope which directs our actions to bring it on with intentional action.

Living our life in holiness and godliness hastens that day.

Everyone else is fated to just wait and wait and wait. What they do is not by my faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Living this life of faith in Christ has one aim, building up His bride to that tipping point when the Father says to His Son, “Go get your bride!”

Psalm 18:18

They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support.

I have seen much of late that puts the issues of confrontation to mind. As I searched the scripture I was surprised to find that the word confront was only found in the Old Testament when looking at most of our standard translations. By standard I mean the KJV, ESV, NASB, and NIV.

As we search other more liberal translations we will find the word confront used many more times in both the OT and the NT. Rather than going afoul of my mandate to refrain from politics I will allow you the reader to draw your own conclusions as to why that has happened.

Relying on my trusted KJV and ESV for answers from the Lord, I settled upon Psalm 18:18 as to my answer to confrontation. My Lord is my only trusted support in fighting my battles.

I wasn’t always this way. At one time in my budding Christian life I loved to argue.

I was wrong. Confronting fellow believers on the issues of faith is not a loving way to speak with grace.

Colossians 4:6

Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. (KJV)

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. (ESV)

Be wise in your behaviour towards non-Christians, and make the best possible use of your time. Speak pleasantly to them, but never sentimentally, and learn to give a proper answer to every questioner. (J.B. Phillips)

The issue of translations becomes clearer when comparing them side by side. This is but one example of how we should treat all our conversations verses only being careful when speaking to non-Christians.

This goes to the heart of confrontation when we treat any group differently than we do others. We will be called hypocrites for doing so and that does not place our Lord in a favorable light. Are we not born again in Christ? Then we need to sound like it.