There are some questions that just get to the core of the issue. Questions that don’t take a lot of words to form but can take volumes to answer. Questions that might seem pretty simple on the surface but, if pondered, take you way below the surface and to the deepest of implications. Questions that cut right to the heart . . . leaving no place to hide . . . no room to wiggle around the answer. Peter’s pen, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is moved to ask such a question:

. . . what sort of people ought you to be . . .   (2Peter 3:11 ESV)

Peter has spent two letters encouraging these saints to “keep on keepin’ on” . . . to remain faithful. Four times in this letter (2Peter 1:12,13,15; 3:1) he says that his purpose in writing is to stir up these believers by reminding them of what they know to be true concerning their salvation, their Savior, and His soon return. And after reminding them that the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night . . . and that the things of this earth will be destroyed . . . he asks them, “What kind of people ought you to be?” (NIV)

Literally, it seems, the question could be translated, “from what country, nation or tribe are you?” . . . and the secondary sense is “what sort of quality should mark you?” The people of God should be marching to the beat of different drummer than this world.

. . . what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God . . .   (2Peter 3:11-12a ESV)

Our values . . . our priorities . . . our tastes . . . should all declare the type of people we are . . . and the country we hail from. We are to reflect something of the King into whose courts we have been brought . . . we should mirror something of the Father into whose family we have been adopted . . . we should display something of the nature and being of Him who is transforming us into His image. And thus, holiness should mark us . . . godliness should describe us. That’s the kind of people God’s people ought to be.

Not that we’re up to the task in ourselves . . . doesn’t take much self-examination to realize that left to our own abilities, we fall terribly short. But that’s why Peter writes to these believers and stirs up their remembrance . . . the whole point is that we are not left to our own . . . that “By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the One who called us to Himself by means of His marvelous glory and excellence. And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.” (2Peter 1:3-4 NLT)

As a believer in Christ I have all the tools I need to participate in the divine nature . . . God doesn’t call me to live in a holy and godly manner without equipping me to do so.

And I know it’s complex . . . I know that the lust of the flesh and the seducing voice of the world can be so strong and at times overwhelming. But I also know that God has promised that no temptation will overtake us which is not common to man . . . and that God is faithful . . . and that He will not let us be tempted beyond our ability, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that we might be overcomers (1Cor. 10:13). God is faithful . . . what we need to bring to the table is a holy determination to seek His voice . . . hear it . . . and to obey it.

What manner of people ought we to be? It’s a question worth asking . . . a question worth answering . . . and an answer worth pursuing.

We should be people in pursuit . . . the pursuit of holiness and godliness . . . by the grace of God . . . through the Spirit of God . . . for the glory of God.