2 Peter 3
Big idea: Peter turns to the church's real crisis: scoffers who mock, 'Where is the promise of his coming?' — assuming that nothing ever changes (vv. 1–4). But they 'willfully forget' that the same word of God once made the heavens and flooded the world, and by that word the present heavens and earth are 'stored up for fire' until the day of judgment (vv. 5–7). The apparent delay is not slowness but mercy: to the Lord a thousand years is a day, and he waits, 'not wishing that anyone should perish' (vv. 8–9). Yet the day will come like a thief, dissolving the elements in fire — which is exactly why holy living matters as believers await 'new heavens and a new earth' where righteousness dwells (vv. 10–13). The letter closes: be diligent, heed even Paul's letters, and grow in grace (vv. 14–18).
Chapter 3 answers the scoffers by defending the very 'coming' Peter witnessed a foretaste of at the Transfiguration (1:16–18) and the false teachers of chapter 2 deny. The call to 'grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord' (3:18) returns to the letter's opening keyword, closing the loop from knowledge as gift (ch. 1) to knowledge as lifelong pursuit.
3:1–2 — Stirring up your memory
Peter names this as his 'second letter' to the beloved, written — like the first — to 'stir up your sincere mind by reminding you.' The content to remember: the words spoken 'before by the holy prophets' and 'the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior.' Prophets and apostles together form the trustworthy witness against the coming scoffers.
1 This is now, beloved, the second letter that I have written to you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by reminding you 2 that you should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior,
3:3–4 — Scoffers in the last days
First to know: in the last days 'mockers will come, walking after their own lusts,' who taunt, 'Where is the promise of his coming?' Their argument is uniformitarian complacency: since the fathers died, 'all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation' — nothing has changed, so nothing will.
3 knowing this first, that in the last days mockers will come, walking after their own lusts 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”
3:5–7 — The word that made and will judge
The scoffers 'willfully forget' the decisive counter-evidence: by the word of God the heavens existed of old and the earth was formed 'out of water and amid water,' and 'by which means the world that existed then... perished' in the Flood. By that same word 'the heavens that exist now and the earth' are 'stored up for fire,' reserved for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
5 For they willfully forget that there were heavens from of old, and an earth formed out of water and amid water by the word of God, 6 by which means the world that existed then, being overflowed with water, perished. 7 But the heavens that exist now and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
3:8–9 — God's timing and patience
Two truths reframe the delay. First, God's timescale is not ours: 'one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.' Second, the apparent slowness is patience: 'The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but he is patient with us, not wishing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance.'
8 But don’t forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but he is patient with us, not wishing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
3:10–13 — The day of the Lord and the new creation
The day of the Lord 'will come as a thief in the night': the heavens will pass away 'with a great noise,' the elements dissolve 'with fervent heat,' and the earth and its works be burned up. Since everything will be dissolved, Peter presses the ethical question: 'what kind of people ought you to be in holy living and godliness,' as you look for and even 'hasten' the day of God? For beyond the fire, 'according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.'
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat; and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be destroyed like this, what kind of people ought you to be in holy living and godliness, 12 looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, which will cause the burning heavens to be dissolved, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
3:14–16 — Be diligent; Paul's letters
Since believers await these things, they must be diligent to be found 'in peace, without defect and blameless in his sight,' regarding 'the patience of our Lord as salvation.' Peter cites 'our beloved brother Paul,' who wrote 'according to the wisdom given to him' the same things — though his letters contain 'some things that are hard to understand,' which 'the ignorant and unsettled twist... to their own destruction,' just as they do 'the other Scriptures.'
14 Therefore, beloved, seeing that you look for these things, be diligent to be found in peace, without defect and blameless in his sight. 15 Regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you, 16 as also in all of his letters, speaking in them of these things. In those, there are some things that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unsettled twist, as they also do to the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
3:17–18 — Grow in grace
The closing charge. Knowing these things beforehand, believers must 'beware, lest being carried away with the error of the wicked, you fall from your own steadfastness.' Instead: 'grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.' The letter ends in doxology: 'To him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.'
17 You therefore, beloved, knowing these things beforehand, beware, lest being carried away with the error of the wicked, you fall from your own steadfastness. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.
Scripture text: World English Bible (public domain).