2 PETER 3 [†]This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them g I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2[†] h that you should remember the predictions of i the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3[†]knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come j in the last days with scoffing, k following their own sinful desires. 4[†] l They will say, “Where is the promise of m his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth n was formed out of water and through water o by the word of God, 6and that by means of these the world that then existed p was deluged with water and q perished. 7[†]But by the same word r the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and s destruction of the ungodly.
8[†]But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and t a thousand years as one day. 9 u The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise v as some count slowness, but w is patient toward you, x not wishing that any should perish, but y that all should reach repentance. 10[†]But z the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then a the heavens will pass away with a roar, and b 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, c what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12[†] d waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and e the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13[†]But according to his promise we are waiting for f new heavens and a new earth g in which righteousness dwells.
14[†] h Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him i without spot or j blemish, and k at peace. 15[†]And count l the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as m our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you n according to the wisdom given him, 16[†]as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. o There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, p as they do the other Scriptures. 17[†]You therefore, beloved, q knowing this beforehand, r take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 18But s grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. t To him be the glory both now and to the day of u eternity. Amen.
2 PETER—NOTE ON 3:15–16 Concerning the Distortion of Paul’s Teaching. The delay of Christ’s return should be reckoned as his patience leading people to salvation (cf. v. 9; Rom. 2:4). The apostle Paul also wrote to these same readers at some point prior to the composition of 2 Peter, and apparently the false teachers of ch. 2 used a twisted version of Paul’s gospel of freedom (see 2:19; also Rom. 8:1–5; 2 Cor. 3:1–18; Gal. 5:1–6) to entice some of them into sin.
2 PETER—NOTE ON 3:10 the day of the Lord. God’s judgment will not be delayed forever (see note on vv. 8–9). When Christ returns it will be sudden, without warning, like the strike of a thief. The heavens (the sky) will pass away (cf. Ps. 102:25–26; Heb. 1:10–12; Rev. 6:14) and the heavenly bodies (stars, etc.) will be burned up and dissolved. There will be no place to hide (cf. Rev. 6:15–16), for the earth and every person’s works on the earth will be exposed (Gk. heurethēsetai, lit., “will be found,” a divine passive meaning “found by God”) to God’s judgment. Some translations read “will be burned up” (Gk. katakaēsetai) because some Greek manuscripts have this wording (instead of Gk. heurethēsetai). But the earliest and most reliable manuscripts have “will be found” (Gk. heurethēsetai), indicating with this reading that the annihilation of the earth is not taught in this passage. Scholars have debated whether the NT speaks of an annihilation of the present cosmos and the creation of a new universe, or whether it indicates the transformation of the present cosmos, including the earth. The latter seems more likely in light of: (1) the preferred reading of this passage (see above); (2) Rom. 8:18–25; (3) many OT prophecies about the renewal of the earth; (4) Christ’s resurrection body being in continuity with his earthly body; and (5) the fact that Christ’s resurrection body is a pattern for the resurrection bodies of Christians (1 Cor. 15:12–58). God seems always to renew, not destroy and recreate, parts of his creation that are marred by sin. See note on Rev. 21:1–8.
2 PETER—NOTE ON 3:7 By the same word, the powerful word of God that creates and sends judgment, the present heavens and earth are stored up for fire, when the ungodly will also be judged. The day of reckoning is coming for scoffers, and their place is reserved for them. History will not go on forever; the end is coming.
2 PETER—NOTE ON 3:2 remember. Peter wants the church to remember what the holy prophets predicted, and what the apostles handed down as the commandment of the Lord. The prediction Peter especially has in mind is the second coming.
2 PETER—NOTE ON 3:12 Hastening (Gk. speudō, “hurry [by extra effort]”) the coming of the day of God suggests that, by living holy lives, Christians can actually affect the time of the Lord’s return. That does not mean, of course, that the Lord has not foreknown and foreordained when Jesus will return (cf. Matt. 24:36; Acts 17:31). But when God set that day, he also ordained that it would happen after all of his purposes for saving believers and building his kingdom in this present age had been accomplished, and those purposes are accomplished when he works through his human agents to bring them about. Therefore, from a human perspective, when Christians share the gospel with others, and pray (cf. Matt. 6:10), and advance the kingdom of God in other ways, they do “hasten” the fulfillment of God’s purposes, including Christ’s return.
2 PETER—NOTE ON 3:17–18 Concerning the Proper Response to Paul’s Teaching. The fourth use of beloved in ch. 3 (cf. vv. 1, 8, 14). knowing this beforehand. The readers now know, if they did not know previously, that the false teachers are distorting Paul’s teaching. Paul advocates neither sin nor lawlessness, so they should take care not to be carried away by the false teaching, even if it appeals to Paul as the authority. They should not lose their own stability by following after a false interpretation of Paul; rather, they should cultivate stability through Christian growth, especially growing in Christ’s grace (Gk. charis, “favor, esp. unmerited favor”) and knowledge (Gk. gnōsis).
2 PETER—NOTE ON 3:4–6 Scoffers (v. 3) will call into question the biblical promise of the Lord’s coming (Gk. parousia). They scoff at the promise of the Lord’s return, arguing that because everything has remained the same since creation, God will not intervene in the world (cf. 2:10b–11). Fathers (plural of Gk. patēr) is a reference to the OT patriarchs, since this term is never used in the NT to refer to first-generation Christians. But these scoffers deliberately overlook (consciously, willfully ignore) the fact that God did intervene when he created the heavens and the earth with the word of his mouth (Gen. 1:3–31; Ps. 33:6; Heb. 11:3), and also when he judged the earth with water and it perished (Genesis 6–9). God in fact intervenes in his creation whenever he desires, as is evidenced numerous times in both the OT and NT. Peter cites two obvious occasions of God’s intervention, namely, when God acted at creation to form the earth (out of water and through water, see Gen. 1:6–10), and also when he acted decisively in history, destroying the earth by means of the flood in the days of Noah (see Gen. 7:17–24).
2 PETER—NOTE ON 3:1 Peter mentions that this is the second letter he has written to this particular audience. It is all but certain that 1 Peter was the earlier letter in view here. Peter calls his readers beloved (Gk. agapētos), demonstrating his deep concern for them as he reminds them of the Lord’s return. On the importance of reminders, see 1:12–15.
2 PETER—NOTE ON 3:16 In all his letters shows awareness of some kind of collection of Paul’s letters, with the number unspecified here. Some things … hard to understand does not say that everything in Paul’s letters is hard to understand, nor does it say that anything is “impossible to understand,” but it does imply that correctly interpreting some hard passages of Scripture requires much effort and God-given wisdom. The ignorant and unstable twist Paul’s teachings as they do the other Scriptures, implying that Paul’s writings were also considered Scripture in NT times, on the same level of divine authority as the OT Scripture. Greek graphē, here translated “Scriptures,” occurs 51 times in the NT, and every time it refers to the canonical OT Scripture, and not to any other writings, except that twice (here and 1 Tim. 5:18) some NT writings are also included. This indicates that NT books written or authorized by Christ’s apostles were recognized, at a very early date, to be God’s Word.
2 PETER—NOTE ON 3:1–7 Scoffers Challenge the Truth of Scripture Concerning the Coming of the Lord. Peter offers a biblical perspective on the skeptics who attempt to create doubt concerning the Lord’s return.
2 PETER—NOTE ON 3:13 The hope of Christians ultimately depends, though, not on their works (cf. note on v. 12) but on God’s promise. Their hope is not in the destruction of the wicked and their works, even though that is a necessary part of God’s final judgment. Their hope is in the promise that God will bring about a new heavens and a new earth (see Isa. 65:17; 66:22; Rev. 21:1–22:5), which will be the eternal abode of the righteous. “New” could mean “newly created” but probably means “renewed, made new” (see notes on Rom. 8:20–21; 2 Pet. 3:10).
2 PETER—NOTE ON 3:3 The last days will feature scoffers who mock according to their own sinful desires. Their desire to live in sin with impunity drives them to deride biblical truth and those who believe it. Peter understands, as do the rest of the NT authors, that the “last days” have already arrived (see note on Acts 2:17).
2 PETER—NOTE ON 3:1–13 The Day of the Lord Will Surely Come. Peter turns his attention to explaining the Lord’s promised return, and specifically to an apparent debate concerning the timing of the return.