2 Peter 3
June 19
Reading: 2 Peter 3
1 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles.
3 Know this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.
4 They will say, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation."
5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and 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 a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
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! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. 15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.
17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
2 Peter 3 is an encouragement to remember what the prophets have said about the coming of the Lord. (vss. 1-2) Why? Because people will make fun of you for believing that Jesus will come in the clouds in judgment. (vss. 3-4) They will do this because they imagine that the world will just continue as it is forever, even though this is demonstrably false. Things constantly change and calamities are a regular occurrence.
- God created the world by speaking. (vs. 5)
- God told Noah that He would judge the world with a flood and that is exactly what happened. (vs. 6)
- So, if God says that He is coming back and will judge the world by fire, we should believe what He says. (vs. 7)
- God regards time differently that we do. (vs. 8)
- God has a specific reason for delaying. God, in His patience, is still saving people that He will bring to repentance. (vs. 9)
In verse 10 we are reminded of how the Lord will arrive when He comes. (like Matthew 24-25 and Mark 13) Verses 11-15 describe how we ought to live in light of our Lord’s imminent coming. Notice that three times in this chapter we are told that this world will be destroyed by fire. (vss. 7, 10, 12) But you and I are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth. (vs. 13)
It is interesting to hear Peter writing about Paul as “a beloved brother,” despite the disagreements that they had. I find it amusing to hear Peter describing Paul’s wisdom and that he sometimes writes “things hard to understand.” (vss. 15-16) I don’t feel so bad in my efforts to understand the letters of Paul. Peter struggled with this as well!
Peter concludes his letter with a final warning about the false teachers. (vss. 17-18) If you want to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” what you believe and how you live really matters. Cling to the truth. Jesus is coming back.