2 Peter
Chapter 3
Overview
Peter closes his letter by reminding fellow believers of what God’s prophets and Jesus’ apostles taught. Some people mock the promise that Jesus will return, arguing that the world simply keeps rolling along as it always has. Peter answers that God’s past judgment shows otherwise, and that God’s calendar does not run by human impatience. What seems like delay is actually patience, giving people time to change. Since the present world will not last forever, Peter urges his readers to live faithfully, resist misleading teachers, and keep growing in their knowledge of Jesus.
1Dear friends, this is now the second letter I have written to you. In both letters, I have used reminders to awaken your clear and honest thinking.
2I want you to remember the words spoken long ago by God’s holy prophets, and the command that our Lord and Savior gave you through your apostles.
3First of all, understand this: in the last days, people will come mocking the truth. They will follow their own desires
4and say, “Where is his promised return? Ever since our ancestors died, everything has continued just as it has since creation began.”
5They deliberately ignore the fact that long ago the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and through water by God’s word.
6By these means, the world of that time was flooded with water and destroyed.
7By that same word, the present heavens and earth are being kept for fire. They are being preserved until the day when God judges and destroys people who reject him.
8But do not overlook this one thing, dear friends: to the Lord, one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day.
9The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise, as some people think. Instead, he is patient with you. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to change their hearts and lives.
10Yet the Lord’s day will come unexpectedly, like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roaring sound. The basic elements of the universe will burn and break apart, and the earth and everything done on it will be exposed.
11Since all these things will be broken apart in this way, what kind of people should you be? You should live holy lives devoted to God,
12as you wait for God’s day and work to hasten its coming. On that day, the heavens will be set on fire and broken apart, and the elements will melt in the heat.
13But according to God’s promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth, where everything that is right will be at home.
14Therefore, dear friends, while you wait for these things, make every effort to be at peace when God finds you, with no stain or fault in your lives.
15Consider our Lord’s patience an opportunity for rescue. Our dear fellow believer Paul also wrote to you about this with the wisdom God gave him.
16He speaks about these matters in all his letters. Some things in them are difficult to understand. Ignorant and unstable people twist them, just as they twist the other sacred writings, bringing destruction on themselves.
17So, dear friends, since you know this beforehand, be on your guard. Do not let the errors of people who reject God’s law sweep you away and make you lose your firm footing.
18Instead, keep growing through the kindness of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Messiah, and through knowing him. May honor belong to him both now and into the day of eternity. Amen.