2 Peter 3

2 Peter 3 NIV
The Day of the Lord
3 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking.

Peter returns to exhorting the believers here in chapter 3, addressing them as “Dear friends” which literally means “beloved”, and is repeated throughout the chapter in vs. 8, 14, and 17 indicating a personal relationship with the congregation. The reference “my second letter to you” leads some to the question, does this refer to 1 Peter? Most authorities say yes. But this is not certain because; it has not been established that the recipients of the two letters are the same; chapter 1:12, 16 may imply a personal ministry to the recipients of this second letter to which 1 Peter gives no indication. 1 Peter was sent to a wide range of readers living in different provinces, 1 Peter 1:1, while this letter seems to be addressing a single church or local churches whose people and circumstances Peter seems to know well. Also the description of both books as reminders does not fit the message of 1 Peter. Some believe that the lack of use of 1 Peter in 2 Peter, raises a doubt that leaves the question open.

“As reminders to stimulate you” is almost identical with “to refresh your memory” in 1:13. “To wholesome thinking”, literally meaning “to pure minds”, reflects the author’s goal to maintain in his readers a pure disposition. In this letter Peter seeks to awaken his readers to the dangers of phony leaders who claimed to be Christians.

2 I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.

The “words spoken in the past” are the prophetic oracles, with special reference here to the holy prophets and the apostles. The only way the readers could recognize the errors of the heretical teachers was to compare their teachings with the teachings of the holy prophets and apostles. As Peter had reminded them in chapter 1:21, “holy men” spoke words given to them by the Holy Spirit, which were therefore completely reliable. These completely reliable words are in the bible. The “command” is a way of referring to the moral demands of the Christian faith and primarily to the command of love; John 13:34, 35. These prophecies and commands were given to the early Christians by the NT prophets and apostles; Eph 2:20.

3 Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.

The primary motivation for righteous living was/is the expectation of Christ’s return; John 3:2-3. The unforeseen delay in that coming did/has produced “scoffers” who mock the Second coming because they want/ed to live in ways that fulfilled their self-indulgent desires. This suggests that the heretical teachers of chapter 2 and the scoffers were one in the same. The apostles had predicted that the scoffing would happen; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; James 5:3; and in Jude 18.
The last days refers to the present age: the time between the first and the second coming; Hebrews 1:2. Throughout scoffers have denied the Second Coming whenever hedonism and humanism have prevailed in the church. And we see these things in the world today.

4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”

The basis for denying the supernatural reappearance of Jesus is that nothing of that nature had/has never occurred in the past. The “ancestors who died” refers to the OT fathers. The false teachers mocked the faith of the Christians by asking, “Where is this `coming’ he promised?”. They support their own position by claiming, “Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”

5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
The phony teachers of the time would choose to overlook events such as creation and the great flood, when God intervened in history and destroyed the world. The people of Noah’s time didn’t believe Noah when he warned them because they had never experienced a flood, they had never even experienced rain! Genesis 2:5-6, Hebrews 11:7. Peter’s point is that things on this earth have not always continued the way they are now. The earth was different when God first created it and then it was different again after the flood. Therefore no one should scoff at God’s promise that He will make it different once again, judging it not with water but with fire. The same word of God that created all matter and judged the world in the flood will one day bring a judgment of fire upon the earth. Peter wanted to be certain that his readers would not forget, as the the false teachers of the time had, that God created the entire universe by His word, something they had also not experienced.

8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

Peter was not giving some prophetic formula here, he was using God’s word, Psalm 90:40, to illustrate his point. He was communicating a general principle regarding how we see time and how God sees time. Showing that God will surely accomplish His purposes and promises, even though it may appear that He is slow in doing so. Peter reveals God’s heart here. He explains the reason why Jesus’ return isn’t sooner is so that all should come to repentance, because God is not willing that any should perish. His timing is always perfect.

Though the Lord’s longsuffering love to the lost makes it seem that perhaps He delays His coming, the truth is that He will indeed come. And when Jesus does return, He will come at a time that will surprise many (as a thief in the night). The ultimate result of His coming will be a total transformation of this present world (in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat).

11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

The primary purpose of prophetic teaching is not to satisfy our curiosity but to motivate us to change our lives. Peter is going for that in vs.11. Peter says there is a sense in which we can hasten the Lord’s coming. It’s remarkable to think that we can actually do things that will affect the return of Jesus. In the immediate context, Peter says that we hasten the Lord’s coming by our holy conduct and godliness. In light of the fact that this world order and the things associated with it will be dissolved, we should live our lives seeking first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness. He then encourages them by reminding them of God’s promise of a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. Isaiah 6:17

14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

Paul stresses to his “dear friends” that if our hearts are really set on the glory of the new heaven and new earth, we will endeavor to walk godly in regard to our brothers and sisters (in peace) and in regard to God (without spot and blameless). He goes on to remind them that though it is easy for Christians to sometimes resent the delay; after all, it in some sense delays His coming, yet, the delay of our Lord is salvation for others, and it is salvation for us.

Here Peter affirms Paul’s teachings. He calls Paul “dear brother” and states that Paul wrote with wisdom. He equates the letters of Paul with the rest of the Scriptures, indicating that he felt the writings of the apostle to be inspired. Though Peter praises Paul’s ministry, he admits that some things in Paul’s writings were hard to understand, and those who were untaught and unstable could use some of the difficulties to their own ends, twisting Scripture, destroying themselves. Peter reminds us that the Scriptures can be twisted. Just because someone quotes the Bible doesn’t mean that they teach Biblical truth. That is why we should search the word ourselves. Like the Bereans who “searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” in Acts 17:10-11.

17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

Peter admonishes his readers that since they know truth they should depart from the error of the wicked and grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord. This means knowing more about Jesus, but more importantly, knowing Jesus intimately, as in a personal relationship. When we know the truth and walk in it it glorifies God. And when we walk in the truth we know the Glory is God’s.

The use of Amen here is Peter’s way of affirming the truth in the face of the danger of false prophets and scoffers.