Bible Version: New International Version (NIV)
Application Notes: Life Application Study Bible (NIV)
2 PETER 3
The Day of the Lord
1 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 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.
3 Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 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.” 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Application Notes
3:3-4 "In the last days," scoffers will say that Jesus is never coming back and that Judgment Day will not come, but Peter refutes their argument by explaining God's mastery over time. The "last days" is the time between Christ's first and second comings; thus, we, like Peter, live in the last days. We must do the work to which God has called us and believe that he will return as he has promised.
3:7 In Noah's day, the earth was cleansed by water; at the Second Coming, it will be refined by fire. John describes this fire in Revelation 19:20 and 20:10-15. Peter does not say that everything will be burned into extinction, but he does say that at God's command, all sinful people will be destroyed by his fiery judgment. (For another reference to God's judgment by fire, see Isaiah 66:15-16.)
3:8-9 God may have seemed slow to these believers as they faced persecution every day and longed to be delivered. But God is not slow; he is simply not on our timetable (Psalm 90:4). Jesus is waiting so that more sinners will repent and turn to him. We must not sit and wait for Christ to return, but we should realise that time is short and we have important work to do. Be ready to meet Christ anytime--even today--yet plan your course of service as though he may not return for many years.
3:10-11 The Day of the Lord is the day of God's judgment on the earth. Here, Peter is speaking of Christ's return. Christ's second coming will be sudden and terrible for those who· do not believe in him. But if we are in a right relationship with God, we will be ready and won't be surprised. (For other prophetic pictures of the Day of the Lord, see Isaiah 34:4; Joel 3:15-16; Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21; Revelation 6:12-17.) Realising that the earth will go through fire, we should put our confidence in what lasts eternally and not be bound to earthly treasures or pursuits. Do you spend more of your time piling up possessions or striving to develop Christlike character?
3:13 God does not desire to destroy all creation but to recreate everything as it was originally meant to be (see Isaiah 66:i2; Revelation 21-22). God will purify the heavens and earth with fire; then he will fill them with his new creation. We can joyously look forward to the restoration of God's good world.
3:14 We should not become lazy and complacent because Christ has not yet returned. Instead, we should eagerly expect his coming. This powerful hope encourages us to please him each day. We should make every effort to live faithfully for him. This will help us live peacefully with others. What would you like to be doing when Christ returns?
3:15-18 Peter and Paul had very different backgrounds and personalities, and they preached from different viewpoints. Paul had studied under highly distinguished Jewish rabbis. Peter had been a fisherman. Paul emphasised salvation by grace, not the law, while Peter preferred to talk about Christian life and service. The two men did not ultimately contradict each other, however, and they held each other in high esteem. The false teachers intentionally misused Paul's writings by distorting them to condone lawlessness. No doubt this made the teachers popular, because people always like to have their favourite sins justified, but the net effect was to totally destroy the people's interpretation of Paul's message. Paul may have been thinking of teachers like these when he wrote in Romans 6:15, "What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means!" Peter warns his readers to avoid the mistakes of these wicked teachers by growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus. The better we know Jesus, the less attractive false teaching will be.
3:15-16 By the time of Peter's writing, Paul's letters already had a widespread reputation. Notice that Peter speaks of Paul's letters as if they are on a level with "the other Scriptures." Already, the early church was thinking of Paul's letters as inspired by God.
3:18 Peter concludes this brief letter as he began--by urging his readers to grow in the grace and knowledge of their Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ; that is, they were to get to know him better and better. This is the same way we can discern and combat false teaching. The better we know the real Jesus, the less likely we will be deceived by any false teaching about him. No matter where we are in our spiritual journeys, no matter how mature we are in our faith, the sinful, fallen world will always challenge our belief in Jesus. We still have much room for growth. Every day, we need to draw closer to Christ so that we will be prepared to stand for truth in any and all circumstances.
Taken from Life Application Study Bible - Third Edition - (NIV)