In this exploration of 2 Peter 3 I want to offer a model for what Peter is saying here.
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. 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.
Peter underlines that this and 1 Peter is designed to have a wholesome grasp of the Gospel. Peter draws attention to the Old Testament Prophets... we know that Peter will refer to the end times scenario later and here Peter references for us where that information comes from. The command of the Lord that the Apostles passed on (paradosis) would have been in and around what the Prophets spoke about.
3 Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.
These evil desires or 'lusts' are not just sexual. These refer to those who are flesh orientated. But who is he referring to?
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.”
Three elements of this verse tells us these are believers. Firstly they have knowledge of a Second Coming. They also know of 'He' who spoke of it and do not question the source. They also accept creation without dispute. These are believers who are falling away. They believe in Jesus and Creation but the Second Coming is eroding in their thinking (cf v1)
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.
These believers get to a place where they are living for their flesh over living by the Spirit. This insatiable lust makes them deliberately forget (dismiss) that the Creation they believe in has an Architect behind it who has already judged the earth. What has occurred here is people know doctrine but they don't know the Lord. Therefore they are disconnected from their source and their knowledge of scripture is led by their own lusts. Because the connection to the Lord is lost He is unable to correct wrong thinking (cf v 1) and they carry on in the guise of 'doctrinally sound,' teaching all kinds of heresy.
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.
Traditionally people have translated verse 8 as describing how the Lord sees a thousand years like a day and a day like a thousand years ergo "The Lord is patient." I don't necessarily connect verse 8 and 9. What if Peter is making a much bigger statement? In Verse 7 Peter mentions the day of Judgement. In verse 8 his subject is this 'day' he is talking about. Because the 'Day of the Lord' has a definite day it begins, it is a term used for the entire 1000 year reign of Christ. The tone is ... ' There's a day of Judgement... and that day is an eternal consequence. So in effect Peter is saying paraphrased: There is a day of judgement, and don't forget the Lord uses terms like a 'day' to mean an period of time as in the 1000 year reign of Christ. So to be clear, the day of Judgement is an eternal consequence. This seems to me to be consistent with verse 9.
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.
The theme of this chapter is 'The Lord's Coming.' Peter says the reason he hasn't come is not because of slowness. It is his patience so people will not perish but will repent.
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.
Now Peter reminds us of the order of the last things. First it will be The day of the Lord which has a day of His return but lasts 1000 years. It comes like a thief but only to those believers who are invested in flesh and lust, not those who are walking well. Then after the 1000 years the destruction.
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.
Peter appeals to believers to walk well and not be in the flesh like the scoffers. Because we are looking forward to the Day of the Lord and we speed its coming. Walking well speeds Jesus return simply because a submitted, yielded believer renders them more easy for Jsus to work thru and bring in the full number of the gentiles (Rom 11:25). The day of the Lord (1000 year reign) will lead to the New heavens and New Earth when all things are completed.
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.
Peter urges believers to walk well because the Day of the Lord is amazing. Jesus hasn't forgotten to come back, he's being patient! Peter tells us here that Paul has a better understanding of these things yet writes the same things in his letters.
17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guardso 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.
'Be on your guard!' The error of the lawless is to centre on our own fleshly lusts and leave them unaddressed. Doing so means you can lose reward as a 'faithful' one. Jesus' desire is that we all reap our reward already secured for us in the assumption we will walk well. Peter exhorts them (us) to grow in the Lord.
Gary Ward
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