(8/17)← Back →

2 PETER 3
D. God’s Judgment
on the Heretical Mockers

1. This second letter, beloved, I now write to you; in them both I stir up your sincere mind with a reminder,
2. So that you would remember the words spoken before by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior preached by your apostles;
3. Knowing this first, that in the last of days mockers will come with mocking, going on according to their own lusts
4. And saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue in this way from the beginning of creation.
5. For this escapes them by their own choosing, that by the word of God the heavens were of old and the earth was compacted out of water and through water,
6. Through which the world then, being flooded with water, perished.
7. But the heavens and the earth now, by the same word, have been stored up for fire, being kept unto the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
8. But do not let this one thing escape you, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day.
9. The Lord does not delay regarding the promise, as some count delay, but is long-suffering toward you, not intending that any perish but that all advance to repentance.

E. God’s Judgment
on the Heavens and the Earth

10. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements, burning with intense heat, will be dissolved, and the earth and the works in it will be burned up.
11. Since all these things are to be thus dissolved, what kind of persons ought you to be in holy manner of life and godliness,
12. Expecting and hastening the coming of the day of God, on account of which the heavens, being on fire, will be dissolved, and the elements, burning with intense heat, are to be melted away?

F. Expectation of the New Heavens
and the New Earth Filled
with God’s Righteousness

13. But according to His promise we are expecting new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

G. Preparation for the Coming Judgment
1. To Be Found by Him in Peace

14. Therefore, beloved, since you expect these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace without spot and without blemish;

2. To Be Saved from Destruction

15. And count the long-suffering of our Lord to be salvation, even as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you,
16. As also in all his letters, speaking in them concerning these things, in which some things are hard to understand, which the unlearned and unstable twist, as also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

IV. Conclusion
Be on Guard and Grow
in the Grace and Knowledge of the Lord

17. You therefore, beloved, since you know these things beforehand, be on your guard lest being carried away by the error of the lawless, you fall from your own steadfastness.
18. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and unto the day of eternity. Amen.