2Pe 3 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for 2Pet 3:1-13: 3:1-13 Peter shifts from denunciation of false teachers to exhortation of believers. The false teachers’ skepticism about Christ’s return required clear teaching. Christians need to hold onto the apostolic message about the day of judgment and live godly lives in anticipation of that day. 3:1 This is my second letter to you: The previous letter was probably 1 Peter.

Summary for 2Pet 3:1-13: 3:1-13 ^a Peter shifts from denunciation of false teachers to exhortation of believers. The false teachers’ skepticism about Christ’s return required clear teaching. Christians need to hold onto the apostolic message about the day of judgment and live godly lives in anticipation of that day. 3:1 ^b This is my second letter to you: The previous letter was probably 1 Peter.
3:2 ^c The holy prophets of the Old Testament predicted the day of the Lord, when God would judge his enemies (see study note on 1:19).

• what our Lord and Savior commanded: Jesus had taught the church through the apostles.
3:3 ^d in the last days: Peter was not merely predicting an event in the future; he was speaking about his readers’ situation. In the New Testament, the last days refers to the period from Jesus’ first coming to his second coming (see Acts 2:17 ^e; Heb 1:2 ^f). It is the time when God’s promises are fulfilled.

• scoffers will come: See Prov 1:22 ^g; 9:7-8 ^h; 13:1 ⁱ. Rather than using evidence and logic to argue, scoffers belittle and make fun of the truth.
3:4 ^j From before the times of our ancestors: The false teachers were probably claiming that, for all of God’s promises to intervene in history, things had not really changed and never would.
3:5 ^k Creation is the first evidence that the false teachers were wrong: Change does happen. If God made the world, he certainly can destroy it.

• brought the earth out from the water: See Gen 1:2 ^l, 6-10 ^m.
3:7 ⁿ The Old Testament associates fire with the day of the Lord (see Isa 30:30 ^o; 66:15-16 ^p).
3:8 ^q Peter alludes to Ps 90:4 ^r. God operates according to his time scale. He will send his Son in his own good time.
3:10 ^s The very elements themselves might refer to the basic components of the physical universe or to the sun, moon, and stars.

• will be found to deserve judgment: The Greek text here is difficult; the reading followed by the NLT probably means that creation will appear before God at the time of judgment, and he will find it to deserve his judgment.
3:12 ^t looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along: God’s people can hasten the end by their repentance and godly living (cp. Acts 3:19-20 ^u).

• the elements will melt away: Cp. Mic 1:3-4 ^v; see also Isa 63:19–64:1 ^w.
3:13 ^x the new heavens and new earth: See Isa 65:17 ^y; 66:22 ^z; Rev 21 ^aa.
3:15 ^ab our beloved brother Paul: The New Testament tells us little about the relationship between Peter and Paul. Because of the dispute in Antioch (Gal 2:11-14 ^ac), it is sometimes thought that the two were hostile to one another, but the New Testament paints a different picture. Peter and Paul essentially agreed about the Good News for the Gentiles (Acts 11:2-18 ^ad; 15:7-11 ^ae). Silas and Mark were associates of both Paul and Peter (see 1 Pet 5:12-13 ^af). According to tradition, both apostles were martyred in Rome during the same persecution by Nero in the mid-60s AD.
3:16 ^ag Peter probably knew of all but one or two of Paul’s letters by this time. Peter’s language implies that he considered the letters of Paul to belong in the category of Scripture.
Summary for 2Pet 3:17-18: 3:17-18 ^ah Peter restates his purpose: to protect his readers from false teachers so that they can grow in grace. He ends with a doxology to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.