ESV Global Study Bible :: Footnotes for 2 Peter 3

2 Pet. 3:1–13 The Day of the Lord Will Surely Come. Peter turns his attention to explaining the Lord’s promised return. Apparently he is responding to a disagreement in the church concerning the timing of the return.

2 Pet. 3:1 second letter. Almost certainly 1 Peter was the earlier letter. Peter calls his readers beloved four times in this chapter (also 2 Pet. 3:8, 14, 17).

2 Pet. 3:2 remember. Peter especially has in mind the second coming.

2 Pet. 3:3 last days. Peter and the rest of the NT authors teach that the “last days” have already arrived (see note on Acts 2:17).

2 Pet. 3:4–6 Scoffers (v. 3) will question the biblical promise of the Lord’s coming. Fathers refers to the OT patriarchs. But these scoffers deliberately overlook (consciously, willfully ignore) the fact that God intervenes in his creation whenever he desires. For example, he created the heavens and the earth with the word of his mouth (Gen. 1:3–31; Ps. 33:6; Heb. 11:3). He also judged the earth with water and it perished (Genesis 6–9).

2 Pet. 3:7 stored up for fire. The day of judgment is coming for scoffers.

2 Pet. 3:8–9 any should perish. See note on 1 Tim. 2:4. Christians long for Christ’s return and the defeat of all evil. Yet while the present period of history lasts, people may still turn to God in faith.

2 Pet. 3:10 the day of the Lord. God’s judgment will not be delayed forever. When Christ returns it will be sudden and without warning, like a thief. The heavens (the sky) will pass away (compare Ps. 102:25–26; Rev. 6:14) and the heavenly bodies (stars, etc.) will be burned up and dissolved. There will be no place to hide (compare Rev. 6:15–16). Then the earth and every person’s works on the earth will be exposed to God’s judgment.

2 Pet. 3:12 Hastening the coming of the day of God suggests that, by living holy lives, Christians can actually affect the time of the Lord’s return. That does not mean, of course, that the Lord has not determined already when Jesus will return (see Matt. 24:36; Acts 17:31). But when God set that day, he also ordained that it would happen after all of his purposes in this present age had been accomplished through his human agents.

2 Pet. 3:13 The hope of Christians ultimately depends on God’s promise that God will bring about a new heavens and a new earth (see Isa. 65:17; Rev. 21:1–22:5). This will be the eternal home of the righteous. “New” could mean “newly created,” but it probably means “renewed, made new.”

2 Pet. 3:14–18 Concluding Encouragements. To obtain their final reward, believers must live a godly life and resist the immorality promoted by the false teachers (see 1:5–11).

2 Pet. 3:14 In light of the Lord’s return, Christians must be diligent to be without spot or blemish. They must be doctrinally and morally pure. This is in strong contrast to the spiritual condition of the wicked (2:10b–22, especially v. 22).

2 Pet. 3:15–16 The delay of Christ’s return should be understood as his patience leading people to salvation (see v. 9; Rom. 2:4). The apostle Paul also wrote to these same readers earlier. Apparently the false teachers used a twisted version of Paul’s gospel of freedom (see 2 Pet. 2:19; also Rom. 8:1–5; 2 Cor. 3:1–18; Gal. 5:1–6) to tempt some of them into sin.

2 Pet. 3:16 In all his letters shows awareness of some kind of collection of Paul’s letters. some things . . . hard to understand. Correctly understanding some hard passages of Scripture requires much effort and God-given wisdom. The ignorant and unstable twist Paul’s teachings as they do the other Scriptures. This implies that Paul’s writings were considered Scripture in NT times, having the same level of divine authority as the OT Scripture. The Greek word translated “Scriptures” occurs 51 times in the NT. Almost every time it refers to the OT Scripture. Twice (here and 1 Tim. 5:18) some NT writings are also included. This indicates that NT books written or authorized by Christ’s apostles were recognized to be God’s Word at a very early date.

2 Pet. 3:17–18 knowing this beforehand. The readers have now been informed that the false teachers were distorting Paul’s teaching. Paul advocates neither sin nor lawlessness, so they should not be carried away by the false teaching, even if it appeals to Paul as the authority. Instead they should grow in Christ’s grace and knowledge.