2 Peter 3

The Eschatological Day of the Lord

1 Beloved, this is now the second time I have written to you. In both letters my aim has been to awaken your pure mind by calling certain truths back to your mind.

2 I want you to keep in view what was spoken earlier by the holy prophets, as well as the authoritative instruction of the Lord and Savior that came to you through your apostles.

3 Above all, you must recognize that as history moves toward its final stage, people will appear who scoff openly, advancing according to their own inordinate desires,

4 and who say, “So where is this promised return of Christ? Ever since our ancestors died, everything has gone on exactly the same way it has since the world first began.”

5 What they deliberately overlook is this: Long ago the heavens came into being, and the earth was shaped by the word of God out of water and through water,

6 and by those same waters the world that then existed was overwhelmed and destroyed.

7 By that very same divine word, the present heavens and earth are now being held in reserve, stored up not for water but for fire, awaiting the day when God judges and brings final ruin upon the ungodly.

8 But do not miss this crucial point, beloved: God’s experience of time is not like ours. What seems to us like a single day may be as long as a thousand years to Him, and a thousand years no more than a day.

9 The Lord is not failing to keep His promise, as some imagine when they accuse Him of delay. Rather, He is showing patience toward you, because He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants all to turn back to Him in repentance.

10 Nevertheless, the day of the Lord will arrive unexpectedly, like a thief. When it comes, the heavens will disappear with a deafening roar, the components of the universe will be destroyed by intense heat, and the earth together with everything done on it will be laid bare.

11 Since all of creation is going to be destroyed in this way, consider what kind of lives you ought to live—lives marked by holiness and godliness,

12 as you look forward to the day of God and even live in a way that hastens its arrival. Because of that day, the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt away in burning heat.

13 Yet in keeping with the promise of God, we are waiting with confidence for new heavens and a new earth—where righteousness is fully at home.

14 For this reason, beloved, as you await these things, make every effort to be found by Him spotless, unblemished, and at peace.

15 You should understand the patience of our Lord as part of His saving purpose, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you, according to the wisdom God gave him.

16 He speaks about these matters throughout his letters. Some of what he says is difficult to grasp, and people who are ignorant and spiritually unstable twist his words—just as they do the rest of Scripture—to their own ruin.

17 Since you already know these things, beloved, be on your guard so that you are not swept along by the deception of lawless people and lose your firm footing.

18 Instead, continue to grow—grow in the grace that comes from Christ and in the true knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him belongs the glory now and into the endless future. Amen.

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2 Peter 3: AFINTEXP

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