Believers are protected by returning to the prophetic word and the apostolic command of Christ.
2 Peter 3:1-7
Peter writes again to awaken sincere minds through remembrance, urging believers to hold fast to the prophetic word and apostolic command because mockers will arise in the last days, deliberately dismissing the promise of Christ's coming; yet their skepticism collapses before the God whose word created the world, judged it by flood, and now reserves the present heavens and earth for final judgment by fire.
1 This is now, beloved, the second letter that I have written to you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by reminding you,
2 that you should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior:
Scoffers deny the coming of Christ while being driven by their own evil desires.
3 knowing this first, that in the last days mockers will come, walking after their own lusts
4 and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”
God's word created the world, judged the ancient world by water, and now reserves the present order for fiery judgment.
5 For this they willfully forget that there were heavens from of old, and an earth formed out of water and amid water by the word of God,
6 by which means the world that existed then, being overflowed with water, perished.
7 But the heavens that exist now and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
God's timing must not be judged by human impatience; his delay displays mercy, yet the day of the Lord will certainly come.
2 Peter 3:8-13
Peter answers the mockers by declaring that the apparent delay of Christ's return is not failure but divine patience, for the Lord stands above human measures of time and is mercifully withholding final judgment so that sinners may come to repentance; yet the day of the Lord will certainly arrive with sudden, world-shaking finality, and because believers await new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells, they must live now in holiness, godliness, and eager expectation.
8 But don’t forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but he is patient with us, not wishing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
The coming dissolution of the present order calls believers to holiness, godliness, and hope in the new heavens and new earth.
11 Therefore since all these things will be destroyed like this, what kind of people ought you to be in holy living and godliness,
12 looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, which will cause the burning heavens to be dissolved, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
13 But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
Peter closes with a call to be found at peace, resist distortion and lawless error, and grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ.
2 Peter 3:14-18
Because believers are awaiting the coming day and the promised new creation, Peter calls them to diligent, peace-shaped holiness, to interpret the Lord's patience as salvation, to receive the apostolic writings rightly rather than twist them destructively, to guard themselves from being carried away by lawless error, and to keep growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, to whom belongs eternal glory.
14 Therefore, beloved, seeing that you look for these things, be diligent to be found in peace, without defect and blameless in his sight.
15 Regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you,
16 as also in all of his letters, speaking in them of these things. In those, there are some things that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unsettled twist, as they also do to the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
17 You therefore, beloved, knowing these things beforehand, beware, lest being carried away with the error of the wicked, 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 forever. Amen.