2 Peter 3:1-18
The Day of the Lord
1Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.
3First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." 5But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
8But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.[a]
11Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.[b]That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
14So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
17Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. 18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
St. Peter writes about the day of the LORD...It is his second letter to his friends and believers...He wants us to remember that long ago the holy prophets and the LORD spoke about the day of judgment...In the last days before the end of age there will be scoffers and they will follow their own evil desires...The scoffers will say where is this coming that the LORD talked about?...It is still not here...Ever since our fathers died, everything has gone on as it has from the beginning...The scoffers deliberately forget that long, long ago that God created the heavens and earth out of water and by water...By the same word and way God created the earth and its present ways, there is coming a time on earth, a judgment day that is reserved for fire and destruction of the ungodly men...With the LORD a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day...The LORD is not slow in keeping His promises, as man understands slowness...He is patient with us...He does not want anyone to perish, but He wants everyone to repent...
The day of the LORD will come like a thief in the night...No one will be ready...People will look around and be completely shocked...The heavens will disappear like a roar...The elements will be destroyed by fire, and everything in it and on it and will be laid bare...Since everything will be destroyed on earth, we must live holy and godly lives...The heavens and earth will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt in the heat...But in keeping with His promise, we must look forward to a new heaven and a new earth...It will be the home of righteousness...So we must look forward to this new day, and make every effort to be good, spotless, blameless, and at peace...Bear in mind that our LORD's patience means salvation, just as St.Paul writes in all his letters to you...St. Paul writes all his letters in the same style, and he speaks on these very matters....Some of his letters are hard to understand...Some men try to distort his words and they do that at their own destruction...
Therefore friends, we must be on guard for evil men...We must grow in life like little Christs...We must grow in the grace and knowledge of our LORD, and Savior Jesus Christ...We must study and learn more about our LORD and Savior, so He becomes clearer and is a part of our life...We must learn to be drawn into Christ...We must find the Truth, then we must hold onto that Truth...We must learn that maybe the purpose of life is just to spread the Truth...We are evangelists for Christ, just like Peter and Paul...This is part of His Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20)...
Man has been waiting for judgment day, since our fathers have died since the beginning of creation...St. Peter wants us ready and alert for that day of reckoning...Will we be ready?...It is easy to be apathetic about the Day of the LORD, because life keeps us busy, and it is easy to say the early prophets said judgment day has been coming now for thousands of years...We do not want to be like the scoffers...The end of ages will come at Godspeed, and not man's...Whenever the time, and however the destruction method, it will come...It means a new time and a new beginning for all believers...This time will not have calendars and clocks it will turn into and be eternity...When God destroys the old world, He will destroy all sin...Sin will be gone forever...God will then create a new world, without sin, therefore without death...