2 Peter 3:7-10 – The certainty of a final judgment

In verse 7, Peter revealed that God had already foretold that the heavens, earth and all ungodly men were earmarked for judgment in future. And God will use fire to judge them. This, he maintained was the foreseeable and predictable destiny of the heavens, the earth and the ungodly.

Peter pointed out that believers should not be like the false teachers, who ignored the fact of the impending judgment. God is consistent and whatever He has promised He would definitely do. He never forgets! Even if a thousand years had passed, what He had pledged to do He will ultimately do it.

However, he explained that the delay in the fulfillment of Christ’s promised return does not negate what God had earlier said He would do. It is just that God is displaying His patience. He is giving time and opportunity for everyone to repent and be saved. In His goodness, God has no desire for any to perish but that all should repent and come into His saving knowledge. In verse 10, Peter used the phrase “the day of the Lord” to refer to Christ’s Second Coming. And that day, he warned, will appear like a thief, meaning suddenly and unexpectedly.

The word “heavens” in these verses refers to “the first heaven”, the immediate atmosphere surrounding the earth and the "second heaven", where the stars and the planets hang. It is not referring to the dwelling place of God. The “elements” would be the material building blocks of the physical realm e.g. atoms, molecules, etc. All these, Peter said, will be destroyed with intense heat and will all be burned up.

As concern believers, we must seize every opportunity to present Christ. God’s patience and forbearance is still holding up and He is still saving mankind. The Holy Spirit is still at work and we must. This is what the Lord says, “Work while it is yet day. Night will soon come where no man can work.” Since we are still living in the day light of God’s revelation, we must not let any opportunity go to waste. 

Like Paul, “We must proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also we must (I) labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within us (me).”  (Colossians 1:28-29 – words in bold italics are mine insertion)