Commentary - 2 Peter 3:11-13

Bird's-eye view

Peter, having just described the coming Day of the Lord in which the heavens and earth of the old covenant order will be dissolved with fire, now turns to the practical application. This is not pie-in-the-sky eschatology for theologians to quibble over. The end of all things, specifically, the end of the old Jewish world in the A.D. 70 judgment, has immediate and profound implications for how Christians ought to live in the present. The certainty of this coming dissolution is the ground and reason for a particular kind of life, a life of holiness and godliness. Peter connects doctrine and life, eschatology and ethics, with a logical "since." Because that world is passing away, we are to live as citizens of the world that is coming, the new heavens and new earth. Our hope is not in the preservation of the old order, but in the promise of a new one where righteousness dwells. This hope is not a passive waiting, but an active "hastening" of that day through our sanctified conduct.

The apostle's argument is a powerful exhortation to live with an eternal perspective. He frames the Christian life as one of eager expectation, looking for the fulfillment of God's promise. This is not a fearful cowering before judgment, but a confident anticipation of the new creation established in the death and resurrection of Christ and consummated in history. The dissolution of the old is the necessary prelude to the full manifestation of the new. Therefore, the believer's response to the coming judgment is not despair, but diligence in godliness, knowing that our conduct is meaningfully tied to the unfolding of God's redemptive purposes.

Outline

Context In 2 Peter

This passage is the ethical climax of Peter's argument against the scoffers in chapter 3. Those scoffers, looking at the apparent stability of the world, had concluded that God's promises of judgment and return were empty (2 Pet 3:4). Peter has systematically dismantled their argument by reminding his readers of God's past judgment by water (the Flood) and His promise of a future judgment by fire. This "fire" is best understood not as a literal conflagration of the physical cosmos, but as the covenantal judgment that would fall upon Jerusalem and the temple system, the "heavens and earth" of the Old Covenant. This event, which occurred in A.D. 70, was the definitive "Day of the Lord" for that era, marking the end of the old world and the full establishment of the new covenant age.

Therefore, when Peter asks "what sort of people ought you to be," he is speaking to Christians living in the final days of that old covenant world. Their conduct was to be a stark contrast to the ungodly scoffers. Their lives were to be shaped not by the apparent permanence of the temple and its sacrifices, but by the reality of the coming kingdom, the new heavens and earth inaugurated by Christ. This passage, then, is a call to live out the reality of our new creation status in Christ, even as the remnants of the old creation were shaking and about to be removed.

Key Issues

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,

Peter begins with a logical connector, "Since" or "Therefore." The doctrine he has just laid out is the foundation for the duty he is about to prescribe. Christian ethics are never unmoored from Christian theology. Because the "heavens" and "earth" of the old covenant system are slated for dissolution, a certain kind of living is required. The phrase "all these things" refers back to the heavens, earth, and elements mentioned in verse 10. This is the whole religious and civil polity of apostate Israel.

He then asks a rhetorical question that is really a forceful command: "what sort of people ought you to be?" The impending judgment is not a cause for speculation, but for introspection and action. The character of our lives must correspond to the character of the age we are entering. The old world was characterized by ungodliness and scoffing; the new world is one where righteousness dwells. Therefore, our lives must be marked by "holy conduct and godliness." Holiness means being set apart, distinct from the world that is passing away. Godliness means a practical, lived-out reverence for God in every sphere of life. This is not about a cloistered piety, but a robust, world-engaging faith that demonstrates by its character that it belongs to another city, another world.

v. 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens burning will be destroyed, and the elements will melt with intense heat!

The Christian life is forward-looking. We are "looking for" the coming of the day of God. This is not a passive, idle waiting. The Greek word implies an eager expectation, a craning of the neck to see what is coming over the horizon. Our hope is fixed on the future triumph of God in history. But it is more than just looking; we are also "hastening" that day. This is a remarkable statement. It means that our holy conduct and godliness are not incidental to God's timetable. God, in His sovereignty, has ordained to use the prayers and the faithful, obedient lives of His people to bring about His purposes. We hasten the day through zealous evangelism, through righteous living, through building for the kingdom. When we live as citizens of the new heavens and earth, we are, in effect, pulling that future reality into the present.

Peter then reiterates the reason for this eager expectation: it is the "day of God," a day of judgment and salvation. He repeats the imagery of fiery destruction, "the heavens burning will be destroyed, and the elements will melt with intense heat." This is the language of theophany and covenant judgment found throughout the Old Testament prophets. It describes the complete dismantling of the old covenant world order, centered on the temple in Jerusalem, to make way for the full flourishing of the new covenant kingdom throughout the world.

v. 13 But according to His promise we are looking for NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH, in which righteousness dwells.

Our focus is not ultimately on the destruction of the old, but on the establishment of the new. The "but" provides a sharp and glorious contrast. While the old order melts away, we, on the basis of a firm foundation, look for something permanent and beautiful. That foundation is "His promise." Peter is referring to the great promises of the Old Testament, particularly in Isaiah 65 and 66, where God promises to create new heavens and a new earth. The apostles understood that this promise was being fulfilled in their day through the work of Christ and the establishment of the Church.

The thing we are looking for is "new heavens and a new earth." This is not a replacement of the physical planet, but a renovation of the cosmic and social order. It is the world system as reconstituted under the lordship of Jesus Christ. The old heavens and earth were the world under the dominion of Adam, sin, and the specific structures of the Mosaic covenant. The new heavens and earth are the world being renewed and restored by the gospel, a process that began at Christ's resurrection and will continue until the knowledge of the Lord covers the earth as the waters cover the sea. The defining characteristic of this new world is that in it "righteousness dwells." This is the goal of all of God's redemptive work: a restored creation where God's righteous rule is acknowledged and joyfully obeyed, where justice and peace reign, and where God dwells with His people.

Application

The first and most obvious application is that our eschatology must have shoe leather on it. What you believe about the end times directly impacts how you live right now. If you believe Christ is losing and the world is just a sinking ship to be abandoned, you will live one way. If you believe, as Peter teaches, that the old world of sin and rebellion is being judged and dissolved to make way for a new world where righteousness dwells, you will live another way entirely. You will live with hope, with purpose, and with a sense of your own agency in God's plan.

Second, we are called to a life of manifest holiness. In a world that is melting, we are to be solid. Our "conduct" and our "godliness" are to be distinctive. This is not a call to legalism, but to a Spirit-filled life that is set apart from the corruption and futility of the world. We are to be people whose lives make no sense apart from the promise of the new heavens and the new earth. Our families, our work, our finances, our politics, all of it should be oriented toward that coming reality.

Finally, we are to be a people of eager expectation. We should be "looking for and hastening" the day of God. This means we should pray "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" and mean it. It means we should be about the business of the Great Commission, discipling the nations and teaching them to obey all that Christ has commanded. Our holy living is not just a ticket into the new world, but a tool for building it. We are not just waiting for the future; we are actively participating in its arrival, knowing that according to His promise, a world of righteousness is not just a distant dream, but our assured inheritance.