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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 2Pe_3:11-13
11Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! 13But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
2Pe_3:11 "what sort of people ought you to be" The false teachers de-emphasized morality and lifestyle godliness, so Peter continues to hold these things up.
▣ "in holy conduct and godliness" The term "godliness" is an important concept in 2 Peter as it is in the Pastoral Letters. I am reproducing my notes from 1Ti_4:7 (cf. Vol. 9, p. 53). 2 Peter uses the noun in 2Pe_1:3; 2Pe_1:6-7; 2Pe_3:11 and the adverb in 2Pe_2:9.
Notes from my commentary on 1 Timothy
▣ "godliness" This is a pivotal term in the Pastoral Letters. It refers to the doctrinal and daily lifestyle implications of the gospel (cf. 1Ti_3:16). It describes not the exceptional, but the expected. It is a compound term from "good" (eu) and "worship" (sebomai). True worship is daily living by means of proper thinking (cf. 1Ti_4:16 a). Notice the number of times this word is used in the Pastoral Letters:
1. Noun (eusebeia), 1Ti_2:2; 1Ti_3:16; 1Ti_4:7-8; 1Ti_6:3; 1Ti_6:5-6; 1Ti_6:11; 2Ti_3:5; Tit_1:1
2. Adverb (eusebçs), 2Ti_3:12; Tit_2:12
3. Verb (eusebeô), 1Ti_5:4
4. The related term theosebeia, 1Ti_2:10
5. The negated term (alpha privative, i.e., asebeia), 2Ti_2:16; Tit_2:12
2Pe_3:12
NASB, NKJV "looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God"
NRSV "waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God"
TEV "as you wait for the Day of God and do your best to make it happen soon"
NJB "while you wait for the Day of God to come, and try to hasten its coming"
These are both present active participles, which describe two aspects connected to the Second Coming, here uniquely called "the day of God." The first term basically means "to look for expectantly" (cf. Act_3:5; Act_10:24) or "to wait with apprehension" (cf. Luk_21:26; Act_27:33; Act_28:6). It is used three times in 2Pe_3:12-14. Believers wait expectantly, but unbelievers fear this day of reckoning.
The second term has two senses related to the grammatical structure in which it is found:
1. If it is a transitive verb (i.e., passes the action on to a direct object) it means "to urge," "to be eager for" (cf. footnotes of NRSV, ASV, NEB, NIV, Peshitta, and New Century Version, similar in meaning to the early church's maranatha).
2. If it is an intransitive grammatical construction (i.e., it describes a state of being or focuses on the agent of the action) it means "to hasten" (cf. Luk_19:5; Act_22:18). The theology that believers' actions can hasten the Lord's return is found in Mat_6:10 (prayer) and Act_3:19-20 (revival); Romans 9-11 (full number of Gentiles and Jews are saved). In this context the godly lifestyle of believers is encouraged by an imminent eschatological hope.
This is a difficult expression because of our modern mind-set which depreciates paradox. God is sovereign and has set the date for Christ's return, but the actions of believers (i.e., prayer, witness, godliness) may change the date (i.e., sooner or later). This is the covenant aspect of biblical truth which is so confusing to modern western people. God is affected by His children (both negatively and positively)! However, this very truth is why intercessory prayer works.
▣ "because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning and the elements will melt with intense heat"The interpretive question is, "Are these allusions literal or apocalyptic?" These OT-type statements have much in common with Isa_10:10-13; Isa_34:4; Isa_51:6; Joe_2:28-32; Mic_1:4. This context has referred several times to this physical realm of time and space ending in connection with heat. This cleansing sets the spiritual stage for the new heavens and the new earth. Will they be physical (Eden restored) or spiritual (cf. 1Co_15:35-58)? It is hard to describe ultimate and spiritual realities in earthly human terms. The reality is not affected by the genre!
2Pe_3:13 "But according to His promise" (cf. Isa_65:17-25; Isa_66:22-24)
▣ "new heaven and a new earth" (cf. Isa_11:6-9; Isa_65:17; Isa_66:22; Rev_21:1-27)
▣ "in which righteousness dwells" God desires a setting and a people commensurate with His own character (cf. Isa_45:24-25). A holy God demands a holy people (cf. Isa_60:12; Mat_5:48). It is the new creation because it is contrasted with the fallen creation (cf. Genesis 3).