3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. (2 Peter 3:3-7 KJV)
God’s Promise Is Not Slack
To stir us up to take seriously and hold firmly to what God has revealed through the prophets and apostles, we’re told that scoffers will come—people who mock sin and salvation. They will ridicule God’s way of saving sinners through Jesus Christ, especially in the last days under the gospel. This might seem surprising, since the New Testament covenant is more spiritual and in line with God’s nature than the Old. But its spirituality and simplicity are offensive to the carnal mind. That’s why the apostle hints that scoffers will become more numerous and bolder in the last days. Though people have always mocked those who walk by the Spirit, in the last days there will be a greater boldness and skill in mocking sincere godliness and the self-denial the gospel calls for. Christians should expect this and not be surprised as if something strange were happening to them.
We are told what kind of people these scoffers are: they follow their own desires. They’re driven by the lusts of their hearts, not by reason or godly wisdom. They live and speak as they please. Not only are their minds opposed to God (Romans 8:7), but they openly express what many sinful people only hide. They say, “Our tongues are our own—who is lord over us?” They reject God’s authority over their actions and thoughts. They won’t accept that God’s revelation should govern what they believe. Just as they live and speak as they choose, they also form their own beliefs, guided only by their desires. Only such arrogant libertines can sit in the seat of the scornful. “By this you shall know them,” so you can be on guard.
They will try to shake our belief in Christ’s second coming. They will mockingly say, “Where is the promise of his coming?” (2 Peter 3:4). This is a core part of our faith. The Messiah has come, became flesh, lived among us, and accomplished our redemption. These foundational truths rest on historical facts, testified by apostles. So the enemies of Christianity might grow tired of opposing what’s already been proven. But because Christ’s second coming hasn’t happened yet and rests on a promise, they will keep attacking it. They won’t believe it until it happens and will mock those who do. The believer, on the other hand, not only desires Christ’s return but trusts the promise made and repeated by Christ himself, testified by faithful witnesses, and recorded in Scripture. The scoffers, because they don’t want him to come, try to persuade themselves and others that he never will. Even if they admit there’s a promise, they mock it: “Where is the promise of his coming?”
They also pretend to argue: “Since the fathers died, everything continues as it has from the beginning of creation” (2 Peter 3:4). This line of reasoning may seem persuasive to weak minds and wicked hearts. Because judgment hasn’t come yet, they think it never will (Ecclesiastes 8:11). They say, “Those to whom the promise was made are all dead. Nothing has changed. If Christ were really coming, we’d have seen signs of it by now. Everything continues as it always has since the world began. Why should we believe it’s going to end?” Because they see no change, they don’t fear God (Psalm 55:19). They assume that because God hasn’t judged yet, he never will.
But the apostle exposes the falsehood of this argument. Though they claim nothing has changed since creation, they ignore a major event: the flood in Noah’s day. They deliberately forget (2 Peter 3:5) that the world was once destroyed by water. Though they should have known, they chose not to. They didn’t want to remember the truth or accept its implications. People often remain ignorant because they want to be. But willful ignorance is not an excuse. Those who crucified Christ didn’t know who he was (1 Corinthians 2:8), but they weren’t innocent—their ignorance was sinful. Likewise, these scoffers would not mock divine judgment if they truly accepted that God once wiped out the entire world for its wickedness.
The apostle reminds us how God once destroyed the world (2 Peter 3:6). By his word, the heavens and the earth were created, with waters divided above and below (Genesis 1:6–7). But during the flood, God brought those waters back together. He opened the fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven (Genesis 7:11), covering even the highest mountains (Genesis 7:20). The world perished—completely destroyed by the same powerful word that created it (Hebrews 11:3; Psalm 33:9). God had promised judgment by flood (Genesis 6:7, 13, 17), and he kept that promise. This is the past judgment the scoffers ignore.
Now we turn to the judgment still to come: “The present heavens and earth are reserved by the same word for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly” (2 Peter 3:7). This final judgment is even more serious. The flood came in the past and spared a few, but the coming judgment will be sudden, complete, and universal. Not one person will escape. No ark will save anyone. The flood took forty days to destroy the world (Genesis 7:12, 17), but the fire will come swiftly (2 Peter 2:1). No part of the world will be spared. God has promised never to destroy the world again by flood (Genesis 9:11–17), but this time it will be destroyed by fire. The heavens and the earth are being kept—not for our treasures, but for God’s purpose. They are “reserved unto fire.”
This is the judgment of ungodly men. Those who now scoff will one day face God’s wrath. God’s later judgments are more terrifying than the earlier ones. The world was once destroyed by water; it will be destroyed again, but by fire. And though judgment seems delayed, it is certain. The world is preserved only by God’s word, and when he chooses, it will be undone by that same word.
Let the scoffers laugh if they will. We are not discouraged. We trust God’s word and his power. The scoffers are wrong because they neither know nor believe the Scriptures or the power of God. But we do. And we trust that the heavens and earth we now see—so beautiful and useful—are being kept not for our security, but for God’s judgment. They are reserved for fire, for the day of judgment and the destruction of ungodly people.
Beware, then, of joining the scoffers. Don’t doubt the Lord’s coming. Be diligent to be found in Christ, so that his return will be a day of joy and redemption for you—not a day of wrath and destruction with the rest of the ungodly world.