Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 2 Peter 3:12

"looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?" — 2 Peter 3:12 (ASV)

Another element of godly living is expectation of the future day. Peter relates this to the idea of “speed[ing] its coming.” But how can Christians hasten what God will do? Peter would probably answer by saying that prayer (Matthew 6:10) and preaching (Matthew 24:14) are the two principal means to bring people to repentance and thus to hasten the day (cf. Matthew 24:14). To the crowd that gathered after the healing of the lame beggar at the Beautiful Gate in Jerusalem Peter proclaimed, “Repent... so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ” (Acts 3:19—20). Peter again describes this coming as a fiery disintegration of the very heavens (cf. comment on v.10); the “elements” probably refers again to the “celestial bodies” on fire.