Chapter
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Verse
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2 Peter 3:7
ESV But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
NIV By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
NASB But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly people.
CSB By the same word, the present heavens and earth are stored up for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
NLT And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.
KJV 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.

What does 2 Peter 3:7 mean?

Peter is in the process of answering a deceptive idea. False teachers are working among the Christians, disputing the future return of Christ. They mistakenly suggest that because so much time had passed since Jesus had left, He must not be coming back to disrupt the world, be revealed as God, and to judge the sins of humanity.

Peter exposed the holes in their teaching in prior verses. One error is the thought that since the world mostly goes along in the same, natural way, that it always will. Of course, God created the world, so He can disrupt it whenever and however He chooses to. He can alter the natural processes He designed at any time. Also, God has already done so in a huge way with the flood of Noah, destroying with water nearly all life on earth in judgment of the sins of humanity.

Now Peter reveals that God will bring destruction on the earth again, this time with fire. With the same Word he used to create the heavens, He will destroy them on the day of judgment along with all of ungodly humanity. The false teachers are dead wrong, Peter insists. Christ is returning. Judgment is coming.

In the next verse, Peter will address the issue of God's timing.
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