2 Peter 3:11-18

The closing verses are devoted to the pressing of certain practical injunctions, which are closely connected with the Christian view of the end. These are given in a strain as tender as it is solemn and pointed. They are based in part upon the consideration of the catastrophe which comes in the train of the Lord's Advent. As they are appeals directed to believers, however, they are based to a larger extent upon the brighter aspect which that Coming of the Lord presents to the Christian, and particularly upon the new and holier system of things which shall then take the place of the present. The counsels deal with the posture of earnest and expectant waiting as that which best befits the Christian, with the propriety of labouring so as to prepare the way for the Lord's Coming, with the duties of watchfulness against seductive error, constancy in the Christian faith, and progress in the Christian graces. The explanation which has been already offered of the Lord's apparent delay is repeated, and what Peter says on the subject of the Divine long-suffering is sustained by affectionate reference to the teaching of Paul.