2 Peter 3:11Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

In holy life means in the three laws: the Old Testament, the New Testament, and nature. And in piety means in faith in the Trinity.

All this will be dissolved. In the original Greek the present tense stands in place of the future. The apostle vividly carries himself in thought to that day and event. In spiritual contemplation he defines the essence of this fact in one word: everything is collapsing. What manner of persons ought you to be, and so forth. This is an urgent exhortation to holiness of life and piety, with which believers must be adorned at that great time. The interrogative and exclamatory form of speech should further strengthen the impression of the apostle's words. Consider how lofty in holy life and how great in piety Christians must be before such a fearful yet joyful event.

Pointing to the unexpectedness of the Lord’s coming, the apostle exhorts believers to prepare for it by a holy life. The Lord’s coming will be preceded by a swift change of the world (see Mt 24:29). Yet still more swiftly will the lightning-like coming of the Son of Man occur (v. 27).

The apostle calls this change of the world a destruction, because by the terrible power of fire everything combustible will be consumed. But afterward, in verse 13, he says that there will be a new earth with new heavens.

Thus this world will not be completely annihilated, but, so to speak, purified through fire (cf. Is 65:17; 66:22).