2 Peter 3:8–10 is part of the closing section of the letter where Peter calls believers to pursue holiness (2 Peter 3:1–18a). This section can be further subdivided as follows:1
- Body closing: a call to holiness (2 Peter 3:1–18a)
A call to remember prophetic and apostolic teaching (2 Peter 3:1–2)
The scoffers of the last days (2 Peter 3:3–7)
One day is as a thousand years (2 Peter 3:8–10)
Living in the light of the end (2 Peter 3:11–13)
Diligence to be found blameless (2 Peter 3:14–18a)
- Letter closing: doxology (2 Peter 3:18b)
The concluding part of Peter’s letter contains a series of exhortations (encouragements) urging Christians to be diligent in their moral life (2 Peter 3:14), ii) to regard the delay in judgment as a sign of salvation (2 Peter 3:15), iii) to be on guard against succumbing to the heretics and falling away (2 Peter 3:17), and finally iv) to grow in knowledge and grace (2 Peter 3:18). He also has a final comment regarding the false teachers and how they distort Scripture to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:15–16).
Along with the above-mentioned encouragements/warnings, Peter also provides a concluding doxology (a short song of praise to God).
14 C'est pourquoi, bien-aimés, en attendant ces choses, appliquez-vous à être trouvés par lui sans tache et irréprochables dans la paix.