Moreover the Lord is not really slow to fulfil His promise; He does not reckon time as men reckon. His seeming slowness is not the manifestation of His impotence, but of His long-suffering love (cf. 2 Peter 3:15). His purpose is that time for repentance should be given to all; when the end comes it will be sudden, and there will be no time for repentance then. The fact that all material things will pass away constitutes a call to holy living (we can see here, per contra, the connexion between the libertinism of the false teachers and their disbelief in the Parousia), especially since we look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein righteousness dwelleth (cf. Isaiah 65:17, Enoch 91: 16).
2 Peter 3:12. earnestly desiring the coming: render, hastening (mg.) the coming, i.e. by repentance; for the belief that men's repentance was the essential condition of the Parousia cf. Acts 3:19 f., Repent, therefore. that he may send the Christ.