What Peter meant by scoffers
Peter warned that scoffers would come in the last days. A scoffer is not simply someone with doubts or honest questions. Scripture makes room for people who seek, ask, and wrestle. Peter describes people who mock God's promise and choose to follow their own lusts, or self-centred desires (2 Peter 3:3-4).
Their particular target was Christ's promised coming. They looked at the ordinary rhythm of the world and claimed that nothing would ever change. In other words, they treated the present as proof that God would never judge evil or fulfil his promises (2 Peter 3:4).
Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
The last days have already begun
In the New Testament, the last days are not only a short period immediately before Jesus returns. They began with Jesus' first coming and continue until his return. Hebrews says God has spoken through his Son in these last days, and Peter applied Joel's words about the last days to the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost (Hebrews 1:2, Acts 2:17).
That means Peter's warning has mattered throughout Christian history. Mockery of God's promises is not a secret code for identifying one generation. It is a recurring response to the gospel in the time between Christ's first coming and his return.
God's delay is not forgetfulness
Peter answers the scoffers by pointing to God's power and faithfulness. The God who created by his word is not unable to act again, and the past is not as unchanging as the scoffers pretend (2 Peter 3:5-6).
Why has Jesus not yet returned? Peter says the Lord is not slow in the way people count slowness. His patience gives people time to repent (2 Peter 3:9). This is not indifference to suffering or injustice. It is mercy, and it leaves the door open for people to turn to God.
Still, the day of the Lord will come unexpectedly. Peter's purpose is not to fuel speculation about dates, but to call believers to live awake, faithful lives now (2 Peter 3:10-11).
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
How to respond without fear
You do not need to panic when faith is mocked. Jude also spoke of mockers who divide people and live by natural desires rather than the Spirit (Jude 1:17-19). The response is not to become harsh or defensive. Stay rooted in what Christ and his apostles taught.
A wise response can include listening carefully, answering honest questions with gentleness, and refusing to let ridicule decide what is true. Jesus' return is presented as a source of hope, not a reason to guess dates or condemn everyone who struggles to believe (Titus 2:13).
Keep reading Peter's letter for yourself. His invitation is practical: since God will make all things new, live with a clean conscience, grow in grace, and wait for Christ with confidence (2 Peter 3:13-14, 2 Peter 3:18).