The Passing of the Elements
2 Peter 3:10
By Don K. Preston
"Peter,
in 2 Peter 3, wrote of the passing of the "elements" of Old Covenant
One of the key arguments
offered against Covenant Eschatology is Peter's statement in 2 Peter 3 that,
"the elements will melt with fervent heat." We are told that the
elements are the fundamental elements of material creation. Is this the only
interpretation of this verse? Were there other "elements" of another
"heaven and earth" that were predicted to pass in Peter's near
future?
Much could be said about this subject. For instance, it is certainly relevant
to show from Josephus that the Jews referred to the
This study will examine Peter's declaration that Paul also wrote about the
passing away of the elements of heaven and earth (2 Peter 3:15-16).
My argument is simple: Paul wrote the same thing about the passing of the
"elements" of the world as did Peter (2 Peter 3:15-16). But Paul, in
discussing the passing of the "elements" of the world, wrote
exclusively of the passing away of the "elements" of Old Covenant
Therefore, Peter, in 2 Peter 3, wrote of the passing of the
"elements" of Old Covenant
Paul and the Elements
Paul certainly did write about the passing of the "elements" (stoichea) of the world. But he never used the word to refer
to physical creation.
Galatians
Galatians is concerned with the superiority of the world of Christ over the
Mosaic World. Addressing his Jewish Christian audience Paul reminds them of
their condition under the Law, "Even so we, when we were children, were in
bondage under the elements of the world" (Galatians 4:3). It is important
to note that Paul speaks here of the elements of the world. The word translated
as world is from cosmos. It is unfortunate that when this word is used in
scripture most people think it has to speak of the physical universe. It is
clear however, from this text and all others where Paul speaks of the elements
of the cosmos, that this is not what the apostle had in mind.
He could not be speaking of material creation because he was saying they had
become free from the elements of the world. If the "elements" refers
to the material world Paul was saying the Galatian
brethren had become free from the physical world.
In verse 9 he continues: "But now, after you have known God, or rather are
known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements,
to which you desire again to be in bondage?" The "elements" were
the Old Covenant mandates concerning feast days (4:10). Compare Paul's
statement about freedom and the exhortation not to be enslaved again with
Galatians 5:1-3. The thought is identical; freedom was from the Old Covenant
not the material creation.
The Galatian brethren had become free from those
elements by coming into Christ and becoming the spiritual seed of Abraham
(Galatians 3:26-29; 5:1-4). The system itself, however, that world (kosmos) with its elements (4:3), was to be cast out for
persecuting the spiritual seed of Abraham (Galatians 4:22-32). Thus, in
Galatians we find the exact elements — no pun intended — as in 2 Peter 3. We
find Paul speaking of the elements of the world passing away. Yet his focus is
on the passing of the Old Covenant World of Israel. [b]
Colossians
Just as in Galatians, Paul
addresses the Old Covenant System as the "world" and the doctrines of
that system as the "elements" of the world. He urges his readers:
"Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit,
according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles (stoichea) of the world (cosmos) and not according to
Christ."
Was Paul saying that man should not be deceived by earth, wind, fire, or water?
Clearly, he was urging his audience not to be deceived by the doctrines of man.
These traditions of men — and what traditions of men receive
more attention in scripture than the traditions of Old Covenant
In chapter 2:20 the apostle reminds them "if you died with Christ from the
basic principles (stoichea) of the world (kosmos), why as though living in the world, do you subject
yourselves to regulations — do not touch, do not taste, do not handle."
There could not be a clearer definition of "the elements of the
world." They were the Old Covenant laws concerning foods and clean and
unclean things.
Notice the direct correlation between Galatians 4:10 and Colossians 2:14-16. In
Galatians the apostle says the brethren were becoming entangled again in the
"elements of the world" and the specific example was their observance
of "days, months, seasons, and years" (v. 10). In Colossians he warns
his Gentile audience not to be judged in respect to "festival, new moon or
sabbaths." Bruce has effectively shown that both
references can refer to nothing but the Old Covenant laws. There can be little
doubt that the "elements of the world" in these texts were the
elements of the Old Covenant world of
That "world" still existed because those feast days and observances
were still "a shadow of things that are about to (mellonton)
come" (Colossians 2:17). But Paul then says the Old Covenant mandates —
the elements — "all concern things which are to perish with the
using" (Colossians 2:22). Here is an emphatic statement concerning the
passing of the "elements" and thus the "world" — of the Old
Covenant.
Just as in Galatians — and 2 Peter 3 — we find the discussion of the elements,
the world, and the passing of the world. Yet it is abundantly clear that for
Paul, the passing of the elements, and thus the destruction of the world, meant
the passing of the Old Covenant World. And remember, Peter said that his
discussion of the passing of the elements is the same thing as what Paul said.
Hebrews 5:12-6:1-5
Assuming the Pauline
authorship of Hebrews, this text agrees perfectly with the idea that the
elements of the passing world were the doctrines of the Old Covenant.
The word of the beginning belonged to the world that the Christians needed to
leave behind (Hebrews 6:1), and go on to the perfection of "the world to
come" (Hebrews 6:5). [d] We thus have the passing of one world and the
anticipation of another. The
The first principles (elements) of Christ could not make one perfect (Hebrews
6:1). But it was the Old Covenant that could not make one perfect (Hebrews
7:11; 9:12-15; 10:1-4). Therefore the first principles of Christ — the elements
— referred to the Old Covenant.
In Hebrews the Old Covenant "elements" were even then "ready to
vanish away" (Hebrews 8:13). Christ came at "the end of age"
(Hebrews 9:26). He came to do away with the first principles (elements) of that
Old World and bring perfection, the
Hebrews then, agrees with Galatians and Colossians in its usage of the word
elements. It referred to the basic doctrines of Old Covenant
Having observed all occurrences of the word "stoichea"
(elements), outside 2 Peter 3 we have seen that these references have nothing
to do with physical creation. They refer exclusively to the basic doctrines and
commands of the Old Covenant World of Israel. In each of the texts above the
inspired writers predicted the passing of that
Conclusion
Let me restate my argument:
Paul wrote the same thing about the passing of the "elements" of the
world as did Peter (2 Peter 3:15-16). But Paul, in discussing the passing of
the "elements" of the world, wrote exclusively of the passing of the
"elements" of Old Covenant
To negate the power of this argument one must prove that Paul discussed the
passing of two different kinds of "elements" and "worlds." Yet Paul, as shown above, when discussing the passing of the
elements of the world speaks exclusively of the passing of the Old Covenant
world.
The evidence presented in this brief article shows that the focus of Peter's —
and thus the Bible's — is Covenantal and not Historical. Peter wrote just a few
short years prior to the fall of
Peter's Day of the Lord, with the destruction of the elements, came. As a
result, believers in God today should not fear the future. We should live lives
of confidence and righteousness as we dwell in the New Heavens and Earth of our
Savior.
a) Josephus, Antiquities
(William Whiston trans., Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1987) BK. 3, chap. 6:4-7; chapt.
7:7, pp 86+
b) Paul's statement that the bondwoman and her son, representative of the Old
Covenant, was yet to be cast out — for persecuting Christians — is prima fascia
proof that the Old Testament did not pass at the cross as is traditionally
maintained by many. Paul emphatically says the Old Covenant people would be
cast out for persecuting Christians, the children of promise (Galatians
4:28-30). This persecution patently did not occur prior to the cross.
Thus,
c) F. F. Bruce, New International Greek Testament Commentary, Galatians, (Grand
Rapids, Eerdmans, 1982) 206+.
d) For an excellent study showing that the first principles of Hebrews 5:12;
6:1f were the Old Covenant elements see Max King's series of articles in the
Living Presence, beginning Vol. 6, No. 1, August, 1995. Many other scholars,
not advocates of Covenant Eschatology, agree with this view. See, for instance,
F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans,
1964) 112+ says the impression we get is that existing Jewish beliefs and
practices were used as a foundation on which to build Christian truth.