"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up." (2 Pet. 3:10)

The word "elements" means "the substance of the material world" (Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, p. 196) Some try to evade the teaching of 2 Pet. 3:10 by saying that the word "earth" in the verse is simply talking about ungodly men as in verse 6. However, please notice that verses 6 and 10 do not use the same words, e.g., "world" and "earth."

Some try to evade the truth of the verse by translating the last word "burned up" as, "discovered." (See the New World Translation) Remember, Peter had already said that the elements would melt with fervent heat. This includes the earth. The original Greek word found in a few manuscripts and falsely translated "discovered" means "discovered for destruction." "...Shall be found for destruction." (Thayer's Greek English Lexicon, p. 261)

There's coming a great day when the earth and all its works will be burned up. Let us not let that day overtake us unprepared.