2 Peter 3:7, “But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction [apoleia] of ungodly men.”

2 Pet. 3:7 is sometimes used by conditionalists to support their idea that when a person dies and is destroyed, that the word ‘destroyed’ means nonexistence. But nothing in the context tells us exactly what the nature is of that destruction whether it be nonexistence or continued existence in hellfire. So, when conditionalists appeal to the text, they are inadvertently reading into it what is not there. If I were to make the claim that the context means that the destruction supports eternal conscious torment, the conditionalists could say nothing in the context demands that. If we were to reverse the interpretation and the conditionalist was to state that the word destruction means nonexistent, I could come back and repeat his same statement that nothing in the context demands that interpretation.

I’ve done a complete word study on the Greek word apoleia, ἀπώλεια, where it occurs in every instance of the New Testament. You can find it in this article: Word study on apoleia, destroy.  I quote from that article.

“The Greek word apoleia is used in the New Testament to designate destruction of persons, objects, and institutions. When it comes to persons such as Judas Iscariot (John 17:12) and the Antichrist (2 Thess. 2:3), the meaning of destruction is open. In other words, the contexts do not necessitate nonexistence or continued existence. The word is used of spiritual death (Matt. 7:13; Rom. 9:22; Heb. 10:39; Rev. 17:8, 11) but again, exactly what the nature of this spiritual death is, whether it be existence or nonexistence, is not stated.”

Contextually, the destruction of the ungodly is mentioned alongside the comment about the “present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire.” This is in reference to the coming new heavens and earth where the present world will be destroyed, but it will still be there!

2 Peter 3:10, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”

We know that there will be a new heavens and a new earth. The old sin-corrupted system will be wiped out and be replaced by something pure and everlasting. The text is not saying that the heavens and the earth will cease to exist. Their destruction (luo) is a remaking. In light of this, I could easily make the case that as the old heavens are remade with a new heavens and that the old condition of the ungodly will be remade into a new condition of the ungodly; namely, their temporal state will be replaced by an eternal state of conscious torment.  Now, please understand that is not what I’m saying that text must say. I’m only trying to show how context can be interpreted. This makes understanding the precise meaning of the word destruction in 2 Peter 3:7 difficult to ascertain.

Conclusion

It is only the assumptions of the conditionalist that the word destruction in 2 Peter 3:7 must mean nonexistence when it is referring to people. Though it is a possibility, is also a possibility that the destruction could mean everlasting conscious torment. The fact is, the context does not necessitate either one. Therefore, this verse cannot be used to prove annihilationism.