2 Peter 3:9

2 Peter 3:9 ‘The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.'

‘The Lord is not slow about His promise' -‘Slow'-slack, to delay, loiter, negligent. ‘hold back in hesitation' (Arndt p. 147) Any delay will not spring from apathy, unwillingness or impotence.

‘as some count slowness' -‘according to some people's conception of slowness' (Amp). The mockers were interpreting Jesus not coming right away as evidence that God is loitering, He is overdue, therefore He isn't coming at all. ‘It is only against the background of eternity that things appear in their true proportions and assume their real value.' (Barclay p. 406) When men, after. considerable lapse of time, fail to fulfill their promises, we infer that it is because they have changed their minds, forgotten about such promises, have no ability to perform them, or just lack the motivation to get the job done.

‘but is patient toward you' -‘Any apparent delay in that coming is not to be construed as slackness, but rather long-suffering. What appears to some as. divine defect is actually an expression of divine grace.' (Plain Talk 11/7/3)

‘patient' -lit., to be long-tempered (Romans 2:4; 2 Peter 3:15). In view of such. statement it is completely unreasonable to complain that the God revealed in the Bible is unloving. Every sinner should consider the fact that he is not cut down in his sins, as proof that God is patient. Every man who sins and is spared even for. moment of time, should regard such as proof that God is kind and that God wants them saved.

‘toward you' -‘for your sake' (P.P. Comm. p. 67) This brings it down to the personal level. Therefore, if one ends up lost or unprepared for the judgment, whose fault is it?

‘not wishing for any to perish' -1. God takes absolutely no pleasure in punishing the rebellious. God didn't create mankind so He could punish someone. God derives no pleasure from the lost condition of dead sinners (Ezekiel 2:23; Ezekiel 2:32; Ezekiel 2:11). 2. But there is. place where people do perish!

‘but for all to come to repentance' -1. God does have. desire or wish. And that wish is that all would end up saved, that all would repent (Acts 17:30; 1 Timothy 2:4; Hebrews 2:9). 2. And this isn't. mere wish, it could be. reality, for God has made provision so that all could be saved, if they only repent. Jesus died for all men, and the gospel is to be spread to all men (Mark 16:15).

Points to Note:

The verse isn't teaching unconditional salvation. For man must acknowledge and forsake his sins. Salvation is condition-for everyone. God has never offered an unconditional salvation. 2. All men can repent, everyone can change. There isn't. sin that you can't forsake. 3. God won't change His mind. Rather, if. man or woman is to end up saved-they are the ones who must change. 4. God even wants the false teachers to repent. God is being patience, so that even His defiant and arrogant enemies can be saved. 5. This passage definitely contradicts the Calvinistic idea of limited atonement or predestination. Any view of the Bible which excludes certain penitent individuals from salvation is. wrong view. What determines our salvation, isn't some arbitrary decision-but rather our own choice to change or not to change. Our choice to serve self or serve God. 6. No one can blame God for their lost condition or the lost condition of. loved one.

Lucas and Green make the following shrewd observation: ‘Christians have often responded to the apparent “problem” of the delay in Christ's return in one of two ways. One reaction has been to become fixated with the minutiae of the Bible's obscurer parts, and obsessed with charts and plans depicting how God is going to fulfill his promises and how the current political crisis only proves its imminence…It also produces skeptical non-Christians, who see, more clearly that we often do, that we are being duped by people who only want us to buy their books. The second response, more usual among the academic community, has been to interpret the delay as indicating that God's plan is not the personal return of Christ, but the extension of his kingdom by other means, whether political, economic, revolutionary or social.' (p. 140)