“…NOT WILLING THAT ANY SHOULD PERISH…” II Peter 3:9

[Guest]

The words “all,” “world,” and “every” do not normally mean all without exception, even as we use them today. They normally mean all of a specific group (Mk. 1:5; Lk. 2:1). If I walked into a diner and said, “I am buying lunch for everyone,” no one in his right mind would presume that I intended to buy lunch for everyone in the world, without exception!


In this passage of scripture Peter is comforting the children of God with the assurance of Christ's second advent. If you will read the chapter carefully, you will observe that the apostle makes a clear and deliberate distinction between "us" who believe and the scoffers who believe not. Unbelieving scoffers arise and say, "Where is the promise of his coming?" And Peter tenderly protects Christ's sheep from such raging wolves by those sweet assurances.

"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise." Did he promise that Christ would come to judge the world and to gather his elect unto himself? Most assured1y he did. Let the wicked mock and scoff. We will comfort ourselves in the assurance that, at the appointed time, Christ will appear in his glory. Though the promise tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry." "Yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry."

The Lord "is longsuffering to us-ward." The promise and the longsuffering of God is to us - Those who are loved, chosen, redeemed, and called of God - Those who believe on Christ for life everlasting. There is only one reason why God tolerates the enemies of Christ, only one reason why Christ has not yet come to judge his enemies, and it is this - God has a people in this world whom he has determined to save, He would not destroy the old world until Noah was in the ark. He would not burn Sodom until Lot was out of the city. And God Almighty, even in his strict holiness, will not send his Son to destroy this world until the last one of his chosen sheep has been brought safe into the Shepherd's fold! Indeed, "The longsuffering of our Lord is salvation."

Once more, it is promised that God is "not willing that any should perish." To whom is this promise given? Not to Pharaoh, God killed him. Not to Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, God sent them to hell. Not to Judas, God sent him to his own place. To whom then is the promise given? To us-ward! Not one of God's elect shall parish in his sin. Not one of Christ's sheep shall, be missing from the fold. Not one soul redeemed by Christ shall be cast into hell. Why? Because God is "Not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." And the will of God cannot be frustrated. Peter is simply reaffirming the promise of Christ, "All that the Father giveth to me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out."

[Guest]

Once more, it is promised that God is "not willing that any should perish." To whom is this promise given? Not to Pharaoh, God killed him. Not to Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, God sent them to hell. Not to Judas, God sent him to his own place. To whom then is the promise given? To us-ward! Not one of God's elect shall parish in his sin. Not one of Christ's sheep shall, be missing from the fold. Not one soul redeemed by Christ shall be cast into hell. Why? Because God is "Not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." And the will of God cannot be frustrated. Peter is simply reaffirming the promise of Christ, "All that the Father giveth to me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out."


Hyperbole is used often in the bible to emphasize a point therefore "all" need not mean every last person but it is used many times with regards to salvation and IMO it means a majority eventually in God's time will be saved.
God is truly long suffering and patient and Jesus will be the savior of the world in God's timetable not our manmade time constraints.

[Guest]

The words “all,” “world,” and “every” do not normally mean all without exception, even as we use them today. They normally mean all of a specific group (Mk. 1:5; Lk. 2:1). If I walked into a diner and said, “I am buying lunch for everyone,” no one in his right mind would presume that I intended to buy lunch for everyone in the world, without exception!

In your diner example, it is obvious that "all" is restricted to "all who are in the diner". But contrast the words "He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentence". There is absolutely nothing in the context to suppose that the domain of the "all" is restricted in any way.

There are scriptures that clearly indicate that the unrestricted "all" is frequently used. One example:

1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

How many people die in Adam? Is it "all" or is it restricted to a sub-group?
Most understand that "all people" die in Adam. It follows that it is also "all ppeople" who shall be made alive in Christ. And this is made obvious by from the context.

Verse 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet

Or do you think He is going to put only some of His enemies under His feet? If Christ were going to use force to put them under His feet, He could do it immediately. But no, He is going to reign (over a period of time) until all are reconciled to Him, and come under His authority.

[color=purpleVerse 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things under him, that God may be everything to every one.[/color]

When God is everything to every one, He will be God and Lord of all. All will be under God's authority. No more rebellion. No wonder God is not willing that any should perish. For if all come to repentance, they will not have to perish, that is, their persons destroyed so that the new person can come forth. However many will have to perish and be corrected in Gehanna. "Perish" and "destroy" do not mean that their substance will be destroyed, but their hostile wills (as Origen stated). Paul used "perish" in the same way when he spoke of "gold that perishes" in the fire. Now the substance of gold does not perish in fire. But the gold in its raw form perishes so that the pure gold comes forth. So it will be with those who perish in Gehenna.

[Guest]

Gracemonger,

In essence, isn't this what you are saying: When Peter says that “God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance,” who is he referring to when he says all? The word all is clearly restricted by the context to the pronoun us. Peter is clearly referring to believers, to Christians when he says “us” (2 Pet. 1:1). God is not willing that any of us (that is, Christians) should perish, but that all of us (God’s people) should come to repentance?


There are some problems that arise with this understanding. 2 Peter is addressed to "those who have obtained a faith of equal stading by ours..." and you say that the context points out that God's desires are for all of these to come to repentance. So my question is this:

If all Peter meant when he said "all" was only his believing readers, then wouldn't he be saying that God is not willing for any (of his readers, who are believers) to perish, but for all (of his readers, who are believers) to come to repentance? Can one be a believer while he/she has not came to repentance yet?

It really doesn't take a scholar or an expert in Greek to see that it is more logical for God to be refering to those who were mentioned being ungodly, and will face God's judgment and destruction. The contextual structure actually links these ungodly people as those who God whom God desires to come to repentance. Therefore, when Peter mentions "us" it is very likely if not certain that he had humanity in mind, you know, people. God is longsuffering towards his people; (When I say people, I mean each person that was created by him) One of my primary reasons for coming to this conclusion is actually from Scipture. See for yourself:

"Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?" (Job 31:15)

"Thy hands have made me and fashioned me." (Psalm 119:73)

"The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life." (Job 33:4)

These Scriptures show that when God created us and fashioned us in our mother's womb, He breathed his breath into us, which created our spirit. So in this since, we are all children of God in the sence of being his creation. Each one of us are part of God in a similar way that each child of man is part of his Father. We are God's came from God's breath in the same way we came from our human father's seed. Understanding this brings clarity to the text of God not wanting any of us to perish, but for all of us to come to repentance and be eternally united with Him in His Kingdom. A specific example of this found in Scripture comes from the book of Revelation:

Revelation 2:20 Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. 21 And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. 22 Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds.

Notice how the 2nd Person of the Trinity expressed his patience and longsuffering towards someone that never came to repentance. He did so by giving her time to repent. He says He will cast her into a sickbed, and those who basically share in her sins, "UNLESS" they repent of their deeds. This is a monumental passage showing that reprobation is, to be precise, conditional.

Robert Shank, in his book "Elect in the Son" had this to say about this passage:

Consider His words, "I gave her time (space, opportunity) to repent... and she did not. Now if Reformed theology is correct, if repentance hinges on the decision of God alone, if man repents only as a consequence of a special immediate act of God, we are left to wonder why Christ gave Jezebel opportunity to repent without giving her repentance. If her failure to repent was the consequence of His own decision, in what sense did He give her opportunity to repent? If He did not choose for her to repent, why did He do something directed toward repentance? If He did something directed toward repentance, why did He not do everything needed? If the repentance of Jezebel and His servants hinged on His own decision rather than theirs, where is the sincerity in His warning of dire consequences to come "except they repent"?