(Article for publication week of 11-5-2008 AD)
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to uswards, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (II Peter 3:9). In our most recent articles we have been dealing with the doctrine of repentance. Repentance is an evidence of a gracious state (II Cor. 7:10; Matt. 5:4). None are saved apart from repentance (Luke 13:3,5). All men are commanded to repent (Acts 17:30). And repentance is the sovereign and gracious work of God (Acts 11:18).
God is not willing that any of His elect should perish, but that all of His elect should come to repentance. The “any” and the ‘all” of II Peter 3:9 is understood by Peter’s introduction in II Peter 1:1 to “them that have obtained like precious faith.” Actually God is willing that those who are in rebellion against Him and refuse to repent of their sins finally perish in their sins and be sent to hell. God is of “one mind “ and none “can turn Him” (see Job 23:13). Whatever God purposes, He shall bring to pass (Isaiah 46:11). He will do all His pleasure (Isaiah 46:10). God is absolutely Sovereign and He will not be disappointed nor frustrated in His Holy designs. God is willing that the unsaved perish, and they will perish and that for eternity. But God is not willing that a single blood bought heir of promise perish, and none shall.
God is longsuffering with his elect while they are unregenerate. We were children of wrath even as others and we despised God, His grace and His gospel until He regenerated us and brought us to repentance and faith. There is a set time when God will call all His elect to the knowledge of His Son (Psalm 102:13). “There is a period known to God, when all His sheep redeemed by blood, shall leave the hateful ways of sin, turn to the fold and enter in.”(Kent). And God suffers long with us until that day appointed by Himself when he shall effectually call us. Believer , are you not thankful that the Lord suffered long with you. He could have cut you down while you were in your sins, but He suffered long until you were converted.
And God suffers long with the wicked until His sovereign purposes in this present order of things are all accomplished. God suffered long with the antediluvian world until the ark was finished and Noah and His family were safely aboard (I Peter 3:20). God withheld His Holy judgment and wrath for the sinners of the old world until all of Noah’s family were brought into the ark. And so God is longsuffering with the world until all His elect are converted to Christ and safe in Him the True Ark of their souls.
All of God’s chosen elect will certainly be brought to repentance. In His sovereign mercy and by His sovereign grace, He will grant repentance and faith. Not one chosen in the covenant of grace shall ever perish. Not one bought with the blood of Christ shall ever perish. All those blood bought heirs of promise shall be called by the Holy Spirit . Jesus said in John 6:37, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me.” you know what our Lord was saying there in John 6:37. Why He was saying that God has chosen a vast number in Christ from all eternity and that he (Christ) came to die for them and they are predestinated to be called savingly to Himself. What God has decreed must come to pass. It is impossible that any of these should ever perish for they are fenced in by Jehovah’s “shalls and wills.” Jesus said in John 10:28 concerning His sheep “they shall never perish.”
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to uswards, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (II Peter 3:9). In our most recent articles we have been dealing with the doctrine of repentance. Repentance is an evidence of a gracious state (II Cor. 7:10; Matt. 5:4). None are saved apart from repentance (Luke 13:3,5). All men are commanded to repent (Acts 17:30). And repentance is the sovereign and gracious work of God (Acts 11:18).
God is not willing that any of His elect should perish, but that all of His elect should come to repentance. The “any” and the ‘all” of II Peter 3:9 is understood by Peter’s introduction in II Peter 1:1 to “them that have obtained like precious faith.” Actually God is willing that those who are in rebellion against Him and refuse to repent of their sins finally perish in their sins and be sent to hell. God is of “one mind “ and none “can turn Him” (see Job 23:13). Whatever God purposes, He shall bring to pass (Isaiah 46:11). He will do all His pleasure (Isaiah 46:10). God is absolutely Sovereign and He will not be disappointed nor frustrated in His Holy designs. God is willing that the unsaved perish, and they will perish and that for eternity. But God is not willing that a single blood bought heir of promise perish, and none shall.
God is longsuffering with his elect while they are unregenerate. We were children of wrath even as others and we despised God, His grace and His gospel until He regenerated us and brought us to repentance and faith. There is a set time when God will call all His elect to the knowledge of His Son (Psalm 102:13). “There is a period known to God, when all His sheep redeemed by blood, shall leave the hateful ways of sin, turn to the fold and enter in.”(Kent). And God suffers long with us until that day appointed by Himself when he shall effectually call us. Believer , are you not thankful that the Lord suffered long with you. He could have cut you down while you were in your sins, but He suffered long until you were converted.
And God suffers long with the wicked until His sovereign purposes in this present order of things are all accomplished. God suffered long with the antediluvian world until the ark was finished and Noah and His family were safely aboard (I Peter 3:20). God withheld His Holy judgment and wrath for the sinners of the old world until all of Noah’s family were brought into the ark. And so God is longsuffering with the world until all His elect are converted to Christ and safe in Him the True Ark of their souls.
All of God’s chosen elect will certainly be brought to repentance. In His sovereign mercy and by His sovereign grace, He will grant repentance and faith. Not one chosen in the covenant of grace shall ever perish. Not one bought with the blood of Christ shall ever perish. All those blood bought heirs of promise shall be called by the Holy Spirit . Jesus said in John 6:37, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me.” you know what our Lord was saying there in John 6:37. Why He was saying that God has chosen a vast number in Christ from all eternity and that he (Christ) came to die for them and they are predestinated to be called savingly to Himself. What God has decreed must come to pass. It is impossible that any of these should ever perish for they are fenced in by Jehovah’s “shalls and wills.” Jesus said in John 10:28 concerning His sheep “they shall never perish.”
Thus we see the meaning of II Peter 3:9 who it is that God is not willing should perish. He is not willing that any of His elect should perish. He is not willing that any of His sheep shall ever perish. He is not willing that any believer perish. He is willing that they all come to repentance and believe in His Son, and they shall. This world shall not come to an end until God’s purpose of grace is accomplished. Just as God was longsuffering with the old world in the days of Noah, so He is being longsuffering with the world until all His elect are saved. Praise the Lord for His mercy, His grace and His longsuffering and His promise to grant repentance to all His elect.
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