(If you’ve missed the first two posts in this series, you
can find them here and here.) As
we continue to think about 2 Peter 3:9, I’d like to move into chapter 2 and
consider how Peter’s argument there supports our interpretation of 3:9.
(As a reminder, 2 Peter 3:9 reads, The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but
is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should
reach repentance. Our
contention is that this does not refer to a divine desire for all people
without exception to be saved, but rather is a specific statement about the
elect.)
As we saw last time, Peter uses the 1st chapter
to exhort believers to good works, as this serves as evidence of one’s genuine
conversion. Toward the end of the
chapter, in vv16ff, he encourages believers to pay close attention to the
“prophetic word,” the Scriptures, reminding them that the Word is not composed
of cleverly devised myths or man’s own prophecy, “but men spoke from God as
they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
The purpose of chapter 1 becomes clearer once we read
chapter 2. The two main points of
chapter 1 – a) be assured of your election by bearing fruit, and b) stay close
to the Word – perfectly setup the teaching in chapter 2 regarding false
teachers. He warns in 2:1 that
just as false prophets have come in the past, so there will be false teachers
in the future. They will bring in
destructive heresies. That is why
it is so important for the believers to be sure of their election and to know
the Word – so that they will not be caused to doubt their salvation due to the
false teachings and so that they will not be led astray from the truth of the
Word due to the false teachings.
It is important to note that from v1 on, Peter is speaking
of future false teachers, not the false teachers of old. “There will be false teachers among you,” (v1). And yet, he says of them in v3, “their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their
destruction is not asleep.” So he
speaks of future false teachers with condemnation from long ago. What is the point? Their condemnation is sure. It’s not idle. It’s not asleep. It’s not being held in reserve just in
case they don’t get saved. The
thrust of the paragraph is that they will
certainly be destroyed.
This is a big problem for those who understand 3:9 to
communicate a universal intent to save: how to deal with the clash of tenses –
future false teachers with certain condemnation from long ago. The classic way of dealing with this
problem is to say that the condemnation from long ago represents God’s
foreknowledge. That is, He knew from
eternity past that they would bring condemnation upon themselves, so He went
ahead and condemned them. That’s
not how the text reads, but let’s pretend for a minute that it does. If God condemned them from long ago, in
what sense does God will “that all individuals without exception should come to repentance,” as the
universal interpretation of 2 Peter 3:9 suggests? If He has condemned them from long ago, based on His
foreknowledge, which cannot be wrong, there is therefore no hope for their
repentance. So the appeal to
foreknowledge may help in 2:3, but it backfires with 3:9 and for that reason
alone it should be rejected.
Peter has now spoken of two different groups, the elect and
the false teachers. Vv4-10 are
dedicated to establishing the certainty of the Lord’s rescuing “the godly from
trials” – the elect from chapter 1 – and the certainty of the Lord’s destroying
the unrighteous – the false teachers from chapter 2. Peter establishes this certainty by reminding the readers of
God’s prior works of saving the godly and destroying the wicked. His point is that if God did those
things in the past, then He will certainly save the godly believers and destroy
the false teachers in the future.
The words used of the false teachers’ destruction are chilling: He will
“keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment.”
These references to certain destruction are starting to pile
up. And yet, a universal
understanding of 2 Peter 3:9 demands that “all” means “all humans without
exception,” which would have to include the condemned false teachers. So to hold such an interpretation of
3:9, we would have to say, “God is not willing that any false teacher should
perish, even though Peter wrote that God condemned them from long ago. Rather, God is willing that all false
teachers should come to repentance, even though Peter wrote that they are being
kept by God for destruction.”
When all the context, syntax, and lexical evidence is
weighed, it becomes clear that 2 Peter 3:9 does not deny the idea of God’s
intention to save the elect.
Instead, the evidence affirms that. Christ has not returned because He is patient toward those
He has chosen, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance.
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