dear folks,, since GOD doesnt make you sin,then it has to be your choice and you choose to sin.. then when it comes to salvation , you also have to choose, whether you choose life or death..
deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;
james 1:13-14 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
Your still not getting my point.the bible points out again and again that we are all born in sin,under the curse of adam,not desiring the things of god,thus under a death sentence doomed to hell,deservedly so.None of us have the capacity to choose god in our natural state.
God regenerates the hearts of the "elect"then they are spiritually reborn,now in a state where they can desire god.I have given thousands of verses over the past months that substantiate this truth absolutely beyond debate.
god is not a feeling,and he doesnt operate under our rules.
the fact that he chose some for salvation is an incredibley merciful act
If he had chosen all to be saved,beleive me,they would be.
I think the problem is not realizing how horrible our sinfulness
really is to god,and how utterly incapable we are of pleasing god by any acts that we do.thats why CHRISTS rightousness has to cover our filthy rags.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him us for us all - how wil he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died - more than that, who was raised to life - is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." Romans 8:28-39
I'm still gonna have to say it again. God knows everything. God has planned everything. God planned everything around the free will He created us with. I don't believe God ever takes away our choice. He may change circumstances, but that is not the same as taking the choices away.
If we have no choice then this is just a game that a pyromanical tyrant is playing with his pawns, but instead of being a loving god...he decides not to save most of them, and burns those in hell forever and ever...and ever.......and...ever....even though the ones he does choose to save are no different then the ones he doesn't choose. NONE of them would have chosen God. ALL of them are evil and deserve death. Apparently God is not willing to save %95 of them so He can burn them to glorify Himself? I'm sorry...but I believe that is a misrepresentation of God's true character and sacrifice.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him us for us all - how wil he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died - more than that, who was raised to life - is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." Romans 8:28-39
�Why did God love Jacob and hate Esau? I can tell you why God loves Jacob; it is sovereign grace! There was nothing in Jacob that could make God love him; there was everything about him that might have made God hate him as much as He did Esau, and a great deal more. But it was because God is infinitely gracious that He loved Jacob and because He is sovereign in His dispensation of His grace that He chose Jacob as an object of that love.�
�God owes salvation to no one. God would be entirely just if He would have condemned Adam and the entire human race immediately after the fall. God would be just to send every single person to hell because that is what our sin deserves: the eternal wrath and curse of God.� �
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast," (Ephesians 2:8,9). God's way of salvation is made plain in these verses. Salvation is by the grace of God, without any works on the part of man.
What is the grace of God? Grace means "unmerited favor." The grace of God is His great love manifested to undeserving sinners. It is something deserved by no man, but desperately needed by every man.
1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
2 �Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Dress for action like a man;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.
4 �Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its measurements�surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone,
7 when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 �Or who shut in the sea with doors
when it burst out from the womb,
9 when I made clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling band,
10 and prescribed limits for it
and set bars and doors,
11 and said, �Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stayed�?
12 �Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
and caused the dawn to know its place,
13 that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,
and the wicked be shaken out of it?
14 It is changed like clay under the seal,
and its features stand out like a garment.
15 From the wicked their light is withheld,
and their uplifted arm is broken.
16 �Have you entered into the springs of the sea,
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
18 Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
Declare, if you know all this.
19 �Where is the way to the dwelling of light,
and where is the place of darkness,
20 that you may take it to its territory
and that you may discern the paths to its home?
21 You know, for you were born then,
and the number of your days is great!
22 �Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
23 which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
for the day of battle and war?
24 What is the way to the place where the light is distributed,
or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?
25 �Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain
and a way for the thunderbolt,
26 to bring rain on a land where no man is,
on the desert in which there is no man,
27 to satisfy the waste and desolate land,
and to make the ground sprout with grass?
28 �Has the rain a father,
or who has begotten the drops of dew?
29 From whose womb did the ice come forth,
and who has given birth to the frost of heaven?
30 The waters become hard like stone,
and the face of the deep is frozen.
31 �Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades
or loose the cords of Orion?
32 Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season,
or can you guide the Bear with its children?
33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
Can you establish their rule on the earth?
34 �Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
that a flood of waters may cover you?
35 Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go
and say to you, �Here we are�?
36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts
or given understanding to the mind?
37 Who can number the clouds by wisdom?
Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
38 when the dust runs into a mass
and the clods stick fast together?
39 �Can you hunt the prey for the lion,
or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40 when they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in their thicket?
41 Who provides for the raven its prey,
when its young ones cry to God for help,
and wander about for lack of food
Romans 9:10
And not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad - in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of his call - 12 she was told, "The older will serve the younger." 13 As it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." 14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
"If he had chosen all to be saved,beleive me,they would be."
Is it not written that it is the Father's desire that none should perish, but that all should have everlasting life? Which was that not the very reason He sent His son to save us, that all who would believe and choose to follow Him, might not perish but have everlasting life?
I think you are totally right that it is in our nature to want the sinful pleasure of our evil ways, but I also believe it is completely within our hearts to be drawn to God, and thus there is forever this constant warring within us between the flesh, and spiritual nature that is by design in the image of God.
I think at some point or another we all make that choice between our lust for the flesh, whether it's greed or gluttony or sex or addictions, or whatever, for many believe if they reject God, then they somehow can live guilt free in their ways of the flesh. They realize not that their sinful ways are for but a season. They think obedience is not a choice for happiness and joy, but a sentence to give up what they believe happiness and pleasure to be. Enticed by their confusion, their choices are flawed, but they do have choices.
Jonah was swallowed by a fish because he didn't really want to make the choice to go to Nineveh. Our God is seldom that forceful in showing us His desire for us to walk a certain path, but had Jonah made that decision of his own accord the first time God asked him to do this, do you really think he'd have been swallowed by a fish? Moses too did not at first accept the mission the Lord had for him. Many reject the paths they are given, but we all have the ability to accept or reject our path in Him when it is set before us. The Lord did not create us to perish, but to live, but it is written that He will not force Himself on us. Steve we have to choose Him, for even if He has chosen us, we are still free to reject Him at any point. That is the free will. The Bible says we were given free will, if this is not our ability to choose God, then what is that promise?
If it is all predestined, then why does Satan bother? What has he to gain or lose? And what of God? If He has already written it all, whatever is there left for Him to do? And if this be so, then why would He not with a word wipe out the gangrenous nature of Satan and sin? The very reason could only be the promise of free will, a promise that is in the Word.
I agree with you that He is the Master Designer and Orchestrates all things, but I do not believe He is so limited that our free will is predestined. He may well know our nature before we are formed in the womb, but He still allows us to proceed for He gave His promise. Our promise was not wisdom or knowledge for those that believe themselves wise are fools. He says it is so. Until we become like a child and trust in Him, we cannot come to know Him, for we are not wise as God is wise. We are as children for we are His Children, never to be otherwise.
To think that He is limited by our understanding is our limitation, not His. He is Bigger than that. We cannot put God in that box for He will not fit. He operates outside the box of our logic and thought process for we can no more process the intricacies of His Ways than we can comprehend all the intricacies of all the DNA that we can name or imagine, and that is minor beside the mind of God. Our ways are small, and limited. God is limitless, and He only limits Himself by His own Word. His Every Promise is Sacred and Pure and we can Trust in it.
If He tells us it is His Will that NONE should perish, than we can believe that and we MUST have a choice. Those things too, are written. My own understanding cannot limit the power of an Almighty God who CAN DO all things and Will Keep His Promises.
Your understanding and interpretation of 2 Peter 3:9 is incorrect. This verse actually says that He is long-suffering towards US or "us-ward" (in the original Greek). The "us" is those for whom Jesus Christ died.
2) God did not create the universe with flaws. He created all things perfect, and even declared that it was all "very good" when He was done. It was man who sinned and brought forth the flaws. We are responsible. In Adam, we sinned. We are all sinners and we all fall short of the glory of God.
3) Jesus Christ is the "Lamb slain before the foundation of the world". So why did he decree that sin should come...and death (flaws) through sin? To bring glory to Himself, a Redeemer. He desired to display and magnify His grace, love, and mercy! And because it pleased Himself to do such, He decided to do this by creating man, having man fall, and then becoming man Himself to redeem man in a wonderful display of His grace, mercy, and love. For since we all fall short of the glory of God...and we are all are sinners, we deserve nothing but the eternal punishment of God. But God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
4) Finally, your "view" of the universe and God is "man-centered", as if God only exists FOR man. As if man were God's CHIEF concern. But what is man? Nothing but dust. God's ultimate "goal" is His glory. He is the center of the universe and the purpose of the universe. If God desires to display and magnify the glory of His power, His justice, and His wrath in punishing sinners, than so be it!
As it is, humans are always wanting "Justice"! If a child is molested and murdered, the parents plea, beg, and fight for justice to be served, and the guilty to be convicted and punished! When they are, they celebrate! Indeed, when the wrath of God pours out on sinners, then the righteous shall stand and celebrate the glory of the Lord.
...because it isn't about you, me, or anyone else.
This is God's universe.
...and He can do whatever He wants.
Without doubt, 2 Peter 3:9 is the single most popular verse used to dismiss the reformed doctrine of election, bar none. Usually the meaning of the verse is assumed without taking any time to study it, which is the very hallmark of tradition. In fact, traditions are so strong that many do not even see the need to study the verse because they believe there is no need to do so. I have to admit that I did this for many years. Those most enslaved to their traditions are those who believe they do not have any. First of all then, let us read the verse in its context.
2 Peter 3:1-9 -
This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, �Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.� For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 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.
The first thing we notice is that the subject of the passage is not salvation but the second coming of Christ. Peter is explaining the reason for the delay in Christ�s second coming � He is still coming, and will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night (v. 10).
The second thing to notice is the clear identity of the people he is addressing. He speaks of the mockers as �they�, but everywhere else he speaks to his audience as �you� and the �beloved.� This is very important because the assumption that is usually made is that the �you� the �any� and the �all� of 2 Peter 3:9 refers to everyone on the planet.
But surely �all� means �all,� right? Well usually, yes, but not always. This has to be determined by the context in which the words are found. For example, when a teacher is getting ready to start a class and asks his students, �Are all here?� he is not asking if every last living person on planet earth is present in the room. Rather he is referring to all the students enrolled in the class. It is context that provides the basis for a sound interpretation.
So, the question in 2 Peter 3:9 is whether �all� refers to all human beings without distinction, or whether it refers to everyone within a certain group. The context indicates that Peter is writing to a specific group and not to all of mankind � �to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours� 2 Peter 1:1. The audience is confirmed when Peter writes, �This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved.� (2 Peter 3:1)
Can we be even more specific? Yes, because if this is the second letter addressed to them, the first makes it clear who he is writing to. 1 Peter 1:1 � �Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect�� So Peter is writing to the elect in 2 Peter 3, saying:
�This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved�. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 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.� (v. 1, 8, 9 � emphasis mine)
If the �any� or �all� here refers to everyone in human history, the verse would prove far more than Arminians would want to prove � it would prove universalism rather than Christianity. (Universalism is the false doctrine that teaches that everyone will ultimately be saved, with no one going to hell).
If God is not willing that any person perish, then what? No one would ever perish! Yet, in context, the �any� that God wills not to perish must be limited to the same group he is writing to, the elect, and the �all� that are to come to repentance is the very same group. Christ�s second coming has been delayed so that all the elect can be gathered in. God is not willing that any of the elect should perish, but that all of them come to repentance.
Rather than denying election, understood in its biblical context, it is one of the strongest verses in favor of it.
3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, �Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.� 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. 8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
NKJV
In this short epistle Peter expresses to his audience three times that he is reminding them of the divine power given to them through the knowledge of Christ (2 Pet 1:3), that they have been given everything for life and godliness through this knowledge of Christ (2 Pet 1:4), that they should display fruitful growth in faith (2 pet 1:5-11), the trustworthiness of the prophetic word given to them (2Pet 1:16-21), and that they remain mindful of the words the holy prophets of old and the apostles of Jesus Christ (2 Pet 3:1-2). He follows up this last reminder by warning them that mockers who are slaves to their own lusts will come with mocking and saying �where is the promise of His coming�? They maintain that things have gone on as they always have from time out of mind and that there is now no indication that the Lord will come. The New Geneva Study Bible notes conclude, �from the delay in Christ�s return, the false teachers wrongly concluded that He would never return to judge them. Peter portrays their scoffing as ironic evidence that the last days are indeed present.� Peter says in verse 5 through 7 that what has escaped their notice is that the world of evil doers was judged and destroyed through the flood of Noah, and that today, by the Word of the Lord the earth is �reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.� Just as the flood came in the days of Noah and surprised those living at that time and swept them away to their destruction, so too, it will be for those who question Christ�s coming, they will be surprised, unprepared and horrified at their day of reckoning.
Notice that when Peter is addressing the mockers and scoffers he addresses them as �their� in verse 3 and �they� in verse 5 but in verse 8 Peter turns his comments to a different audience and addresses them as beloved. Now he is writing to those whom in chapter one verse one he describes as having obtained like precious faith with him, and reminds them not to be like the mockers and false teachers and let this fact escape their notice, �that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.� Though this passage is sometimes used to assert that in prophecy the usage of one day is associated with a thousand years of time, I would disagree with this view based upon the latter phrase of �a thousand years is one day�. I think it refers to God�s sovereignty over time and that what may be considered long or short relative to our position in time, it is not that way with God. God does not stand with us in our temporal position in time, He is atemporal, over and above time, and not limited to its restraints.
Peter uses this argument to contrast the mockers view of time and their denial of the coming judgment and God�s providential promise of judgment on the wicked. He assures his readers that God is not slow as the mockers count slowness, God has made a promise, a decree, and He will indeed come, but is �longsuffering towards us�. This phrase �longsuffering towards us� sets the target for whom the following statement is intended for. The �us� here refers to those whom Peter is writing to, current believers and future believers, not the mockers and false teachers he has described earlier. Peter is giving the reason why God is waiting to come in judgment. It is because of them, those who now have like precious faith and those that will come to faith, that He delays His coming. The following statement, �not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance� needs to be qualified. Any of who and all of who, needs to be answered. Rather than a universal definition of any and all, which seems to contradict the prior promise of judgment on the false teachers and mockers and the change of subject Peter makes in verse 8, it would fit the context much better to point the reference of any and all to the �us� that God is longsuffering towards. There is a reason that God delays and it would be foolish to say that God is patient towards the false teachers and mockers that Peter describes in chapter 2 verse 12 as brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed. The whole point of the preceding verses in chapter 3 is that the wicked will not escape God�s righteous judgment, it is as sure as if it had already happened. Any mercy that Peter mentions is directed at his immediate readers and those who are yet to join them in true faith.
Paul in Romans 9:22-24 makes a similar statement about God�s longsuffering and states:
22 What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
NKJV
God delays his judgment of the wicked that were prepared for destruction that He might show His mercy on His elect that were prepared for glory. God is waiting and patiently enduring the insults of those who despise Him so that He may be merciful to all who are chosen and will come to Him. This is why the world has not already come to an end in judgment, God is awaiting the coming of the faithful, those in the world who have yet to come and those who are yet to be born who will come to Him. John 6:39 states: �And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.� �Emmanuel will come, He will take His power and reign, when the full complement of His people has been redeemed from every tribe, tongue, people and nation.�1
The Apostle Peter clearly states that God is not willing that any should perish.
How can we square this verse with predestination? If it is not the will of God to elect everyone unto salvation, how can the Bible then say that God is not willing that any should perish?
In the first place we must understand that the Bible speaks of the will of God in more than one way. For example, the Bible speaks of what we call God's sovereign efficacious will. The sovereign will of God is that will by which God brings things to pass with absolute certainty. Nothing can resist the will of God in this sense. By his sovereign will he created the world. The light could not have refused to shine.
The second way in which the Bible speaks of the will of God is with respect to what we call his preceptive will. God's preceptive will refers to his commands, his laws. It is God's will that we do the things he mandates. We are capable of disobeying his will. We do in fact break his commandments. We cannot do it with impunity. We do it without his permission or sanction. Yet we do it. We sin.
A third way the Bible speaks of the will of God has reference to God's disposition, to what is pleasing to him. God does not take delight in the death of the wicked. There is a sense in which the punishment of the wicked does not bring joy to God. He chooses to do it because it is good to punish evil. He delights in the righteousness of his judgment but is "sad" that such righteous judgment must be carried out. It is something like a judge sitting on a bench and sentencing his own son to prison.
Let us apply these three possible definitions to the passage in 2 Peter. If we take the blanket statement, "God is not willing that any should perish," and apply the sovereign efficacious will to it, the conclusion is obvious. No one will perish. If God sovereignly decrees that no one should perish, and God is God, then certainly no one will ever perish. This would then be proof not for Arminianism, but for Universalism. The text would then prove too much for Arminianism.
Suppose we apply the definition of the preceptive will of God to this passage? Then the passage would mean that God does not allow anyone to perish. That is, he forbids the perishing of people. It is against his law. If people then went ahead and perished, God would have to punish them for perishing. But how does one engage in more perishing than perishing? This definition will not work in this passage. It makes no sense.
The third alternative is that God takes no delight in the perishing of people. This squares with what the Bible says elsewhere about God's disposition toward the lost. This definition could fit this passage. Peter may simply be saying here that God takes no delight in the perishing of anyone.
Though the third definition is a possible and attractive one to use in resolving this passage with what the Bible teaches about predestination, there is yet another factor to be considered. The text says more than simply that God is not willing that any should perish. The whole clause is important: "but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."
What is the antecedent of any? It is clearly us. Does us refer to all of us humans? Or does it refer to us Christians, the people of God? Peter is fond of speaking of the elect as a special group of people. I think what he is saying here is that God does not will that any of us (the elect) perish. If that is his meaning, then the text would demand the first definition and would be one more strong passage in favour of predestination.
In two different ways the text may easily be harmonized with predestination. In no way does it support Arminianism. Its only other possible meaning would be universalism, which would then bring it into conflict with everything else the Bible says against universalism.
Perhaps the one passage which has presented the greatest difficulty to those who have seen that passage after passage in Holy Writ plainly reaches the election of a limited number unto salvation is 2 Peter 3:9 "� not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance".
The first thing to be said upon the above passage is that, like all other scripture, it must be understood and interpreted in the light of its context. Surely it must be allowed by all that the first half of the verse needs to be taken into consideration. In order to establish what these words are supposed by many to mean, viz., that the words "any" and "all" are to be received without any qualification, it must be shown that the context is referring to the whole human race! If this cannot be shown, if there is no premise to justify this, then the conclusion also must be unwarranted. Let us then ponder the first part of the verse.
"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise". Note "promise" in the singular number, not "promises". What promise is in view? The promise of salvation? Where, in all Scripture, has God ever promised to save the whole human race!! Where indeed? No, the "promise" here referred to is not about salvation. What then is it? The context tells us.
"Knowing this... (vv. 3, 4). The context then refers to God's promise to send back His beloved Son. But many long centuries have passed, and this promise has not yet been fulfilled. True, but long as the delay may seem to us, the interval is short in the reckoning of God. As the proof of this we are reminded, "But, beloved.... (v.8) In God's reckoning of time, less than two days have passed since He promised to send back Christ.
But more, the "delay" in the Father sending back His beloved Son is not only due to no "slackness" on His part, but it is also occasioned by His "longsuffering". His longsuffering to whom? The verse we are now considering tells us: "but to longsuffering to usward". And whom are the "usward"? - the human race, or God's own people? In the light of this context this is not an open question upon which each of us is free to form an opinion. The Holy Spirit has defined it. The opening verse of the chapter says, "This second Epistle, beloved, I now write unto you". And, again, the verse immediately preceding declares "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing etc" (v. 8). The "usward" then are the "beloved" of God. They to whom this Epistle is addressed are "them that have obtained (not "exercised", but "obtained" as God's sovereign gift) like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (2Pe 1:11). Therefore we say there is no room for a doubt, a quibble or an argument - the "usward" are the elect of God.
Let us now quote the verse as a whole: " The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2Pe 3:9) Could anything be clearer? The "any" that God is not willing should perish, are the "usward" to whom God is "longsuffering", the "beloved" of the previous verses. 2 Peter 3:9 means, then, that God will not send back His Son until "the fullness of the Gentiles be come in" (Rom 11:25). God will not send back Christ till that "people" whom He is now "taking out of the Gentiles" (Acts 15:14) are gathered in. God will not send back His Son till the Body of Christ is complete, and that will not be till the ones whom He has elected to be saved in this dispensation shall have been brought to Him. Thank God for His "longsuffering to us-ward". Had Christ come back twenty years ago the writer had been left behind to perish in His sins. But that could not be, so God graciously delayed the Second Coming. For the same reason He is still delaying His Advent. His decreed purpose is that all His elect will come to repentance, and repent they shall. The present interval of grace will not end until the last of the "other sheep" of John 10:16 are safely folded, - then will Christ return.
Tarasye, very nicely put. God doesn't have to limit our will to do His will. There is the absolute power of God to do His will...but if you think about it...forcing His creation to do His will is so...below the power of God. Humans can force their creations to follow their will, and God is far beyond us. We were created with free will, and I've found no evidence in the bible that it was taken away.
