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2 Peter 3:9–10
“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. 9).
In our last study, Peter reminded us that God’s relationship to time is radically different from our own, for a thousand years are as one day in His sight (2 Peter 3:8). Now he explains the purpose behind what the scoffers have mistaken for delay. Why has Jesus not yet returned? Peter’s answer transforms the question entirely: The apparent delay is not a sign of God’s indifference or inability but a display of His mercy. “The Lord . . . is patient toward you,” Peter writes, “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (v. 9).
Some have read this verse as a denial of the Reformed doctrine of election, reasoning that if God does not wish anyone to perish, He must intend to save every individual without exception. But the context will not support this reading. Peter is writing to a specific audience of believers, and his pronouns reflect this. God is patient toward “you,” the community of the faithful. He is unwilling that any of His chosen people should fail to come to repentance before the end arrives. The seemingly long interval between the first and second advents exists because God has purposed to gather in every last one of His elect.
This is a breathtaking display of divine commitment. The delay that frustrates us is, in fact, the patience that saves us. Some who will believe tomorrow have not yet believed today. Some who will repent next year are still running from God this year. The continued turning of the earth is evidence not of a broken promise but of a relentless mercy.
Yet Peter immediately adds a sobering counterpoint. The Lord’s patience has a limit. Christ’s return will come “like a thief” (v. 10), suddenly, without warning, at an hour that no one expects. When that day arrives, “the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.” The Greek word rendered “exposed” carries courtroom overtones; it is the language of evidence being laid bare before a judge, and the ungodly works done on earth will be revealed and brought to account as the present order is swept away. The juxtaposition of patience and suddenness is deliberate: God’s mercy should not be mistaken for permission to delay repentance. Today is the day of salvation. Tomorrow is promised to no one.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Every day that the Lord tarries is a day of mercy for someone who has not yet believed. Rather than growing impatient with the wait, let us marvel at the grace that has kept the door open long enough for us to enter. And let us not presume upon that patience, for the day of the Lord will come without warning.
For further study
- Ezekiel 18:23–32
- Romans 2:4–11
- 2 Corinthians 6:1–2
- 1 Timothy 2:1–6
The bible in a year
- Psalms 111–112
- 1 Corinthians 2