Avoiding the Hermeneutical Trap of Arminianism: Part 7 – 2 Peter 3:9

By Mark W. Christy, PhD

(This series has been adapted from several sermons that covered verses relied upon by Arminians to defend their stance. In order to properly undergird their position, the Arminians are tasked with finding clear biblical support for the human will being an active part (and therefore, completely free and beyond the control of God’s sovereign will) of the salvation process. If this can be accomplished, then they must, of necessity, engage the verses that appear to directly support the Calvinistic position that salvation is wholly based upon God’s sovereign, elective will. These verses include (but are not limited to) Matthew 11:25-27, John 5:21 and 12:37-40, Romans 8:28-9:33, and Ephesians 1:4-7.)

2 Peter 3:9 – “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

In the previous passage covered by this series (1 Timothy 2:3-7), Paul wrote that God “desires all men to be saved.” While the context of this passage suggests that God desires ‘all kinds of men’ to be saved, it is not theologically incorrect to say that God does indeed desire all men to be saved. In 2 Peter 3:9, Peter echoes this same teaching from Paul even while he employs the term “wishing” which is different from Paul’s term “desires” in the Greek text. All of this being said, this final article in this seven-part series will demonstrate both God’s desire for all people to be saved while also providing contextual clues surrounding 2 Peter 3:9 which show that Peter’s comments in this verse are limited to those who are saved.

Commenting on the range of God’s salvific desires, MacArthur made these comments in a sermon,

“[W]e would all agree without equivocation that God does not desire people to sin. Could we agree with that? We do not believe that God desires people to do evil, to sin, to be disobedient, to be unholy, to fail to give Him glory. No, we would all agree with that. In fact the spectrum of evangelical theology would agree to that. We know God desires men not to sin. We do not for a moment advocate anything different than that. So turn the table a bit, we would all agree then that God desires all men to be holy. No one would argue that. God desires all men to be righteous. God desires all men to be sinless. God desires all men to give Him glory and give Him honor and give Him respect. God desires all men to be obedient. I mean, He commands men over and over and over and over to be obedient. He calls for righteousness. He calls for holiness. He calls for sinlessness. He calls for everyone on the face of the earth to give Him honor and give Him glory. He calls for all men everywhere to repent. Nobody debates that. We all know God wants men to be holy. Therefore, we conclude that people sin though God does not want them to. That’s obvious. People are unholy though God does not want them that way. People do not give God glory though God does not want them not to give Him glory. Then why is it such a hard thing for some people to realize that people also go to hell though God does not want them to? God wants all men to be saved. That is the desire of God.”[1]

From these comments, it should seem acceptable to most readers that God can desire that all people do that which is pleasing to Him even while He allows them to choose to do otherwise. This being the case, one should not interpret God’s desire for humanity to be saved as a guarantee that all humanity will be saved (universalism), that all humanity will have an equal opportunity to be saved (Arminianism), or that some among them will receive a specific call unto salvation (Calvinism). To determine which among these options is biblical, one must turn to other texts in Scripture to find the necessary biblical warrant to advocate for their view.

When one comes to 2 Peter 3:9, it is indeed quite likely that at first glance they may believe that the Apostle is saying that God is lovingly relating to all people and hoping for their saving response to His gospel. This, however, is not what Peter is teaching as a focused look on the pronouns in the preceding verses will bear out:

“Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Pet 3:3-9).

In these verses, Peter addresses two groups of people: those who are unsaved (as seen by the pronouns their and they) and the believing community (as seen by the pronouns your and you). The Apostle even helps the reader by clarifying that his audience, “you,” are the beloved to whom he has been addressing the entirety of his epistle (cf. 2 Pet 1:1-3). With the correct audience in view, one can read Peter this way, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward [believers], not wishing for any [believers] to perish but for all [believers] to come to repentance” (2 Pet 3:9).

Before concluding this review of 2 Peter 3:9, it may be helpful to learn one last thing from the context of this verse so as to be more hermeneutically savvy. Peter, like the rest of the writers of the New Testament epistles, has been giving argumentation to further establish various doctrinal truths. To accomplish this purpose, the Apostle will of necessity be more general in his comments on matters that are not central to his point. In 2 Peter 3:9, the Apostle is not so much focused on soteriology; rather, he is concerned with eschatology. In vv.3-4, he mentions “the last days” and “the promise of His coming.” In v.7, he writes, “But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” As he comes to v.9, the Apostle is still primarily focused on the Second Coming of Christ, and so he states, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

In conclusion, the Lord certainly desires that all people be saved even though all people will not be saved. Peter’s comments on this desire of the Lord, however, were focused only upon believers themselves as the pronouns in the context made clear. Beyond this, 2 Peter 3:9 made some general remarks concerning soteriology, but its primary concern is with eschatology. For this reason, Arminians and Calvinists would be well-advised to turn to other texts so as to build a proper, biblical doctrine of salvation.

[1]John MacArthur, “Evangelistic Praying, Part3,” Grace to You (January 26, 1986); available at: https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/54-13/evangelistic-praying-part-3.