By: Elder Randy McCarthy
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9
This verse is often used by many to teach a universal atonement by God. According to this view, Christ died as a general offering for the sins of the entire human race, and God is now delaying the final judgment, hoping that some of these lost sinners will repent and thereby escape the fires of eternal damnation.
When examined in context, it can be seen that this verse instead teaches a special atonement, which means that Christ died for his particular people (the elect of God), and none of these shall perish or be lost.
Peter in this section of his letter (2 Peter 3:1-13) addresses scoffers who, motivated by their own lusts, mock the promise of the second coming. Peter is writing prophetically by the Spirit to address both his time, and the time in the future (“last days”). These scoffers do not appear to be members of the church so much as critics of it, whether inside or out.
Peter is telling the disciples not to be discouraged by this criticism, but indeed to expect it. Peter reminds the readers of the way that God dealt with the world in the time leading up to the flood – God was angry with the wickedness of the world, promised destruction would come, and yet delayed.
God says in Gen 6:3, “My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also [is] flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” This may be a reference to a shortening of the lifetime of men which occurred after the flood, although I believe a better construction is that God is announcing a coming judgment that will take place in 120 years from that time. By this God afforded a space for the wicked men to repent prior to this destruction.
The Bible tells us that Christ through Noah preached warnings to the people prior to the flood. 1 Peter 3:19; Heb 11:7. Noah preached this message of the upcoming certain destruction and judgment, both by his words and by his building of the ark. Of course, these evil and wicked men did not repent, and would not by their wicked nature, but that does not make God unjust – indeed, God’s longsuffering and justice are demonstrated by His delaying of the flood during the 100 years of Noah’s labor. The wicked that perished clearly deserved to be destroyed by their perdition, and have no excuse.
God provided other warnings as well – Methuselah’s name means, “He dieth, and the sending forth will come.” He was so named by his father Enoch to give it as a prophecy of the flood. It can be easily shown that Methuselah died in the year of that catastrophe. Though Methuselah attained the great age of 969 years, he finally died, and then the flood came.
It is in the context of these warnings and judgment that Peter says the Lord is “longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” In order to understand this phrase, we need to identify who the “any” and “all” are, and to understand what is meant by God not being “willing” that these should perish. There are two possible views, neither of which supports a view of universal atonement.
Decretive Interpretation
One possibility is that this phrase refers to the new birth of all of God’s people prior to the second coming. In this context, “any should perish” means consumed in the coming judgment – the old world “perished,” so then Peter is referring to those who would not see this upcoming wrath of God, and hence, will not “perish.”
This is sometimes referred to as a decretive interpretation, and means that God’s will here is a decree that will be fulfilled. None of God’s chosen elect shall perish; instead, all of the elect shall come to repentance (regeneration).
Support for this first interpretation can be gleaned by looking at the term “us-ward” which can be contrasted with “ungodly men” of verse 7. Thus, the terms “any” and “all” in 2 Peter 3:9 refer back to “us-ward,” which are the elect. 1 Peter 1:1-5; Ephesians 1:3-6.
So, if the subject matter is the eternal preservation of the elect, God is saying don’t worry about it, He will send judgment when He is ready, but He will delay just like before. The purpose of his delay this time is because He is waiting for all his elect to be born spiritually (come to repentance). Since we don’t know who these are, we cannot tell when this judgment will come. But God knows.
If this interpretation is correct, it sets up a very interesting symmetry between the flood and the second coming: the first judgment came after the death of a saint; the second judgment will come after the new birth of a (the last) saint.
Permissive Interpretation
The foregoing is very theologically satisfying. However, an alternative is that the language “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” refers to the wicked (non-elect).
This is in accordance with the so-called permissive interpretation, which means that God’s will in this verse merely reflects His desire that the wicked would repent, but it is not an outcome that He is going to decree. An example of this can be found in Matt 23:37, where Christ laments the unbelief of Jerusalem, but nevertheless pronounces desolation upon it.
“Us-ward” as used in 2 Peter 3:9 is the Greek word “hemas” and means “we” or “us.” When this term is combined with a verb, it provides particular force or emphasis, particularly antithesis (contrast). For example, in Matt 6:12, the term is used for emphasis (forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors). In this case, the “us” and “we” are the same group.
In 1 Cor 1:18, the term is used for antithesis (the preaching of the cross to them that perish is foolishness, but to us who are saved it is the power of God). In this case, “them” is contrasted to “us” and these are separate and distinct groups.
Hemas is used as a pronoun to identify a definite number or group for which the speaker includes himself, and is never used for all humanity in general. In 2 Peter 3:9, hemas (us-ward) means the elect.
It follows that the “any” (tis) and “all” (pas) in this verse are either a further emphasis of this group (the elect), or a contrast to this group, specifically, wicked and evil men (the non-elect). Just like “us-ward,” the “any” and “all” cannot be read to refer to humanity in general.
To say that the “any” and “all” in 2 Peter 3:9 are specifically directed to the non-elect has a nice “ring to it” – God was “sorry” that He made man in view of his wickedness and delayed the inevitable judgment of the flood. Nevertheless, He did eventually bring it. So Peter may be saying that the present heavens and earth are reserved for certain future fiery judgment and destruction, but God still calls upon wicked men to repent prior to that judgment. Of course they won’t, just like the first time (in Gen. 6).
Whichever interpretation is correct, it is clear that, in this scripture, Peter teaches the special atonement (and preservation) of the elect, not a general universal atonement of mankind. It is wonderful to know that God is longsuffering to us-ward, and will save His elect from His wrath as He saved Noah and his family in the ark. □
Published: 2011-01-30 by RKM