Not Willing Any Should Perish

“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.” II  Peter 3:9

Arminius’ response to II Peter 3:9  was “God would have all men to be saved, but, compelled with the stubborn malice of some he changed his purpose, and will have them to perish.”

There are several problems with Arminius’ interpretation. God’s decrees become mutable and his purposes frustrated. [See God’s Decrees].

A proper interpretation takes the verse at face value. God does not delight in anyone being sentenced to hell. In fact God does not sentence anyone to hell; they sentence themselves and are in self reprobation.

What judge delights in the death penalty?  No respectable judge desires to send a man to the gallows. However, the fact remains that there are those who perish.  In the two verses before II Peter 3:9, Peter speaks of the fire judgment and perdition of ungodly men. Why does the ungodly man’s neighbor accept Christ while he himself rejects God’s offer of life.

God’s desire that “all” men come to repentance is in the imperative mood. An imperative is a command or unavoidable obligation. An example is “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.” Acts 17:30. This command does not address the issue of capability but what man ought to do.

The facts or indicatives indicate man does not have the ability to come to Christ except a calling and drawing. The command that all come to repentance is similar to the command that Christians “love God with all our hearts” Deuteronomy 6:5.