READING TIME: 3-6 MINUTES
April 2, 2020
How can Calvinists say they desire all men to be saved if they think God only elected certain people to be saved?
2 Peter 3:9 – God Desires All Men to be Saved?
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” (NASB).
Tom Constable in his excellent 2 Peter notes asked if God wants everyone to be saved, will not all be saved? The Bible teaches that God desires that everyone has enough freedom to place their faith or not place their faith in Jesus for salvation more strongly than He desires that everyone is saved. In the same way, God also desires that everybody be holy, but not everyone will be holy.
Dr. Constable added the helpful comment that “it is more important to God, therefore, that people be free moral agents—and freely and willingly make the choice to accept or reject His grace—than that everyone accept it without the ability to make a choice. God is so sovereign and in control that His ultimate will still gets accomplished—even though He gives humans the ability to make choices. Our freedom is real but limited. We can choose some things but not others (e.g., to fly like birds).”
This verse has proved to be a major problem for the Calvinistic view. Many Calvinists believe that here Peter is not referring to salvation. What is Peter referring to in the immediate context? He wrote that in the last days scoffers would arise making fun of the idea that Christ would return in judgment. He also reminds his readers of the flood that destroyed the world during that time and that the present world would be destroyed/dissolved by fire, the Day of the Lord will come like a thief, and unstable and unlearned persons twist the meaning of Paul’s epistles. Based on these upcoming events, believers should live godly lives.
Even the Calvinist John Murray (former Westminster Seminary professor, whom Cornelius Van Til called “a great exegete of the Word of God,” wrote, “God does not wish that any men should perish. His wish is rather that all should enter upon life eternal by coming to repentance. The language in this part of the verse is so absolute that it is highly unnatural to envisage Peter as meaning merely that God does not wish that any believers should perish . . . ” (quoted in Hunt).
This statement by Murray is in harmony with the whole tenor of Scripture concerning the eternal plan of God, which is, that the gospel of Christ be made available to every last human being before Christ returns. God’s purpose that all should come to repentance, makes the offer of the gospel a legitimate, bona fide offer. God’s motivation is not ambivalent in this regard, lest He is accused of insincerity. God is in no way double-minded. So, I think it is clear that in 2 Peter 3:9, Peter was referring to salvation.
Many Calvinists (White is an example) believe that in this verse “all” and “any” only refer to the “elect.” There is no valid reason why a person would say this apart from the fact that what Peter wrote in 2 Peter 3:9 contradicts Calvinism, so the Calvinist needs to force his preformed theology into the text. Simply for the sake of argument, if Peter is only referring to the elect in 2 Peter 3:9, we have a major problem. How could there be any danger that the elect might perish in the final fire of God’s judgment—and how would His longsuffering toward them prevent such an end?
Besides, if Peter desired to refer only to the elect in this verse, he could have easily used the word “elect” instead of “any” and “all.” Let’s remember “The Golden Rule of Biblical Interpretation:” when the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense, but take every word at its normal, usual, ordinary meaning unless the facts of the immediate context indicate otherwise. We should approach the words of a Scripture passage in the same basic way that we would any other type of literature (of course the difference is the Bible is fully inspired) or any ordinary conversation. If you were having a conversation with a buddy and said to him, “Hey, Jay. I desire that “all” in your family come over to our house for dinner,” do you think Jay would interpret that to mean only some in his family can enjoy the meal? Of course not.
Peter is addressing believers in 2 Peter, but the fact that believers are being addressed is no reason that Peter cannot make a statement in 3:9 about God’s desire for the whole world, including the fate of unbelievers. Also, the idea that Peter is only referring to the “elect” in 3:9 doesn’t make any sense in the context, as Dave Hunt explains. “Is it the elect who will be the last-days scoffers? Was it the elect who perished in the flood? Is it the elect who will perish in the coming fire that will destroy the world and the entire universe? Surely not. Nor could those to whom God is longsuffering, lest they perish in the coming judgment, be the elect” (chapter 22)
Also, the Calvinist doctrine of Irresistible Grace claims that God can cause anyone to repent and believe the gospel at any time. If that’s the case, then why would longsuffering be mentioned, if reference is to the elect? Speaking of Irresistible Grace, my opinion is that the Holy Spirit does not forcibly impose eternal life on unbelievers apart from their choice (in an irresistible manner). An unbeliever can resist the conviction, “wooing,” and drawing ministry of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does not overrule human freedom.
In addition to the above points, if Peter is referring to the elect in 3:9, we are faced with one more unnecessary comment by Peter, namely, God is not willing that any of those He has sovereignly elected not to perish should perish? Does that make any sense? No, it doesn’t!
Dave Hunt’s conclusion is excellent, “The only consistent understanding of the verse is that God does not want anyone to perish, and, as He has done with Israel, is longsuffering in pleading with them and waiting upon them to repent and be saved—as all Scripture declares” (chapter 21).
Sources Used
Constable, Dr. Thomas L. “Notes on 2 Peter: 2020 Edition.”
Hunt, Dave. What Love is This? The Berean Call, chapter 21.
Olson, C. Gordon. Beyond Calvinism & Arminianism: An Inductive Mediate Theology of Salvation. 3rd Edition Expanded, Revised, & Updated, 34.