Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 2 Peter 3:9

"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." — 2 Peter 3:9 (ASV)

The third argument against the scoffers grows out of the second one. God’s delay is gracious; it is not caused by inability or indifference. The scoffers argued that God was slow to keep his promise of the new age, and evidently some Christians were influenced by this thinking. God’s time plan is influenced by his being “patient” (GK 3428), an attribute of God prominent in Scripture (cf. Exodus 34:6; Numbers 14:18; Psalms 86:15; Jeremiah 15:15; Romans 2:4; Romans 9:22). In Ro 9:22 Paul says that God “bore with great patience the objects of his wrath.” Here in v.9 that patience is directed “to you.” With whom is God patient and whom does he desire to come to repentance? This verse has been a battleground between Arminian and Calvinistic interpreters. Some of the latter argue that it is not God’s will that everyone without exception should repent. Thus Peter is simply saying that Christ will not return until all of the elect have repented and been saved. This view, if rigorously applied, is incompatible with premillennialism, whose adherents normally teach that some will be saved during the millennial period following Christ’s return. Calvin himself showed moderation and exegetical wisdom, when he suggested that God’s love toward the human race is so wonderful that he wants all of them to be saved, and he is prepared to bestow salvation on the lost. Thus the “you” is addressed to humankind and “not wanting” is used of his will of desire, not of his will of decree (cf. Ezekiel 18:23; 1 Timothy 2:4).