All Aboard~

“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.”

– 2 Peter 3:9

“The Lord is not slow (slack) concerning His promise.” The truth is that God will keep His promise without delay according to His timing. Any perceived delay from our perspective is due to God’s long-suffering, who allows man as much time as possible to repent.

Many Christians are relieved and grateful that Jesus did not return within the past ten, five, two, or even one year or the past two months. This is a testament to God’s compassionate and hopeful purpose in God’s timing.

He is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” Peter revealed some of God’s glorious heart because God’s unconditional love and care are such that He is not willing for anyone to perish. This doesn’t mean that God has declared that no sinners will perish. Instead, Peter’s statement reflects God’s love for the world (John 3:16) and His compassionate sorrow, even in the righteous judgment of the wicked.

It is the same thought expressed in Ezekiel 33:11: “As I live,” says the Lord God, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their way and live.”

“So wonderful is his love towards mankind, that he would have them all to be saved, and is of his self-prepared to bestow salvation on the lost.” (Calvin)

“As God is not willing that any should perish, and as he is willing that all should come to repentance, consequently he has never devised nor decreed the damnation of any man, nor has he rendered it impossible for any soul to be saved.” (Clarke)

For centuries, there was a prevailing belief that non-Jews could only be saved by going through Israel. This belief persisted even in the early church, as mentioned in Acts 15. However, Paul emphasized that both Jews and Gentiles are condemned before God and that salvation for both comes through faith in Jesus Christ. He stressed the unifying aspect of Jesus Christ, explaining that once saved, both Jews and Gentiles are part of the same body, which is the church.

In His Service,

Dr. Jeffery Parker