Sovereign Grace Church

…longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance

(2 PETER 3:9)

In 2 Peter 3:9, the apostle is explaining why the Lord has not returned to this earth, the reason being, that He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. This refers to His will of purpose. It is God’s purpose that all should come to repentance and be saved. In longsuffering He waits until all the “us-ward” have been brought to repentance. The “us-ward” are described as those who had obtained the like precious faith (2 PETER 1:2); who had been given all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 PETER 1:3); and who had escaped the corruption that is in the world (2 PETER 1:4). In 2 Peter 3:15, the apostle tells the same “us-ward”, that they are to account the longsuffering of the Lord as salvation. Christ’s longsuffering towards the elect keeps Him on His mediatorial throne until all have been saved. Had He come sooner than planned, many of the elect would not have been saved. I have been a Christian for 51 years, and if He had come before my conversion, I would have perished in my sins. It is not His will of purpose that any of those given to Him by the Father shall perish. The words “all” and “every” are hardly ever used in the absolute sense.