Problem Texts for Sovereign Grace (Part 56) – 2Pe 3:9; 1Jo 1:9; 1Jo 4:14; 1Jo 5:11-12

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1.      2Pe 3:9

1. “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.” (2Pe 3:9)
2. Is this verse teaching that God is not willing that anyone goes to hell and that He wants everyone to repent so that they will be spared eternal damnation?
   1. No; first of all this verse doesn’t say anything about going to hell or eternal damnation.
   2. Secondly, God is willing that all of the reprobate go to hell because that is the wages of their sin (Rom 6:23; Rom 9:21-22; 2Th 1:7-9; Rev 20:12-15).

• Thirdly, repentance is a good work (Mat 12:41 c/w Jonah 3:10) which the reprobate cannot do (Rom 3:10-12; Jer 13:23); and even if they could, it would not save them eternally because eternal salvation is not of works (2Ti 1:9; Tit 3:5). (See Section II,7,A on Eternal Salvation)

1. God is longsuffering toward the elect and He is not willing that any of them should perish.
   1. Peter said that God is longsuffering to us-ward (2Pe 3:9).
   2. Us-ward adv. – to usward, = toward us

• The “us” were Peter and those to whom he was writing who had “obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (2Pe 1:1).
  1. Believers in Jesus Christ have eternal life (Joh 6:47).
  2. Therefore, the people to whom Peter wrote had eternal life.

1. The “us” to whom Peter wrote were the elect (2Pe 1:10).
   1. All of the elect will be eternally glorified (Rom 8:29-30).
   2. Therefore, the people to whom Peter wrote would all be glorified in heaven.
2. The “us” to whom Peter wrote were the same people that he wrote the first epistle to who were the elect who were born again (2Pe 3:1 c/w 1Pe 1:2-3).
   1. The elect who have eternal life (are born again) cannot lose it (Joh 10:28).
   2. Therefore the people to whom Peter wrote could not lose their eternal life.
3. Therefore, Peter was writing to elect, born again believers who had eternal life and could not lose it, and telling them that God was longsuffering towards them and not willing that any of them should perish, but that they should come to repentance.

1. The perishing is physical and temporal, not spiritual and eternal.
   1. Perish v. – 1. a. intr. To come to a violent, sudden, or untimely end; to suffer destruction; to lose its life, cease to exist, be cut off.
   2. To perish can refer to eternal perishing (Joh 3:16; 1Co 1:18; 2Co 2:15).

• To perish can also refer to temporal or physical perishing (Mat 8:25; Mat 26:52).

1. Since it was proven in the previous section that those to whom Peter was writing were already in possession of eternal life and they would never perish eternally (Joh 10:28), Peter was therefore saying that God was not willing that they would perish temporally or physically.

1. God is not willing that any of His elect perish (die physically for their sins).
   1. God has no pleasure in the death of His people and admonishes them to turn from their evil ways so that they will live (Eze 18:23,30-32; Eze 33:11). (See Eze 33:11-19 – Section III)
   2. Jesus seeks His lost sheep because it’s not God’s will that any of them should perish (Mat 18:11-14). (See Mat 18:14 – Section III)

• God is longsuffering towards His people, even when they are rebellious towards Him (Psa 78:37-39).

1. Repentance will save the elect from temporal perishing.
   1. God’s elect can suffer physical death (perishing) for sin (Act 5:1-10; 1Co 11:29-30).
   2. God’s elect can perish (die) physically if they don’t repent of their sins (Luk 13:1-5; Job 36:7-12).

• God is longsuffering towards His elect and gives them a space of repentance before cutting them off (Luk 13:6-9).

1. Repentance will save a person from death (Jam 5:19-20; Job 33:27-30).
2. This is precisely what Peter was warning the brethren about in 2Pe 3:9.

2.      1Jo 1:9

1. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1Jo 1:9)
2. Does this verse teach that we are forgiven and saved eternally when we confess our sins?
3. No; this verse is referring to the temporal or fatherly forgiveness of sins which is available to God’s elect when they confess their sins.
4. (See Section II,10 on Eternal and Temporal Forgiveness)

1.      1Jo 4:14

1. “And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.” (1Jo 4:14)
2. Does this verse teach that Jesus died for the sins of the entire human race?
3. No; the “world” that Christ was sent to be the Savior of are all of God’s elect from every nation, not the entire human race. (See Joh 1:29 – Section III)

2.      1Jo 5:11-12

1. “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12) He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” (1Jo 5:11-12)
2. Do these verses teach that we get eternal life by believing in Jesus Christ, and if we don’t believe in Jesus we don’t have eternal life?
   1. No; these verses don’t say anything about believing to get eternal life.
   2. Verse 11 states that God hath given (not hath offered) to us eternal life (1Jo 5:11).

• What does a person to whom God hath given eternal life have to do to get eternal life? Nothing; he already has it.

1. The elect have the Son of God because God chose to draw them to Him (Joh 6:44), give them to Him (Joh 6:39), and put them in Him (Eph 1:4 c/w 1Co 1:30).
2. The eternal life that God hath given us is in His Son (1Jo 5:11 c/w 1Jo 5:20).
   1. Jesus gave eternal life to all those the Father gave Him (Joh 17:2-4 c/w Joh 10:28).
   2. If one has the Son of God (was chosen in Him), then he has eternal life; if one doesn’t have the Son of God, then he doesn’t have eternal life (1Jo 5:12).
3. One has the evidence that he is in Christ and has eternal life if he believes in the Son of God (Joh 5:24; 1Jo 5:1; 1Jo 5:13). (See Joh 5:24 – Section III)