1LoverofGod
Well-known
"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance"
2 Peter 3:9 NKJV
I must have read this verse "umpteen" times and more recently I have pondered on it to gain understanding of what exactly it means.
The more the world gets wicked, it has no doubt brought some believers to ask, "what's taking so long? How much is God going to allow us as believers to see and feel of this increasing wickedness and what seems like the world in it's groaning is also falling apart as seen in increasing natural disasters.
All of what we see of course fall in line with what Jesus described as "birth pangs", as cited in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21.
No doubt we are seeing these "birth pangs" in their early beginnings, before The Day of The Lord falls upon the entire earth, as Jesus said would take place
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Matthew 24:5-11 KJV
No doubt we can see much of this description even now, and as "birth pangs" we have been watching the increase in intenseness and frequency.
But note the end of verse 6
"see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet."
So while we are seeing and feeling these "birth pangs" increasing in intensity and frequency, we keep in mind that
The End is Not Yet.
So, what exactly is meant by
2 Peter 3:9?
I use to think it meant that God is waiting to begin The Day of The Lord, The Tribulation of Judgement, because He is waiting In Case some May repent and turn to Him by believing in Jesus and accept His Salvation invitation.
The more I pondered on the cited verse of this thread title, it became clear to me that it's Not that God is giving more time, In Case more repent and come to Christ to be saved.
What it means is that He's waiting on Those who "He Knows"are coming to repentance and receive Jesus salvation invitation, Not In Case more might be saved.
Because God knows the hearts of men, and God is All knowing, He Already knows who haven't yet been "formally" saved and sealed, but Will come to Christ because God knows in advance who they are.
These are the ones God's waiting on.
Let's examine some scripture. As I quote scripture that helps understand what God's waiting actually means, I want to just revisit some encouraging verses to keep up our spirits in these increasing wicked days.
All of Psalm 139. I will just use verse 16
"Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be."
“Remember the former things long past,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is no one like Me,
Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things which have not been done,
Saying, ‘My purpose will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure"
Isaiah 46:9-10
"Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them."
Isaiah 42:9
"And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen"
Acts 1:24
4" even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us[a] for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will"
Ephesians 1:4-5
"For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers".
Romans 8:29
"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you"
John 15:16
"But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace"
Galatians 1:15
"But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory"
1 Corinthians 2:7
"All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out"
John 6:37
9 "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
27My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand."
John 10:6, 27-28
"Though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls"
Romans 9:11
I wanted to cite these verses to point out that God sent Jesus to save the whole world (John 3:16).
The Door of Salvation, Who is Jesus Himself, is open for Anyone wishing to enter.
The fact that The Chosen have been preordained since before the foundation of the world, doesn't mean God only permits a certain class of people for salvation. This is shown in God's choosing Israel as His people, yet has grafted in the Gentiles to His covenant with them.
Predestination of God's chosen for salvation and purpose for Jesus' Church Body of believers means that because God is All knowing, He foreknew, in advance, who would accept His salvation plan in Jesus even before the Genesis 3:15 prophecy about Jesus being The solution to the fall of man to reconcile us with God.
God's foreknowledge of who would answer to Jesus voice calling for salvation is what made believers sealed before Creation, before the beginning of time, before the end of age would come.
It's this foreknowledge of God that has Him long suffering in His waiting for those who Still are going to repent and come to Him by accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance"
2 Peter:3:9
God knows The beginning and the end.
By Jesus giving signs to look for that would mark the days of his coming at the end of age, in answer to that question by his disciples in Matthew 24:3, is so loving on God's part so that we, who have been sealed and will be Raptured before judgement comes, because we are not appointed to God's Wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9), and is why we take head to Jesus words to be Ready, for His glorious appearing (Matthew 24:44, Titus 2:13).
However, We don't know the day or the hour, nor do we know who God already knows will be saved. So, we who have already received salvation by God's Grace thru Faith, continue to be busy about the Father's business, and plant those seeds to draw Jesus Sheep into the sheepfold.
"Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’
Luke 19:13
Satan is working overtime to try to disrupt our commission of Matthew 28:19-20, so more than ever we want to depend on The Lord to give us all the weapons and tools to fight against the tactics of the Wicked one, by letting The Holy Spirit, Who is in us, to direct us, keeping suited up in the Full Armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-17), being watchful for Jesus coming, and keeping in fellowship with one another for encouragement and edifying of one another, (Hebrews 10:25), so that when the Day comes we stand before the Lord we hear Him say....
‘Well done, good and faithful servant! "
Matthew 25:24
"Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong"
1 Corinthians 16:13
"You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability"
2 Peter 3:17
"Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 8:37-39
"Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near"
Luke 21:28
Jesus is coming and will not delay. He will keep His promise to take us before Judgement begins upon the entire Earth.
"For, “In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.”
Hebrews 10:37
"In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also."
John 14:2-3
"Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth"
Revelation 3:10
"Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality"
1 Corinthians 15:51-53
"Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord."
1 Thessalonians 4:17
"For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God"
2 Corinthians 1:20
I love Paul's words
"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us"
Romans 8:18
Standing by the Word of God is the source of our hope.
Romans 15:4)
(God's Word gives us the salvation story of Jesus, The Word of God. The Bible is The Word of God (Hebrews 4:12 )and Jesus is The Word of God. (John 1:1).
Please forgive my lengthy thread. But, as I shared my understanding of 2 Peter 3:9, I wanted to include God's promises for His chosen as believers in Christ Jesus by our faith in Jesus finished work on the cross and our Blessed Hope, soon to come.
God bless you all and let's keep looking up, and not be weighed down by this fallen world.
Jesus is our strength.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"
Philippians 4:13
He will never leave us nor forsake us. (Deuteronomy 31:8)
"Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
(Matthew 28:20)
Blessings.......on to eternity!!
Maranatha!
2 Peter 3:9 NKJV
I must have read this verse "umpteen" times and more recently I have pondered on it to gain understanding of what exactly it means.
The more the world gets wicked, it has no doubt brought some believers to ask, "what's taking so long? How much is God going to allow us as believers to see and feel of this increasing wickedness and what seems like the world in it's groaning is also falling apart as seen in increasing natural disasters.
All of what we see of course fall in line with what Jesus described as "birth pangs", as cited in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21.
No doubt we are seeing these "birth pangs" in their early beginnings, before The Day of The Lord falls upon the entire earth, as Jesus said would take place
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Matthew 24:5-11 KJV
No doubt we can see much of this description even now, and as "birth pangs" we have been watching the increase in intenseness and frequency.
But note the end of verse 6
"see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet."
So while we are seeing and feeling these "birth pangs" increasing in intensity and frequency, we keep in mind that
The End is Not Yet.
So, what exactly is meant by
2 Peter 3:9?
I use to think it meant that God is waiting to begin The Day of The Lord, The Tribulation of Judgement, because He is waiting In Case some May repent and turn to Him by believing in Jesus and accept His Salvation invitation.
The more I pondered on the cited verse of this thread title, it became clear to me that it's Not that God is giving more time, In Case more repent and come to Christ to be saved.
What it means is that He's waiting on Those who "He Knows"are coming to repentance and receive Jesus salvation invitation, Not In Case more might be saved.
Because God knows the hearts of men, and God is All knowing, He Already knows who haven't yet been "formally" saved and sealed, but Will come to Christ because God knows in advance who they are.
These are the ones God's waiting on.
Let's examine some scripture. As I quote scripture that helps understand what God's waiting actually means, I want to just revisit some encouraging verses to keep up our spirits in these increasing wicked days.
All of Psalm 139. I will just use verse 16
"Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be."
“Remember the former things long past,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is no one like Me,
Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things which have not been done,
Saying, ‘My purpose will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure"
Isaiah 46:9-10
"Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them."
Isaiah 42:9
"And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen"
Acts 1:24
4" even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us[a] for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will"
Ephesians 1:4-5
"For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers".
Romans 8:29
"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you"
John 15:16
"But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace"
Galatians 1:15
"But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory"
1 Corinthians 2:7
"All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out"
John 6:37
9 "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
27My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand."
John 10:6, 27-28
"Though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls"
Romans 9:11
I wanted to cite these verses to point out that God sent Jesus to save the whole world (John 3:16).
The Door of Salvation, Who is Jesus Himself, is open for Anyone wishing to enter.
The fact that The Chosen have been preordained since before the foundation of the world, doesn't mean God only permits a certain class of people for salvation. This is shown in God's choosing Israel as His people, yet has grafted in the Gentiles to His covenant with them.
Predestination of God's chosen for salvation and purpose for Jesus' Church Body of believers means that because God is All knowing, He foreknew, in advance, who would accept His salvation plan in Jesus even before the Genesis 3:15 prophecy about Jesus being The solution to the fall of man to reconcile us with God.
God's foreknowledge of who would answer to Jesus voice calling for salvation is what made believers sealed before Creation, before the beginning of time, before the end of age would come.
It's this foreknowledge of God that has Him long suffering in His waiting for those who Still are going to repent and come to Him by accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance"
2 Peter:3:9
God knows The beginning and the end.
By Jesus giving signs to look for that would mark the days of his coming at the end of age, in answer to that question by his disciples in Matthew 24:3, is so loving on God's part so that we, who have been sealed and will be Raptured before judgement comes, because we are not appointed to God's Wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9), and is why we take head to Jesus words to be Ready, for His glorious appearing (Matthew 24:44, Titus 2:13).
However, We don't know the day or the hour, nor do we know who God already knows will be saved. So, we who have already received salvation by God's Grace thru Faith, continue to be busy about the Father's business, and plant those seeds to draw Jesus Sheep into the sheepfold.
"Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’
Luke 19:13
Satan is working overtime to try to disrupt our commission of Matthew 28:19-20, so more than ever we want to depend on The Lord to give us all the weapons and tools to fight against the tactics of the Wicked one, by letting The Holy Spirit, Who is in us, to direct us, keeping suited up in the Full Armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-17), being watchful for Jesus coming, and keeping in fellowship with one another for encouragement and edifying of one another, (Hebrews 10:25), so that when the Day comes we stand before the Lord we hear Him say....
‘Well done, good and faithful servant! "
Matthew 25:24
"Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong"
1 Corinthians 16:13
"You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability"
2 Peter 3:17
"Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 8:37-39
"Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near"
Luke 21:28
Jesus is coming and will not delay. He will keep His promise to take us before Judgement begins upon the entire Earth.
"For, “In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.”
Hebrews 10:37
"In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also."
John 14:2-3
"Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth"
Revelation 3:10
"Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality"
1 Corinthians 15:51-53
"Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord."
1 Thessalonians 4:17
"For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God"
2 Corinthians 1:20
I love Paul's words
"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us"
Romans 8:18
Standing by the Word of God is the source of our hope.
Romans 15:4)
(God's Word gives us the salvation story of Jesus, The Word of God. The Bible is The Word of God (Hebrews 4:12 )and Jesus is The Word of God. (John 1:1).
Please forgive my lengthy thread. But, as I shared my understanding of 2 Peter 3:9, I wanted to include God's promises for His chosen as believers in Christ Jesus by our faith in Jesus finished work on the cross and our Blessed Hope, soon to come.
God bless you all and let's keep looking up, and not be weighed down by this fallen world.
Jesus is our strength.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"
Philippians 4:13
He will never leave us nor forsake us. (Deuteronomy 31:8)
"Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
(Matthew 28:20)
Blessings.......on to eternity!!
Maranatha!
