Matthew 23:37
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would have none of it!”
Your Argument:
My Rebuttal:
You will need to read that passage a little more carefully. Jesus did not say, “I have longed to gather you, but you were unwilling.” There is a clear and crucial difference between “you” and “your children.” Think about the immediate context. Jesus had just finished condemning the religious leaders of Jerusalem, “You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven! For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in” (v. 13). This is Christ’s prophetic lament over Jerusalem’s leadership, whose resistance to God’s messengers goes back millennia and includes their hinderance of those under their care.
Romans 11:20-22
Granted, they were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but fear! For if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you. Notice therefore the kindness and harshness of God—harshness toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness toward you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.
Your Argument:
My Rebuttal:
First, this does not seem related to unconditional election, but to perseverance of the saints—a different letter of the acrostic TULIP.
Second, Romans 11 supports unconditional election. Paul has already said, “God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew” (v. 2), and he explains Israel’s division in terms of election: “The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened” (v. 7). So whatever “broken off” and “cut off” mean in verses 20–22, they cannot mean that God’s foreknown elect can finally perish.
Third, “unconditional” is not a status; “elect” is (cf. “Paul does not describe their status as unconditional”). Paul is not discussing, here, whether God chose people on the basis of foreseen perseverance. He is warning that visible covenant participants should not presume upon their present standing while persisting in unbelief or arrogance. Totally different issue.
Fourth, the doctrine is unconditional election, not unconditional salvation—whatever that is (cf. “if salvation is entirely unconditional”). Election and salvation are two different things. Election is part of salvation; it is not the same thing as salvation.
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Your Argument:
My Rebuttal:
To whom is Peter writing? He says that God is being patient toward “you,” so who is that? Is it all mankind?
No, his letters contradict that idea. Look at the first sentence of this passage (
2 Peter 3:1), where he says this is the “second” letter he has written to them. To whom was his first epistle written? The elect (
1 Pet. 1:1-2).
You can even look at the first sentence of this second epistle (
2 Peter 1:1). He was talking to “those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ, have been granted a faith just as precious as ours.” Is that all mankind? Clearly not.
If Peter is addressing those whom God has chosen, not all mankind, then how does
2 Peter 3:9 make any sense?
Well, imagine that you have called a staff meeting. As you stand, looking over the people gathered in the conference room, you announce, “We cannot afford to have
anyone miss this information, so before I get to what I have to tell
you, I need to know if
everyone is here.” Obviously you are not asking if all eight billion people on the planet are present in the conference room, and you’re certainly not asking if all people who have existed, do exist, and will ever exist are present. The "anyone" and "everyone" are directly related to the "you" being addressed: your staff members.
The Lord is patient with “you,” Peter said. The Lord doesn’t want to "anyone" of those with whom he is patient to perish but to have "everyone" among his elect to come to repentance. God is patient with you, Peter said, referring to his friends, to whom he had written before, who are chosen by God and receive the apostolic faith. That great day will not come before every last one of you are redeemed.
This understanding gains further support when you read elsewhere in Scripture that God has a select remnant of Israel chosen by grace and a select number of Gentiles. God is not slow in keeping his promise; he is being patient, waiting until that full number of God's chosen has been fulfilled. In other words, the Day of the Lord will not come until all those he has chosen have been born and redeemed. Be patient, and give thanks and glory to God for the salvation of so many.
Additional thoughts:
Alternatively, let us assume for a moment that the Lord doesn’t want literally anyone at all to perish but desires everyone without exception to come to repentance. The question arises immediately: Why do so many perish? Why do so many never come to repentance? Before you answer, consider that question another way: If God wants to save everyone, why doesn’t he give everyone to the Son? Remember, “Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me” (
John 6:37).
Under an Arminian or semi-Pelagian understanding,
2 Peter 3:9 makes little sense, for then God’s plan is routinely thwarted. He doesn’t want anyone at all to perish—yet innumerable billions will perish. He wants literally everyone to come to repentance—yet innumerable billions have not and will not. The desires and choices of sinful man are more important to God than his own sovereign glory.
Under a Reformed understanding, this passage does make sense. Not a single one of his elect will be lost. Every single one of them will come to repentance. God's own sovereign glory is more important to him than the desire of sinful man. As John Piper said, for God to deny the infinite worth of his own glory “would imply that there is something more valuable outside himself. He would commit idolatry … Where will we find a Rock of integrity in the universe when the heart of God has ceased to value supremely the supremely valuable?”
And when the last one of his elect comes to repentance, then the great Day of the Lord will come.
I noticed Delvianna had to do this quickly before I posted my response.
