If we reject His will for us, He is glorified by the display of His justice and wrath. If we accept His grace, He is glorified by the redemption of the irredeemable. For that reason, though He is more than capable of forcing grace upon us, He instead allows us to choose, and we are the ones who lose in that scenario, not God. Grace is not something God is obligated to give, neither is it something we are entitled to, neither is it something God needs to offer. So, how do men resist the will of God in their own salvation? The same way they did in Luke 7:30. How was it that they were able to overpower the legion of angels in order to take Christ prisoner? Answer: He never summoned that legion.
To me, this is as silly as saying that if Jesus was really crucified, this makes the Romans stronger than God. Why would God be angry about people rejecting grace that was never offered?īut a Calvinist might say that if man resists the will of God, this makes man superior to God. This makes perfect sense if God actually wants all men, everywhere, to be saved, as the previously discussed verses clearly tell us He does. This is seen in Acts 17:30, where God commands not only the elect, but all men, everywhere, to repent. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. These have resisted not only His will, but His rather explicit command. Everyone who is not saved and does not come to the knowledge of the truth. So, who has resisted His will? Literally every wicked person who dies.
1 Timothy 2:4 tells us that God wants all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. We see in 2 Peter 3:9 that God's patience with us is because He is not willing that any should perish. We read in Ezekiel 33:11 that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. What God seeks from men while His judgment tarries is repentance. Some of the confusion regarding the meaning of 2 Peter 3:9 is the wording of the KJV translation: not willing that any should perish. Here Peter is thinking about God’s gracious reluctance to see sinners killed. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone. The Greek word rendered perish here ( apolesthai) might equally well have been translated be killed. but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but. Several places in scripture, both in the Old and New Testament, clearly tell us that God wills everyone to be saved, and no one to perish. As Peter puts it, He is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish. Furthermore, we see that God actually wills them to accept it.
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