2 Peter - Verse-by-Verse Biblical Exegesis

He does not wish for (Gnomic Present tense) any believer to end up (Result Infinitive)
ruined in the spiritual life (Culminative Aorist tense), reversionist or otherwise. Any
believer who lives with unconfessed sin in his life is ruining himself spiritually. He is
cutoff from fellowship with God by unconfessed sin, as well as forfeiting the filling of
the Spirit. And without the filling of the Spirit, there is no power to live the spiritual life.
So instead of having to administer discipline against rebellion, He would rather have all
believers making progress, exhibiting forward momentum in the protocol plan of God
(Purpose Infinitive). The way to begin this progress is by repentance, the confession of
sin according to 1 John 1:9. This is a verse about restoring temporal fellowship in the
face of divine discipline, not the loss of salvation (which is impossible) or an evangelistic
plea for unbelievers to repent and believe in Christ.
According to Robert Wilkin, “Zane Hodges suggests that metanoia (repentance) here
refers to turning from one's sinful ways with the result that one is in harmonious
fellowship with God.” I agree with this view. The effect is not ruining your spiritual life
and instead living a productive spiritual life, one that will return rewards and the
Judgment Seat of Christ. Many Arminian commentators think “ruin” is rather
“destruction” and this repentance is for unbelievers, meaning God is holding the door
open so other unbelievers can enter the fold by their own free will. I believe this view is
absolutely heretical. It has been totally demolished by scholars such as John Owen (Vol.
10), James White, James Boice, R.C. Sproul, and many others in recent years. Many
Calvinist commentators focus on the “any” and relate it to believers only, which is closer
to the truth, but still using this passage out of context in my opinion. This epistle is
addressed to believers only, not believers and unbelievers.
Too many untrained evangelists have gotten hold of this passage and using the
unfortunate translation of the KJV have forced the word “metanoia” into an evangelistic
straight-jacket. This is not a message to unbelievers. “Repentance” here, as in 2
Corinthians 7:9-10, 12:21, Hebrews 6:6, 12:17, and Revelation 12:5, 9:20-21, is an
experiential usage of the word, not a positional one. It is geared toward carnal believers
(false teachers and their reversionistic followers) changing their direction in life after
they have been saved, not changing the direction of their life in order to be saved. There
is no mention here of justification; the issue is believers living in sin, corrupting
themselves and others in their local assembly. Their problem was the ruin of their
spiritual life and the potential loss of rewards, not the loss of justification-salvation. If
they repent (confess their sins to God and change the direction of their life) they may
avoid severe divine discipline and en-engage in the protocol plan of God.
RELEVANT OPINIONS
The delay of the parousia does not invalidate the parousia doctrine, but is rather the result of
God’s mercy ... Habakkuk 2:3 was the locus classicus for reflection in Judaism on the
problem of the delay of God’s judgment. (D. Watson) Why does God delay the return of
Christ? The cause of the delay stems not from indifference or inattentiveness on the part of
God. (S. Kistemaker) Since Peter penned these words nearly two thousand years have passed
and His promise to Israel is not yet fulfilled, but there are indications that the time is near.