Christians believe that Jesus died and rose again, but also that he has ascended into heaven and will return just as he promised. I don’t think I am alone in sometimes looking at the world in which we live that is filled with evil and injustice and wondering why it is taking so long for Jesus to return. This very question is something that Peter takes on and helps explain in 2 Peter 3. Not only does he refute the false teachers who called into question the reality of Jesus’s return (see 2 Peter 3:1-7), but he also talks about how to understand the purpose and significance of this delay (see 2 Peter 3:8-10). If those in Peter’s time needed to think about this subject, we who live nearly 2,000 years later and are still awaiting Christ’s return need to hear it and understand it even more.
God’s Purpose: The Patience of God
After discussing the fact that God’s understanding of time and our understanding of time are much different (“with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day”) in 3:8, Peter says in 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance” (CSB). Thus the reason for the long length of time (to us, not necessarily to God!) between Christ’s ascension and his return is not that God has lost track of time; it’s due to God’s patience with sinners and His purpose in calling us to repentance. A few verses later, Peter makes the connection between God’s patience and our salvation explicit, as he says “regard the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our dear brother Paul has written to you” (3:15). The reference to Paul’s teaching here may be an allusion to what Paul says in Romans 2:5. There he speaks about God’s kindness, restraint, and patience and then says that “God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance”; while he only explicitly names kindness, the earlier link to God’s restraint and patience points to these being included as well. Peter and Paul thus both emphasize that God is both a gracious and a patient God.
If Jesus came 1,500 years ago, I and so many others would never have had the opportunity to discover His grace and mercy and repent of my sins. I know many people who are very thankful that Jesus didn’t come back 5 years ago or even 1 year ago because if that had been the case, they would not have yet repented of their sins and turned to Jesus in faith. In fact, this is a good reminder for all of us to be thankful for and celebrate the patience of God, knowing that He has been patient with each and every person who has come to know Him.
Our Response: Patience with God and Others
Recognizing the reason that it is “taking so long” is God’s patience with sinners should lead to a different way of thinking and living. Now, I don’t think it is necessarily wrong to cry out, “how long O Lord?” and hoping for Jesus to come soon, especially since we read in the book of Revelation how the saints cry out “how long” (see Revelation 6:10) and the Apostle John cries out “Come Lord Jesus!” (22:20). But such longing and crying out should not come from a spirit of impatience but rather from joyful hope and anticipation of what awaits. We should long for the day of Christ’s return and its reality should comfort us, but until it comes we should patiently remember God’s patience and patiently share about His patience with others.
Remembering God’s patience with sinners allows us to keep walking in this world even when it is hard. Seeing news stories of heinous and grotesque sin should sicken our hearts and long for Christ’s return. At the same time, though, we should recognize that such sin is an affront to God Himself – He is more impacted by the sin of the world than we are. If He has patience in the midst of it, so should we. If God has been patient with me, then I should be able to be patient with Him as He is patient with sinners. Admittedly, that is not an easy thing to do. However, I believe that we can because one of the fruit of the Spirit is “patience.” God produces His patience in us so that we can be patient with Him.
In addition to God’s Spirit helping us have patience with God, the Spirit also should make us have patience like Him. If He can endure the reality of sin – and be even more aware of how much sin there is and how horrible such sin is – then so can we. Having patience like Him, though, does not mean that I just endure the evil I see. Rather, I should have the same heart that He has toward sinners, wanting them to come to repentance. I don’t just want God’s patience that leads to repentance for me but also for the people around me and across the world. I don’t want people to presume upon His patience and not recognize that it is meant to bring people to repentance (Romans 2:5). Not presuming upon His patience also means that there should be urgency to share the good news of His patience and the call now to repent (see Acts 17:30-31) as we don’t know when the day will come in which the time of His patience with sinners is up and the time of judgment to commence. Just as we would urge someone not to wait until tomorrow to turn to Jesus because we don’t know if there is a tomorrow, so we should not wait until tomorrow to share that truth when given the opportunity to do so today.
So, let’s be thankful for God’s patience with us by showing patience to others. Hypocrites have rules for thee but not for me while those who know Jesus recognize the reality of God’s patience to “me” and then show such patience to “thee.”
Questions about the Bible or theology? Email them to Pastor Brian at Theology@WeAreFaith.org. You can also email to be added to the list that receives weekly emails with our blog posts.
