An Apparent Bible Contradiction
Did Paul and Peter disagree?
In this short article, my desire is to discuss a couple of scriptures found in the New Testament that are apparently contradictory.
2 Peter 3:9 reads as follows:
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
The thing I would like to point out in reference to this verse is that Peter is seemingly suggesting that God desires to save everyone.
However, in his letter to the Romans, the apostle Paul seems to have written some things that contradict this idea.
On the subject of predestination, Paul writes:
21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?
(Romans 9:21-24)
Paul seems to clearly teach that some vessels (humans) are created for destruction.
So what’s the truth? Does God truly wish all people will be saved, or does He create some people in the foreknowledge that He is going to damn them? These two ideas are apparently contradictory.
The other thing to mention is that due to our lack of free will and God’s sovereign control of the unfolding of all events, it is a bizarre notion to suggest that God could will something that doesn’t come to pass. God controls all things. If He wishes everyone should come to repentance, He can clearly achieve this.
How do you reconcile these two apparently contradictory scriptures?
Interesting! We know that Peter and Paul were not always in agreement (Galatians 2). When caught between the two, I tend to be more quick to believe James or Peter, who spent years by Jesus’ side. All three were human and doing their level best to understand something that surpassed their limited knowledge. Also, God’s desire for all his children to return to him is more consistent with my understanding of a loving Father.
This is an excellent examination of a fascinating aspect of the Bible, Steven.
I was just reading the other day about differing accounts of the same events regarding Peter and Paul that are described in Acts and Galatians.
Very interested to read more of your work.