LOST

All of these verses are tied together. They all have a common theme.

The word that is translated as “lost” in Luke 19:10 and Matthew 18:11 is exactly the same word translated as “perish” in 2 Peter 3:9 and Matthew 18:14. I will provide more on that subject in a bit.

The theme of Luke 19:1-10 is the conversion of Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was lost at the beginning of these verses and was found or converted as we get through verse 10.

The theme of Matthew 18:10-11 is the “little ones” and is a continuation of our Lord and Saviour’s teaching in Matthew 18:1-6. In those verses we see the necessity of coming to Him as little children. We must be born again. Prior to that time we are lost. This teaching is followed by the parable of the lost sheep in Matthew 18:12-14. This particular parable speaks to the effort the Son of Man is willing to go through in order to save the one lost rather than spend that time with the ones who are saved.

The theme of 2 Peter 3:9 is dealing with God’s mercy and the Day of Judgment. In it we see the very important statement God is not willing any should perish. It is God’s Will all should come to repentance.

The key words I would like to bring to your attention and use to tie all of this together are as follows: In Luke 19:10, the word “lost.” In Matthew 18:11, the word “lost.” In Matthew 18:14 and 2 Peter 3:9, the word “perish.” As I have shown above these words are from the identical Greek word. The word used in the referenced verses is assigned the Strong’s number of G622.

G622
ἀπόλλυμι
apollumi
ap-ol'-loo-mee
From G575 and the base of G3639; to destroy fully (reflexively to perish, or lose), literally or figuratively: - destroy, die, lose, mar, perish.

This same word is translated as “lost,” 13 times in the New Testament and as “perish” 25 times in the New Testament. It is a quite common word and has a sense of great peril. Notice in the definition Strong has given this word also means destroy and die. It means to destroy fully.

There is a complete “sameness” of the words used in the verses quoted above. I do not find it coincidence that verses speaking of the lost and that none should perish come from the same word in the Greek. It should be noted this same word (G622) is the one used in John 3:15 and John 3:16. In both of those all-important verses the word “perish” is seen.

It is now necessary to look at the sense of the use of the word in these verses. It is quite clear that in the use of the English word “perish” that NONE will perish (be fully destroyed) if they believe. This again is influenced greatly by the verses referenced from John’s Gospel. It is also quite clear it is not God’s desire that ANY should perish. We can see it also rather clearly Jesus came to save the lost, to prevent them from perishing. This is also supported and emphasized by the parable of the lost sheep in Matthew 18:10-14.

In dealing with the texts of the verses it is well to look at Luke 19:10 and Matthew 18:11 together and almost as one. They are nearly identical in make up and identical in meaning. In the beginning of Luke 19:10 we see that Jesus Himself came to search out those who were lost. He came in search of them that were lost. Once He found them, He redeemed them. (As a personal aside here, I believe the two most important words in a Christian’s life after Father, Son and Holy Spirit ought be redeemed and Redeemer.) The lost may be obscure and unimportant in the eyes of the world but we can clearly see they were not unimportant in the eyes and deeds of The Lord. Jesus’ entire ministry was about seeking out and saving the lost so they would not perish.

Those that are lost are for the most part worthless to all and anyone. They are lost to God. They suffer great wickedness. They are lost to all things good, especially Heaven. Yet they were important enough Jesus gave His own life that none should be lost and perish but rather they be salvaged and saved.

Let us look now at 2 peter 3:9. First I think it necessary to establish what promise is spoken of when we are told, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise,” This is concerning the promise that He will come back. The reason this was included was there were those that attempted to say things had continued from the beginning of time as they were and therefore God was not following His promise because He had not come back as yet. In this verse the words “slack” and “slackness” actually mean tardiness and delay.

Then we see he is longsuffering to us-ward. That means he has great patience with us. His infinite patience is extended to us. Why? That is answered immediately after and is the subject and most important aspect of this study. The reason The Lord has extended great and infinite patience to us is that He is NOT WILLING THAT ANY SHOULD PERISH. None! The statement immediately follows is that it is His desire that we should all come to repentance. We should all have the change of mind to accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Saviour so that we don’t become fully destroyed.

The Geneva Bible Commentary expresses it thusly: ”(8) The Lord will surely come, because he has promised: and neither sooner nor later than he has promised. (9) A reason why the last day does not come too soon, because God patiently waits until all the elect are brought to repentance, that none of them may perish.”

Let us look then at what has been proven in 2 Peter 3:9.
(a) That God has a sincere desire that people should be saved;
(b) That any purpose in regard to the destruction of sinners is not founded on mere will, or is not arbitrary;
© That it would be agreeable to the nature of God, and to His arrangements in the plan of salvation, if all human beings should come to repentance, and accept the offers of mercy;
(d) That if any come to Him truly penitent, and desirous to be saved, they will not be cast off;
(e) That, since it is in accordance with His nature, that He should desire that all people may be saved, it may be presumed that He has made an arrangement by which it is possible that they should be; and,
(f) That, since this is His desire, it is proper for the ministers of religion to offer salvation to every human being
(Albert Barnes, Barnes’ Notes)

This same teaching appears in the Old Testament in the Book of Ezekiel.

In this verse we see mention specifically of the house of Israel but to put it into perspective it is necessary to understand that many of these things were offered “to the Jew first.”

I find an echo of this in 2 Corinthians 5:18.

“Man was alienated from God. He had no love for Him. He disliked His government and laws. He was unwilling to be restrained. He sought his own pleasure. He was proud, vain, self-confident. He was not pleased with the character of God, or with his claims, or his plans. And in like manner, God was displeased with the pride, the sensuality, the rebellion, the haughtiness of man. He was displeased that His Law had been violated, and that man had cast off his government. Now reconciliation could take place only when these causes of alienation should be laid aside, and when God and man should be brought to harmony; when man should lay aside his love of sin, and should be pardoned, and when, therefore, God could consistently treat him as a friend. The Greek word which is used here (καταλλάσσω katallassō) means properly to change against anything; to exchange for anything, for money, or for any article - Robinson. In the New Testament it means to change one person toward another; that is, to reconcile to anyone.

It conveys the idea of producing a change so that one who is alienated should be brought to friendship. Of course, all the change which takes place must be on the part of man, for God will not change, and the purpose of the plan of reconciliation is to effect such a change in man as to make him in fact reconciled to God, and at agreement with him.”
(Albert Barnes, Barnes’ Notes)

And now for the part which most have probably been waiting for. I will attempt to draw this to a conclusion that will cause it all to gel and to be intertwined and irreversibly shown to be evidence of the FACT there are not just some mysterious “chosen” few that will come to repentance and be saved. That is the reason for posting it in this thread.

If one takes a good look at all the Bible references made one can easily see they all have the same sense and are actually speaking of the same thing. Two are from the Gospels and two from Epistles yet they speak to the same fact. Not only the sense of the verses but the basic definitions of the words involved clearly show that God has not predestined anyone to perish. We do have the free will to accept or reject Salvation. Granted we must have the working of the Holy Spirit to draw us to that repentance but we do have the choice as to whether to accept it or not. It is not of God’s doing if we spend all eternity in the lake of fire.

I believe the only “right” we have in this life is the right to make choices. God will not infringe on that right. This goes all the way back to the Book of Genesis and the story of Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve had the whole world. They had everything with the minor exception of one tree. Yet as with so many of us they were not satisfied with all but one. They wanted it all. Could God have prevented them from eating of that tree? Of course He could. However He chose not to. It is the same with us. We have the free will to accept His eternal gift or to reject it. I must admit I believe there are many people that have died only to spend eternity in hell cut off from God because they had no one to help them. No one ever told them the Good News. No one ever witnessed to them or explained the plan of salvation to them. Does that mean they were predestined to spend eternity in hell? Probably so but the opportunity to choose was there if someone had told them about it. Just because someone did not witness to them does not mean they did not have the freedom to make the choice if it was presented to them.

That verse shows that we are condemned from the get go. It does not say we do not have the choice to choose Salvation.

We are born with a sin nature. It was passed on to us by the one man (Adam.) However we can also see the gift of God “hath abounded unto many.”

In Christ,
George