How do you harmonize 1 Timothy 2:4 and 2 Peter 3:9? No man comes to the Father but by Jesus Christ - salvation hinges on mankinds belief in Jesus Christ . . . The dream that Nebuchadnezzar had was the result of HIS worshipping other gods and demanding that others do the same and nothing that Nebuchadnezzar could do would change that except to "break off thy sins by righteousness and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquility."
Did Nebuchadnezzar break of his sins? Nope - The king spake, and said, Is not this the great Babylon, THAT I HAVE BUILT for the house of the kingdom BY THE MIGHT OF MY POWER, and for the HONOR OF MY MAJESTY? . . . . PRIDE caused the destruction that came upon Nebuchadnezzar - the fulfillment of his dream.
But when those days were fulfilled, those days prophesied through his dream, his understanding returned to him and he BLESSED THE MOST HIGH, and PRAISED AND HONORED him. So, God showed Nebuchadnezzar what would happen if he didn't break off his sins by doing righteousness and his iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor via the dream he had and that is exactly what was fulfilled.
That section of scripture has to do with King Nebuchadnezzar and him only but it does relate to Deut. 30:19: I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live. Could he have chosen "to break of his sins" and change the events? Apparently so. (You will surely reap what you sow!!
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Deut 30:19, does not have reference to "eternal life", but it has reference to that good and abundant life that we can live here on earth by choosing to follow God's commandments. The natural man, void of the Holy Spirit, 1 Cor 2:14, cannot choose anything that is of a spiritual nature, because he cannot discern it, and thinks it is foolishness. He will not choose eternal life until after he has been regenerated, Eph 2.
In Dan 4:35, it states that God does "according to his will" among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand. If it was God's will to save all of mankind then he would save all of mankind, and scriptures tell us that all of mankind will not be saved.
1 Tim 2:4; All scriptures must harmonize in order to understand the truth of the doctrine that Jesus taught. The "all men" has reference to "all the men that God gave to Jesus". 1 Tim 2:4 harmonizes with John 17:2 "As thou hast given him (Jesus) power over all flesh (all of mankind), that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him."
Saved, in 1 Tim 2:4, is translated in Greek to mean "delivered". There is a deliverance (here in time, not eternal) when babes in Christ 'come unto the knowledge of the truth that Jesus taught
Isaiah 28:9-10, Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, and there a little.
2 Peter 3:9; In order to keep this verse in context, we have to go back to 2 Peter 1, which says that Peter is talking to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Peter even includes himself in his exhortation by using the word "us-ward". After we are born again, we do still, at times, yield ourselves to the lust of this world, which makes us "dead" to God's fellowship, until we repent, and God takes us back into his fellowship. The "any" and "all" in this verse has the same reference as the "all men" in 1 Tim 2:4. and the "as many as" in John 17:
If the scriptures do not harmonize, then we are not interpreting them in the right way.
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