1Timothy 2:4 reads,
“Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”
On the surface, this certainly looks like the definitive statement concerning God’s desire to have every man and woman alive come to a saving knowledge of Him. But, that interpretation creates a whole host of conflicts.
First off, Biblical scholarship is unanimous on the fact that this letter was written by the Apostle Paul. This is the same man who wrote the great treatises to the Romans and the Ephesians, in which he declared God’s right, power and predetermined decision to save a particular people. Paul clearly states that God is all-powerful and works everything – everything! – in accordance with His own will.
So, if your interpretation of 1Timothy 2:4 is correct, we immediately have two huge dilemmas.
1.) Paul is a very contradictory theologian. On the one hand, he clearly argues that God does all things in accordance with His own will and is powerful enough to enact every detail of His plan, especially where salvation is concerned.
“In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.” (Eph 1:11)
Yet, on the other hand, Paul declares that God sincerely wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, despite the fact they will not all arrive at that destination. So, Paul does not seem to know whether God can enact His will or not.
2.) The second, is a question of power. Why, given God’s preeminent power, is He so incapable of seeing His supposed desire of universal salvation come to fruition?
According to Arminian apologists, the answer lies in the fact that God always allows – and indeed favors – the free will and unencumbered choice of every individual. God would never encroach on any person’s freedom of choice. Therefore, despite His expressed desire that all men be saved, some will be lost through no fault on God’s part. They simply refuse to be saved and God – in spite of His own desire – deigns to condemn them.
So, who has all the power in that relationship? Well, the sinner, of course! The human will takes precedent over the eternal, sovereign will. God is powerless to save any person who refuses His gracious offer because it is the will and desire of the creature that supercedes the will and desire of the Creator.
The implications of that notion are huge. For instance, why do we worship God and thank Him for saving us when it was actually up to us to make the saving decision? Sure, God may want everyone to be saved. But, we are the ones fulfilling His dream. He should be thanking us, don’t you think?
Or, what was Jesus doing on the cross? Was He actually saving anyone, or was He merely making salvation a possibility provided we would come along later and validate His work. To say that Jesus died for all, yet not all were saved means Jesus died in vain. In other words, salvation is no longer an act of God. It is the result of mutual effort between God and the sinner. There’s no real grace, beyond the fact that God was willing and desirous of our participation. But, in the end, it was all up to us.
Clearly, Paul was not teaching universal salvation, universal redemption, or even the notion that God’s will is ultimately thwarted. Any of those readings would force us to the inescapable conclusion that not all of Paul’s teachings are correct. And if that’s true, how can we trust anything he says? How do we know which one of Paul’s multiple positions is the correct one?
No, no. Paul was not contradicting himself. He was making a point. And, his point was the God is “no respecter of persons.” The high and mighty estates of human leaders do not impress God.
Read 1 Timothy 2:4 in its context –
“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. (1 Tim 2:1-6)
The primary confusion in this passage arises from Paul’s use of the word “all.” In the Greek, it’s “pas.” That little word can mean several things. It can indeed be used to include everything or everyone. But, just as easily, it is used to designate “all kinds” or “all types.”
To determine the proper meaning in 1Timothy 2:4, we need only to follow Paul’s use of this same word in this same letter.
For instance, in 1Timothy 6:10 we read –
“For the love of money is the root of all (pas) evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
What’s immediately apparent is that the love of money cannot be the root of every single evil thing that ever occurred. Certainly, this is not true. Even the first sin – Eve’s partaking of the forbidden fruit – was not motivated by money (which did not exist either materially or conceptually). So, Paul’s meaning must be more exclusive than that. And, it is. Paul’s use of the word “pas” was meant to designate “all kinds” of evil. And, most other translations render it exactly that way. The ASV, NAS, NIV and NKJV all read, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds (or ‘sorts’) of evil…”
Paul was not arguing that God desires that every individual person in the world be saved. If Almighty God desires universal salvation, then He will most assuredly accomplish universal salvation. His arm is not limited in its ability to save.
So again, despite what it may have looked like on the out-of-context surface, Paul’s use of the word “pas” designates “all kinds.” And, God is certainly willing that “all kinds” of men be saved, as opposed to Jews only; or as opposed to the downtrodden and oppressed only.
It should be obvious that Paul is continuing his “all kinds of men” line of thinking in 1 Timothy 2:4. As the apostle to the Gentiles, he knew that God was spreading his worship out into the whole world. But, Jesus the Christ, the Jewish Messiah, the fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptures, sent to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” was now declared to have given Himself as a ransom for all kinds of people. So, the context shows that Paul was completely consistent in his thinking and theology.
