1 Timothy 2:4: Who Will Have All Men to Be Saved
2021-09-18
1 Timothy 2:4
The Lord wants everyone to be saved: “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). This includes all the leaders we spoke of in the previous verses, but the word “all” literally means every single person. The prayers mentioned in 1 Timothy 2:1 has the goal that everyone will hear the gospel.
This verse undoes portions of two major rival doctrines to which many Christians subscribe: Calvinism and Arminianism. The first group believes that God chooses who is saved and who is not. If God wants all to be saved, but does not save them, it makes one wonder, why? Why would God choose for people to go to hell if He could easily choose to save them?
For the Arminian, who believes one can lose their salvation, why would God let them lose it? Why would He not make sure they get hit by a bus five minutes before they lose their salvation? These groups might not be wrong on everything, but they must be wrong on these areas because of this verse.
Another verse that affirms God’s desire for all to be saved is 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
This says more than merely being saved, but for all “to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” We need to come into knowledge of truth to be saved, but the Christian life is far more than just being saved. This includes that all would become disciples of Christ that continually walk and grow in Him.