Salvation
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22. If God wants all men to be saved, why doesn’t He save all men? |
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Because
when the Scripture says that God “desires all men to be saved” (1 Timothy 2:4
– NKJV), does not mean that God predestined all men to be saved; but it means
that God wants to save men of all nations, tribes and tongues, of every
social and economic status, etc: this is what we deduce from the context of
Paul’s discourse. Here is the context: “Therefore I exhort first of all that
supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all
men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and
peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and
acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all men to be saved
and to come to 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, for which I was appointed a preacher
and an apostle – I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying – a teacher
of the Gentiles in faith and truth” (1 Timothy 2:1-7 – NKJV). |
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As you can
see, Paul exhorts us to pray for all men, for kings and all who are in
authority. So, the words “[He]desires all men to be saved” were written by
Paul to the intent that we should not think that there is no need to pray for
persons of a certain rank or race because salvation is not for them. When
Paul says that God desires all men to be saved, he does not mean that God
will save all men because in other places Paul explains that God does not
want to have mercy on all men; for instance, he says to the saints of Rome
that God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy and He hardens whom He
wants to harden (Romans 9:18), and that God, “wanting to show His wrath and
to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath
prepared for destruction” (Romans 9:22 – NKJV). |
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What shall
we say then about the fact that Paul says that the man of sin, who will be revealed
before the coming of Christ, will be destroyed? Do not his words prove that
God does not want the man of sin to be saved? Do you see in these words: “And
then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the
breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming” (2
Thessalonians 2:8 – NKJV) the possibility for this man to be saved? Can you
affirm, after reading these words of Paul, that God wants to save the man of
sin? |
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Certainly,
if God had decided to have mercy on all men, he would eventually save all men
because no one can keep Him from accomplishing His purpose. Listen to what
God said through Isaiah: “Remember the former things of old: for I am God,
and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the
end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet
done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: Calling
a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far
country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed
it, I will also do it” (Isaiah 46:9-11). However, since God did not appoint
all men to be saved, He will eventually save only some men, that is, the
elect. |
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I want to
conclude by telling you the following thing: be careful, because these words
of Paul, according to which God desires all men to be saved, are quoted by
the Universalists (that is, those who assert that God in His goodness will
eventually save all men). For they say that when God says that He desires
something nobody can keep Him from fulfilling His own desire, thus nobody
will be able to keep Him from saving all men. |