REFORMED WITNESS
Volume IX, November 2001, Number 11
What Does I Timothy 2:4 Teach?
By Abraham Kuyper
From the book
Particular Grace - A Defense of God's Sovereignty in Salvation
"Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." - I Timothy 2:4
The saying of Paul in his letter to Timothy is the second passage of Scripture to which I call your attention: "[God] will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." This text, just like I John 2:2, appears to be so decisive and conclusive, and the adversaries of particular grace are so convinced of it themselves, that for them a mere reciting of this Bible passage proves the truth of "general grace" better than a lengthy argument.
After reciting it, they excitedly tell you, "That is what it says!" They continue, "Everybody. Not a few, but all - no one excluded." And of that "all" they state in the most positive way possible that God himself, the holy, glorious, and merciful God, wills - with a will that sparkles with divine energy - that all individuals be saved and come to the knowledge of his most glorious truth.
In response to this, my answer is yes, if it says that, then I grant outright that you have gained the day. I do not want to go against an explicit statement of Scripture any more than you do. But what if I prove to you that this is not what it says? What if I show you that you read this idea into the text and that you made it up? Yes, what if I prove to you that the interpretation you give is impossible? Would that not destroy your whole argument?
I believe I can do that, because if there is one thing that has become clear to me after thoughtfully rereading and considering this passage, it is that from among ten people who quote this passage of Paul, there is scarcely one who has asked himself whether his conception is confirmed by what precedes, and agrees with what follows. And if one of my readers, even before he reads any more of my arguments, would be willing to spend the effort to study more closely I Timothy 2:5 and give consideration to how verse 5 is connected to verse 4, then I am convinced that this simple test will very noticeably shake him in regard to what previously had been his rock-solid position.
In order to make my proof as convincing as possible, I will restrict my investigation exclusively to what can be read in the pastoral epistles, that is, the epistles to Timothy and Titus.
I am in no way implying that each book of the Bible, in itself, has a separate theology and that each author must be interpreted by his own writings. But if it is possible, as is the case here, to take the necessary elements of proof from the epistle itself, then it is self-evident that thereby all contradiction is cut off, and the proof holds even for those who no longer believe in inspiration by the primary author of Scripture, the Holy Spirit.
I want to demonstrate three things by an appeal to these pastoral epistles: in the first place, the adjective "all" only in exceptional cases means "all, inclusive of every individual"; second, that the context in I Timothy 2:4 does not allow for the interpretation of "all" in the sense of "all, inclusive of every individual"; and third, that the representation of the truth, as it is given in these letters, forbids this interpretation.
In regard, first of all, to the word "all," the most significant passages for our consideration are the following:
I Timothy 4:4: "For every [1] creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving." This statement, of course, only means, as appears from the foregoing context, that a believer may eat, not only bread and vegetables, etc., but also meat, and if necessary, meat offered to idols. In short, the believer may eat everything that he wants to eat. Every created thing, every creature, does not imply all created things, individually considered, such as iron, lead, and sand, but only every created thing that is edible. It also does not mean poisonous mushrooms or other poisonous plants, but every edible thing that is harmless, and also not, for example, human flesh, but only all created edible things that are harmless and do not conflict with our human dignity. Nevertheless, the apostle says summarily of all that, Every creature, every created thing is good.
I Timothy 4:10: "God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe." By the addition of the phrase "specially of those that believe," the force of "all men" is directly restricted.
I Timothy 5:20: "Them that sin rebuke before all," which, of course, can not mean "all individuals" but all those who were involved in the matter.
I Timothy 6:13,14: "I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, ...That thou keep this commandment," which, naturally, neither means nor can mean that everything that exists is in reality made alive by God, since rocks and ore never acquire life, and in the spiritual realm Satan, for example, is dead forever. This text means merely that "everything that is alive has been made alive not by its own power, but by God."
II Timothy 1:15: "This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me." Considered individually, this would mean all the millions of people who live in Asia, which would be nonsense. The idea is this, therefore: those from among the Asians who were of Paul's company. In addition, as everyone understands, Paul could not even have known with certainty that all those had left him, for how would he have known whether there were not - in Ephesus, in Laodicea, or someplace else - some man or woman who still pleaded his case? Obviously all that is meant is "All Asian friends of whom I have heard have forsaken me."
II Timothy 2:7: "The Lord give thee understanding in all things." Therefore, in shipbuilding, too? In the Chinese language, too? In diamond cutting also? Surely not! Concisely stated, it means "in everything concerning which you have need."
II Timothy 3:12: "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." This cannot be true of all believers throughout all ages. It is true of those persons in times of persecution as well as all who were different from others and lived in the midst of people of contrary convictions.
II Timothy 4:17: "The Lord ...strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear," which means, as is obvious, not all the heathen individually considered but the heathen of various countries and cities.
Titus 2:11: "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men." This cannot mean the men living before the coming of Jesus, nor the people who were not yet born when Paul wrote; it can only mean those persons from among Paul's contemporaries, the few thousand who heard the preaching. Hence, it must mean, even as the context makes crystal clear, "to freemen and to servants, to people, of various classes and social standings."
Finally, Titus 3:2: "...shewing all meekness unto all men," which, as everyone readily understands, cannot mean to all the millions of people who are living, or will live, but only to those few who come into contact with you and threaten to seduce you to become wicked.
Hence it has been demonstrated that, as a rule, the pronoun "all" neither may nor can be conceived in the sense of a numeral so that what would be meant is the sum of all the individual parts. As a rule, "all" is used hyperbolically for all the different kinds, stations, and positions or all of a specific category, as the context indicates.
The context here - and this is the second point that we would prove - emphatically forbids that we conceive of the words "all men" in I Timothy 2:4 in the sense of "all without exception."
In order to convince readers of this fact, I kindly invite them to open their Bibles to the text of I Timothy 2:4 and to tell me what sense or meaning these words would have: "God wills that all individuals without exception be saved, for there is but one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."
Let people earnestly tell me what would be the sense or reason of those supplemental words - God wills that all men, without exception, be saved - "for there is one God, and one mediator!" But surely that makes no sense! This is, after all, a mere stringing together of disjointed words. It does not flow and has no meaning. The apostle could not have said that. Please note carefully: these two clauses, as they stand, are not unrelated; they are directly joined to one another by the little word "For," showing causation. "For" there is but one God! The common supposition that "all" in this text would mean "all men without exception" takes away every idea of causation, and what we have left are words without meaning.
On the contrary, conceive of the little word "all" in this text in precisely the same way as everyone conceives of it in the other texts that we treated successively just a moment ago, from the pastoral epistles, and notice how every absurdity immediately disappears and the sense becomes completely transparent. Then the text says, God wills that all kinds of men be saved of every people and nation, of every position and class. For example, it refers to people not only from among the Jews but also from among the heathen, for one God rules over all nations together, and between God and all those nations only one Mediator mediated, who is not a Jew, not a Greek, no, but the man Christ Jesus.
Does not that make especially good sense? Paul lived in a time when every nation thought to have its own god and there were, therefore, as many gods as there were nations; accordingly, every nation sought its own redeemer. To some extent this false notion was shared by the Jews, who regarded Jehovah as their special God. Accordingly, they sought the right of the Redeemer in this: not that he became a man, but that he became a Jew. Subsequently, they held that, according to God's will, salvation was arranged only for the Jew, or for those who first became Jews.
The Holy Spirit opposes this false, foolish presentation, testifying, "No, not in that way, but salvation according to the decree of God's counsel goes forth to all nations, because every soul belongs to the one humanity. Accordingly, salvation goes out to Jew and Gentile, because there are not many gods, but there is only one living God for all the nations. There is, likewise, not a savior for each nation but only one Mediator between God and all nations. And Christ is the mediator, not because he is a Jew, but because he became a man."
If one asks for proof that Paul in this passage had actually thought about this antithesis between "the Jew and the nations," then take a look at verse 7, which immediately follows: "Whereunto I am ordained . . . a teacher of the Gentiles." (Compare this with II Tim. 1:15, II Tim. 4:17, and Titus 2:14.) Finally, if one wants to know if the interpretation that apparently fits the fifth and seventh verses perfectly also agrees thoroughly with the first three verses of this chapter, then one can do no better than to first reread these verses in his own Bible.
There we read, "I exhort, therefore, that for all things (here, again, this does not mean for all things possible, but only for all the other things that I, Paul, am going to tell you about in this letter)[2], 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 Savior, who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth."
The "all men" of the conclusion clearly refers to the "all men" of the beginning. Prayers should be made for all men, and this can and may and should be done, because the prayer must rest upon God's promise, and the promise rests firmly in the decree, and that decree comprehends all men.
This is clear, is it not?
Our praying does not accomplish anything by itself, but praying on the basis of the promise does. These promises do not float about in the sky but proceed from God's eternal decrees and are themselves the revelation, announcement, and declaration of those degrees.
Therefore, we can only pray for "all men" with the expectation of being heard if we know that there is a promise for "all men," and if we know that this promise rests upon the decree of God's counsel, which comprises "all men."
If people want to know what that "all men" in the intercessory prayer means, then verse two gives a clear and decisive answer. For there the text speaks not of the sovereign ruler of but one people, but of all heads of state, sovereigns, and governors, irrespective of whether they hold the title of king or shah or mogul. A protest is made, therefore, against a narrow-minded nationalism, a protest against praying only for one's own people, for the king of one's own country and one's own head of state as if we did not belong to humanity, and as if we have no cords binding us to the whole race. Far from it!
Paul says, "We are to pray and give thanks for all peoples among men and specifically for the heads of state of these peoples, whether they are called kings or chief magistrates, and not just for our own little part of the globe; for the Lord God wants it that way. He wills that not a few nations, but that every people among mankind be saved. For all nations have but one and the same God, and between that God and every people among mankind there is but one mediator, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself for all nations, whereunto I am appointed a preacher and an apostle. Oh, carefully consider this, because I speak the truth in Christ; I lie not. I am a preacher unto the Gentiles."
For the third proof, let me call attention to the fact that the conception I repudiate is rejected by the whole doctrinal viewpoint of the pastoral epistles. In these letters to Timothy and Titus, the Holy Spirit very explicitly reveals to us the great and glorious fact that Christ Jesus gave himself for us in order to purify unto himself his own people (Titus 2:14). It is revealed that this redemption was accomplished by virtue of the eternal decree of God's counsel; according to his own purpose and grace, given us in Christ Jesus before the world began (II Tim. 1:9). It is revealed that those who are therein decreed, are decreed according to election: "Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes" (II Tim. 2:10) and "according to the faith of God's elect" (Titus 1:1).
In addition, we are told that this election takes place not according to works, but according to God's will and mercy: "not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace" (II Tim. 1:9), and "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy..." (Titus 3:5).
It is revealed that some are appointed in a great house as vessels of honor and others as vessels of dishonor: "But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour" (II Tim. 2:20), which figure indicates not a higher or lower service in God's kingdom but becoming holy or remaining unholy: "If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use..." (II Tim. 2:21).
Who the elect are, the Lord knows: "Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity" (II Tim. 2:19).
And these are not all individuals: "For some are already turned aside after Satan" (I Tim. 5:15).
But the elect surely are people from every nation, because included within the great mystery of godliness is the fact that "God was manifest in the flesh, ...preached unto the Gentiles..." (I Tim. 3:16).
And finally, those who are of Christ have a security of which they cannot be deprived, for God preserves it for them: "For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day" (II Tim. 1:12).
The whole doctrinal presentation of II Timothy is, therefore, directly at variance with the notion of a grace that is dependent upon everybody's will and work. I believe that it completely confirms the interpretation of I Timothy 2:4, which I have defended. According to that interpretation, the statement "Who will have all men to be saved" can mean only this: The right to become a partaker of salvation is true according to the decree of God's counsel, not because you are a Jew or a Greek, but because you are a human being. That fact is emphatically and repeatedly placed on the foreground in these letters. God's mercy does not reckon with our prejudices and narrow-mindedness and has no regard for rank, social position, and national origin, but considers each individual only as a person. Accordingly, in regard to every nation among men, his mercy is only concerned with our human essence as such.
Therefore, people should not say that "all men" here means "all the elect among men"; nor should they present it as if it only means, "Also among the heathen there are elect." Oh no. There is a much richer, higher, and more beautiful idea expressed by it. The idea expressed is that only such wretched individuals go to hell who cease to possess human dignity or who were not restored in Christ to this human dignity. Or if you prefer, these words indicate that salvation in the decree of God's counsel did not take into account the era, nor the grandeur, nor the origin of men, but only asked whether they were human. Finally, another idea is implied: that the church of Christ is on the wrong path when she has no strength anymore to stretch out her hand in blessing over every nation, and when she concludes her service by praying only for herself and forgets her significance for the world.
Please note, in the days of our fathers this was not done. Prayers were made then every Sunday on behalf of the congregation for every nation and for all rulers of the earth.
They still do this in England.
Footnotes (click the footnote themselves to go back to that point in the issue referenced by the footnote):
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