1 Timothy 2:4

“Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”

Herman Bavinck (1854-1921)

And even according to the preceptive will God does not will the salvation of every individual. History very plainly gives the lie to the idea that God wills to save every individual: the word ‘all’ in 1 Tim. 2:4 (‘who would have all men to be saved...’) is given a restricted meaning by every interpreter.

(From: “The Doctrine of God”)

John Calvin (1509-1564)

Secondly, they quote a passage from Paul in which he states that God “wills all men to be saved” [I Tim. 2:3-4]. Even though this is distinct from the above reason, it has something in common with it. I reply: first, it is clear from the context how He wills it. For Paul couples the two points: that He wills them to be saved, and to come to a recognition of the truth. If they mean that this has been fixed by God’s eternal plan so that they may receive the doctrine of salvation, what does that saying of Moses’ mean: “What nation is so glorious that God should draw nigh unto it as he does unto you?” [Deut. 4:7 p., cf. Comm.]. How did it happen that God deprived many peoples of the light of his gospel while others enjoyed it? How did it happen that the pure recognition of the doctrine of godliness never came to some, while others barely tasted some obscure rudiments of it? From this it will be easy to determine the drift of Paul’s reasoning. He had enjoined Timothy to make solemn prayers in the church for kings and rulers [I Tim. 2:1-2]. But since it seemed somewhat absurd to pour out prayers to God for an almost hopeless class of men (not only strangers all to the body of Christ, but intent upon crushing his Kingdom with all their strength), he adds, “This is acceptable to God, who wills all men to be saved” [I Tim. 2:3-4 p.]. By this, Paul surely means only that God has not closed the way unto salvation to any order of men; rather, he has so poured out his mercy that he would have none without it.

The other statements do not declare what God has determined in his secret judgment regarding all men, but they proclaim that there is ready pardon for all sinners, providing they turn back to seek it. For if they should tenaciously insist on the statement that he wills to have mercy on all [cf. Rom. 11:32], I give by way of exception what is written elsewhere: “Our God is in heaven, where he does whatever he pleases” [Ps. 115:3]. So, then, this word is to be explained as to agree with the other: “I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy, and I will pity those whom I pity” [Ex. 33:19 p.]. He who chooses those upon whom he is bound to show mercy does not bestow it upon all. But since it clearly appears that he is there concerned with classes of men, not men as individuals, away with further discussion! Yet we ought at the same time to note that Paul is not stating what God does at all times, in all places, and to all men, but leaves him free to make even kings and magistrates sharers in the heavenly doctrine, though because of their blindness they should rage against it.

(From: “Institutes of the Christian Religion”)

Christopher Ness (1621-1705)

All, in 1 Timothy 2:4, cannot be taken for every man individually, since it is not the will of God that all men in this large sense should be saved: for it His will that some men should be damned, and that very justly, for their sins and transgressions. Unto some men it wll be said, “Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire”. If God willeth all men to be saved, then all men will be saved, for He (God) doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth” (Daniel 4:35). God faileth not, He cannot be disappointed in His own will, for He worketh all things after the counsel thereof.

(From: “An Antidote against Arminianism”)

John Owen (1616-1683)

The first and chief place is, 1 Tim. ii. 4, 6, “God will have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth......Christ gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” Hence they draw this argument, Rem. Act. Synod:-“If God will have all men to be saved, then Christ died for all; but God will have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth: therefore, Christ died for all men.”

Ans. The whole strength of this argument lies in the ambiguity of the word all, which being of various significations, and to be interpreted suitably to the matter in hand and the things and persons whereof it is spoken, the whole may be granted, or several propositions denied, according as the acceptation of the word is enforced on us. That all or all men do not always comprehend all and every man that were, are, or shall be, may be made apparent by near five hundred instances from the Scripture. Taking, then, all and all men distributively, for some of all sorts, we grant the whole; taking them collectively, for all of all sorts, we deny the minor,–namely, that God will have them all to be saved. To make our denial of this appear to be an evident truth, and agreeable to the mind of the Holy Ghost in this place, two things must be considered:–1. What is that will of God here mentioned, whereby he willeth all to be saved. 2. Who are the all of whom the apostle is in this place treating.

1. The will of God is usually distinguished into his will intending and his will commanding; or rather, that word is used in reference unto God in this twofold notion,–(1.) For his purpose, what he will do; (2.) For his approbation of what we do, with his command thereof. Let now our opposers take their option in whether signification the will of God shall be here understood, or how he willeth the salvation of all.

First, If they say he doth it “voluntate signi,” with his will commanding, requiring, approving, then the sense of the words is this:–“God commandeth all men to use the means whereby they may obtain the end, or salvation, the performance whereof is acceptable to God in any or all:” and so it is the same with that of the apostle in another place, “God commandeth all men everywhere to repent.” Now, if this be the way whereby God willeth the salvation of all here mentioned, then certainly those all can possibly be no more than to whom he granteth and revealeth the means of grace; which are indeed a great many, but yet not the one hundredth part of the posterity of Adam. Besides, taking God’s willing the salvation of men in this sense, we deny the sequel of the first proposition,–namely, that Christ died for as many as God thus willeth should be saved. The foundation of God’s command unto men to use the means granted them is not Christ’s dying for them in particular, but the connection which himself, by his decree, hath fixed between these two things, faith and salvation; the death of Christ being abundantly sufficient for the holding out of that connection unto all, there being enough in it to save all believers.

Secondly, If the will of God be taken for his efficacious will, the will of his purpose and good pleasure (as truly to me it seems exceedingly evident that that is here intended, because the will of God is made the ground and bottom of our supplications; as if in these our prayers we should say only, “Thy will be done,”–which is to have them all to be saved: now, we have a promise to receive of God “whatsoever we ask according to his will,” 1 John iii. 22, v. 14; and therefore this will of God, which is here proposed as the ground of our prayers, must needs be his effectual or rather efficacious will, which is always accomplished);–if it be, I say, thus taken, then certainly it must be fulfilled, and all those saved whom he would have saved; for whatsoever God can do and will do, that shall certainly come to pass and be effected. That God can save all (not considering his decree) none doubts; and that he will save all it is here affirmed: therefore, if these all here be all and every one, all and every one shall certainly be saved. “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die.” “Who hath resisted God’s will?” Rom. ix. 19. “He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased,” Ps. cxv. 3. “He doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth,” Dan. iv. 35. If all, then, here be to be understood of all men universally, one of these two things must of necessity follow:–either that God faileth of his purpose and intention, or else that all men universally shall be saved; which puts us upon the second thing considerable in the words, namely, who are meant by all men in this place.

2. By all men the apostle here intendeth all sorts of men indefinitely living under the gospel, or in these latter times, under the enlarged dispensation of the means of grace. That men of these times only are intended is the acknowledgment of Arminius himself, treating with Perkins about this place. The scope of the apostle, treating of the amplitude, enlargement, and extent of grace, in the outward administration thereof, under the gospel, will not suffer it to be denied. This he lays down as a foundation of our praying for all,–because the means of grace and the habitation of the church is now no longer confined to the narrow bounds of one nation, but promiscuously and indefinitely extended unto all people, tongues, and languages; and to all sorts of men amongst them, high and low, rich and poor, one with another. We say, then, that by the words all men are here intended only of all sorts of men, suitable to the purpose of the apostle, which was to show that all external difference between the sons of men is now taken away; which ex abundanti we farther confirm by these following reasons:–

First, The word all being in the Scripture most commonly used in this sense (that is, for many of all sorts), and there being nothing in the subject-matter of which it is here affirmed that should in the least measure impel to another acceptation of the word, especially for a universal collection of every individual, we hold it safe to cleave to the most usual sense and meaning of it. Thus, our Saviour is said to cure all diseases, and the Pharisees to tithe pan lacanon, Luke xi. 42.

Secondly, Paul himself plainly leadeth us to this interpretation of it; for after he hath enjoined us to pray for all, because the Lord will have all to be saved, he expressly intimates that by all men he understandeth men of all sorts, ranks, conditions, and orders, by distributing those all into several kinds, expressly mentioning some of them, as “kings and all in authority.” Not unlike that expression we have, Jer. xxix. 1, 2, “Nebuchadnezzar carried away all the people captive to Babylon, Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the carpenters, and the smiths;” where all the people is interpreted to be some of all sorts, by a distribution of them into the several orders, classes, and conditions whereof they were. No otherwise doth the apostle interpret the all men by him mentioned, in giving us the names of some of those orders and conditions whom he intendeth. “Pray for all men,” saith he; that is, all sorts of men, as magistrates, all that are in authority, the time being now come wherein, without such distinctions as formerly have been observed, the Lord will save some of all sorts and nations.

Thirdly, We are bound to pray for all whom God would have to be saved. Now, we ought not to pray for all and every one, as knowing that some are reprobates and sin unto death; concerning whom we have an express caution not to pray for them.

Fourthly, All shall be saved whom God will have to be saved; this we dare not deny, for “who hath resisted his will?” Seeing, then, it is most certain that all shall not be saved (for some shall stand on the left hand), it cannot be that the universality of men should be intended in this place.

Fifthly, God would have no more to be “saved” than he would have “come to the knowledge of the truth.” These two things are of equal latitude, and conjoined in the text. But it is not the will of the Lord that all and every one, in all ages, should come to the knowledge of the truth. Of old, “he showed his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them,” Ps. cxlvii. 19, 20. If he would have had them all come to the knowledge of the truth, why did he show his word to some and not to others, without which they could not attain thereunto? “He suffered all nations” in former ages “to walk in their own ways,” Acts xiv. 16, and “winked at the time of this ignorance,” Acts xvii. 30, hiding the mystery of salvation from those former ages, Col. i. 26, continuing the same dispensation even until this day is respect of some; and that because “so it seemeth good in his sight,” Matt. xi. 25, 26. It is, then, evident that God doth not will that all and every one in the world, of all ages and times, should come to the knowledge of the truth, but only all sorts of men without difference; and, therefore, they only are here intended.

These, and the like reasons, which compel us to understand by all men, verse 4, whom God would have to be saved, men of all sorts, do also prevail for the same acceptation of the word all, verse 6, where Christ is said to give himself “a ransom for all;” whereunto you may also add all those whereby we before declared that it was of absolute necessity and just equity that all they for whom a ransom was paid should have a part and portion in that ransom, and, if that be accepted as sufficient, be set at liberty. Paying and accepting of a ransom intimate a commutation and setting free of all them for whom the ransom is paid and accepted. By all, then, can none be understood but the redeemed, ransomed ones of Jesus Christ,–such as, for him and by virtue of the price of his blood, are vindicated unto the glorious liberty of the children of God; which, as some of all sorts are expressly said to be, Rev. v. 9 (which place is interpretative of this), so that all in the world universally are so is confessedly false.

Having thus made evident the meaning of the words, our answer to the objection (whose strength is a mere fallacy, from the ambiguous sense of the word all) is easy and facile. For if by all men, you mean the all in the text, that is, all sorts of men, we grant the whole,–namely, that Christ died for all; but if by all men, you mean all universally, we absolutely deny the minor, or assumption, having sufficiently proved that there is no such all in the text.

(From: “Works”)

Arthur W. Pink (1886-1952)

Again, we are asked, if God has “ordained” only certain ones unto eternal life, then why do we read that He “will have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4)? The reply is, that the words “all” and “all men”, like the term “world,” are often used in a general and relative sense. Let the reader carefully examine the following passages: Mark 1:5; John 6:45; 8:2; Acts 21:28; 22:15; 2 Cor. 3:2 etc., and he will find full proof of our assertion. 1 Tim. 2:4 cannot teach that God wills the salvation of all mankind, or otherwise all mankind would be saved–“What His soul desireth even that He doeth” (Job 23:13)!

(From: “The Sovereignty of God”)

George Smeaton (1814-1889)

When the apostle directs Christians to pray for all men, the allusion is to be understood as pointing out ranks, conditions, and classes of men. This is evident, partly because they did not know all men numerically; partly because, among men in the wide sense, there are some for whom we are not to pray, viz. those who have sinned unto death (1 John v. 16). That the allusion is not to all men numerically, may be proved, too, from the announcement that God will have all men to be saved (ver. 14 [should be 4]), which refers to ranks and conditions, not to individuals; for God’s will would be effectual on all men, if the other meaning were intended.

(From: “The Doctrine of the Atonement, as Taught by the Apostles”)

James H. Thornwell (1812-1862)

It is difficult to conceive how this passage can be supposed to prove a purpose of universal salvation. It expresses simply the inseparable connection between salvation and the knowledge of the truth, together with the solemn fact that God enjoins it upon all to receive the truth. It is manifestly God’s preceptive will as revealed in the offers and invitations of the Gospel which is here meant; there is not a syllable about any purpose or decree to save all men. Notice the expression: it is, “who will have;” it expresses what God is willing or commands that men should do, not what he intends to do Himself. If the latter had been the meaning, the passage would be, “who will save all men,” not “who will have all men to be saved.” The simple distinction of the will of God into preceptive and decretive divests this passage of all its difficulty.

(From: “Collected Writings”)