Does God Will That All Men Without Exception Be Saved?

God’s will is that which is beyond the will of man to control. The sovereign God is carrying out one purpose, by one plan, on one principle, to accomplish one goal. The will of God goes before all other wills. His will does not depend on the wills of others, but their wills depend on God’s will. The will of God is absolute and independent. Nothing takes place without the will of God. “And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, What hast Thou done?” (Dan. 4:35 NASB).

God’s will is the first will in any movement. Even the renewed will of the Christian depends on the will of God for guidance. The Christian’s will must be in subjection to God’s revealed will. Paul said, “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but how much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:12, 13 NASB). Since this is true of the renewed will, how much more true of the unrenewed will which is enslaved to sin and has no salvation to work out.

Objectors to Divine election use I Timothy 2:4, which says, God “…desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (NASB). They assert that if God willed all men to be saved, but by an anteceded secret will decreed to save only some, He would be inconsistent. Those who advocate the view that God selects some and leaves others make God meaner than the devil.

According to Arminianism, the will of man is balanced between right and wrong. According to this theory, the will can choose to go either way. The truth is that the sinner can choose to go only one direction—down. He must be drawn to goodness because he has no free will to good. The sinner is passive to spiritual things because he has no free will to do spiritual things. If the sinner has a free will, the doctrine of the effectual call is false. That means the sinner’s call is effectual, and he calls God when he is ready. If the sinner has a free will to either receive or reject Christ, does his receiving Him give eternal security? If it does, he loses the power to reject Christ. The promoter of free will says in substance, “Christ cannot come to the sinner until the sinner lets Him come.” To speak of cooperation between the sinner and God is like speaking of cooperation between the clay and the Potter (Rom. 9:18-24).

The text, “…God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (I Tim. 2:3, 4 NASB), is constantly used to oppose Divine election and limited redemption. Very few study the context or the overall context of Scripture to find the answer. The salvation referred to in this text does not refer to all men individually, but some from every class, nation, and order of men (I Cor. 1:18-31). If God wills the salvation of all individually, how is it that many resist His will? This denies Scripture: “…JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED. What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! For He says to Moses, I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION. So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH. So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. You will say to Me then, Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will? On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, Why did you make me like this, will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use, and another for common use. What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?” (Rom. 9:13-22 NASB).

The salvation of I Timothy 2:4 is not a possible salvation for all without exception, but it is an actual salvation for the chosen ones by God the Father. If the will of God was dependent on the will of man no one would be saved, because salvation would be of him that wills and of him that runs, which would contradict Romans 9:16—“So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy” (NASB). The favorite statement by Arminians is “free grace makes man nothing more than a puppet on a string.” That is more honorable than the Arminian making God a puppet on the string of a sinner’s free will.

There is great emphasis in today’s religious meetings on “coming to Christ.” However, coming to Christ is not a physical act, such as “raising the hand,” “walking the isle,” “going to the mourner’s bench,” or the act of “come and stand before this platform” made popular by Billy Graham. Methods must not be exalted over the message.

Ignorance of Biblical principles is a wide open door for deception to enter. Biblical teaching is something uncommon in our generation. The gospel of Christ cannot be geared to human ability or wisdom. Paul said, “For I am the least of the apostles, who am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me” (I Cor. 15:9, 10 NASB). No one can boast within himself over the fact that he is saved while others are lost. This also applies to the ministry. Preaching has a goal, which is the conversion and edification of the elect. Human methods are not used in reaching the regenerated. They only build super goat barns.

There is a reason for the assembly at Thessalonica being called a tupon, accusative singular of tupos, which means a model or pattern (I Thess. 1:7). This is the highest praise given to an assembly. No other assembly is called a pattern or model. The reputation of this assembly was world-wide. “For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth [perfect active indicative of execheo, meaning not only has it gone forth but it is going forth permanently until its goal is accomplished], so that we have no need to say anything” (I Thess. 1:8 NASB).

It is imperative for every professing believer to consider both parts of I Timothy 2:4—“Who (God) desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (NASB). “All men” cannot refer to every individual, because there is the broad way that leads to destruction, and many enter by it (Matt. 7:13). Furthermore, there are those who go away into eternal punishment (Matt. 25:46). The second part of I Timothy 2:4 says, “…and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” The knowledge of the truth is experiential. Christ’s reaction to being rejected is found in Matthew 11:25-30. God reveals some truth to some (Deut. 29:29). He conceals truth from others (Matt. 11:25-27). Christ praised God the Father for concealing truth from some. “I praise Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and intelligent and didst reveal them to babes” (Matt. 11:25 NASB).

It was not the will of God that every individual person be saved because He did not choose every person. However, it is God’s will for every person He chose and gave to Christ to come to the knowledge of having been chosen. The way by which Paul knew the election of the Thessalonian saints must be the method by which we are to know our relationship to the Godhead. When Paul beheld the graces that he had seen in the believers, he said, “Knowing [perfect active participle of oida], brethren beloved by God, His choice of you” (I Thess. 1:4 NASB).

Paul’s reason for knowing that the Thessalonians were God’s chosen ones is given in I Thessalonians 1:5—“For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake” (NASB). Only when persons pretend to be assured of their election on any other grounds can evil arise from it. For example, if a person based his assurance on a dream, vision, strong impression of the mind, or his own decision, he should be considered a wild enthusiast and a self-deluded imposter.

The following are leading evidences of electing grace: (1) work of faith; (2) labor of love; and (3) patience of hope. Thus, the way Paul knew the election of the Thessalonians must be the method by which every Christian is to know his election. God-given faith receives God’s word, and it works effectually in the recipients: “You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit” (I Thess. 1:6 NASB). “And for this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God’s message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe” (I Thess. 2:13 NASB). Love poured out within the hearts of the elect is the fruit by which the reality of faith will be discerned (Rom. 5:5). This love is guided by principle, not by sentiment. Hope is the offspring of faith and love. It is a patient grace which leads one to expect all that God has promised. “But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it” (Rom. 8:25).