1 Timothy 2:3-4

“This is good, and pleases God our saviour, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”

As well as Paul telling us that God wants all men to be saved, Peter tells us the same thing here in 2 Peter 3:9 where he tells us that the Lord doesn’t want anyone to perish but for all men to come to repentance. But, this doesn’t mean that all men will be saved. The Bible tells us in both Matthew 25:31-46, John 12:44-50 and Hebrews 10:26-29 that there will be many people that reject Christ.

The question that is most commonly asked regarding this idea is, why God, being all powerful and omnipotent, does not make all people come to him forcefully if that is what He desires. God’s desire for all men to be saved is also coupled with his love for us, a love that means that forcing us to come to Him would be an impossibility for God as it goes against his nature. God wants us to make a genuine response to Him, not a forced response.

This also tells us that the gospel is for all people. It has a universal scope, regardless of ethnicity or gender. Nobody is outside of the limits of God’s mercy, this is one of the most wonderful truths of scripture and should serve to show us how we must pray for and treat the rest of the world.

The gospel should be given without reservation - we shouldn’t try to reserve it for those who we deem to be worthy of it but instead we should extend it to all people.

Finally the verse ends with the words “and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” - this points is to the fact that once the gospel has been relayed to the people then they must make a personal decision and acknowledgement of Christ as their Lord and saviour.

We would love to know what your thoughts are surrounding these verses, add them below or via social media.