I exhort therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings be made for all men;
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
for kings and all that are in dignity, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all piety and gravity;
Verse 1 commands prayer for everyone, including kings. This verse gives the reason, and it raises a question: why pray for rulers we cannot choose or control?
The prayer asks God to so control rulers that His own people are left space to live. One writer links this to an older instruction. God's exiles in Babylon had to pray for the city that held them captive:
We are to ask God to use His sovereign goodness over the rulers of this world. Then His people may lead "a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way". This world is hostile, and God's mind is that His people pass through it quietly. They are not to push themselves forward as if they were citizens of this world. They stay calm and keep out of the world's disputes. Long ago the prophet Jeremiah sent a letter to God's people who were captives in Babylon. He urged them to pray to the Lord for the peace of the city that held them prisoner. The prophet said, "in its welfare you will find your welfare" (Jeremiah 29:7). In the same spirit we are to seek the peace of the world, in order that God's people may have peace.
When Paul wrote, a man who had murdered his own mother and wife sat on the throne. A ruler does not have to deserve our prayers first:
Whether in our judgment rulers are good or bad, our privilege is to pray for all alike. In fact, in the early days of the church, Nero was on the throne. He was the cruellest and most lustful of the Roman Emperors. He murdered his own mother and his own wife, and he persecuted Christians.
Bad government, then, is not a reason to fall silent but a reason to pray harder:
Some believers live in countries where those in authority misuse their power. That is even more reason to pray that they will use their authority responsibly.
Writers see two things here: obeying rulers and praying for them, not campaigning against them. The prayer also reaches past our own borders:
God has placed the Christian under his rulers. So it is unchristian to make trouble for them, to join a campaign against them, or to rebel against their authority. That is resisting what God has set up (Romans 13:2). It is the Christian's duty and privilege to pray for them. Not for the rulers of one land only, but for all who are in authority (1 Timothy 2), so that God's people in every land may be left in peace to live as Christians.
Standing back from political life does not leave the Christian powerless:
Christians may choose to stay out of politics, yet their prayers are powerful, because heaven takes account of them.
We do not pray for peace just for our own comfort. We pray for it because believers grow best in settled times, though hardship has its own use:
Our prayers for those in authority have a lot to do with ourselves. We pray so that we may be allowed to live godly lives in quietness and calm. God can use times of persecution to build courage and endurance in His people. Even so, it is in times of quiet and rest that they are most often built up and made strong, as Acts 9:31 records.
The ESV reads "godly and dignified in every way". Older translations use "honesty" or "gravity" for the second word. It means a serious manner. The two words face in two directions, and neither can cover for the other:
Outbreaks of persecution pass, and God's people are left to live in peace, godly and serious. Nothing makes up for a failure in godliness before God and in serious conduct before other people.
The first of those words carries the weight of the whole letter:
Godliness is confidence in the living God we know. It leads the believer to walk in holy fear of God through every circumstance of life. It recognises and honours God. So it is the very opposite of putting on a show of holiness to lift up self.
- Ask — Prayer for kings is a duty and a privilege, and it covers rulers of every land, not only our own.
- Anyone — Nero was on the throne when this was written; a ruler's cruelty is a reason to pray more, not less.
- Aim — We ask God to control rulers so that His people are left undisturbed. Jeremiah told the exiles the same thing: seek the city's peace and you share in it.
- Absence — We do not ask for power or protest. Commentators see the believer stepping back from politics while their prayers still count in heaven.
- Attitude — The peace we pray for has a purpose: godliness before God and seriousness before people. Quiet seasons are where believers grow most.
for this is good and acceptable before our Saviour God,
Paul has just told Timothy to pray for everyone, including kings and officials, and now he gives the reason: such prayer pleases God. Much rests on the title Paul gives God here, and on what makes prayer good in His sight.
The word "this" reaches back to the praying of the first two verses. One writer calls such prayer an offering that pleases God, and ties this to the name "Saviour".
Being "good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour" implies that such prayer is a spoken offering to God, and He is pleased with it. He is the eternal God, yet His very character is that of "Saviour". This was shown in the person of Christ. Prayer of this kind fits His own gracious desire that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. To be saved comes first, yet it does not end there. The knowledge of the truth also matters greatly. So our prayers for others are not to be limited to requests for salvation. We should also ask that they learn the precious truth of God.
Commentators note that verses 1–4 give two reasons for praying so widely, and this verse opens the second.
Then a second reason is given for the prayers of God's people on behalf of all men. To pray for all men is "good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved." We are to pray, not only in view of the good of all saints, but also in view of the blessing of all men.
Paul's name for God here is rare, and it tells us how God stands towards the world.
The expression "God our Saviour" is found only in the First Letter to Timothy and the Letter to Titus. It shows that God's character towards the world is that of a Saviour through the work of His Son. His grace, bringing salvation, has appeared to all men. That is a different thing from what was true under the law. All men are now the objects of God's dealing in grace… We learn from this the meaning of "God our Saviour"; it expresses His love towards the world.
The title also cuts across how many people picture God.
It is a marvel that He should Himself seek to save rebels against His own majesty… He was under no obligation to save any of His rebellious creatures. He might have declared Himself "God our Judge" to men, as He did to angels… To some, "God our Saviour" is not as familiar a thought as "Jesus our Saviour." The popular idea is a severe God and a gracious Jesus.
The next verse says God desires all to be saved. One writer draws a careful line about what that tells us.
"For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who desires that all men should be saved" — speaking now of His gracious willingness. Not His counsels but His nature rises before us. We must be blind if we fail to see a great point in these letters: the good and loving nature of God, which would have us look at all men without exception. How far the counsels of God work, how far His grace does its effective work — that is another question. But nothing alters God's nature.
Since such prayer pleases God, prayer that shrinks to one nation says something false about Him.
Obeying this command of God's Word will keep Christians from praying as narrow nationalists, as though God were the God of one nation only, or of one nation and its allies. In former days God declared Himself the God of Israel for His own purposes. Then it was right for Israel to pray that way. It is entirely wrong now… If we are to pray with understanding, in a way God accepts, we must pray according to this revelation of Himself. Otherwise we give a false picture of His character, and that would be a serious thing for those who belong to His household to do.
Praying for rulers is one thing when rulers are decent; the verse leaves no such limit.
The world may at times persecute God's people… Unless we judge ourselves, such treatment would stir up the flesh in resentment and revenge. Here we learn that it is "good and acceptable in the sight of God" to act and feel towards all men as God Himself does, in love and grace. So we are to pray for "all men", not only for those who govern well, but also for those who mistreat God's people (Luke 6:28). We are to pray, not that judgment may overtake those who persecute God's people, but that in sovereign grace they may be saved.
- Character — "God our Saviour" is a rare title. It tells us God faces the world as a Saviour, not as a Judge.
- Nature — His desire that all be saved shows what He is like. Writers set this gracious willingness apart from His hidden counsels.
- Reach — His heart goes out to all, so our prayers must go out to all — not one nation, not one side, not only those who treat us well.
- Pleasure — Such prayer is an offering God receives with pleasure. It asks not only for salvation, but that people come to know the truth.
- Mirror — Wide prayer mirrors His character. Narrow prayer misrepresents Him before the world.
who desires that all men should be saved and come to [the] knowledge of [the] truth.
The verse gives the reason behind the call to pray for all people: it tells us what God Himself wants. Two questions follow. What does "desires" mean here, when not all are saved? And why does the verse join salvation to knowing the truth?
The verse just before calls God "our Saviour." That title marks a change from the way God was known before:
The law by which God governed Israel tended to give Him the appearance of a national god who cared only for the chosen people. The great moral experiment was for man to learn what he is. After it, the gospel of His grace makes plain that God is now displaying Christ for what He is Himself. And He is God our Saviour.
The same writer reads the title as a statement about God's nature, not about His hidden plans:
"For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who desires that all men should be saved" — speaking now of His gracious willingness. Not His counsels but His nature rises before us. We must be blind if we fail to see a great point in these letters. It is the good and loving nature of God, which would have us look at all men without exception.
Older versions render "desires" here as "will." The original word is softer than a decree:
The word here translated "will" — "who will have all men to be saved" — means desire, wish, in the original. It does not mean determination or decree. If it did, no one could escape being saved. It is a different word from the one used in verse 8, which carries more the force of prescribe, or decree.
So how does election fit with a desire this wide? One writer sets the two truths side by side:
This is where election comes in. It does not limit the provision. It does not restrict in any way the grace that invites and welcomes all. It secures the blessing of those who would otherwise refuse and forfeit it, as the rest do. The grace to all is not narrowed by the "grace upon grace" to many… The salvation of men is from God; the damnation of men is from themselves.
One writer uses the same verse to rule out any idea that God marks people out in advance for ruin:
Another error has caused difficulty over election. Some hold that, since some are ordained to eternal life, God has also fore-ordained others to destruction. This idea is called "reprobation." But Scripture does not teach it. God desires that all men should be saved, 1 Timothy 2:4, and His election to life ensures that some will be.
If God desires this much, why is anyone lost?
He is both able and willing to save the vilest, but not without acknowledgment of truth. Therefore He commands all men everywhere to repent and believe the gospel… If men are lost, it is through their own will opposing the truth. It is not God's will. He desires their salvation. He gave His Son. He has now sent His own Spirit from heaven, so that the good news may be declared to them in the power of God our Saviour.
The verse does not stop at rescue. That second desire shapes what we ask for others:
To be saved comes first, yet it does not end here. The knowledge of the truth also matters greatly. So our prayers for others should not be limited to requests for salvation. We should pray that they learn the precious truth of God.
Many stop at the first half, and one writer counts that a real loss:
People must first be saved, and know it. Only then is the heart free to receive "the knowledge of the truth." While the conscience is unsettled, the soul is in no right condition to grow in that knowledge. And yet how many, sadly, rest satisfied with salvation. That is what their hearts had been set on — safety for themselves — without wanting to enter into God's wish for them — that they might come to the knowledge of the truth.
Because the verse states what God wants, it also corrects the range of our praying:
Obeying this exhortation of God's Word will keep Christians from praying with a narrow nationalism. They will not pray as though God were the God of one nation only, or of one nation and its allies… To pray with understanding, in a way acceptable to God, we must pray according to this revelation of Himself. Otherwise we misrepresent His character.
- Character — the verse shows God's nature, not His hidden plans. He is "God our Saviour," not the God of one nation only.
- Desire — the word translated "will" means wish, not decree. If it were a decree, no one could fail to be saved.
- Reach — "all men" means all men, not only the elect. Election secures some without narrowing the grace offered to all.
- Responsibility — salvation comes from God; ruin comes from man. People are lost through their own will opposing the truth.
- Result — God's desire runs past rescue into teaching. So pray for others that they be saved, and that they learn the truth.