1 Timothy 2:4

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.