Savior of All Men
QUESTION
Have you not read?
“For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe’?" (I Timothy 4:10)
Doesn’t this verse support unlimited atonement and the idea that only those who believe are ultimately saved? How do you deal with the phrase “specially of those that believe”?
ANSWER
The common implication from that passage is that “all men” means that Jesus Christ died for “all of humanity.” But is that the case? Because scripture cannot be broken (John 10:35), it is imperative that we reconcile Paul’s statement with a number of other biblical statements to arrive at the rightly divided interpretation (II Timothy 2:15, I Corinthians 2:13). To do that, let’s look at a few other scriptures:
EXAMPLE ONE: THE GOOD SHEPHERD
"I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." (John 10:26) A few verses later, the Lord makes the following statement to a group of men, "I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you." (John 10:25-26) Here we see the Lord explicitly affirming that he gives his life for "the sheep" and then subsequently identifying some men as "not of my sheep." Moreover, he completely obliterates the common erroneous teaching that someone can become a sheep, if they will just believe, by teaching precisely the opposite - namely that one must already be a sheep in order to believe. It follows that Jesus Christ DID NOT DIE for all of humanity because he died for the sheep and not all men are sheep.
EXAMPLE TWO: THE LORD SPEAKS TO MOSES
"For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So, then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy." (Romans 9:15-16) Here the apostle Paul quotes God's words to Moses (Exodus 33:19) as a means of establishing that it is God's sovereign decision to extend mercy where He so chooses, and that our salvation has nothing to do with an act of the human will or human effort. Once again, in such an arrangement it is clear that Jesus Christ did not die for all of humanity, because God never purposed to save all of humanity.
CONTEXT OF “ALL MEN”
With that we return to I Timothy 4:10 - what could be intended by the curious statement that Jesus Christ is "the Savior of all men, specially of those who believe"? From the previous examples it is evident that God did not purpose to save all men, neither did Christ covenant to give eternal life to all men (John 17:2) else they would certainly all be saved. Indeed, “none can stay his hand or say unto him what doest thou?” (Daniel 4:35) It follows that when this passage speaks of "all men" it designs the "brethren" of whom Paul speaks in his letter to Timothy, not "all of humanity." Look at the context of his statement:
"If THOU put the BRETHREN in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained. But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe." (I Timothy 4:6-10)
PAUL’S INTENT
Paul is encouraging Timothy and the brethren to believe the proper teachings of doctrine and practice which will be profitable to them in discipleship. His remarks address Timothy and the brethren, not all of humanity. The statement, "specially of those that believe" refers to the fact that while Jesus Christ saved all of the brethren from eternal damnation, yet those who abide in him and follow his teachings are saved in additional ways in their lives. Obedient disciples find that Christ is their eternal savior as well as their temporal savior from the ravaging consequences persisting in the practice of sin. All of God’s regenerate sheep are eternally saved, but looking back over their lives, they find many instances where they could have been additionally saved from the temporal consequences of sin had they actually believed and obeyed the Lord’s teaching regarding how they ought to live. Those who walk in gospel obedience to the precepts of Christ experience a greater measure of temporal salvation from the ravages of personal sin than those who are wayward and backsliding. It is in this manner that Jesus is the savior “specially of those that believe.” It is in contrast to the regenerate sheep who persist in disobedience, rendering their faith unprofitable (James 2:14-26).
FINALLY
It is critical that we reconcile bible verses with the rest of scripture (I Corinthians 2:13). We must resist the urge to simply declare what appears at first blush to be the “plain meaning” of some text with no regard for the context or other statements made in scripture. That myopic approach is very common among professing Christians today, but it leads to numerous doctrinal inconsistencies and it is for this reason that we are exhorted to “rightly divide the word of truth.” (II Timothy 2:15)
- Elder Daniel Samons