The subtext of the entire book of Romans is the division that is occurring in the church between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. It takes a vision from heaven with God coercing Peter to be okay with entering into a Gentile household and sharing the gospel with Cornelius in Acts 10 (see also Acts 6; Gal 3:28; Eph 2:11-22).
For centuries and centuries, Jewish people were told that their people, children of Abraham, were God's chosen people. And if anyone wanted to enter into a saving relationship with Yahweh, they had to first become Jewish. Further, there was a deep animosity that ran between Jews and Gentiles in the first century. It would have been similar to the way a Southerner would have viewed a Northerner shortly after the Civil War. There was deep distrust and anger, not to mention a wide cultural distance between the two groups.
Now, after the death, burial, and resurrection of the Messiah, Jesus, it didn't matter whether you were Jewish, Greek, Scythian, or slave ( Col 3:11). All that mattered was your relationship with Jesus, and Jesus was open and available to any and all cultures, ethnicities, and tribes.
Therefore, when Paul is explaining that God desires "all people" to be saved he is not referring to all people without exception (every individual), but to all people without distinction (every kind) to be saved. Don't think that you shouldn't pray for those emperors or governors ( 1 Tim 2:2) just because they are Roman or Greek-pray for all people; God desires people from every tribe, tongue, and nation to be gathered around His throne ( Rev 5:9-10).
In Conclusion
I personally find the "all persons without distinction" argument to be more satisfactory than the "two wills of God" interpretation in 1 Timothy 2:4. I do affirm classic doctrine of the two wills of God, I just don't think that is the main point Paul is trying to make here in 1 Timothy.
Pt. 9
The subtext of the entire book of Romans is the division that is occurring in the church between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. It takes a vision from heaven with God coercing Peter to be okay with entering into a Gentile household and sharing the gospel with Cornelius in Acts 10 (see also Acts 6; Gal 3:28; Eph 2:11-22).
For centuries and centuries, Jewish people were told that their people, children of Abraham, were God's chosen people. And if anyone wanted to enter into a saving relationship with Yahweh, they had to first become Jewish. Further, there was a deep animosity that ran between Jews and Gentiles in the first century. It would have been similar to the way a Southerner would have viewed a Northerner shortly after the Civil War. There was deep distrust and anger, not to mention a wide cultural distance between the two groups.
Now, after the death, burial, and resurrection of the Messiah, Jesus, it didn't matter whether you were Jewish, Greek, Scythian, or slave ( Col 3:11). All that mattered was your relationship with Jesus, and Jesus was open and available to any and all cultures, ethnicities, and tribes.
Therefore, when Paul is explaining that God desires "all people" to be saved he is not referring to all people without exception (every individual), but to all people without distinction (every kind) to be saved. Don't think that you shouldn't pray for those emperors or governors ( 1 Tim 2:2) just because they are Roman or Greek-pray for all people; God desires people from every tribe, tongue, and nation to be gathered around His throne ( Rev 5:9-10).
In Conclusion
I personally find the "all persons without distinction" argument to be more satisfactory than the "two wills of God" interpretation in 1 Timothy 2:4. I do affirm classic doctrine of the two wills of God, I just don't think that is the main point Paul is trying to make here in 1 Timothy.
See Pt.. 10
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