Can 1 Timothy 2:4 Prove false Reformed Theology and Limited Atonement?
Most human beings who consider themselves Christians today have a major difficulty with the Calvinistic doctrine that Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was not for each and every single individual, but rather for a particular people labeled “the elect.” This teaching is well-known as “Limited Atonement” and is one of the chief teachings of Calvinism or Reformed Theology. People doubt the concept of limited atonement since they hold to the concept that Christ died for every single human being and the salvation of a specific individual is left up to the choices and abilities of that person, instead of the sovereign will of God Himself. We will examine 1 Timothy 2:4, which is one of the major scriptures used to argue against the teaching of limited atonement.
1 Timothy 2:3-4 is a common passage used to argue for the idea that Jesus Christ died for each and every human being ever to have lived. These verses state: “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” When this verse is read it seems as though God does truly desire to save every single person. The one problem is the fact that this verse is nearly always thrown out there by itself entirely out of context. Most human beings read this verse and isntantly apply a meaning to the term “all men” saying that it indicates every single human being. But is this the only meaning of the phrase? Should we not look at the context of the passage to decide what the phrase really means?
The at the beginning verse of chapter 4 of 1 Timothy reads: “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men.” If we are to be consistent with the application that the phrase “all men” means every single person, was the author then meaning that prayers shall be made for every single person? This would surely not even be a feasible task to accomplish. Is this verse instead commanding that prayers be made for “all men” in a sense of kinds or classes of men? Well, the very next verse makes the answer clear: “For kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.” Therefore, do not just pray for eachother or those who are similar, but also pray for those above you.
The “Kings and all who are in authority” were the very people persecuting the Christians during the writing of 1 Timothy, and accordingly the writer of this book was commanding that prayers be made even for those who attack them. Also, “Kings and all who are in authority” are kinds or classes of people. When we take this meaning of the phrase “all men” and apply it to the verse under discussion, it is clear that God is wanting all kinds of men to be saved, not just a special group or class of human beings. Indeed, God also desires the salvation of certain people in the area of “kings and all who are in authority,” but to say that God desires the salvation of every single individual person goes opposite to the rest of the bible.
One of the major problems with teaching “Unlimited Atonement,” or that Christ died for all people and the choice for salvation being left up to the individual, is that this places the reason of salvation on the human, rather than God. It means that there is something in men that separates a saved person from a lost one, making them in a sense “better than the others.” We have to ask ourselves what distinguishes the lost from the saved. Is it because the saved are smarter, better, or more spiritual? Of course not. The scriptures makes it clear that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and the only factor that separates those who are saved from men who are lost is one word: “Grace.”
This is only one of the many verses taken out of context to try to refute Calvinism, and it should be brought to mind that we need to examine the context of a specific verse to decide what a word or phrase truly means and how it is being used. If we remove things out of context, we can make the Bible say anything we choose. This is a terribly hazardous thing to do on account of this is how cults are formed. We also need to check how our interpretations of specific passages or verses line up with the teachings of the rest of the Bible to make sure that there are no inconsistencies.
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