Sovereignty of God in Salvation (Part 3)

 

1 Timothy 2:3-4 ESV

(3)  This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,

(4)  who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

In this post, we will continue to examine 1 Timothy 2:3-4. Christians are divided as to how to understand its meaning when applied to the work of God in Salvation. Those (sometimes called Provisionists) see it as saying God's purpose in Salvation is to save every individual and God's saving grace is given to all (Provisional grace is provided for all) who will receive it. Others (sometimes called Calvinists) view God's Salvation as a Sovereign decree to a certain number of fallen sinners called the elect. Whereas God's saving grace (Effectual grace) is given to an elect number chosen before the foundation of the world to bring them to Christ. The non-elect are not restricted from coming to Christ except by their own unbelief and rebellion. Verse 4 appears to affirm the provisional grace view over the effectual grace view. 

The Calvinist tries to understand it in a particular sense when it seems to be in the general sense. One way he does this is to see the "all people" in the verse as all of a particular group, "all of the elect" not all in general.  Some approach it differently by seeing two wills demonstrated in God, a general will that is not necessarily always achieved, and a decretive will that must come to pass by necessity.  

Provisionist have their problem with certain other Scriptures such as verses similar to what we find in Ephesians. 

Ephesians 1:4-6 ESV

(4)  even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love [notice he chose with a purpose, that we should be holy and blameless.]

(5)  he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, [notice it is not an arbitrary choice, it was with purpose according to His will]

(6)  to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

Rev 13:8  and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. 

Here it appears God's scope of Salvation is selective to a particular group chosen before the foundation of the world. Provisionists try to avoid the difficulty by asserting that the choosing before the foundation of the world is not the individual but a yet-to-be-defined group. People generally fall into the Provisionist camp because it just seems right to us that God would save everyone, or at least try. John 3:16 has also been interpreted in a way that lends to this being a popular view.  John 3:16  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." Does that not say God loves the whole world? Does whoever believes not apply to everyone? It sure sounds like it does!

But the same author who wrote Joh 3:16 also wrote Joh 6:64 three chapters later, "But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) John 6:65  And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” Chapter 6 tells us who the ones who believe in Chapter 3 are, the ones who were granted by the Father. This is in agreement with 2Ti 2:25  "In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;" which also sheds more light on 1Ti 2:4  "who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." We can see the two wills of God at work in those verses. In 1Ti 2:4 we see the general or some call it will of command where God's desire is that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, and in 2Ti 2:25 the decretive will that only those who are given repentance will actually come to the acknowledgment of the truth. 

Leighton Flowers suggests that "granting" someone something does not mean they will actually do it, you are just making it possible for them to do it. However, the context and structure of the passage will not force that interpretation. In both verses, the word translated "granted" and "given" are the same Greek word {δίδωμι}. It is the same word translated as "give" in Mat 10:1  "And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction". Did Jesus actually give {δίδωμι} them authority or did He just make authority possible?

We are limited in how much Scripture we can examine in one blog post, so let's start at the beginning and make a few stops along the way. Gen 1:1  In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. We need to think a little to grasp the depth of this short verse. We are only told in Chapters 1-3 things relevant to our understanding of man and his fall. We are told very little about the creation of the Angels and Heaven. We learn from Job 38 that the Angels and Heaven came into being sometime between verse 1 and verse 10. Job 38:4  “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. 

Job 38:5  Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? 

Job 38:6  On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, 

Job 38:7  when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?  

We see from verse 7 that the Angels were singing and shouting for joy, amazed at the succeeding events of creation. Let's stretch our minds further back before the beginning. What do we have before verse 1? We know what we do not have, no Heaven, no Earth, no Angels, no space (or void), no created being. We learn from Isa 57 we have God and eternity, "Isa 57:15  For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite."

What does all this have to do with 1 Timothy 2:3-4? It is where God's plan and purpose for man began. 1Pe 1:20  "He [Christ] was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you" [It was established in eternity and then worked out in time and space.]

Eph 1:4  "even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him." 

2Ti 1:9  "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,"  [Take notice He saved us according to his own purpose, it was done by grace which was given to us and established Christ before the world began.]

Psa 2:7  "I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Psa 2:8  Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." 

Luk 22:22  "And truly the Son of man goeth, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed!" 

Act 2:23  "Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:"

Whatever God's desire for man is, clearly from these Scripture it was determined before Creation in eternity. It is well understood that one attribute of God's being is that He is all-knowing. His knowledge spans not only the present creation but time itself. Isa 46:10  Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: 

Armed with this understanding, we can conclusively say, in the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, before the foundation of the world was ever established, God acted with full knowledge and comprehensive understanding of all creation from beginning to end. Regardless of how we want to interpret that fact, we are forced to acknowledge God created the world with full knowledge man would fall and the vast majority would be lost and condemned to everlasting punishment. We must also acknowledge it is that world He chose to create. 

This is why, how we view verses like 1 Timothy 2:(4) "who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." and understand the meaning correctly is so important. Leighton Flowers suggests when Calvinists speak of the elect, or as he likes to say, "flip the switch on" and God does not "flip the switch on" for all of them, they are saying God wants some people to be saved and He doesn't want other people to be saved. Flowers is masterful at twisting the Reformed doctrine of election into "God wants these people but God doesn't want those people saved doctrine." 

We know God created man with comprehensive knowledge of the fall, but can we say He wanted them to fall and be condemned? God forbid, may it never be! Or perhaps we can limit God's ability and say He could not create a man that would not fall? However, that cannot be true because that is exactly what He will do in the New Heaven and New Earth. We could limit his knowledge and say He didn't know what would happen. However, to say those things would be unfaithful to the character God revealed in Scripture.

It is foolish to say God did His best, but His best man failed. It is foolish to say creation went wrong and God had to send His Son to save as many as He could! By doing so, we charge God with a failure, make Christ plan B, and worship a God who did His best but could only achieve part of His plan. He wanted to save all, but could only save a few. Do you see why it is so important how we understand 1 Timothy 2:4? It determines what we say about God. 

We must let the Scriptures be our guide, Thomas Campbell once said,  "Where the Bible speaks; we speak; where the Bible is silent, we are silent".  If Paul tells us God "desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth", we must believe that's God's desire, but it must be understood in such a way it does not violate God's revelation of who He is. If Paul tells us Eph 1:4 . . . he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, and Eph 1:5 . . . "predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will", we must believe he did by the same measures. If there are two wills there we must accept that. You will ask, how can God desire all people to be saved and choose to predestinate and elect certain ones before the foundation of the world? Deu 29:29  “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. How these things work out in redemption may remain somewhat of a secret, the fact they do does not depend upon us.

For God's ultimate plan and purposes to be, it is necessary that certain things must come to pass in space and time. Mat 18:7  “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! We look at the troubles in the world and wonder how God could be in control.  Mat 24:6  And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. Mat 24:10  And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.  Mat 24:25  See, I have told you beforehand.  Matthew 24:25 declares He has told us beforehand these things must be, it is according to the Plan and Purpose of Him with whom we have to do. As you follow the pages of Scripture you begin to see the plan unfold.

Gen 1:27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 

When God made the Angels He made myriads,  Rev 5:11  Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands,  yet when God made man He made only two, "male and female he created them." If it was just men God wanted He could have created them in any number like He did the Angels. But it wasn't just men, there is a plan in place, so things must be done a certain way. There is no redemptive plan for the Angels that fell, it won't work for them for they were created in number, each being unrelated to the others. There is no headship, the sin of one angel cannot pass to another.

But with man, there were only two, Adam being the head. They were told to “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” [Gen 1:28]

Created in this fashion, Adam being the head, if he sinned, that would be passed on to his posterity. Mat 7:18  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Having once sinned, all that came from Adam would be corrupt, he could produce nothing else. But from eternity there was a plan, 1Pe 1:19  But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 1Pe 1:20  Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, What began in eternity made our redemption possible, it is a perfect redemption which accomplishes exactly what God decreed it to do. 

Rom 5:12  Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 

Rom 5:13  for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 

Rom 5:14  Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. 

Rom 5:15  But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 

Rom 5:16  And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 

Rom 5:17  For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. 

Rom 5:18  Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 

Rom 5:19  For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. That is a glorious plan, not by accident but by eternal decree.

Leighton Flowers tells a story about a Judge, in the story her son is brought before her for a crime. She loves him dearly and passionately desires him to go free and lead a normal life. However, she also desires justice and as a Judge seeing her son's guilt, must sentence him to prison. 

Flowers admits two wills are being demonstrated in this analogy. One will that her son lead a normal life, and another for justice to be served. However, he suggests it all falls apart because the Calvinist view is the Judge was the one who caused the son to commit the crime so she could punish him. That is the way Flowers views God's decree concerning Salvation. It is another twisting of Reformed doctrine to fit his narrative.

Here is where Flowers goes wrong. Job is one of the oldest recorded writings in the Bible, much can be learned from its pages. For our conversation here we will only examine one event. Satan had appeared before God to accuse Job and seek permission to test him. God grants permission and Satan precedes. Job 1:13  Now there was a day when his [Job] sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, 

Job 1:14  and there came a messenger to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, 

Job 1:15  and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”   

Our point of interest is the Sabeans, a group large enough to kill all the servants and take Job's oxen and donkeys arrived and committed murder and theft. After this and other unfortunate happens Job's response was, Job 1:20  Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 

Job 1:21  And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” 

Job 1:22  In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. 

Job, unlike Flowers, understood God's Sovereignty, Job understood nothing happens in life outside of God's decree. "The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away". Then the inspired author provides this insight, "Job 1:22  In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong." The inspired author writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit informed us Job was not wrong when he said, "the LORD has taken away". Flowers would tell us Job and the inspired writer were Calvinist and wrong.

Peter instructs the church "1Pe 3:17  For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil." That was exactly the situation we see here in Job, Peter continues in Chapter 4, "1Pe 4:12  Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you." Peter understood like Job that suffering and trials come, and they come by the will of God. Satan and evil men may be the instruments, but it all comes to pass because it is God's will. Reformed Theology suggests nothing more than what the Scripture presents to us.

We could continue with Biblical example after Biblical example demonstrating God doing exactly what Flowers says he does not do. But this post is already longer than most will want to read. A quick look at the life of Samson should suffice. God had told Israel not to take wives of other nations. That was God's will for Israel, but Samson desired a wife of the Philistines. His parents had serious concerns and tried to correct him with God's commandments. But the inspired writer states, "Jdg 14:3  But his father and mother said to him, “Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?" But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes."

Jdg 14:4  His father and mother did not know that it was from the LORD, [another will] for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel."

Flowers would say Samson could not be acting under the influence of or within the will of God, but he would be wrong again. Samson's sin was of the LORD according to the inspired writer. 

 London Baptist Confession (1689)

Paragraph 1. God hath decreed in himself, from all eternity, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely and unchangeably, all things, whatsoever comes to pass; yet so as thereby is God neither the author of sin nor hath fellowship with any therein; nor is violence offered to the will of the creature, nor yet is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established; in which appears His wisdom in disposing all things, and power and faithfulness in accomplishing His decree.  

That statement explains how we are to understand the events we looked at in Job and here in Judges. It was God's will for these events to happen in time, and they were both "of the LORD". But at the same time, God did not infuse any new evil or fresh corruption into the Sabeans or Samson to bring it about. There was no violence offered to the will of the creature, nor any liberty or causes taken away. Everyone acted upon their own free desires, meaning Samson's sin as well as the Sabean's act of murder and theft originated from their own corrupt natures, God simply being Sovereign over all His creation used their sin and corruption for his own purpose and Glory, and He established to be so from the foundation of the world. We need to abandon how we think God should be and how he should act based upon what appears reasonable to us and simply let the truth of Scripture speak. 

May God bless,

David