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All Men
1 Timothy 2:1-7
In the first chapter of First Timothy, Paul is concerned about sound doctrine.
He describes for Timothy, and for us, the damaging results when faith in
revealed truth is replaced by speculation -- and when dissension is substituted
for love. What should Timothy do in such a situation? He cannot remain silent in
the face of heresy; he cannot compromise with it, but he is to stay at his post
and fight the good fight of faith.
If chapter one is concerned primarily with sound doctrine, chapter two is
concerned with worship, both public and private, and with instructions for both
males and females. In your study of these verses, notice the emphasis on "all
men," in 1 Tim. 2:1-7.
Pray "for all men," (1,2). God desires "all men" to be saved (3,4). Jesus gave
Himself a ransom "for all," (5,6). And, Paul was called and appointed an
apostle, to preach the gospel to all men (7). There is a clear emphasis here
having to do with "all men," and I believe we need to let the text speak to us
about what this means. Let's consider these four points:
Prayer for all men. "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications,
prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and
all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all
godliness and reverence." In the New King James -- there are four things here:
supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks. Supplications are
simply requests, where we ask for something to be supplied. Prayers would be the
generic word for our communication with the Father, through Jesus our Mediator.
Intercessions are specific; we enter into the Father's presence for another --
we ask God to heal others, to help others, or to comfort and care for some
specific individual. The giving of thanks is a phrase that explains itself --
this is the kind of praying where we express our gratitude to God for blessings
received. So we have here this cluster of words and phrases, and they have to do
with our communication with God.
But notice: "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers,
intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men." We all understand, as
Christians, we are privileged to approach the Father regarding our own needs and
concerns; and we all know, we not only can but must pray for our brothers and
sisters in the Lord. But this says, "for all men."
This immediately rebukes the narrow parochialism we may be tempted to adopt, in
our thinking and praying. We pray for and about ourselves and our families. We
mention others, with whom we enjoy fellowship. But we may neglect this; we may
fail to offer supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings for all
men! Are we doing this?
There's more. Paul gives direction that prayers be made "for kings and all who
are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness
and reverence." At the time Paul wrote this, There was not a Christian ruler
anywhere in the world! When Paul told Timothy this the reigning emperor was a
Roman dictator, a man whose vanity, cruelty and hostility toward believers is
widely known and documented!
Eventually, there was systematic persecution of Christians, promoted by Nero and
others like him. In fact we can say this: It was extremely difficult for the
Lord's people to lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence,
with men like Nero leading the government! Paul said, pray "for kings and all
who are in authority."
Let's think about this: when you pray for kings and rulers, what will you ask?
Do you ask God to make them rich and powerful, and grant them a successful
political career? Do you ask God to help these evil men carry out their personal
agenda or political platform? I don't think so!
You ask God to providentially deal with these men according to His will, in
order that we might "lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and
reverence," and that may involve God taking men out of power! I would suspect
that there are Christians in third world nations today, living under such
systematic persecution and injustice, that they pray for the removal of their
current leaders.
So, when we comply with 1 Timothy 2:2, we are not asking God to help a man carry
out his agenda; we are asking God to do what He sees fit to do -- with rulers --
so that we "may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence."
We should pray for "all men," even kings and rulers who may be evil, and our
prayer for the rulers is not about their career or agenda. The object is that we
"may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence." Next ...
God desires "all men" to be saved. "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." Once again, I want to take this opportunity to caution us. We are
concerned about our own spiritual welfare, and that concern is legitimate. We
love our families, and want all our loved ones to serve the Lord. I trust -- we
are concerned about one another. But we should be reminded that God "desires all
men to be saved." God loves the whole world, desires all people to be saved, and
that truth should influence our thinking, our praying and our evangelism!
Back then there were very narrow, nationalistic Jews who believed themselves to
be God's privileged favorites (some apparently forgot God's original promise to
bless all earth's families through Abraham's seed!) Back then there were
Gnostics, who adopted a very narrow concept of fellowship with the elite.
Today, there may be similar attitudes. Racism, nationalism, parochialism,
partyism -- together with all the pride and prejudice these narrow attitudes can
generate. We need to be on guard against these attitudes; they can plunge us, as
a people, into ruin and destruction. God wants us to imitate Christ, not the
Pharisees!
The truth is that God loves the whole world, desires all people to be saved --
and if we believe this, we will preach the gospel to everybody; we will pray for
all men, and we will study to avoid the narrow, exclusive elitism and snobbery
that Jesus so strongly denounced in the Pharisees. Then...
Jesus Gave Himself A Ransom "for all." "For there is one God and one Mediator
between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to
be testified in due time." The apostle moves from the one God, who desires all
people to be saved, to the one mediator between God and man -- who gave Himself
as a ransom for all people!
God desires that all people be saved -- but there is only one way to be saved!
In this age of tolerance, multi-culturalism and ecumenical attitudes, it is
extremely unacceptable, unpopular, and even dangerous in some circles, to say
what I just wrote: There is only one way to be saved! A view is gaining ground
in our society, sometimes called pluralism. Pluralism tolerates and even
applauds all the different religions. Contemporary pluralism affirms that the
Jewish religion, the Hindu, the Muslim, New Age, Catholicism, Protestant
Denominations, Evangelical Groups, Cults: all are valued equally; all have their
own truth, and all approach God in their own tradition, and all are saved
through their own doctrine. This is the religiously correct view. It isn't
biblically correct!
Paul says God desires all people to be saved; but there is only one way to be
saved, and that's through Jesus, who is the only mediator; the only "go-between"
capable of making us fit to be God's children! Jesus has no serious competitors,
and no successors. His unique qualifications as mediator are to be found in his
person and work -- in who He is and what He has done.
He gave Himself as a ransom for all. Nobody else did this! In His birth -- Deity
became flesh. In His life -- a man lived perfectly. In His death -- He gave
Himself a ransom for all. In His resurrection and exaltation -- God accepted Him
at His own right hand. There is no other! No-one else possesses or has ever
possessed -- the necessary qualifications to mediate between God and sinners!
Jesus died for all men -- He died for "our sins," and John adds, "not for ours
only but also for the whole world," (1 Jno. 2:2). Finally ...
Paul was called to preach to All Men; Jews, Gentiles... all men. Consider now
verse 7, "for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle; I am speaking the
truth in Christ and not lying; a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth."
Paul obeyed the gospel, and was appointed to be a herald or a preacher -- an
apostle of Jesus Christ. He was an eyewitness of the resurrected Christ. He
proclaimed a message he received directly from Jesus Christ; he said, in
Galatians 1, "it came [to me] through the revelation of Jesus Christ."
It was Paul's task to proclaim and teach and defend the gospel message, which
was about Jesus Christ, the ransom and mediator. Paul took this message not only
to the Jews, but also to the Gentiles; all people of all nations, regardless of
ethnic or racial origin. Paul's attitude was that this message, the good news,
must be made known to all men.
Though Paul had been a Pharisee, his heart was changed by Christ! So, he did not
surrender to the narrow, arrogant, or elitist approach. His concern and love
enjoyed the same scope as God's concern and love! God loves all men, and desires
that all might be saved. Paul's love enjoyed that same scope -- so he preached
to all men.
What does this mean to us today? Obviously and evidently, we should pray for all
men, including kings and rulers. Our desire should match God's desire -- that
all people might obey the gospel and be saved. In both our prayers and desires
we must maintain the conviction that Jesus gave Himself a "ransom for all," and
that He is the only mediator between man and God. If we believe these things we
will do all we can to take the gospel to all men!
Also, this passage challenges us to consider and perhaps re-consider our
thinking, our attitude toward all men. Christians believe in the dignity and
worth of human life. Because of what we know of creation and redemption, we
believe in the dignity and worth of human life. Therefore, we should find it
almost natural to pray for all men, that they might come to the knowledge of the
truth. When we become so exclusive and smug that we devalue the human race --
refuse to pray for all men or preach the gospel to all men -- we are thinking
and acting contrary to the will of our Father!
And when human beings are devalued, everything turns sour. Women are humiliated
and children despised. The sick are regarded as a nuisance, and the elderly as a
burden. Ethnic minorities are abused and suffer injustice. And unbelievers are
left to live and die in their lost condition. Perhaps this is one reason why
Peter said, in 1 Pet. 2:17, "Honor all people."
There is an urgent need for each of us to consider or re-consider our attitudes
toward all men, and there is this conviction that should motivate every
Christian, that God loves all men, and desires that all men be saved.
By Warren E. Berkley
From Expository Files 4.8; August 1997
