A
surface meaning of the above text seems to teach that
“ God, who is the Saviour
of all men, especially of those that believe.” If so,
this would mean Paul is
teaching salvific universalism.
How
can this be, since in other passages from Holy
Scripture one reads:
“Enter
ye in at the strait gate: for
wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth
to destruction, and many
there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the
gate, and narrow is the
way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that
find it.” (Matthew 7:14-15)
For
example, consider the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
Bible Commentary:
“Mt
7:13-29. Conclusion and Effect
of the Sermon on the Mount.”
“We
have here the application of the
whole preceding discourse.”
“Conclusion
of the Sermon on the
Mount (Mt 7:13-27). “The righteousness of the
kingdom,” so amply described,
both in principle and in detail, would be seen to
involve self-sacrifice at
every step. Multitudes would never face this. But it
must be faced, else the
consequences will be fatal. This would divide all
within the sound of these
truths into two classes: the many, who will follow the
path of ease and
self-indulgence — end where it might; and the few,
who, bent on eternal safety
above everything else, take the way that leads to
it—at whatever cost. This
gives occasion to the two opening verses of this
application.”
“13.
Enter ye in at the strait
gate—as if hardly wide enough to admit one at all.
This expresses the
difficulty of the first right step in religion,
involving, as it does, a
triumph over all our natural inclinations. Hence the
still stronger expression
in Luke (Lu 13:24), “Strive to enter in at the strait
gate.”
“for
wide is the gate—easily
entered.
and
broad is the way—easily trodden.
that
leadeth to destruction,
and—thus lured ‘many there be which go in thereat.’” (1)
According
to
the above commentary entry on Matthew, universal
salvation is refuted. So,
how should 1 Timothy 4:10 be understood?
Ellicott's
Commentary
for English Readers
sheds important light upon the
text:
“(10)
For therefore we both labour
and suffer reproach.—And for this end—to obtain this
glorious promise, this
highest blessedness here, that endless life with God
hereafter, to win this
glorious promise—we Christian missionaries and
teachers care for no toil,
however painful—shrink from no shame, however
agonising.”
“Because
we trust in the living God.
— More accurately translated, because we have our hope
in the living God. And
this is why we toil and endure shame. We know that the
promise made will be
fulfilled, because the God on whom—as on a sure
foundation—our hopes rest, is a
living God. “Living,” in strong contrast to those dumb
and lifeless idols
shrined in the well-known Ephesian temples.”
“Who
is the Saviour of all men,
specially of those that believe.—These words, like the
assertion of 1Timothy
2:4, have been often pressed into the service of that
school of kindly, but
mistaken, interpreters, who ignore, or explain away,
the plain doctrine of Holy
Scripture which tells us there are those whose
destruction from the presence of
the Lord shall be everlasting, whose portion shall be
the “second death” (2 Thessalonians
1:9; Revelation 21:8). These interpreters prefer to
substitute in place of this
terrible, but repeated declaration, their own
perilous theories of
universalism. Here the gracious words seem
to affix a seal to the
statement immediately preceding, which speaks of “the
hope in the living God”
as the source of all the labour and brave patience of
the Lord’s true servants.
The living God is also a loving God, the Saviour of
all, if they would receive
Him, and, undoubtedly, the Redeemer of those who
accept His love and are
faithful to His holy cause.” (Emphasis mine)
“It
must be borne in mind that there
were many Hebrews still in every Christian
congregation, many in every church,
who still clung with passionate zeal to the old loved
Hebrew thought, that
Messiah’s work of salvation was limited to the chosen
race. This and similar
sayings were specially meant to set aside for ever
these narrow and selfish
conceptions of the Redeemer’s will; were intended to
show these exclusive
children of Israel that Christ’s work would stretch
over a greater and a
grander platform than ever Israel could fill; were
designed to tell out to all
the churches how indeed “it was a light thing that
thou shouldest be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the
preserved of Israel.”
Still, with all these guarded considerations, which
serve to warn us from
entertaining any hopes of a universal redemption, such
a saying as this seems
to point to the blessed Atonement mystery as
performing a work whose
consequences reach far beyond the limits of human
thought, or even of sober speculation.”
(2)
Ellicott’s
comments
on this passage do not allow for universal salvation,
and 1 Timothy
4:10 is not in contradiction with passages like
Matthew 7:13.
Why
1 Timothy 4:10 does not teach universal salvation:
The
phrase “Savior of all people” has led some to suggest
the idea of universal
salvation, the belief that all humans will ultimately
be saved by God. However,
this interpretation is not universally accepted within
Christian theology.
The
key phrase here is “who is the Saviour of all men,
specially of those that
believe.” This can be understood as follows:
1.Saviour
of all
men: This statement affirms the universal aspect of
God's salvation. God
desires the salvation of all people (2 Peter 3:9), and
His saving work through
Christ is available to everyone.
2.Specially
of
those that believe: Here, Paul emphasizes that while
God offers salvation to
all, it is particularly experienced and appropriated
by those who have faith in
Jesus Christ. Believers receive the full benefits of
salvation, including
forgiveness of sins, reconciliation with God, and
eternal life.
Many
theologians argue that the phrase “Savior of all men”
should be understood in
the context of God's universal offer of salvation to
humanity through Jesus
Christ. In this view, while salvation is offered to
all, it is received through
personal faith and acceptance of Christ's sacrifice.
Furthermore,
the
latter part of the verse emphasizes that salvation is
especially for those
who believe. This aligns with other passages in the
Bible that highlight the
importance of faith in Jesus Christ for salvation
(e.g., John 3:16, Acts 4:12).
In
summary:
While
1 Timothy 4:10 may be interpreted differently by
different individuals or
theological traditions, it does not explicitly teach
universal salvation.
Rather, it underscores the universal offer of
salvation through Christ with an
emphasis on personal faith as the means of receiving
that salvation.
“Study
to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word
of truth.” (2 Timothy
2:15)
Notes:
1.Jamieson,
Fausset
and Brown, Commentary on the Whole Bible,
(Grand Rapids, Michigan, Zondervan, 1977), p. 911.
2.Charles
John
Ellicott, Bible Commentary for English Readers, 1
Timothy, Vol. 8,
(London, England, Cassell and Company), p. 198.
Mr.
Kettler, a respected author and theologian, has
previously published articles in the Chalcedon
Report and Contra
Mundum. He and his wife, Marea, are active
members of the Westminster, CO,
RPCNA Church. Mr. Kettler's extensive work includes 18
books defending the
Reformed Faith, which are available for order online
at Amazon.