In writing to young Timothy, Paul, the apostle, states in 1st Timothy 2 that “God will have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.” Once again, we take “all men” to mean all of mankind. Barkley states it, “who wants all persons to be saved”, and Williams says, “God is ever willing for all mankind to be saved.” The original Greek, in which Paul wrote, does, indeed, convey the idea that it is God’s wish (desire or preference) that all be saved. This is decidedly different than God’s determining, a matter which would leave no possibility of its not being fulfilled. If God determines something, that is the way it will be, and none can thwart His determination. But, this word clearly does not convey that. It does, as others rendered it, express God’s desire (preference or wish), not His determination. And why is this important? It’s important because it places man’s volition, or his will, in the picture. God has given man a personal volition, a will, a decider, the power to make choices, good or bad, and God honors the volition He has given man by not merely overriding it. This is what makes us free moral agents rather than programmed robots. It’s also the basis of our being held accountable to our Maker, so even though God does not make us choose the right thing, thus removing our volition from us, He, nonetheless, does explain the benefits of making the right choice…in this case, believing on Christ for salvation.
The benefits consist of Christ’s righteousness being placed to our account rather than our sin, God’s forgiveness, and eternal life with Him and all other believers. So, God proved His desire for our salvation by providing a Mediator, who is also our Ransom-payer. And, He did this for the entirety of humanity. Could anything prove more convincingly that God desired all men to be saved, while at the same time respecting man’s power to choose, thus, honoring the very volition He gave to man? You can choose, and God holds each of us accountable for the choice we make. God is sovereign in His determination to make provision whereby man could be justified, or declared righteous, before Him. Man is responsible and accountable to God for the use of the free moral will and volition God gave Him.
An error that persists tells us, on the one hand, that God alone is sovereignly responsible for it all, and the other hand, that man is able, by his own efforts, to make himself presentable to God. Both are wrong. God is sovereign, and He alone initiates the provision for human salvation by providing the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. This provides man with a Gospel to preach…Christ died for our sins. Man is responsible for his positive response and acceptance of that message by exercising his trust in the work Christ accomplished. Faith is man’s answer to God’s provision. God’s sovereignty remains intact as does mans’ accountability.
CC 10-10
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