A curious passage is found in 1st Timothy 4 where the Apostle Paul states, “For therefore we labor and suffer reproach because we trust in the living God who is the Savior of all men, especially of those that believe.” Really? The Savior of all men does sound inclusive, does it not? But, then, he adds, “especially of those that believe.” Is he saying that Christ is the Savior of all in one sense and, then, in another, Savior of those who believe? How can this be? It appears to relate to two levels, or aspects, of reconciliation. Christ is the Savior of all in that He reconciled the entire world through His death, in accord with 2nd Corinthians 5:19. This was the corporate reconciliation that overcame the alienation brought on by the transgression of Adam. Adam’s sin was corporate in that, as the federal head of humanity, he plunged all of creation into ruin, resulting in death for all humanity…still taking its toll today.
But, Christ’s obedience and righteousness was corporate also and resulted in reconciling the world to God. In this corporate sense, Christ is spoken of as the Savior of the world. As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive, is the way 1st Corinthians 15 puts it. And the “all who are made alive in Christ” cannot be made to be a different “all” from those who died in Adam. They are the same “all” in both cases. Thus, Christ reconciled all of humanity to the same degree that Adam’s sin separated humanity. God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself.
Yet, and beyond that, Christ is especially the Savior of men who have, by faith, placed their trust in Him with an act of their will. That which makes individual, personal salvation possible is the fact that Christ died for every person who has ever lived. This gives us a Gospel, or Good News, to believe and appropriate. Because did die for all, He made access to God available to all. This enables us to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ who died for us, and we will, then, be saved personally and individually.
So, what are we going to do about that? We can deny and dismiss the entire matter and forfeit the forgiveness that God has promised to all who trust in His Son, choosing, rather, to remain separated from God and His grace for all eternity. Or, we can accept the record God has given of His Son’s sacrificial death for our sins and, in an act of our will, trust Christ as our personal Savior. He is the only One ever called “Savior”, you know. We, then, personalize Christ’s death on our behalf.
The corporate reconciliation makes possible the personal and individual salvation. It is not merely an opportunity to trust in the Savior, it is as well our responsibility to do so. You can do so right now because you are in charge of your own will. We pray you in Christ’s stead, be you reconciled to God.
CC 10-03
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