Uploaded October 2024 | Updated September 2026, 11 hours ago
1Timothy 2:3-4 teaches that God desires all men to be saved. Pastor Eric Douma preached a sermon on this passage that covered many important issues that have arisen from this text. The first one we discuss is what does God's "desire" and who are "all men" in this passage. Since God is called "our Savior" in this passage, Eric sees implications concerning the deity of Christ. Since clearly Christ is the Savior and not merely the means God uses, Christ is God who saves. We then discuss the idea of coming to the knowledge of the truth with which the gospel confronts people. All who hear the gospel are faced with either welcoming the truth or rejecting it. The term "desires" as used here either means God's moral will, or His eternal decree. We discuss this distinction which arises from a long standing theological debate. The Roman Catholic Erasmus taught the freedom of the will and Luther taught the bondage of the will. We explain the issues and why they are important. The much earlier Pelagius had denied original sin and was rejected by the Roman church. In response to Luther, Trent taught what is called "semi-Pelagianism" which claims that the human will is released just enough from the sin nature to choose Christ. We also discus Jacob Arminius who later taught a similar view. This discussion will continue in part two of this series.
1Timothy 2:3-4 teaches that God desires all men to be saved. Pastor Eric Douma preached a sermon on this passage that covered many important issues that have arisen from this text. The first one we discuss is what does God's "desire" and who are "all men" in this passage. Since God is called "our Savior" in this passage, Eric sees implications concerning the deity of Christ. Since clearly Christ is the Savior and not merely the means God uses, Christ is God who saves. We then discuss the idea of coming to the knowledge of the truth with which the gospel confronts people. All who hear the gospel are faced with either welcoming the truth or rejecting it. The term "desires" as used here either means God's moral will, or His eternal decree. We discuss this distinction which arises from a long standing theological debate. The Roman Catholic Erasmus taught the freedom of the will and Luther taught the bondage of the will. We explain the issues and why they are important. The much earlier Pelagius had denied original sin and was rejected by the Roman church. In response to Luther, Trent taught what is called "semi-Pelagianism" which claims that the human will is released just enough from the sin nature to choose Christ. We also discus Jacob Arminius who later taught a similar view. This discussion will continue in part two of this series.
