That God will have all mankind be saved....
Here is a great thread on the GT board "god loves everyone" and the difference between the word "wills" and "desires".
God loves everyone?
We hear much today about evangelizing and saving the world in one generation. The preachers tell us this mission must be accomplished before Christ can return, and it must be done in this generation. We hear of glorious revival at home and abroad, of fresh missionary efforts in various directions, of great Crusades attended by tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands, of radio and television beamed by satellite to all the nations of earth, and of large sums being devoted to these endeavors: and we get the idea that adequate efforts are being made for the evangelization of the nations of the earth. It is estimated today that the world's population is over seven billion, and it is a fact that considerably more than one-half - nearly two-thirds - are still TOTALLY HEATHEN, and the remainder are mostly either followers of Mohammed or members of those great apostate Churches whose religion is practically a Christianized idolatry, and who can scarcely be said to hold or teach the Gospel of Christ.
What is, and is to be, their condition? Did God make no provision for these, whose condition and circumstances He must have foreseen? Or did He, from the foundation of the world, make a wretched and merciless provision for their hopeless, eternal torment, as many of His children claim? Can you really believe that is the plan by which the all-wise, all-merciful, loving God is working out His purpose here on earth? WHAT IS THE TRUTH?
Paul, in I Tim. 2:1-6, gives the answer! "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for ALL MEN ... for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who WILL HAVE A-L-L M-E-N TO BE SAVED, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 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."
This text is one of rare beauty. It is indeed like a precious diamond, the effulgence of whose radiance dazzles the mind. It is a drop of pure distilled essence, whose fragrance fills the rooms of the heart. It is a joy forevermore and a challenge to everyone who reads it with an understanding heart. It should be engraved upon the heart of every saint of God. There is so much depth to that text that I am afraid that we often do not even perceive it. It is like a beautiful sky of deep rich blue and one cannot even begin to grasp the vast depth above us. So it is with this passage!
King James Bible
Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Young's Literal Translation
who doth will all men to be saved, and to come to the full knowledge of the truth;
Greek and Hebrew Reader Online
4 ὃς πάντας ἀνθρώπους
θέλει σωθῆναι καὶ εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἀληθείας ἐλθεῖν.
G2309 (NKJV)
G2309 θέλω (
thelō), occurs 213 times in 201 verses
2309. thelo thel'-o or ethelo eth-el'-o, in certain tenses theleo thel-eh'-o, and etheleo eth-el-eh'-o, which are otherwise obsolete apparently strengthened from the alternate form of 138;
to determine (as an active option from subjective impulse; whereas 1014 properly denotes rather a passive acquiescence in objective considerations), i.e. choose or prefer (literally or figuratively); by implication, to wish, i.e. be inclined to (sometimes adverbially, gladly); impersonally for the future tense, to be about to; by Hebraism, to delight in:--desire, be disposed (forward), intend, list, love, mean, please, have rather, (be) will (have, -ling, - ling(-ly)).
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1 Timothy 2:4 Commentaries biblehub
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
4.
who will have] The exact rendering is that of R.V.
who willeth that all men should he saved—not the stronger word bouletai, ‘desireth,’ with a definite purpose. Chrysostom’s comment is “if He willed to save all, do thou will it also; and if thou willest, pray for it”: and Theod. Mops, in the Latin translation “evidens est quoniam omnes vult salvari, quia et omnes tuetur, quia est omnium Dominus.”
Thus
the Greek fathers accepted St Paul’s words in their prima facie sense.
The Latin fathers seek to guard their application; and St Augustine actually says “by ‘all’ understand ‘all the predestined,’ because men of all sorts are among them.” The phrase is not “willeth to save all,” which would have been very near to universalism; but there is implied “the human acceptance of offered salvation on which even God’s predestination is contingent” Alford.
be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth] Notice the order of the words; salvation is according to the N. T. usage, past, present and future.
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Bengel's Gnomen
1 Timothy 2:4. Πάντας) all, not merely a part, much less a very small part;
1 Timothy 2:3, note.—ἀνθρώπους, men) lost in themselves.—θέλει,
[‘wills’] wishes) in serious earnestness of wish: ibid.—σωθῆναι, to be saved) This is treated of, at
1 Timothy 2:5-6.—Καὶ εἰς, and unto) This is treated of, at
1 Timothy 2:6-7.—ἀληθείας) of saving truth.—ἐλθεῖν, to come) They are not forced.
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Pulpit Commentary
Verse 4. - Willeth that all men should be saved for will have all men to be saved, A.V.; come to for to come unto, A.V. All men, etc.; to show that it is in accordance with God's will to pray for "all men" (ver. 1). (For the doctrinal statement, comp. ver. 6;
Titus 2:11;
2 Peter 3:9, etc.)
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Vincent's Word Studies
Who will have all men to be saved (ὃς πάντας ἀνθρώπους θέλει σωθῆναι)
Lit, who willeth all men, etc. As who, or seeing that he, giving the ground of the previous statement. Prayer to God for all is acceptable to him, because he wills the salvation of all. Θέλει willeth, marking a determinate purpose.
Come to the knowledge of the truth (εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἀληθείας ἐλθεῖν)
The phrase only here and
2 Timothy 3:7. Ἑπίγνωσις is a favorite Pauline word. See on
Romans 3:20; see on
Colossians 1:9; see on
1 Timothy 2:4; see on
1 Timothy 4:3. It signifies advanced or full knowledge. The difference between the simple γνῶσις and the compound word is illustrated in
Romans 1:21,
Romans 1:28, and
1 Corinthians 13:12. In N.T. always of the knowledge of things ethical or divine, and never ascribed to God. For ἀλήθεια truth, see on sound doctrine,
1 Timothy 1:10. It appears 14 times in the Pastorals, and always without a defining genitive. So, often in Paul, but several times with a defining genitive, as truth of God, of Christ, of the gospel.