I Timothy 2:4
[God] desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
John Chrysostom begins his exposition of this verse by saying, “Imitate God!” If God is willing, so should we be willing—in our prayers, in our outreach, excluding no one, for no one is beyond the reach of God’s love and forgiveness.
Perhaps this ought to be our reflection on this verse, rather than debating how to intimately reconcile the sovereignty of God and the freedom of man, a thing impossible to do this side of eternity.
Prosper of Aquitaine, a disciple of Augustine, reflecting on this verse, said this:
“We must most sincerely believe and profess that God wills all men to be saved. For this, indeed, is the mind of the Apostle, who most urgently commands, what is a most devout custom in all the churches, that suppliant prayers be offered to God for all men. That many of these perish is the fault of those who perish: that many are saved is the gift of Him who saves.”
