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NASB | 1 Timothy 2:3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 Timothy 2:3 This [kind of praying] is good and acceptable and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, |
Subject: Spurgeon on Theodicy |
Bible Note: "This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:3-4 ESV) "It is quite certain that when we read that God will have all men to be saved it does not mean that He wills it with the force of a decree or a divine purpose, for, if He did, then all men would be saved. He willed to make the world, and the world was made: He does not so will the salvation of all men, for we know that all men will not be saved... "What then? Shall we try to put another meaning into the text than that which it fairly bears? I think not. You must, most of you, be acquainted with the general method in which our older Calvinistic friends deal with this text. 'All men', say they, 'that is, some men': as if the Holy Ghost could not have said 'some men' if He had meant some men. 'All men', say they; 'that is, some of all sorts of men': as if the Lord could not have said 'all sorts of men' if He had meant that. The Holy Ghost by the apostle has written 'all men', and unquestionably He means all men. "Does not the text mean that it is the wish of God that men should be saved? The word 'wish' gives as much force to the original as it really requires, and the passage should run thus -- 'whose wish it is that all men should be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth'. As it is my wish that it should be so, as it is your wish that it might be so, so it is God's wish that all men should be saved; for, assuredly, He is not less benevolent than we are. "Then comes the question, 'But if He wishes it to be so, why does He not make it so?' Beloved friend, have you never heard that a fool may ask a question which a wise man cannot answer, and, if that be so, I am sure a wise person, like yourself, can ask me a great many questions which, fool as I am, I am yet not foolish enough to try to answer. Your question is only one form of the great debate of all the ages -- 'If God be infinitely good and powerful, why does not Jis power carry out to the full all His beneficence?' It is God's wish that the oppressed should go free, yet there are many oppressed who are not free. It is God's wish that the sick should not suffer. Do you doubt it? Is it not your own wish? And yet the Lord does not work a miracle to heal every sick person. It is God's wish that His creatures should be happy. Do you deny that? He does not interpose by any miraculous agency to make us all happy, and yet it would be wicked to suppose that He does not wish the happiness of all the creatures that He has made. "He has an infinite benevolence which, nevertheless, is not in all points worked out by His infinite benevolence which, nevertheless, is not in all points worked out by His infinite omnipotence; and if anybody asked me why it is not, I cannot tell. I have never set up to be an explainer of all difficulties, and I have no desire to do so... I cannot tell you why God permits moral evil, neither can the ablest philosopher on earth, nor the highest angel in heaven." --Charles H. Spurgeon |
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Questions and/or Subjects for 1 Tim 2:3 | Author | ||
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TimoPhi | ||
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DocTrinsograce | ||
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Norton | ||
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justme |