| God's Will and Man's Choice in I Timothy 2:4, Part 2 |
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| Written by David Lawrence |
| Monday, December 25 2006 00:00 |
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(Please refer to the devotional on 1 Tim. 2:4 and the questions arising from that devotional published last week) You are correct in noticing that Biblically the word "will" (Greek: thelos) is used in different ways, and the particular usage can only be determined by the context. Thus we can note God's decretive will that always is realized, as Job notes in Job 42:2, "No plan of yours can be thwarted," or Paul in Rom. 9:19, "Who resists his will?" God willed the universe into existence, and it was so (Rev. 4:11). Also the word can mean God's preceptive will, that is, what he commands. You cite the example above that God wills that we not sin, which is what Paul says in 1 Thess. 4:3, "It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality." No doubt he is speaking of God's will to live a pure life, which we can and often do violate. Finally, there is God's dispositional will, that is, what God enjoys doing. He does not enjoy inflicting suffering, though he does so because we need it. Thus Lam. 3:3, "For he does not willingly bring affliction and grief to the sons of men." Thus you are correct about different wills. If this verse refers to God's prescriptive will, then he is commanding people to be saved. If it refers to his dispositional will, then Paul is saying that God takes great delight in the salvation of people. Those interpretations are possible without doing violence to the text, but I think context points to the decretive will of God that men of all categories and classes be saved. I say that in view of the first 3 verses where Paul singles out even rulers, probably having in mind evil men like Nero who ruled the Roman Empire at his time. Thus we should pray for all classes, groups, and categories of people without distinction. As he links the next verse to that thought, it would seem to explain why we should pray for them, namely, that God has sovereignly decreed that people from all walks of life, even Roman emperors (Constantine, later) be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. (to be continued next week) |
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