Calvinism Notes

1 Timothy 2:4-6

1 Timothy 2:4–6 ESV

who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

“desires” is the Greek word thelo, meaning “wish or desire”

2 Peter 3:9 ESV

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Uses boulemai, which is almost identical

If God willed that all would be saved, then no one would perish.

An example of what God does will is found in John 6:37-40

John 6:37–40 (ESV)

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

John 6:44 (ESV)

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

Those raised on the last day will be those given to Jesus by the Father. No one can actually come to Jesus unless the Father draws them. It is the will of the Father that all who look to Jesus would be raised.

No one can ultimately be raised without coming to/looking to Christ.

No one can do that unless the Father draws him.

But those who are drawn are those who are given and they will come.

Understanding the difference between God’s will and God’s wish or desire, we can see that He is truly a righteous Judge.

No righteous judge rejoices in the guiltiness of defendants in his court.

He wishes no one would be guilty and no one would be hanged

A good judge is benevolent in this way

And yet, he wills sentences upon the guilty because he upholds the Law and executes his will which is in accord with his righteous character

If good human judges have this disposition, how much much a Perfect Judge in the Lord?

Furthermore, under the Arminian framework, God is either disappointed in His seeming inability to save everyone and bring them to a knowledge of the truth OR everyone is saved.

“ransom for all”

CONTEXT IS KEY. Rewind just a few verses and the context shows us that all does not always literally mean all

1 Timothy 2:1 ESV

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,

This is not mean “all people” literally. All we would do is pray and nothing else! And we would still never be able to accomplish the task due to limited time and knowledge.

John 12:32 ESV

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

Does not literally mean all

All are not drawn—some never got to hear or have never heard

It is particularly key in John 12:32 because He clearly means that a large multitude from all mankind—all nations and classes and colors—would be saved.

Christ has died for all types of people—Jewish and Gentile

1 TIMOTHY 4:10

1 Timothy 4:10 ESV

For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

This is a difficult verse for both Arminians and Calvinists.

Calvinists because it seems like it could be undermining the doctrine of limited atonement or particular redemption.

Arminians because their interpretation lends itself to universalism unless you impose the word possible on “Savior” as a qualifier.

Denny Burk:

Ephesians–Philemon Comment

What does it mean that God is the Savior of all people? How can that be true, since not all people are saved? And what does it mean that God “especially” saves believers? Are some believers saved in a special way, while others are saved differently?

From Burk, we can see that is God is the Savior of all people literally means all people, then all people are saved.

You can see from 1 Timothy 2:1 that Paul doesn’t mean “all people” without exception when using that language.

1 Timothy 2:1 ESV

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,

Clearly this is not meant to be literal in the sense that you pray for every single person, but all types of people.

Here is Alan Kurschner:

What Paul is saying is that God (and by extension Christ as Redeemer) is the only true Savior in the world, therefore humanity cannot find any other competing Savior outside of the living God. They have no other Savior to turn to. It is not by mistake that the phrase “living God,” a term that suggests monotheism, is connected with this verse. This phrase is often found in the context of polytheism (e.g. Acts 14:15; 1 Thess 1:9; Josh 3:10; 1 Sam 17:26, 36; 2 Kgs 19:4). Since there is only one God who is alive, there is only one Savior for humanity to embrace.

So then, Paul has set his hope on the Living God—who is the only Savior available to the world (all types of people)—and who is especially the Savior for those who believe and know Him as such.

1 John 2:2 ESV

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

This simply means that Jesus did not just come as a wrath-absorbing, sin-removing, sacrifice for the Jews, but for Gentiles as well.

Lorraine Boetnner:

The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination 2. The Gospel is for Jews and Gentiles Alike

In some instances the word “all” is used in order to teach that the gospel is for the Gentiles as well as for the Jews. Through the many centuries of their past history the Jews had, with few exceptions, been the exclusive recipients of God’s saving grace. They had greatly abused their privileges as the chosen people. They supposed that this same distinction would be kept up in the Messianic era, and they were always inclined to appropriate the Messiah exclusively to themselves. So rigid was the Pharisaic exclusivism that the Gentiles were called strangers, dogs, common, unclean; and it was not lawful for a Jew to keep company with or have any dealings with a Gentile (John 4:9; Acts 10:28; 11:3).

The salvation of the Gentiles was a mystery which had not been made known in other ages (Eph. 3:4–6; Col. 1:27).

World is often used in a general sense, without referring to every individual.

Revelation 13:3 ESV

One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast.

The whole earth doesn’t mean ALL THE PEOPLE OF THE EARTH or the book would be lying about the saints who reject the Beast at the peril of their own lives.

1 John 5:19 ESV

We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

The whole world doesn’t lie in the power of the Evil One. John is speaking in the general sense. He speaks in the same epistle about Christians who do not lie in the the power of the Evil One, but have fellowship with the Son.

He simply means to show them that they are the minority.

Notice that John is the author of John 3:16, as well as 1 John 2:2...

It is very Johannine to speak of the world in this general sense.

Conversely, here is Lorraine Boettner again, pointing out that there simply isn’t evidence for every individual atonement” in the Scriptures:

The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination 3. The Term “World” is Used in Various Senses

But where is the oft-boasted proof of its universality as to individuals? This verse is sometimes pressed to such an extreme that God is represented as too loving to punish anybody, and so full of mercy that He will not deal with men according to any rigid standard of justice regardless of their deserts. The attentive reader, by comparing this verse with other Scripture, will see that some restriction is to be placed on the word “world.” One writer has asked, “Did God love Pharaoh? (Rom. 9:17). Did He love the Amalekites? (Ex. 17:14). Did He love the Canaanites, whom He commanded to be exterminated without mercy? (Deut. 20:16). Did He love the Ammonites and Moabites whom He commanded not to be received into the congregation forever? (Deut. 23:3). Does He love the workers of iniquity? (Ps. 5:5). Does He love the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction, which He endures with much long-suffering? (Rom. 9:22). Did He love Esau? (Rom. 9:13).”

ROMANS 5:15-18

Romans 5:15–19 ESV

But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

If this is read to mean that Jesus’ one act of righteousness at Calvary = Justification and life for all men, then the reader is adhering to universalism, which is damnable heresy.

Instead, logic must be applied:

The consequences of Eden have been nullified for those who have actually been justified.

Romans 3:24–25 ESV

and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

Robert Yarbrough:

Romans–Galatians Comment

“For all men” cannot be taken to mean universal salvation for all humans, because Paul stresses “faith” (Gk. pistis; 35 times) and “believe” (  pisteuō; 20 times) so frequently in Romans. He means “for all persons who believe and receive the gospel message of Christ crucified and risen.” This is confirmed in 5:19, which says “many will be made righteous,” not all.

The point of the passage is not that Christ died for all, but that Christ died to undo the work of the First Adam. There is an Adam/Christ parallel in the passage.

Yarbrough again:

Romans–Galatians Comment

In contrast to Adam, who disobeyed, Christ perfectly fulfilled the will of the Father. In contrast to woe to all of Adam’s descendants, “the many will be made righteous” through the “one man’s obedience.” To summarize, deserved punishment is offset by the undeserved gift of being “made righteous.”

JOHN 3:18

John 3:18 ESV

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Whoever believes in Jesus is not judged because Jesus died in their place.

Those who reject Christ are already under judgment. They are children of wrath.

1 Peter 2:1

1 Peter 2:1 ESV

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.

Not sure what this has to do with the topic at hand, unless the inference is that all means all here, so it must mean all everywhere else.

But again—there are many passages in the New Testament that show this is not true.

Mark 1:5 ESV

And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

Acts 4:21 ESV

And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened.

A couple examples beyond what has already been shared