1 Timothy 2.3-5-Paul Presents Three Reasons Why The Ephesians Should Intercede In Prayer For The Entire Human Race
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday March 20, 2011
1 Timothy: 1 Timothy 2:3-5-Paul Presents Three Reasons Why The Ephesians Should Intercede In Prayer For The Entire Human Race
Lesson # 39
Please turn in your Bibles to 1 Timothy 2:1.
The apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 2:3-5 presents three reasons why the Ephesians should intercede in prayer to the Father on behalf of the entire human race.
In verse 3, the apostle Paul points out to the Ephesians that it is according to the Father’s will that they intercede in prayer for the entire human race.
1 Timothy 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. (NASU)
“This” refers to Paul’s urgent request in verse 1 that the Ephesians intercede in prayer to the Father on behalf of all people.
“Good” is the adjective kalos, which means “noble” in the sense that from the Father’s perspective, the intercessory prayers of the Ephesians on behalf of all of sinful humanity is of the utmost importance or the most important thing that they could do in life.
“Acceptable” is the adjective apodektos which indicates that the intercessory prayers of the Ephesians on behalf of the entire human race is “pleasing in view of its being acceptable” to the Father since He desires all men to be saved and come to an experiential knowledge of the truth.
“In the sight of God our Savior” indicates that the intercessory prayers of the Ephesians on behalf of all people is noble as well as pleasingly acceptable in the opinion or judgment of the Father.
Therefore, 1 Timothy 2:3 teaches that the intercessory prayers of the Ephesians on behalf of people is according to the Father’s will.
The apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 2:4 teaches that it is according to the Father’s will that the Ephesians intercede in prayer for the entire human race because He desires all men to be saved and come to an experiential knowledge of the truth.
1 Timothy 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (NASU)
“Who desires all men to be saved” refers to the Father’s desire of delivering each and every member of the human race without exception from personal sin, the sin nature, Satan, his cosmic system, condemnation from the Law, spiritual and physical death and eternal condemnation through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
So in 1 Timothy 2:4 Paul teaches that the Ephesians were to intercede in prayer to the Father for each and every member of the human race without exception because it is the Father’s will that each and everyone be saved.
This statement teaches the “unlimited” atonement and refutes those who adhere to a “limited” atonement.
The latter is a false doctrine that is actually an attack instigated by Satan upon the integrity of God.
The “limited” atonement doctrine contends that Christ died for only the elect or in other words, believers whereas the “unlimited” atonement contends that Christ died for “all” men, all-inclusive, without exception and thus “without racial, sexual or social distinction.”
This doctrine states that Jesus Christ died for every sin committed by every single member of the human race-past, present and future (John 1:29; Rom. 5:6-8; 1 Tim. 4:10; Titus 2:11; 1 John 2:2).
“And to come to the knowledge of the truth” means that the Father desires for the Christian to enter into the state of possessing an experiential knowledge of the truth.
An experiential knowledge refers to personally encountering through the process of fellowship the mind of Christ as it is revealed by the Holy Spirit in the pages of Scripture and prayer and being affected by this encounter with the mind of Christ.
Fellowship with God is experienced by obeying the Father’s will as it is revealed by the Holy Spirit in the Word of God.
This encounter results in the gaining of practical spiritual wisdom and more of the character of Christ.
This expression is not used with respect to the Christian’s conversion experience but rather it is used with respect to their post-conversion experience since aletheia, “truth” is always used in the Pastoral Epistles with regards to the teaching of the church or the body of doctrine that the church taught.
So Paul is saying in 1 Timothy 2:4 that in addition to the Father desiring all men to be saved He also desires that after becoming Christians, they come to an experiential knowledge of the truth, i.e. the Word of God.
Thus, when Paul says that the Father desires that people come to an experiential knowledge of the truth after conversion, he is rebuking certain pastors in Ephesus, who he does not identified except for Alexander and Hymenaeus, for not communicating his gospel.
His gospel would produce in the church an experiential knowledge of the truth.
The apostle Paul in verse 5 teaches that there is one God and intermediary between God and the human race, namely the man Christ Jesus.
1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. (NASU)
“For there is one God” presents the second reason why the Ephesians should intercede in prayer for each and every member of the human race.
In verse 4, we noted that they should do so because it is the Father’s will that each member of the human race be saved and to enter into knowing the truth experientially.
The second reason that Paul presents in 5a is that there is one God or in other words, they should pray for all people “because” the entire human is under the authority of God in the sense that He is their Creator, Judge and Savior.
Therefore, Paul is teaching the Ephesians that interceding in prayer for each and every member of the human race is not only in accordance with the Father’s will but also in accordance with the fact that God is the creator of all people and the judge of all people and the Savior of all people.
This expression would refute those pastors in Ephesus who were following the teaching of the Judaizers who were of the conviction that only Israel was worthy of the kingdom of God.
They excluded the Gentiles from the kingdom of God.
The apostle is arguing in 1 Timothy 2:1-7 much as he did in Romans 3:29-30 that the offer of salvation is presented by God through the gospel to both Jews and Gentiles since God is the Creator, Judge and Savior of both groups.
This would refute the sectarian spirit of the Judaizers and these pastors who followed their teaching.
He is arguing as he did in Romans that justification is not by the works of the Law or meritorious acts based upon obedience to the Law but rather through faith alone in Christ alone.
“And one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” speaks of the fact that Jesus Christ is the Father’s delegate or representative to the entire human race while at the same time He represents the entire human race before the Father.
He can do so because He is both God and man, thus, this statement implies that Jesus of Nazareth is God.
It also alludes to the doctrine of reconciliation, which is a peace treaty between a holy God and sinful humanity that is the direct result of the spiritual and physical deaths of Jesus Christ on the Cross since these deaths propitiated the holiness of God that expresses itself in righteous indignation against sin and sinners.
It indicates that the offer of eternal salvation is universal by virtue of what the intermediary Jesus Christ accomplished through His substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths on the cross.
It also makes clear that there is only one way to receive eternal salvation and that is through this intermediary, Jesus Christ.
This echoes what Peter and the Lord taught (See Acts 4:10-12).
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (NASU)
By emphasizing the humanity of Christ, Paul is not saying that He is not God but rather is emphasizing that the Son of God, through His sinless human nature reconciled the human race to the Father through His spiritual and physical deaths on the cross.
