I Timothy 2:3 it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
II Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
Ephesians 1:11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will…
If God is not willing that any should perish (any understood to be all men without exception) (II Peter 3:9) then how is it possible that he works all things after the counsel of his will (Eph. 1:11?) For if he does work all things after the counsel of his will, and some men perish, then it is obvious that he willed that those who perish would indeed perish. After all, those perishing people are not perishing apart from God’s design if the Scripture is true that God works all things after the counsel of his will.
If God desires all men to be saved (i.e. all men without exception) (I Tim. 2:3) and yet all men are not saved, then how is it that he works all things after the counsel of his will? For if he does work all things after the counsel of his will, and all men are not saved, then it is obvious that he willed that those who are not saved should not be saved.
Arminians, like Dave Hunt in his book “What Love is This?” either has not considered the contradiction inherent in his affirmations, or is content to imagine that God and his Word are self contradictory. But there is no contradiction. One need only note to whom the epistle or Peter is written and understand that the Timothy passage is dealing with distinctions, not the absence of exceptions
In the Timothy passage the passage follows the Titus pattern. Paul has said that prayers are to be made for all men. He then goes on to restrict that meaning to ‘Kings and those in authority.’ As Paul narrows the definition of ‘all’ down it is evident that he desires prayer for all classes or types of people. Without such a restriction some Arminian or Lutheran literalist might have prayed for dead people since the word ‘all’ was not restricted by the word ‘living.’ In this context Paul says God desires all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. The context requires us to see the word ‘all’ as being restricted in the second instance just as it was in the first instance. God desires all categories of men to be saved just as he desired the believers to pray for all categories of men.
Secondly, to take this passage the way Arminians/Lutherans take it is to prove too much. If God desires all men to be saved then all men will be saved since God sits in heaven above and does whatever he pleases. Or do Arminians / Lutherans teach that God sits in heaven above doing whatever he pleases except when man informs God to, ‘buzz off’ when he desires to save him?
Concerning the Peter passage Peter writes that the Lord is longsuffering towards ‘US’. Who is the ‘US’ that Peter refers to? Obviously it is the covenant believing community. So when Peter immediately then says that “The Lord is not willing that any should perish,” it is obvious that the reference remains the believing community. God is not willing that any of His elect should perish. Hence,
John 6:39 And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
Assist — Mark Chambers
