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. -1 Timothy 4:10
Many advocates for the doctrine of Universal Atonement find this verse quite convincing for their view. The strong focus is upon the latter part of the verse, "who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe." But the question must be asked, "Is this verse really implying a universal atonement???" This examination will only require looking at the meaning of the phrase. Let us examine the phrase...
who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe
Looking at the text plainly, we can see two categories emerge from Paul's statement: Unregenerate persons and Regenerate persons. How then is God savior? He is savior to the regenerate in that he has atoned for their sins through the work of salvation (justification, adoption, etc.) More importantly, the question must be asked, "How is he savior to the unregenerate?" I see three possible answers to this question.
1) He is the savior to all unregenerate people in a salvific sense (Universalism).
2) He is the possible savior to the unregenerate, having paid for their sins and thus, all that is required is access to that atonement through faith (Universal Atonement Advocates).
3) He is their savior in the sense of witholding immediate judgment and bestowing blessings upon the unregenerate despite their rebellion (Common Grace).
As far as #1 goes: universalism must be discredited from this for it is not even the teaching of Scripture. The Bible teaches that God's wrath is upon unbelievers and they, unless they repent and believe the Gospel, will endure God's judgment in hell for all eternity.
Option #2 is the highly debated issue. Once again the question must be asked- "How is God the savior of the unrenerate?" Looking at the verse, one can plainly deduce that the term "savior" must have a lesser meaning for the unregenerate than the regenerate for Paul says, "who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe." Therefore, the term "savior" has the more full meaning for those who are regenerate than those who are unregenerate.
How then is God a lesser savior to the unregenerate? This is why I used the phrase "possible savior" in the #2 option. Can God be both possible savior and savior to the unregenerate? I think that to read into the text the meaning possible savior is to lower the meaning of "savior" too far. Though the text says that God is a "savior" to the unregenerate, the meaning possible savior demeans the meaning of the word "savior." The text clearly states that God is a "savior" to the unregenerate. The question must now be asked- "If God is a savior to the unregenerate, how is he savior to them and what is he saving them from if they are not saved in the sense of being regenerated???" The answer is best found in option #3-
He is their savior in the sense of witholding immediate judgment and bestowing blessings upon the unregenerate despite their rebellion (Common Grace).
This is the only way that a person can read the text and still retain the meaning of "savior" to the unregenerate. This is the only way that "savior" can have the lesser meaning to the unregenerate than to the regenerate without tampering with or corrupting the meaning of the text. Past theologians, such as Francis Turretin, have translated σωτὴρ (savior) as meaning "preserver" in this text. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible mentions this verse as referring to- 1) God the Father (not the Son) and 2) says of σωτὴρ in 1 timothy 4:10: "in the sense of 'preserver,' since He gives 'to all life and breath and all things.'"
Some examples of the preserving grace God bestows upon the unregenerate are as follows-
-For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. -Matthew 5:45
-"In past generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness." -Acts 14:16-17
-"In him we live and move and have our being" -Acts 17:28
-The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. -Psalm 145:9
-Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. -Romans 2:4-5
-What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction... -Romans 9:22
S.M. Baugh says of this position-
Other Reformed theologians have agreed with this interpretation of the Timothy passage. For example, Calvin interprets the teaching here as relating to the "commodities in this world," the "protection," and the care during afflictions which God provides especially to believers. Along the same lines, Francis Turrettin renders σωτὴρ as "Preserver." More recently, Louis Berkhof thinks that the passage is so obviously speaking about common grace, that he merely cites it with other texts as support of the doctrine. And R. B. Kuiper discusses 1 Tim 4:10 first as evidence of "Scriptural Universalism" in the context of common grace in his book
defending limited atonement ("Savior of all people": 1 Tim 4:10 in context).
Conclusions
Though many people might disagree with me on the interpretation of this passage, I must conclude that this is the only way to interpret the verse without demeaning the word "savior." Also, it is not unreasonable to see this passage as referring to God as a savior (or preserver) to the unregenerate in the sense of common grace. The burden of proof lies within the camp of universal atonement advocates. They must answer the question- "How is God being a possible savior make him a 'savior' to the unregenerate in this text???" I have shown how God can be a savior to the unregenerate in a lesser sense without destroying the meaning of the word and now, therefore, my accusation still stands against universal atonement advocates. Can God be a possible savior and savior to the unregenerate at the same time? Simply stated: No.
[Some might accuse me of equivocating the word “savior.” I would answer by saying that Paul uses the term in a lesser sense and a full sense as described in the first part of this blog. God cannot be a savior, in the full sense of the word, to all people (unregenerate included) without advocating Universalism.]
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