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implying more strongly than thelo the deliberate exercise of volition", whereas thelo
expresses desire as the simple act of volition without deliberation or consideration. So, in
the context we are considering, it would appear that Paul is stating not the decrees of
God, but His general attitude to men, without distinction of race, colour, condition or
status.
It is foolish for any Christian to get involved in lengthy and unprofitable arguments as
to God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. However contradictory they may seem to
us, they are both found in God's will and the problem arises from our short-sightedness
and inability to comprehend all the ways of God. Heavenly wisdom will keep us from
stressing one at the expense of the other. We can be certain of one thing, namely that
I Tim. 2: 4 is not a proof text for universalism and those that use it in this way are
disregarding the wider context of Scripture as a whole.
E. K. Simpson points out that sozein, to save, to the ordinary Greek ear conveyed
nothing more than making safe and preserving. "Saviour" was a popular term for
adulation given to the Roman emperors signifying little more than Protector. The word is
used in this lesser sense in Matt. 14: 30; John 12: 27; Acts 27: 31 and it could be
used in this sense in the context of I Timothy. The first coming of Christ was a
revelation of the kindness and love of God towards mankind as a whole (Titus 3: 4).
Prayer for rulers accords with the divine willingness that all should be preserved from
lawless misrule and come to a recognition of the truth which is resident only in Christ, for
peaceful conditions give scope to the propagation of the gospel.
The source of all mercies and blessings is one and the same for all, whoever they may
be, and Christ is the sole medium of their bestowal, which is what the Apostle is now
going to emphasize:
"For there is one God, one Mediator also between God and men, Himself man, Christ
Jesus, Who gave Himself a ransom for all; the testimony to be borne in its own times;
whereunto I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I speak the truth, I lie not), a
teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth" (I Tim. 2: 5-7, R.V.).
The position of the Lord Jesus as Mediator--a go-between for men and God is
brought forward in Paul's epistles. The need for such a one has been felt from the earliest
times. Hence Job's pathetic cry for a Daysman (Job 9: 32, 33). The gulf between man
with his smallness and limitations and the limitless and infinite God is so tremendous that
it calls for someone who can fully touch both God and man and the only person who can
achieve this is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. As God and Man, He can
completely touch both heaven and earth and this doctrine needs emphasizing today for it
has largely been forgotten by evangelicals. Our Saviour is like Jacob's ladder that
stretched from heaven to the earth (Gen. 28: 12; John 1: 51). A true Mediator must
be both God and man. If he is not God, he cannot fully reach to heaven and if he is not
man, he cannot fully touch and understand mankind. He must be able to fully represent
both God and man and this is exactly what the Lord Jesus does. We learn from the
papyri that mesites was a business term for middleman. Let us constantly thank God for
such a wondrous Mediator, and remember that our approach to God must always be