Chapter 9
Doesn’t God Want Everyone To Be Saved?
It does seem that most Christians today talk and write about God’s love and how He wants everyone to be saved. That mindset is certainly appealing to us when it comes to our view of God. However, we also know from Scripture that only a few do get saved. In addition, if God wanted everyone to be saved, why did He have an election? Why would God elect some to salvation and not others before time if He truly wanted to save every single person? How can we reconcile these contradictory beliefs of God’s sovereign will in election and the view held by most Christians that God wants to save every single person? If God is omnipotent, how can His will be defeated so often when so few are saved? Is the free will of man the only answer?
Verses that Appear to Say God Wants Everyone to Be Saved
Let’s take a look at the main verses in Scripture that appear to suggest that God wants everyone to be saved to see if there is another way to understand and reconcile them with God’s sovereign or unconditional election.
God is Not Willing that Any Should Perish
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)
I would say this is perhaps the main verse in the Bible used to support the view that God wants everyone to be saved. At first reading, that is what it does appear to be saying, especially if viewed out of context. However, let’s examine this verse in some detail and also examine the context of the verse.
First, what is the promise that the Lord is not slack about? We see the answer to that in verses 3 and 4 of this chapter.
3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”
So, the promise being referred to in verse 9 is not the promise of His will for all men to be saved, it is referring to the promise of His return.
Second, to whom is Peter writing in this epistle? For that, we must turn back to the opening verse of this book and also of chapter 3.
1 Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: (2 Peter 1:1)
1 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), (2 Peter 3:1)
It is very clear from these verses that Peter is writing to other Christians, those who have obtained like precious faith with him. They are beloved by Peter, and they have pure minds. Peter is writing to believers, not to anyone who is an unbeliever.
Third, with this background, we can now begin to understand the true meaning of 2 Peter 3:9. Peter next mentions that the Lord is longsuffering toward us. In other words, He is patient toward us. Who are the “us” toward whom God is longsuffering? The “us”, without question, are those to whom he is writing: other Christians. Who are Christians or believers? They are the elect of God chosen before the foundation of the world. God is saying He is longsuffering toward them. There is nothing in this passage that has anything to do with the non-elect or those who will perish in hell. He is only longsuffering to His own people, those who will one day come to faith. He is patient and is delaying His promised return to make sure that everyone of His elect will come to saving faith by His free grace.
Fourth, the verse can be understood as follows:
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise [of his return], as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any [of us] should perish but that all [of us] should come to repentance.
The words any and all refer back to their antecedent “us”. The “us”, as we have noted, refers only to Christians who are God’s people. Why would Peter who clearly addresses his remarks to Christians only in this entire book shift gears in the middle of this one verse to include every single person? The answer is he wouldn’t and didn’t.
So the proper way to understand this verse is as follows:
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise [of His return], as some count slackness, but is longsuffering [patient] toward us [His elect] not willing that any [of His elect] should perish but that all [of His elect] should come to repentance.
This is not a self-serving interpretation of this verse as the context of this verse, chapter, and epistle support it. It reconciles this verse with God’s election. It is a restatement of John 6:39 where Jesus says He will not lose one of those given to Him by the Father, His elect. So, this verse does not mean that God wills for every single person to be saved.
Did Peter Believe in Election?
Incidentally, did Peter, who wrote this passage, believe in election? If he did, then it would make sense that my interpretation above is the correct view. Let’s look at some other verses written by Peter that can help us determine his view about election.
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: (1 Peter 1:1-2)
Here Peter calls Christians or believers elect. Their election was according to the foreknowledge of God in knowing who they were. It was not according to what they did as we have seen previously.
13 She who is in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you; and so does Mark my son. (1 Peter 5:13)
Peter refers to this Christian lady in Babylon as part of the elect along with those to whom he is writing.
10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:10-11)
Peter here is encouraging these Christians to whom he is writing (vs. 1) to live godly lives and show forth the traits mentioned in the previous verses of chapter 1. They had been called and elected by God to salvation so they should show forth those fruits of that salvation by their lives. God’s elect will never lose their salvation because of the grace of God.
Therefore, Peter clearly believed in election. He would not have confused believers by declaring his belief in God’s election in these verses but then go contrary to that declaration by saying that God wanted every single person to be saved in 2 Peter 3:9.
God Desires All Men to be Saved
Let us look at another key passage that is often used to suggest God wants every single person to be saved.
3 For 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. (1 Tim. 2:3-4)
Does God truly desire that every single person be saved? If so, why doesn’t He give every single person the same grace, benefits, and advantages? As we have seen before, some are born into Christian light with believing parents here in America and other places and some are born in countries with little or no light and sometimes suffering great persecution. If God wants every single person to be saved, why did He elect some and not others?
Let’s see what is actually being said in this passage. God does will, want, and desire all peoples, nationalities, and countries to be saved. Remember, in the Old Testament, salvation was of the Jews. (John 4:22). God, in His wonderful grace, opened up the way of salvation to also include Gentiles. Jews and Gentiles make up all men just like they make up the world. What the Apostle Paul is saying here is that God desires all different kinds of peoples to be saved now (Jews and Gentiles - all men), not every single individual. Understanding the passage in this way enables us to reconcile it with the many other passages concerning God’s election.
These Little Ones
14 Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. (Matt. 18:14)
From this verse, it appears that it is not the will of the Father that any of these people should perish. First, I do believe that it is not His will that children who die in infancy perish. You will see my thoughts and Scripture on this later. However, some interpret this to mean that it is not the Lord’s will for any person to perish. That is not what He is saying here. We must go back to verse 6 of this chapter to understand who these little ones are.
6 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea..” (Matt. 18:6) Notice these little ones are believers in Christ. The Father is not willing that any of these little ones should perish “who believe in” Jesus. Believers are Christians who are also the elect of God. God is not willing that these should perish. (John 6:39) He will keep them saved by His wonderful free grace.
Does “World” Always Mean Every Single Person in the World?
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
I have previously explained how the word “world” can mean different things. It can mean every single person, or it can be referring to a smaller group of people, all depending on the context. It can mean the world of God’s elect (of all peoples Jews and Gentiles), as I believe it does here, or it can mean the world of the non-elect (John 17:9) who are of the world or worldly in a negative way. When you see the word “world” used in the context of salvation in the New Testament, it is almost always referring to God’s elect of both Jews and Gentiles. Let me give you some more examples where the use of the word “world” or “whole world” does not mean every single person.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. (2 Cor. 5:17-19)
These verses are talking about saved persons who are new creations in Christ. In verse 19, Paul uses the phrase “…reconciling the world to Himself”. Are those in hell reconciled with Christ? No. Clearly, the word world here is referring only to the world of believers whose trespasses have not been imputed to them because they have been forgiven. Those in hell whose sins have been imputed to them must suffer for those sins for all eternity.
9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (Rev. 12:9)
Does “whole world” here mean that every single person in the world is deceived by Satan? If that were the case, then no one has believed since Satan was cast out of heaven. The words “whole world” is special emphasis as to the effectiveness of Satan in deceiving great multitudes of people.
3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. (Rev. 13:3)
In this verse it says that “all the world” followed the beast. The word world cannot be referring to every single person in the world for there will always a faithful remnant serving God and waiting to be gathered by Christ at His return. (Matt. 24:31; Rom. 11:5)
1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. (John 13:1)
In John 13:1, we see Jesus loved his elect, “His own”, to the very end. These He loved were in the world. This is consistent with my interpretation of John 3:16 and the other salvation verses that employ the word “world” in them.
16 For God so loved the world [His elect who were in the world and whom He loved to the end] that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
Since God is omnipotent, He will accomplish whatever His will is. If He willed that every single person be saved, He would accomplish that. For with God all things are possible.
25 When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matt. 19:25-26)
God wants or wills to save every single one of the elect the Father gave the Son before the world began. It was the purpose of the Father in sending Jesus to the earth for Him to not lose one of those the Father gave Him. This was the main mission Jesus came to earth to accomplish.
38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. (John 6:37-39)
If God truly willed that everyone be saved then everyone would be saved, for whose will is stronger, God’s or man’s?
35 All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, “What have You done?” (Dan. 4:35)
“For who has resisted His will?” (Rom. 9:19)
Scripture that Proves God Does Not Want Everyone to be Saved
The Parables of Christ
The parables of Christ are instructive here. It has often been thought that parables were stories Jesus told, using earthly examples, to help people understand spiritual truths. This view is not correct. What I’m about to share might shock you. Actually, Jesus spoke in parables to conceal the truth from a segment of the population. It was not His will that these people know the truth and then become saved.
10 But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. 11 And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, 12 so that ‘ Seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them.’” 13 And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? (Mark 4:10-13)
In this passage, we see that Jesus spoke in parables to conceal the truth from certain people. He would then only reveal the truth to His disciples and others to whom He chose to reveal Himself. (Matt. 11:27) He had to explain to the disciples the meaning of these parables because they couldn’t understand them.
33 And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. 34 But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples. (Mark 4:33-34)
Mark 4:10-13 clearly states that Jesus purposely hid spiritual truth from some (the non-elect) so that they would not be converted. He then revealed these truths to the Father’s elect so that they could come to salvation. How else can this passage be understood?
Now let us look at a parallel passage that confirms what I have said here.
37 But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, 38 that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: “ Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?”39 Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: 40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.” (John 12:37-40)
Here John states that even though Jesus had performed miracles in front of the people, many still did not believe in Him. How could the religious leaders and others reject Jesus after these miraculous displays of His power? This passage of the prophecy of Isaiah explains how that could happen. These people could not believe because God blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts or wills because He didn’t want to heal or save them. This may be hard for us to accept, but this is the truth of Scripture.
The Apostle Paul makes a similar statement regarding the elect and the blinding of the non-elect. How can it be said that God is not willing that these whom He blinded should not perish but should come to repentance? What sense does that make if He blinded them so that they couldn’t see or understand spiritual truth?
7 What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded. 8 Just as it is written: “God has given them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear, to this very day. 9 And David says: Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a recompense to them. 10 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see, and bow down their back always.” (Rom. 11:7-10)
Although not in a parable, we see another example from Scripture where the Father hides spiritual truth from some, and reveals it to others to whom He has chosen to give it. Jesus only reveals the Father to those He chooses.
21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. 22 All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” (Luke 10:21-22)
The Holy Scriptures
We have just seen how the parables of Christ were given to conceal the truth of the mysteries of the kingdom from some and to reveal them to God’s elect. It is also true that the Holy Scriptures were written only for the spiritual understanding of God’s elect or His chosen people. This statement may seem harsh to you, but let’s examine this more closely.
The Old Testament Scriptures were written only to the Jews beginning when Moses penned the first five books under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Old Testament books were written to God’s chosen people, the twelve tribes of Israel, for their salvation, encouragement, warnings, and judgment. Throughout these many centuries, only the Jews received spiritual revelation from God. The other nations remained in spiritual darkness and damnation. Was God willing for these lost nations to perish? Yes. Was He willing for them to come to repentance? No. We know this as God only gave His salvation plan to the Jews through the Old Testament Scriptures.
The New Testament was written to God’s people also, including both Jews and Gentiles which make up the “world”…..”For God so loved the world…” The epistles of Paul and Peter were all addressed to believers. Luke and Acts were written by Luke to strengthen the faith of his friend Theophilus. Hebrews was written to Christian Jews so that they would not return to the ceremonial law. Jude was written to those who were sanctified, called, and preserved in Christ. Revelation was written to God’s servants in the seven churches. First, Second, and Third John were written to believers. Matthew starts off with the genealogy from the first believing Jew to Christ Himself. Mark mentions that John the Baptist is a fulfillment of what was prophesied by the Old Testament Jewish prophets regarding John as the forerunner of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. (Mark 1:2-8)
These New Testament books were written to other believers, God’s elect, to encourage and strengthen their faith so they could grow in Christ and be used of God to spread the gospel around the world to bring to salvation more of God’s chosen people. In the early church, these New Testament letters or books were passed hand to hand by Christians and given to churches to be read to believers there. No one knows who the elect of God are, so we are to witness to as many people as we can. God will bring to faith those He has chosen to be gracious and merciful to. God the Holy Spirit will reveal to His people the mysteries of His kingdom through the Word of God.
We need to remember that Jesus Christ is the Word of God.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
The main mission of the Word of God, Jesus Christ, from His Father was to not lose one of those the Father had given Him. (John 6:39) These are God’s elect, chosen before the foundation of the world. The purpose of the Word of God is to bring the elect to salvation and to help them grow in Christ as Christians.
Only the elect of God, because of His grace to them, can understand the Holy Scriptures. We see this when Jesus appeared to two of His disciples on the road to Emmaus.
44 Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. (Luke 24:44-45)
God Sends Some a Strong Delusion to Believe a Lie
Another passage that proves that God does not want every single person to be saved is the following passage concerning when the man of sin, also called the lawless one, is revealed.
8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thess 2:8-12)
This passage talks about how this evil, lawless one will come and show great signs and wonders to deceive many people by the power of Satan. These people will perish in hell for their sins. The free will view explains these verses as judicial punishment by God for their continual unbelief and rejection of the gospel of Christ. This actually is true. However, it is also true that all men are in unbelief and reject the gospel until they believe by the free grace of God, for no one seeks or understands the things of God in his unsaved state. (Rom. 3:11, 1 Cor. 2:14)
If God truly wanted these people who perish to be saved, why did He send them a strong delusion that they would believe a lie and be damned? Would not this be considered tampering with their wills? If they were already in unbelief, why make sure they didn’t believe later? Isn’t it possible that if God had not sent this strong delusion so that they would believe this lie, they might have later repented and believed if someone had witnessed to them? We have all heard of death bed conversions. The thief on the cross was converted right before his death. Yet God’s action here makes that impossible for them. Therefore, He does will for them to perish and not to come to repentance. These people are the non-elect, and it is not God’s will for them to be saved or He would not have purposely sent them this strong delusion to cause them to believe this lie and be damned. He would have protected them from the deception of Satan as He does for His elect.
24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. (Matt. 24:24)
This refers to the great deception that will deceive everyone but the elect of God. How do we know the elect will be protected from this deception?
22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened. (Matt. 24:22)
God, in His mercy to His chosen ones, supernaturally protects them from this great deception by shortening the days of trial. Paul, in the previous passage referred to (2 Thess. 2:8-12), is writing to the Thessalonians who have been chosen by God to salvation. After discussing the great Satanic power of this lawless one which deceives the non-elect, Paul goes immediately into comforting the Thessalonian believers, telling them, in effect, not to worry about these great deceptions, for God has chosen them for salvation from the very beginning.
13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, 14 to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thess. 2:13-14)
Judas Iscariot
Next, let’s examine Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus. There have been many questions about this man. Let’s answer some of them with regard to free will and free grace. Did God want Judas to be saved? Did Judas have free will in his decision to betray Christ? At the last supper, Jesus informed the twelve disciples one of them would betray Him and who would do it.
26 Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it.” And having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. 27 Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.” …30 Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately. And it was night. (John 13:26-27, 30)
The Scripture here tells us that Satan entered into Judas. This is a key fact and leads us to the answer of our two questions about him. If God wanted Judas to be saved, why did He allow Satan to enter Judas? He could have easily prevented Satan from entering Judas as God is all powerful. Jesus then could have taken Judas aside and w