God’s Desire
… who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Listen to the "Verse by Verse" episode covering this scripture.
In the preceding verses, the apostle Paul encourages us to pray and thank God for everyone, including leaders in authority over us. We can pray that the leaders will allow us to lead peaceful lives, and also that they would allow God’s Church to preach the gospel, the good news of God’s Kingdom.
God’s ultimate plan is to reach everyone with that message of hope and truth—that message that tells us how we can be saved from the death penalty of sin and be given the opportunity for eternal life (John 3:16).
However, the Scriptures and experience show that not everyone has been reached with that message today or at any time in history. But that does not mean God has failed. He has the power to resurrect and plans to bring everyone back from the dead. The wonderful biblical truth of the second resurrection is the real answer to how God’s desire will be fulfilled. See our article “Resurrections: What Are They?”
This article also explains that God will not force anyone to be saved. It seems a few will reject God’s loving desire and offer and will choose eternal death instead. But we believe that the majority will learn the truth, see God’s desire and great love, and choose salvation—choose eternal life in the Kingdom of God.
