Posting 13 1 TIM. 4:10 A MISUSED TEXT
1 Tim. 4:10 "Who is the Savior of all men,
and especially of those who believe."
THE WORD “SAVIOR”
The interpretation of this text depends largely on the meaning of the word “savior.” In the Old Testament this word is applied not only to God but also to men whom God had appointed to deliver his people from the hands of their enemies (Neh. 9:27). God is also called the Savior of his people because he delivered them from Egypt (Ps. 106:21), and because he had demonstrated his loving care and concern for them (Isa. 63:8).
The Bible draws a parallel between the physical deliverance of Israel from their bondage in Egypt and the deliverance of God’s people from sin to everlasting life. It is not surprising, therefore, to find a corresponding enrichment of the word “savior” in the New Testament. The word is used 24 times in the New Testament; each time it refers either to God or to the Lord Jesus Christ (as in 1 Tim. 4:10). The word is never used in reference to a mere human being in the New Testament.
Realizing that in the New Testament the word refers either to God or to Jesus Christ exclusively, we must ask ourselves, “Is the word ‘savior’ ever used in the sense of general benefactor, helper, or preserver?”
No doubt God is such a benefactor; he “causes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matt. 5:45). But does the New Testament ever use the word “savior” when speaking of God’s work of providence and general benevolence?
In fourteen of the twenty-four instances of “Savior” in the New Testament, the immediate context leaves no doubt the reference is to “Savior from sin,” as in 2 Tim. 1:10: “Through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”
In nine other instances the context does not speak to the issue, but there is no reason for questioning that it means “Savior from sin” and therefore in our English translations the word is capitalized. One example is in 1 Tim. 1:1: “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope.” (See also Titus 1:3, 4; 2 Pet.1:1, 11; 2:20; 3:2, 18; Jude 25.)
Of the twenty-four times "Savior" is used in the New Testament, there is no reason to question the theological content of the word in twenty-three instances. Why would anyone suggest a different meaning for the word in 1 Tim. 4:10? The answer is that if it means “Savior from sin” in this verse, then this verse says God “is the Savior of all men,” implying universalism. That is precisely what 1 Tim. 4:10 says. Therefore this verse is listed among the so-called “universalistic” texts in Posting 1.
Traditionally Calvinist exegetes have claimed that in this verse the word “savior” refers to the fact that God is the “general benefactor, provider, helper, sustainer” of all men. Therefore, although all our English translations capitalize “Savior” in this text, they need not do so. Among Calvinists, 1 Tim. 4:10 is interpreted to mean “God is the general benefactor of all persons and he is the Savior from sin for all who believe.”
Calvinists cannot revert to their usual ploy of claiming that when the Scriptures say God is “the Savior of all men,” as in this text, it means that “God is the Savior of all the elect.” That will not do in this one instance because the last phrase of this verse, “those who believe,” is a reference to the elect. The text would then say that God is the one “who is the Savior of all the elect, and especially of the elect.” To avoid such nonsense, traditional Calvinists are compelled, in this one New Testament instance, to change the theological content of the word "Savior" to mean “general benefactor” of all persons.
Arminian exegetes have just as much trouble with the word "Savior" in 1 Tim. 4:10. They accept the capitalization of “Savior” because they say it does mean “Savior from sin.” Dr. Clark Pinnock speaks on behalf of all Arminian exegetes when he says, "God is 'the Savior of all men [potentially], and especially of those who believe [actually]' (1 Tim. 4:10). This is the path I will take to explain how the unevangelized gain access to God and are finally saved" (Pinnock, A Wideness in God's Mercy, Zondervan, 1992, P. 158). In my opinion, Pinnock takes a dubious path.
Arminians fear that without the word “potentially” this text would say God “is the Savior from sin for all persons,” that is, universalism —all persons will be saved. To avoid this heresy, the word "potentially" must be added in this text as in all the other so-called “universalistic” texts. Where do Pinnock and other Arminians get the word "potentially" for this and for all the other so-called “universalistic” texts? It comes neither from the immediate nor the extended context of the Bible.
It comes from the four hundred-year Arminian tradition of arbitrarily never permitting the word "Savior," in the so-called "universalistic" texts, to refer to an "actual, certain-to-be-realized" salvation (see Posting 1). Pinnock placed the word “potentially” in brackets, indicating it was added to the approved text. This addition is not acceptable. The text says quite plainly that God is “the Savior of all men,” and to be their potential Savior or only to have made provision for their salvation would not make God their Savior any more than one who desired and attempted to save a drowning victim could be called the victim's “savior.”
THE WORD "ESPECIALLY"
Both Calvinists and Arminians place a disjunction between the nature of the salvation which has to do with “all men” in 1 Tim. 4:10 and that which has to do with “those who believe.” Calvinists say the first is the salvation of “general benevolence, sustenance and care,” while the second is “salvation from sin.” Arminians say the first is a “potential” salvation from sin and the second is an “actual” salvation from sin. But the word “especially” does not permit such a disjunction. It never changes the essence or the effect of the action to which it refers; it only connotes an intensity or concentration of that same action.
The word translated "especially" means "more of the same." It is used ten times in the New Testament. It never speaks of a distinction in the kind or the effect of the actions to which it refers. It invariably connotes an intensity of, an awareness of, or concentration on the same action. A typical use of "especially" is found in 2 Tim. 4:13: "When you come bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments.”
Paul did not intend a different kind or effect of the action that should be taken regarding the parchments than would be taken with the cloak and the scrolls. By using the word “especially,” he simply meant to tell Timothy to be particularly aware of taking the same action in respect to the parchments as to the cloak and the scrolls. The word’s use in the nine other passages clearly confirms this. (See Acts 25:26; 26:3; Gal. 6:10; Phil. 4:22; 1 Tim. 5:8, 17; Titus 1:10; Phm 16; 2 Pet. 2:10.)
The maneuverings of both Arminians and traditional Calvinists in their treatment of 1 Tim. 4:10 appear to be exceedingly strange even to the point of silliness. It is futile to distort what 1 Tim. 4:10 and the other so-called "universalistic" texts clearly say in a vain attempt to refute the claims of Absolute Universalism. First Tim. 4:10, like all the other so-called "universalistic" texts, speaks of a certain-to-be-realized salvation as Calvinists have consistently maintained and it does so in terms of all persons as Arminians have always affirmed. Our zeal to refute Absolute Universalism does not give us permission to change the approved text.
How long before the church at large will recognize that ever since the days of Pelagius the "central biblical theme about God's love for the whole world" has been "obscured"? (Pinnock, A Wideness in God's Mercy, p. 43). This historical wrong turn has compelled Arminians to distort all the so-called "universalistic" passages by adding the word “potentially” to the text and Calvinists to distort them by claiming they refer only to some persons not to all persons (see Posting 1).
How is 1 Tim. 4:10 to be understood? "We have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men” (in the inclusive sense, allowing for the exceptions that are found in the broader context of the Scriptures). “. . . and especially of those who believe.” Some of the “all men” referred to in the first part of this verse have not yet heard the good news of their salvation in Christ. Some of them may have temporarily rejected the gospel. But “those who believe” are “aware of,” “they concentrate on” their salvation from sin.
