God’s Desire for the Salvation of All and the Biblical Reality of Hell

By Mark W. Christy, PhD

At times, the Bible seems to teach that God desires all people to be saved. In his discussion on the coming Day of the Lord (i.e., Judgement Day), Peter writes, “The Lord is…not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Pet 3:9).[i] Calling upon the faithful to pray (in context, he is specifically calling on men to pray in the worship service), Paul observes the heart of God “desires all men to be saved” (1 Tim 2:4). Ezekiel, also noting the desires of God toward people, remarks that God does not take “any pleasure in the death of the wicked” (18:23).

Given that hell and eternal separation from God will be the outcome for many people according to Scripture (cf. Matt 7:13-14, 21-23), these verses seem remarkably out-of-step with the context of the Bible. This certainly seems true of Peter’s discussion when he employs “wishing” (see endnote for more discussion) because Scripture clearly reveals that God has already chosen the Elect (true believers) even before creation and conversely those who are not chosen will be sent to hell despite God’s expressed desire for them to repent (2 Pet 3:9; cf. Matt 25:34; Eph 1:4; Rev 17:8). To resolve the dilemma, focus must be placed on whom Peter is addressing, in other words whom the word “any” applies to when he argues the “The Lord is…not wishing for any to perish” (2 Pet 3:9). In 2 Peter 1:1, Peter makes it clear that he is addressing “To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours.” From that point forward, he uses “you” as seen in 2 Peter 3:9 to refer to the Elect of God whom he is addressing. “[A]ny”, therefore, refers specifically to any of the Elect; thus, Peter is simply noting God’s absolute commitment to save the Elect.

In 1 Timothy 2:4, Paul may have had all sorts of people groups in mind as opposed to every single human being when he writes “all men” while saying that God “desires all men to be saved.” He uses the same word in its second appearance in Romans 11:32 to refer to a group of people containing both Jewish and Gentile backgrounds. The context alone suggests this rendering, but this understanding is further clarified by applying Pauline theology to this verse. In particular, Paul would certainly not be saying that God would “show mercy to all” as that would counter the exclusive nature of his gospel (Rom 11:32; cf. Acts 22:15; 1 Cor 12:12; Gal 3:28; Col 3:11). In context, however, Paul’s argument in 1 Timothy 2 is God’s call upon gathered believers to pray for the lost. Given this, it would seem that Paul is merely providing the utmost motivation for pray, God’s own heart. As Ezekiel plainly reveals, God does not take pleasure in the eternal demise of anyone. With this in view, Paul is delivering a call to pray for all people knowing that the heart of God lies in the salvation of souls even while He still sovereignly chooses not to elect all unto salvation.

[i]All Scripture references are taken from NASB1995.