Prayers for All

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth” (1 Timothy 2:1-7, ESV).

When Paul says, “First of all, then,” he is transitioning into the main body of the letter concerning various aspects of church organization and conduct (cf. 3:15), no doubt relevant to the doctrinal disruptions about which the letter opens (1:3ff.). This section begins with emphasis on prayer, particularly the content of prayer, with special focus in v. 8 on the ones praying. “It is essential, at the outset, to ensure the noblest approach to public worship.”¹

Paul’s entreaty, “I urge” (parakaléō, “I exhort,” NKJV), here stated in general terms, presumably has the same force as the appeal directed to Timothy (1:3a) and extended through Timothy (5:1; 6:2; 2 Tim. 4:2). Communication to God is described with four interrelated expressions: “supplications” (déēsis, cf. 5:5), or “entreaties” (NASB), “petitions” (NIV), “requests” (NET); the more generic “prayers” (proseuchē, cf. 5:5); “intercessions”(énteuxis, cf. 4:5);² and “thanksgivings” (eucharistía, cf. 4:3, 4). Rather than trying to atomize each of these and make clear distinctions, the grouping together of comparable terms simply covers all the bases and emphasizes how important it is to be praying in every way.

The object of these prayers is “all people,” seeing that God desires the salvation of “all people” (vv. 4, 6), which is “good” and “pleasing in the sight of God our Savior” (v. 3; cf. 1:1). This includes the secular ruling powers (v. 2).³ The term “kings” (plural of basileús) is applicable to both the Roman emperor (1 Pet. 2:13, 17) and local monarchs (Matt. 2:1-9; 10:18; 14:1, 9; 17:25; Acts 12:1; 2 Cor. 11:32), while “all who are in high positions” relates to other governing authorities like the asiarchs in Ephesus (Acts 19:31), the magistrates in Philippi (Acts 16:20-38), the politarchs in Thessalonica (Acts 17:6), the proconsuls in Cyprus and Achaia (Acts 13:7; 18:12), and the legates of Judea (Luke 20:20; Acts 23:24). Many of these Paul had faced in the course of his ministry, including the emperor Nero (Acts 25:12; 27:24). The brief digression between v. 1 and v. 4 that specifically targets civic leaders is explained, “that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” Contextually this is not merely for self-benefitting liberties and comforts but especially for freer evangelistic opportunities (vv. 3-7; cp. 1 Thess. 4:9-12). The fact that God “desires all people to be saved” patently counters the Calvinistic notion of unconditional election, while salvation is inextricably linked to “the knowledge of the truth” (cf. 1:7; 4:3).

Prayers of all kinds for all people are enjoined because “there is one God” (cf. 1:17), as opposed to polytheism, i.e., “one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:6; cf. 1 Cor. 8:4); and “one mediator between God and men,” the sinner’s only access to the heavenly throne (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Rom. 5:6-11; Heb. 4:14-16; 7:25–10:22), viz. “the man Christ Jesus.” While “Christ” is essentially a title, equivalent to the OT term mašíaḥ (“messiah,” meaning “anointed [one]”), “Jesus” (meaning “savior”) is his human name given at birth (Matt. 1:21-25). Between the Lord’s ascension and return he is still regarded as “man” (ánthrōpos, “human,” cf. Acts 17:31). In fact, he is explicitly referred to as “man” no less than thirty-six times in the NT, and as “the son of man” an impressive eighty-two times (almost entirely as a self-description). While the importance of Christ’s deity must never be downplayed,⁴ his incarnation (taking on human flesh) is also a fundamental tenet of the Christian faith (Matt. 1:16-25; Luke 1:31–2:7; 24:39; John 1:14; Heb. 2:9-18; 4:15; 5:7; 1 John 3:2; 4:2; 2 John 7).

Rather than unwilling victimization, Christ “gave himself” (cf. Mark 10:45; John 10:18; Gal. 1:4; 2:20; Eph. 5:2, 25; Tit. 2:14).⁵ The Calvinistic doctrine of limited atonement is also discounted by the simple truth that he gave himself “for all” (cf. John 3:16-17; Rom. 5:18; 8:32; 2 Cor. 5:14-15; 1 John 2:2; 4:14). The noun “ransom” [antílutron], its only occurrence in the NT, basically means to exchange one thing for another. It is comparable to the less emphatic lútron (Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45), as well as the noun apolútrōsis (“redemption”), a release effected by payment (Luke 21:28; Rom. 3:24; 8:23; 1 Cor. 1:30; Eph. 1:7, 14; 4:30; Col. 1:14; Heb. 9:15; 11:35).⁶

This truth is the “testimony” [martúrion], declared by the life, teachings, and sacrifice of Christ Jesus and preached by his authorized emissaries like Paul (v. 7), “given at the proper time.” According to God’s eternal plan and centuries of messianic prophecies, when the time was right the Christ fulfilled his purpose (Gal. 4:4; Eph. 1:10). From the completion of his work on earth until his future return is the designated period for propagating this extraordinary and powerful testimony (1 Tim. 6:15; Tit. 1:2-3; cf. Acts 17:26; Gal. 6:9).

“For this I [emphatic!] was appointed a preacher [kērux, “herald,” “proclaimer”] and an apostle [apóstolos, cf. 1:1] … a teacher [didáskalos] of the Gentiles …” This reminder of Paul’s commission (also 1:1, 11-16; 2 Tim. 1:11; cf. Tit. 1:3) and the parenthetical, “I am telling the truth, I am not lying” (cp. Rom. 9:1; 2 Cor. 11:31; Gal. 1:20), were almost certainly not for Timothy’s benefit but for those who might be opposing Timothy’s delegated authority and the doctrine he defended along with his mentor. Paul’s commission to “the Gentiles” [ethnōn] (Acts 9:15; 22:21; 26:17; Rom. 1:5; 11:13; Gal. 1:16; 2:9; Eph. 3:1-8; 2 Tim. 4:17) surely did not exclude ethnic Jews (e.g. Acts 9:20; 13:14 ff.; 14:1; Rom. 1:16; etc.) but highlighted the main focus and providential successes of his ministry. The modifying phrase “in faith and truth” could refer to the faithful and honest manner with which Paul’s labors were carried out, or the faith (1:19) and the truth (2:4) he objectively taught, although neither possibility would exclude the other.

Paul was a divinely “appointed … teacher” (of the gospel, 1:11) in contrast to those who had a self-interest-desire to be “teachers of the law” (1:7; cp. Tit. 1:11). The corresponding verbal “teach” [didáskō] is a duty with which Timothy has been entrusted (4:11; 6:2) and directed to delegate to other faithful men (2 Tim. 2:2). While women in the church are to be “teachers of good” [kalodidáskalos] (Tit. 2:3), Paul reminds the ladies at Ephesus of certain qualifying restrictions (vv. 8-15).

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:
     ¹ Donald Guthrie, The Pastoral Epistles (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990): 69.
     ² The NASB rendering “petitions” has some support in extrabiblical sources (see BAGD 268), but the word itself simply conveys the idea of approaching the heavenly throne and meeting with God, thus synonymous with “prayer.”
     ³ On the Christian’s responsibility to civil government, see Matt. 22:17-21; Acts 5:29; Rom. 13:1-7; Tit. 3:1; 1 Pet. 2:13-17.
     ⁴ See K. L. Moore, “The Deity of Christ,” Moore Perspective (11 Jan. 2017), <Link>.
     ⁵ That he “gave himself” is not necessarily limited to his death on the cross but inclusive of the entirety of his self-sacrifice, i.e., incarnation, earthly life, suffering and death, perpetual oneness with humanity and subordination to the Father (cf. v. 5; Phil. 2:5-11; 1 Cor. 15:28; Heb. 2:9-18).
     ⁶ Consider also the noun lútrōsis (Luke 1:68; 2:38; Heb. 9:12), and the verbs lutróō (Luke 24:21; Tit. 2:14; 1 Pet. 1:18) and exagorázō (Gal. 3:13; 4:5; Eph. 5:16; Col. 4:5).
 
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