The Apostle Paul in his first letter to Timothy said, “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:3, 4). Another verse known by many is John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”. These two passages show us that God’s desire is that man will obey God’s word and be saved. However, they cannot be looked at as the only passages of Holy Writ. If they were then all would be saved, but there are other passages that tell us that not everyone will go to heaven.
“Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt. 7:21 – 23). These words were spoken by Jesus and plainly show that some will be lost. There has to be a reason.
We must understand that God created man as a free moral agent. It is not the case that we have no choice to make as to how we will live our lives. God gave us life, He has given us all that we need for life and godliness, “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: “(2 Peter 1:3).
God is not man. God is God. He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. Man makes a mistake when he tries to bring God down to his level. It cannot be done.
Man’s ways and God’s ways are not the same. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:8, 9). We need to learn to study and apply God’s word to our lives. The Apostle Paul pointed this out in 2 Timothy when he said, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (vs. 15).
Why will not all men be saved? It is because men fail to believe in and obey God. God loves all men and has shown that in allowing Christ to die for all. Man being that free moral agent must turn to God. In the Bible many sins are listed, and one can see many are involved in those sins.
God wants man to turn from sin, but once again it is up to each individual to decide to give up sin and follow God.