God desires all people to be saved (1 Tim 2:4).
But this is not a dispassionate or passive 'wish'. God is active. The God who desires all to be saved is "God our Saviour" (v.3). We see that in the flow of the whole chapter:
v. 5: It all begins in the reality that there is one God. He is Lord of all the earth, Jew and Gentile, those in authority and those under authority, rich and poor, male and female (cf. both Rom 3:30, Eph 4:5 and Gal 3:20).
v. 5-6: Then it moves on to what God has done in Christ, "who gave himself as a ransom for all".
v. 7: Then Paul moves on to what Christ has done in appointing Paul to be an apostle (cf. Rom 1:1, Gal 1:16).
v. 8-15: Then he moves onto the church's role in spreading the mission. They are to pray, be unified (like their God, cf. Eph), they are to live holy lives.
So for Paul there is a narrative of God's actions in bringing about his desire. But is a narrative that flows from the sending of the Son, to the sending of the Apostles to the sending of the church. There is no unmediated way of salvation. There is one mediator, Jesus Christ, who we know through his body, the church.
[With thanks to Dave and Chris, for reminding me of the pursuing desire of God, and my housemate who is preaching on 1 Timothy 2 in a few weeks.]
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