1 Timothy 2:1-5
 
1 Tim 2:1 (KJB)
I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
 
Exhort - Call for or encourage
Supplications - Petitions or requests
 
In the first eight verse of this chapter, Paul gives instruction concerning prayer, whether it is public prayer as done in the church or private prayer in our homes. Paul states that since we have access to the throne of grace through the Lord Jesus Christ, that we are allowed to pray our convictions for all people. The word “men” in this verse is the generic term in the Greek for all people which would include women as well. Paul always encourages a healthy prayer life because he knows that it can yield a strong Christian life. Paul would know this first hand because of all the trials and tribulations he went through in his walk. He gives a basic pattern of prayer for the church to follow. He encourages them to make supplications or requests on behalf of anyone who may have needs. He then encourages them to offer prayers on behalf of people, for salvation, for spiritual growth, or for any spiritual need. Now the supplications may also be requests made to another person on behalf of another person but prayers are always directed to God. Then Paul encourages that intercessions be made on behalf of people. We intercede for people who need salvation or for those who may have needs to be fulfilled. We would intercede on their behalf but only praying according to the will of God. Then Paul encourages the giving of thanks to God for what He has done in the lives of so many people. These prayers may be made on behalf of the unsaved as well as the saved because we pray for those who are not saved that perhaps God will grant them salvation. (2 Tim 2:25 KJV) In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
 
1 Tim 2:2 (KJB)
For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
 
Then Paul continues on in his instruction on prayer. We not only pray for friends and family but here Paul now includes those who are in authority. He mentions Kings but that may also include Prime Ministers, Presidents, Queens or the head of any country. He then states that we are to pray for all who are in authority which would include Governors, Mayors, local authorities and also for those who are in charge of the places that we work. We pray that God would guide all these leaders so that our short existence on this earth would be lived in peace and that the leaders would conduct themselves honestly because once sin enters the picture on any level, troubles always trickle down to the population or the employees of the company. Remember Enron? (Prov 21:1 KJV) The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will. We continue to pray according to God’s will for those leaders we pray for and God will direct them according to His plan and purpose.
 
1 Tim 2:3 (KJB)
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
 
Acceptable - Pleasing or agreeable
 
When we have a steady prayer life and incorporate the things which Paul has listed, then this is good and acceptable in the sight of God. When we pray prayers which are centered on us and the things we want, this would not be pleasing to the Lord and these types of petitions would hit the roof and bounce back. We must always pray according to the will of God, even if we are not sure how to pray for a certain matter. (Rom 8:26 KJV) Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Since we are indwelled by the Holy Spirit, He will take our deepest desires and interpret them and bring them before the throne of God. We never have to worry about not knowing what to say because the Holy Spirit helps us in our prayer lives as well as every other facet of the Christian life. (James 4:15 KJV) For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. Our prayers and Christian walk must always be in harmony with the will of God. With the term used in this verse “God our Savior,” Paul now turns to the subject of salvation.
 
1 Tim 2:4 (KJB)
Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
 
Men - Generic term in Greek for both men and women
 
Those who believe in free will would look at this verse and claim that God wants everybody in the world to be saved. They claim that God did everything He could to secure the salvation of everyone in the world and all one has to do is accept it. However, there is nothing written in Scripture showing a person accepting the Lord. This is because the entire human race became spiritually dead after the sin of Adam. (Eph 2:5 KJV) Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) It is the Lord who gives salvation to those He has named before the foundation of the world. A person just cannot determine that they want to be saved as an act of their will because the Scriptures do not support that. (John 1:12-13 KJV) But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: {13} Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. How many of us heard verse 12 quoted but not verse 13? That is because verse 13 rejects any possibility of a person becoming saved by their own will. Notice that it says that salvation does not come by the will of the flesh or the will of man but of God. Free will advocates steer clear of verse 13 because their system of beliefs cannot explain it nor could they get passed it, so they just ignore it. In 1 Timothy 2:4, we see what is in view and that is God is willing that all the elect become saved. (2 Pet 3:9 KJV) The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 speaks about God not willing that any should perish and once again the Elect of God are in view. (John 6:39 KJV) And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. Jesus states in John 6:39 that all that the Father gives Him, which are the elect named before the foundation of the world, He will lose none which means they are as safe in His hands as they are in the Father’s hands.
 
1 Tim 2:5 (KJB)
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
 
Paul specifically states that there is one God and one mediator. At Ephesus, Diana was looked on as a goddess but Paul is stating that only one God exists. Every other supposed god was just a figment of a person’s imagination and an invention by Satan to keep the unsaved masses in darkness.
 
(Psa 135:15-18 KJV) The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. {16} They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; {17} They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths. {18} They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them.
 
When Jesus went to the cross, He became the mediator of the new covenant. (Heb 9:15 KJV) And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. We read that He was the mediator of the new covenant for all the Elect. This means there is no other mediator. Roman Catholicism likes to make Mary a co-redeemer but she did not die on the cross nor is she deity, and it is idolatry to give her this title when she does not deserve it. The fact is that Roman Catholicism operates under the same umbrella as the cult of Diana. The cult of Mary is just a continuation of the cult of Diana. Throughout history, heathen cultures have always been fascinated with the idea of a goddess. Let me list a few:
 
1. Isis - Egypt
2. Shing Moo - China
3. Parameta - Hindu (many others also)
4. Ishtar - Babylon
5. Diana - Ephesians
6. Mary - Roman Catholicism
7.Hestia - Greece
8. Vesta - Rome
9. The Celestial Virgin - Blavatsky - New Age
 
Christ became the mediator for the new covenant or testament, dying for the Elect of God who were named before the foundation of the world. There is no other and no religion or any other central figure who can be the mediator, it is only the Lord Jesus Christ.

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