On another thread, I believe, I had quite the exchange with either Studier (who seems to have fallen off the planet since) and/or PT over the controversial 1Tim 2:3-4 passage in which I used the larger but still more immediate context to refute the misinterpretation. But just today I ran across a John Piper article dealing with the same passage in his
Ask Pastor John Podcast. A writer wrote in and asked Piper this question about the passage:
“Pastor John, hello and thank you for this podcast. First Timothy 2:3–4 says God desires all men to be saved. He desires that end. But not all men are saved. Does that mean (1) God will not do what he wants to do? Or (2) God cannot do what he wants to do? It has to be one of these two options, right?”
Piper fielded this question in an interesting manner by going outside 1Timothy to 2Timothy, and in so doing gets into a complex discussion about God's multiple wills.
While Piper brought the "wants" of God to his argument, I found it interesting that he didn't bring God's "needs" to bear in his argument. All of us know that we're often conflicted in our own decisions
when we have to weigh our wants against our needs. And God does indeed have needs -- not external to himself -- but internal. We see this at the Cross of Christ. God is full of mercy and compassion and "desires all men" to be saved; yet, at the same time God could not save anyone at the expense of justice since He is a righteous God. So, Jesus, "needed" to pay the penalty for the sins of God's covenant people in order for people to be justified in God's eyes AND in order for God to preserve his own integrity -- his own Righteousness and Justice. Anyhow...I digress a bit.
Piper does go and and provide several biblical examples of how God acts even when his will is "conflicted". In all cases, I believe that whatever God decides that is his perfect will. Not only is it perfect, but it is Good. (Many times in the OT, for example, some prophet of God would tell God
do what is right or good in your eyes.) But at the same time, we don't live in an Ideal world. We live in a fallen world -- a world in which God is constantly working through evil. So, while God's will is perfect in this less-than-ideal context, it's still nonetheless not his Ideal Will. For example, in the eternal, visible Kingdom, God will never have to decree or permit murder, war, lying, etc., since the Eternal Environment will be perfect holiness and righteousness. Anyhow...here is the link to the article.
https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/if-god-desires-all-to-be-saved-why-arent-they