I would love to know what your understanding of these 2 verses are.
For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. 1 Timothy 4:10
And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins,
and not for ours only but also for the whole world. 1 John 2:2
Timothy 1 & 2 plus Titus have been labelled "pastoral epistles", Paul's instructions for pastors in the various aspects of Church operations. Neither of those men were permanent pastors in one place like Ephesus or Crete, but were sent out by Paul to deal with the difficulties of growing up a church. The two men were like special agents from Paul, like Billy Graham sent out to prepare for a crusade, then follow up with very experienced pastoral helpers to help a new pastor build a church. That sort of activity is common today.
The "thorn in the flesh" Paul wrote about was the Judaizers who came along behind his ministry. They sought to influence new believers, and their new pastors, to require keeping the Mosaic law and be circumcised to be truly saved, in other words, convert to Judaism, while adding Christ as Messiah. That was supposed to have been settled in Acts 15, but many former Jews ignored the decision there, promoting the law to the Gentiles. According to them no Gentile could be saved apart from being a Jew.
Timothy was assigned to help correct such teachings, bringing Paul's churches back in line with the gospel of Christ he taught. Consider Paul's statement in
Romans 10:11-13 (KJV)
[SUP]11 [/SUP] For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
[SUP]12 [/SUP] For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. [SUP]13 [/SUP] For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
God is savior of all men who believe, regardless of former religious status.
The "believe" is of course concerning belief upon Jesus, but there are people who pleased God through faith, whether a Gentile like Abraham, or Jew like Moses. Moses was sent with Elijah to meet with Jesus concerning his imminent death, so we know God is willing to save any person who lives by faith God's way.
Now concerning
1 John 2:1-3 (KJV)
[SUP]1 [/SUP] My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
[SUP]2 [/SUP] And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
[SUP]3 [/SUP] And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
Notice the minimal context around your verse. It is conditional. American justice is guided by that principle. If put on trial for a crime, former crimes can't be reported to a jury until after a conviction. One's attorney then deals only with the current accusation. If the accused is found not guilty of committing a recent crime as accused, the attorney has little worry about obtaining an acquittal. But if it is proved the accused did indeed violate law, the defense is damaged.
If a believer is keeping the commandments of Christ, Satan can't succeed in getting a conviction against us. The greatest defense advocate of all time is on our side. One of those commandments is to confess a sin, then be forgiven. If forgiven already, there can be no trial risking double jeopardy, being tried twice for the same sin. That's why it is imperative that all believers stay in the habit of keeping the commandments of Christ, and readily confessing any breaches immediately, before Satan can bring an accusation. That keeps the matter 'out of court', that is, not subject to judgment. Jesus then rests the case on the basis of his blood shed for the remission of sin, himself the propitiation (substitutionary atonement) for our sin. We must not abuse that. Stop sinning! See
John 8:10-11 (KJV)
[SUP]10 [/SUP] When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
[SUP]11 [/SUP] She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.