Does I Timothy 4:10 Support Common Grace?
This resource examines whether 1 Timothy 4:10 supports the doctrine of common grace by presenting Herman Hoeksema's exegetical arguments and those of Ronald Hanko and Ronald Cammenga. The authors argue that proper interpretation of the passage—whether viewing "Saviour" as "Preserver" or in its usual soteriological sense—does not support common grace theology and is consistent with Reformed doctrines of sovereign grace and limited atonement. This article is valuable for understanding the hermeneutical foundations of the Protestant Reformed rejection of common grace as defined in the 1924 Synod.
For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe (I Timothy 4:10). I. Herman Hoeksema a. Saviour in the text means Preserver, as the Synod of 1924 evidently understood the word and the Dutch translation renders it. In that case, the text does not speak of grace at all, but merely of God’s providential preservation of all men, the wicked as well as the righteous, the reprobate as well as the...