Who can be saved? Did Jesus die for everyone? These are the questions Paul is dealing with at the beginning of 1 Timothy 2. Paul summarized the problems in Ephesus in the first chapter. He now transitions to the correction of these problems. First among them was to correct the notion about which people were eligible for salvation.
At first glance, it seems that vv. 1-7 are about praying. If we aren’t observant, we might think that Paul is simply encouraging people to pray. This is actually not the case. Paul’s concern is that someone was teaching the Ephesians that the gospel is not for everyone.
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