---
title: 1 Timothy 2:4
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/1-timothy-2-4/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/1-timothy-2-4.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: 1 Timothy 2:4
testament: NT
section: Letters
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# 1 Timothy 2:4

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

## JW Usage

The NWT renders 1 Timothy 2:4 as God's will being "that all sorts of men should be saved and come to an accurate knowledge of truth." JWs use this verse to support the preaching work: God wants people of every kind to hear the truth. However, the Watchtower's Armageddon doctrine teaches that only Jehovah's Witnesses have any scriptural hope of surviving — all others face destruction without hope of resurrection.

## Protestant Usage

First Timothy 2:4 says God desires "all sorts of men to be saved." The same word "all" (Greek: pantas) in verse 4 governs verse 5: "there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, a man, Christ Jesus." If God wants all to be saved, the mediator must serve all — not a subset of 144,000. The arithmetic of the Watchtower's Armageddon doctrine is sobering: 8.8 million Jehovah's Witnesses out of 8.1 billion people means more than ninety-nine per cent of currently living humans face destruction without resurrection. A doctrine that consigns ninety-nine per cent of humanity to permanent death sits in profound tension with a verse that says God's will is "that all sorts of men should be saved." The mediator restriction compounds the problem: if Jesus mediates only for the anointed, the vast majority of the Watchtower's own members lack a direct mediator with God — a situation the New Testament never envisions.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [The Mediator Restriction](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/mediator-restriction.md) — 1 Timothy 2:5 — One Mediator for All [Authority]
- [Armageddon, the Millennium, and the Assurance Watchtower Cannot Give](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/jw-armageddon-millennium-doctrine.md) — Revelation 19-20 / 2 Peter 3:9 / 1 John 5:13 [Eschatology]