I used to think that it was silly that God wants to save everyone because clearly everyone is not saved. I reasoned that if God wants something, He obviously must get it, right?
Yet, Holy Scripture speaks both ways on this topic. First, it's clear that it is God alone who saves, apart from our cooperation (monergism). But it's also clear that God also desires to save everyone. I've learned, simply put, to accept both sides of this coin instead of trying to jam it all into a neat little rationalistic box.
The overly rational theologies tend to take these two ideas and make a polarity. If God desires all people to be saved, that's synergism. If God elects, then He doesn't desire all people to be saved.
This is where Lutheran theology wins in a big way. Why not accept both ideas? After all, Holy Scripture speaks in both ways.
Scripture speaks clearly of election, particularly in Ephesians 1.
Ephesians 1:3-6: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
And then in 1 Timothy 2, it says this,
1 Timothy 2:3-6: This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
So the answer is yes, both. We do not need some scheme of double predestination to solve this. Nor do we need synergism. Nor do we need to chop up God's will into all different parts to make it fit. Nor do we need some humanist philosophical theory like libertarian free will. Nor do we need heretical nonsense like Molinism or Open Theism. We need Jesus Christ and the objective means of grace He has given to us: His Word and Sacraments. God saves us through these means. We are to look to Christ alone for our salvation, not to election, which is hidden to us. Yet we also affirm very strongly that election is a cause of salvation, not an effect (See SD XI).
And this Christ died for you and desires to save you. And God also elects. Yet He does not predestine people to hell.
Here we stand. Both sides are true.
+Pax+
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