1 Timothy 4:10

‘For to this end we labour and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, especially of those who believe.’

And what is the saying that is faithful? It is that with our hope set on the living God we labour and strive in His service, and put great effort into the things that He has commanded us to do, such as studying to show ourselves approved to God and praying without ceasing. And we do this because we want Him to work His ‘salvation’ in us, that is we want Him to work within us ‘love out of a pure heart, a good conscience and faith unfeigned’ (1 Timothy 1:5), because we know that our Saviour, the living God has this in store for us. It is that we set our heart on enjoying life, and indeed life more abundantly (1 Timothy 4:8; John 10:10). This was ‘the end’ of Paul’s ‘charge’ right from the start (1 Timothy 1:5). And this is what we must set our hope on.

For this is the purpose of the God Who is ‘the Saviour/Preserver (a regular meaning of the word in secular literature) of all men’, that is, Whose activity of preservation is going on in the world on behalf of all men (Matthew 5:45; Acts 17:26-29; Psalms 104:13-15; Psalms 145:9-10 a, Psalms 145:15-16), and Who is the general Preserver of men (Psalms 36:6). It was because He is ‘the Saviour/Preserver of all men’ that He first arranged for Adam and his family to escape from the full consequences of Adam’s sin. It was because He is the Saviour/Preserver of all men that He made His covenant with Noah for the preservation of the human race from flooding. It was because He is the Saviour and Preserver of all men that He has watched over history. And it is because He is the Saviour/Preserver of all men that He send His rain on the just and on the unjust (Matthew 5:45)

But He is ‘especially’ so for those who believe, for those who believe are entering into the enjoyment of His present salvation in its fullness. For this contrast between God’s goodness revealed towards the whole world, in contrast with His special goodness revealed towards His people who recognise His Kingly Rule and testify of it to others, see Psalms 145:9-16. The point is that we cannot have our hearts set on God the Saviour, and fully benefit from the fact, unless we want Him to save us fully, and desire it with all our hearts. For His salvation does not just consist in ‘being saved’ so that we can have the confidence that we have been forgiven and are going to Heaven, it also consists of our being changed from glory into glory, even by the Lord, the Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:18). It is so that we might be ‘made like Him, for we will see Him as He is’ (1 John 3:2). It is so that He might ‘work in us to will and to do of His good pleasure’ (Philippians 2:13), a salvation that we have to work out with greatest care (Philippians 2:12). But we must notice that we do not labour and strive for this salvation, we rather labour and strive (as Paul did) on Christ’s behalf because this salvation is ours, a gift from the living God our Saviour (compare Ephesians 2:8-9). The salvation itself is God’s gift to us as, having been crucified with Christ, we allow Him to live out His life through us (Galatians 2:20). Its consequence is that we begin to live as the people of God because we are His workmanship (Ephesians 2:10).

The idea behind the word 'especially' is that towards His people He acts in an especial way. It no longer simply has in mind His general benevolence towards mankind, but has in mind His individual and personal activity on behalf those who are His.