now he is making his appeal through his ambassadors to accept the reconciliation that is offered. He died for all and the appeal goes out to all: “be reconciled to God!” The universal nature of the atonement is also an important theme in Paul’s “pastoral epistles,” his letters to Timothy and Titus. One of the most famous verses in all of Scripture that affirms God’s will to provide salvation for all persons appears in these pastoral epistles: “[God] desires everyone to be saved and to come to the