1 Timothy 1:1 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ The apostle begins his epistle with asserting his apostolical dignity, not because Timothy was in any doubt concerning it, but to make the Ephesians sensible of the danger they incurred, if they rejected the charges and admonitions which the apostle ordered Timothy to deliver to them. Familiarity is to be set aside where the things of God are concerned. By Or according to; the commandment The authoritative appointment; of God our Saviour So styled in many other places likewise, as being the grand orderer of the whole scheme of our salvation; and Christ our hope That is, the author, object, and ground of all our hope. To Timothy, my own son If Timothy was not at first converted by the apostle, (which it is not certain he was from any historical account that has reached us,) yet he might term him his own, or genuine son, because of the parental affection he had for him, the complacency which he found in that assistance which he had received from him in the work of the ministry, in which he had faithfully served him, like a son with his father, (Philippians 2:22,) and in the filial reverence and affection which this excellent young evangelist expressed to him; not to mention that Timothy had received much establishment in the faith through the apostle. Grace, mercy, and peace St. Paul wishes grace and peace in his epistles to the churches. To Timothy he adds mercy, the most tender grace toward those who stand in need of it, as indeed all do. The experience of this prepares a man to be a minister of the gospel.