1 Timothy 1:1,2 - Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary

Bible Comments

(1) В¶ Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope; (2) Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

I think it not improper to observe to the Reader, that, notwithstanding Paul was well known to Timothy, yet he reminds this youth of his Apostolic authority. His first miraculous call by Christ; Acts 9:3, etc. his after ordination by the Holy Ghost Acts 13:1-5. and the revelation God the Father made of his dear Son in Paul, that he might preach Christ, these things he would not lose sight of. Galatians 1:15-16. And I beg to observe in Paul's address to Timothy in these verses, another thing, which I also think not improper to remark, namely, in calling Timothy his own son in the faith. From whence some have concluded, Paul meant to say, that he was his spiritual father. But, notwithstanding the very great fondness which some have to this title, certain it is, Paul never used it himself. It is well known that Timothy was no relation to Paul after the flesh, his father being a Greek, and his mother a Jewess. Acts 16:1. And it is as certain, that Timothy was not spiritually related, if there be such a thing, (which I much doubt), to the Apostle by conversion, for he was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium, before Paul had ever seen him. Acts 16:2. So that Paul calling him his own son after the faith, certainly had no allusion to this subject, for he was not, in this sense, his spiritual father. This title hath given great occasion to indulge spiritual pride with many in the Church of God, and the enemy of souls, who well knows the weak and vulnerable parts of our nature, hath, in numberless instances, made an handle of it, to induce very unbecoming things being said in the Church. What the Apostle meant by naming those he called children, and of having begotten them to the Gospel by his instrumentality, I would not presume to speak decidedly upon. But one thing I do venture to believe, the Apostle never meant from it, that in the succeeding ages of the Church, any should arrogate to themselves, under cover of his example, such titles. The places in Scripture where this subject is in the least hinted at are but few, and those, if examined closely, nay, perhaps, without violence, be construed to a different meaning. 1 Corinthians 4:14-15; 2 Corinthians 12:14; Gal 4:19; 1 Thessalonians 2:11; Titus 1:4; Philemon 1:25. But it shocks the mind, when we hear from pulpits, and read in sermons, and behold in inscriptions on tombstones of ministers, those sacred words of the Prophet, in allusion to Christ, and which, as the Holy Ghost hath himself explained, can belong to no other, as if to be spoken by such worms of the earth at the last day; Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me. Isaiah 8:18; Hebrews 2:13. Supposing everything that can be supposed in favor of this spiritual name, as relating to Paul and his ministry, would any man that considers his miraculous conversion, ordination, and the visions of God given him, take from such an instance confidence to call their ministry in the word by such a term? And is it not to be apprehended, by the very common use made of it in these modern times, that many have called themselves spiritual fathers, in the supposed conversion of others, concerning whom great doubts may be entertained whether they were ever converted themselves? But here I leave the subject.

1 Timothy 1:1-2

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;

2 Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.