CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
1 Timothy 1:1. By the commandment.—The usual expression has been “by the will of God.” There is a perceptible ring of austerity about the word for “commandment.” Paul is an apostle in accordance with the behest of God. God our Saviour.—A designation not often found outside the Pastoral epistles in the New Testament, but frequent in the Old Testament. Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope.—R.V. “Christ Jesus our hope.” Not only the object of it, nor the author of it, but its very substance and foundation; “in eo solo residet tota salutis nostræ materia” (Ellicott).
1 Timothy 1:2. Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith.—R.V. “my true child in faith.” Every part of the appositional member has its complete significance. “Son” denotes the affectionate as well as spiritual nature of the connection. “Own” specifies the genuineness and reality of it. “In faith” marks the sphere in which such a connection is alone felt and realised (Ellicott).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— 1 Timothy 1:1-2
Apostolic Greeting.
I. Asserts the Divine source and authority of the apostleship of the writer.—“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope” (1 Timothy 1:1). It was not necessary to assure Timothy of his apostleship; but Paul had others in view to whom this epistle might be read, and for his own sake and Timothy’s he set forth His Divine call. No man can make himself an apostle or a minister of the gospel. This is God’s work, and whom He calls He charges with full authority to proclaim the truth. The responsibilities of the preacher are so great, and the difficulties of his work so perplexing and oppressive, that nothing short of a profound consciousness of his Divine commission can sustain him. The apostle recognises the united action of God the Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ in his appointment; and without any argument—for the fact to him was beyond the necessity of argument—he states the Divinity of Christ and His equality of nature with the Father. Both were as one in the work of salvation, and in a beautiful and suggestive expression he designates Christ as “our hope.” The hope of salvation which dawned upon men by the manifestation of Christ becomes a blessed reality to all who believe in Him.
II. Addressed to one standing in a special relation to the writer.—“Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith” (1 Timothy 1:2). It was through the instrumentality of Paul that Timothy was brought to accept the gospel, and a friendship between the two then began which deepened in affection as the years rolled on, notwithstanding their disparity in age. It was a friendship as intimate and as dear as that which mutually exists between father and son. In this case, so different in other friendships, it was the aged one who had the enthusiasm and enterprise, and the younger one the timidity and reflective reserve: yet the one was the complement and true helpmeet of the other. It is not easy to say which gained most from the affection and devotion of the other. Timothy’s indebtedness to Paul was great; but few men could have supplied the apostle’s needs as Timothy did. The craving for sympathy so often disclosed in the writings of Paul found a loving response in the sensitive and thoughtful nature of Timothy. The young and capable evangelist entered appreciatively into the ideas and plans of the apostle, and with willing obedience and heroic fortitude helped to carry them out.
III. Supplicates the bestowment of Divine blessings.—“Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Timothy 1:2). From the same source as salvation come the blessings of grace, mercy, and peace—the results and evidences of salvation. To the accustomed formula of the apostle, “grace and peace,” he now adds “mercy”—an internal evidence of the genuineness of the epistle. “Grace, mercy, and peace illustrate the character of the gospel as essentially different not only from the law, but from every merely human and philosophic system of religion. All grace, mercy, and peace which God can bestow come to us only through and in communion with His Son. We may call grace the highest good for the godly, mercy for the suffering, and peace for the struggling disciple. In its harmony this ravishing threefold chord expresses all the spiritual gifts which the Christian should ask for himself and his brethren” (Lange).
Lessons.—
1. Ministerial qualification and authority are from God.
2. The minister has a tender regard for those he brought to Christ.
3. The work of the ministry is beset with difficulties.