Paul’s charge to Timothy: (6:13-16):
Paul gives a solemn charge to Timothy with 2-examples. The Lord Jesus Christ made a confession before Pontius Pilate that He is the Messiah and Christ which had qualified Him to be crucified. Similarly Paul also made a confession before King Agrippa (Acts 24:29) which has made him to be the martyr for the cause of Gospel. By giving these 2-examples, Paul urges Timothy to preserve the body of Christ without spot or blemish. Timothy by his own godly life, his teaching by faith must preserve Church without stain or reproach until the appearing of Christ.
Here for the first time, Paul senses that second coming of Christ might be delayed, he gives glory to God and says that our God will fulfil His coming in His own time. He is the mighty God, the King of kings and Lord of Lords and who lives in unapproachable light. No one has seen His glory. Paul praises God with all these truths about God in order to encourage Timothy to fight the good fight of faith and not give up. We need not fear life because God is the ruler of all and we need not fear death because He shares immortality with us. It is impossible for a sinful human to approach the holy God. It is only through Jesus Christ that we can be accepted into His presence.
There are only 2-instances where a man has seen God.
- Jacob saw God as a stair case from heaven to earth where angels were moving up and down (Gen. 32:30).
- Moses saw God only the back portion. It was a special grace that God has allowed Moses to see some of His glory (Ex 33:18-23). “No man hath seen God at any time” (Jn. 1:18) refers to seeing God in His essence We on earth can see His spiritual nature. His manifestations as a person through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul gave a special emphasis on the glory of God was because people in the first-century were going through the “emperor cult” that existed in the Roman Empire. It was customary to acknowledge regularly “Caesar is Lord!” But Christians would say “Jesus Christ is Lord!” which was becoming a threat to them. That’s why Paul said: Only God has honour and power for ever and ever.
A command for the rich people: (6:17-19):
Paul was speaking about the attitude of the rich people that they should not be arrogant and must not put their hope in wealth which is very uncertain and fleeting. Many Christians have the temptations to accumulate wealth, but they must understand that God is the source of all material things. Material possessions are given to us for our enjoyment and also to share with those who have less or nothing. Ephesus was a wealthy city and many Christians were in the church were wealthy. When God blesses people with wealth and prosperity, it includes a great responsibility also. The command to Timothy was to see that rich Christians must cultivate the habit of giving and sharing with others. They should make every effort to be generous and willing to share what they have. If they do this, they will lay up treasure for themselves in heaven. That’s the fleeting or temporary things become eternal. It is investing in heaven. Such eternal treasure becomes a firm foundation for our future. Even if we don’t have material possession, yet we can be rich in our deeds. No matter how poor we are, we always have something to share with others. In this context we have a good phrase given by the missionary “Jim Elliot” to Acua island in South America. “He is no fool who loses what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” All these material gains are nothing compared to what the Lord is going to give us.
Ex: The rich man and Lazarus, the rich fool gives ample proof that how their material possession makes them arrogant, proud and becomes a stumbling block to eternal life.
Paul’s final exhortation and greetings: (6:20-21):
Paul exhorted Timothy to guard the deposit or trust which was passed to him. The deposit is nothing but the Truth or the Christian faith which was under attack in Ephesus. For this Timothy must exercise wholly in his life. Like Timothy we must reject subtle inroads of error. We must turn away from godless chatter, the things opposing Christianity which the world gives the title as knowledge. Some people call it as a mystery. Such godless chatter has taken the toll of many believing Christians Ephesus. They were caught in Gnosticism as a result, wandered away from faith or nose dived in their faith.
With this Paul gives a final greetings that God’s grace may abound Timothy and the church in Ephesus.
Some practical tips from 1 Timothy:
Many leaders take important positions in the churches and organisations for the growth of ministry.
- It is important that they should take it as a God given responsibility.
- It is also important to have clear understanding, proper qualifications for the roles of the church leaders as given by Apostle Paul in 1st
- Just as Paul hoped that Timothy would address the church elders with a sort of templates, every Pastor, Bishop or God servant should prepare the church according to the teaching of the Paul.
- A church which follows the qualifications laid down by Paul, would definitely thrive to become an active and role model for world around.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
- NIV Life application Bible.
- ESV Study Bible
- Ryrie study Bible.
- NIV Study Bible.
- Bible Knowledge Commentary/Old Testament.
- The Bible Exposition Commentary by Warren W. Wiersbe
- Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary.
- Adam Clarke’s Commentary
- Wycliffe Bible commentary.
- Mathew Henry conscise
- Blue letter Bible by David Guzik.
- Unlocking the Bible by David Pawson.
- The outline Bible by Harold L Willmington.
Note: Please use this notes only as an outline, but spend more time studying the Word of God. For your questions, suggestions, and criticism, please contact me. Kati Ravikumar, Mob: +918986873994, Email: katiravikumar@gmail.com