- Requesting Timothy: (1:6-8): Timothy had received special gifts during his ordination to serve the church (1 Tim.4:14). As a gifted, valuable man for the kingdom of God, he seemed to be timid. It appeared that he did not like to confront people for the right doctrines. People were impressed by his great warmth, but he seemed to be little soft that one’s feeling may be hurt and accommodate their thoughts. But Paul was a man deep love, but at the same time rebukes people when they were wrong. Even he rebuked apostle Peter when he was wrong (Gal. 2:11-21). Paul wanted Timothy to develop within him the boldness and courage to confront the people when they are wrong so that the church may be protected from false teaching. Timothy cannot be passive when the wrong teaching slowly crops in. Therefore Paul requests and even challenged him to be bold enough. Timothy must improve upon his gifts, his passion for the ministry. “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and self-discipline” (1:7). Although Timothy was experiencing a great opposition to his message and to himself as a leader, because he was youth, Paul urged him to be bold. When people of any stature try to intimidate us, we can depend upon the power of the Holy Spirit who gives us the boldness, love and self-discipline. The Holy Spirit can help us to overcome any obstacle however great it may be. Boldness, love and self-discipline are always available to us. When we are faced with difficult situations, we panic and put ourselves in chaos. But the Holy Spirit can give us the sound mind or self-control. We all face fearful situations. Some people are afraid to speak in front of others, others are afraid of confrontation, some others are afraid that they would like fools when they talk on Godly subject, some others are afraid of rejection. But in and every situation, we can depend upon the Holy Spirit to give us the courage.
God’s manifold work for humanity: (1:9-10):
Paul gives a gist of the Gospel. God loved us, called us and sent the Lord Jesus Christ to die on the cross as a propitiation for our sins. We are a part of the eternal plan that God determined before the foundation of the world. It was only by His grace and love and provided a way for our redemption. He suffered on His own will so that those who trust Him will be saved. We cannot earn the salvation through our merit but by His grace and trusting Him and accepting Him as our Lord and Saviour. It was His own purpose and will that we would be saved.
The emphasis is that we did not save ourselves by any amount of merit. Christ died for our sins and broke the power of death by His resurrection. He made the sting of the death inoperative and abolished death. ” Where, O death, where is your victory? Where O death, is your sting?” (1 Cor. 15:55).
Christ was not only the Destroyer of death but He also revealed Life and immortality. In the Old Testament the doctrines of eternal life, death, resurrection, and the eternal state were in the shadows. But the Lord Jesus Christ had shone His light on death and the grave. Through the Gospel, He has given us assurance of eternal life, resurrection, and the hope of heaven.
Some people speak of “soul sleep” and other strange doctrines usually get their ideas by misunderstanding the Psalms and Ecclesiastes. Instead of allowing the clear light of the New Testament to shine on the Old, they look at OT shadows and darkness. If we don’t trust the Gospel, we will only cast another shadow and make our understanding more darker. Immortality (2 Tim.1:10) means “incorruptibility,” which also refers to the resurrection body. The present body is subjected to decay and is corruptible but the glorified body we shall have when we see Christ will not be subject to decay or death (1 Cor. 15:49-58; Phil 3:21).