1 Timothy 1:1 Commentary and Bible Study

‘Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ’, the one born out of due time. There were the Twelve but one was false, so there were the Eleven plus Matthias, and then Paul. He is the one appointed out of order from the others, but with the same qualifications as the Twelve in that he had seen and witnessed the risen Lord and that he had been directly commissioned by the Lord to be an apostle. The term apostle is being diluted down by many teachers today. You had to have seen the risen Lord to be an apostle. You were a witness of the resurrection, and to be an apostle you had to have received your commission as an apostle directly from the risen Lord. No one since the Twelve and Paul has ever been an apostle, and it is a very proud and foolish claim to make to say, ‘I am an apostle’ in the special sense that the word is used of those inaugural teachers in the church of Christ. Of course they were tested and authenticated by signs and wonders as the Scripture tells us, so everyone should know that they were inspired. Their words, their work, their letters were inspired, and they alone could authenticate other inspired material. The next statement rather surprises us: ‘God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ’ – because obviously it is a reference to God the Father. But we do not very often speak of the Father as our Saviour; but we would expect to see the statement ‘Lord Jesus our Saviour’ in this verse, not, ‘God [meaning here, God the Father] our Saviour’. But it is important, and we value it very much. ‘God our Saviour’ – all the members of the Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, have a part in the salvation of man. We must never allow ourselves to think that God the Father is in any way remote from the work and process of salvation. Here we have our salvation attributed first of all to God the Father. Yes, of course, it was God the Son who was the executive person in a sense. He came down from heaven; he suffered and died for sinners; he became our representative; he took the punishment which is due to us, if we are among the saved. And yet it was in the heart of God the Father also, his great and eternal and infinite benevolence, with Christ and with the Holy Spirit. He looked ahead in eternity past and knew the fall and the plight of human beings and the state we would be in. He, as well as Christ and the Spirit, determined to save. It is a little strange when you remember that the that the apostle is writing to a dear friend if not his dearest friend on earth though there was such an age gap between them. He was writing to one who he knew better than anyone else and yet, though he writes as a friend he writes in such an official manner: Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ. If you are an army officer say and you write to a fellow officer who happens to be your very close friend, you will write, ‘Dear Jim, Dear Fred.’ You won't say, To Frederick from your senior officer. That would be a very strange way to address somebody who happened to be a very close personal friend, in spite of the fact that you might happen to be his senior officer. But that is the style which Paul adopts here. Why is this? Because this is an official letter this is teaching not only to Timothy, but all posterity. It is given under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, and the authority of this letter must be established, and even though he is writing to his dear friend he wishes to indicate from the outset this is not just casual friendly chatter and family news. This is an apostolic letter inspired by God. This is not only for Timothy personally but for all believers also, so it begins in this most official manner.‘Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope’. Now, the word hope as used in the New Testament generally means anticipation. Anticipation is a better word than hope; it is much more certain. We are as God’s people anticipating glory. Hope, as used in our modern world, suggests that we are not absolutely certain of it. So ‘hope’ is a good word, but if it introduces even the slightest element of doubt, the word ‘anticipate’ is a better way of translating the Greek. But here it is not so much talking of anticipation. The verse means to say, ‘Christ, the only hope’. He is certain, but he is the only hope. What is the hope of the world? Well, the world hopes in things that cannot ever meet expectations, or meet requirements. Nobody, apart from Christ, can give us eternal life. Nobody can save the soul. Nobody can bless us and be with us and see us through. Christ is our only hope, the one in whom we trust, on whom we depend. That is the sense of the term here. The Lord Jesus Christ is our hope, our anchor, the one person to whom we turn in all circumstances.