1 Timothy 1:2 Commentary and Bible Study

This endearing description of Timothy not only means that he was born again through the ministry of the apostle; it also means that Paul holds him in great love and affection. Timothy accompanied the apostle Paul to a great many of the places where he went. He was dispatched hither and thither by the apostle to evangelise, to strengthen, and to assist churches, but nearly always returning to Paul. He is mentioned as a companion of Paul in 1 and 2 Thessalonians in the opening verses, in the address in 2 Corinthians, and in three of the letters that were written from Rome while Paul was imprisoned there: in the letter to the Philippians, to the Colossians, and to Philemon, Timothy is seen as being with the apostle. In fact in Luke's narrative in the Book of Acts he so takes it for granted that Timothy will be with Paul, that quite often he omits to mention the fact, and it slips out of the narrative almost incidentally that Timothy was also there with Paul. So here he is the apostle’s particular companion.It is Timothy, a prototype minister, a servant of the Lord, converted something between 10 to 12 years, who is addressed: ‘Grace, mercy, and peace.’ Interestingly we find similar addresses – ‘Grace, mercy, and peace’ – beginning all three of the pastoral epistles: 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. Throughout all the remainder of the Apostle Paul's epistles it is ‘grace and peace’, but here you have mercy brought between them, and that is rather strange because mercy elsewhere comes before grace. Mercy describes the attitude of God, the heart of God which is deeply moved at the plight of man. It is the pity and compassion of God which leads him to extend his grace, his free and undeserved love, and his pardon and kindness. So naturally mercy, the attitude, precedes grace, the act of outpouring. But in the three pastoral the inspired writer turns it the other way around and has grace first, then mercy and peace. That tells us that mercy also has an active side to it. Mercy is the heart and attitude of God which gives rise to grace. But then when grace flows and we are saved and we continue to depend on grace, mercy comes back as an action not just an attitude. So we have these three pillars of the ongoing Christian life, the three indications of real Christian experience day by day. What is this? Is it a prayer? Yes, and you could quite legitimately insert the words ‘I pray that you have grace.’ But it's more than a prayer; it's a desire. ‘I desire that you will be strengthened to teach, that you will have a heart for people and patience, but especially that you will have grace.’ But it is more still. It is an exhortation. ‘Timothy, you need grace; I exhort you not to impede it.’ What is grace? First we think of grace describing the free unmerited favour of God in salvation. Even for believers it is something which is given to you, which is free and undeserved. You can impede it or you can be open to it, but you cannot earn it or deserve it. That person has great instrumentality; that person is used of God. What did he do to earn it? Nothing. No, but you can be open to it or you can impede it. When it comes to Christians it describes not only something free and unmerited it describes help and illumination and effectiveness, being strengthened. Mercy is God looking at us in our pitiable, hopeless condition. Mercy is something you have towards the hopeless and the distressed and the miserable, and the person who cannot help themselves. As unsaved people we have no spiritual life, no understanding of why we are here, no help from God; no hope beyond the grave, lost in sin, and getting worse, the enemy of souls making fools of us. What is mercy in connection with Christian people? It is the kindness of God. May you sense and experience the kindness of God towards you. We are still sinners, remember. I was a sinner. I will be a saint in eternity. Right now I'm a sinner-saint. There is still a fallen nature within me and it shouldn't be, but I yield to it and I allow it to speak and come back and influence me. So I deserve nothing but it all comes to me by the mercy of God. ‘And peace’ – it's the most common New Testament word for ‘peace’, which comes from the verb ‘to join’. Not the peace of the graveyard, but the peace of reconciliation, the peace of being at one with someone. There was a war, but now it's over and we can talk to each other or can trade with each other. It's the peace of union, the peace of communion. The hymns of John Newton cover many themes but his favourite theme is union with Christ. Things won't trouble you; things won't throw you over. Yes, you'll be grieved, you'll be hurt by things, but it will never overpower you because you have something far stronger: you have union with Christ. You are on the road to heaven; you are a member of the family of God, a citizen of heaven. Timothy like Paul is going to encounter some terrible knocks, the harshest of criticism. He had better have a sense of union with Christ. Peace means also deep conviction. It means assurance comes to you become more certain than you have ever been of the things of God. You feel your prayers are heard and answered.