1Cor 4:17, 1Ti 1:2, 18, 2Ti 1:2, 2:1 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 17. For this cause . In order to remind you of my doctrines and my manner Of life. Since I am hindered from coming myself, I have sent a fellow-labourer as my messenger, well acquainted with my views and feelings, that he might do what I would do if I were present. Have I sent unto you Timotheus . Timothy, the companion and fellow-labourer of Paul. This was probably when Paul was at Ephesus. He sent Timothy and Erastus into Macedonia, probably with instructions to go to Corinth if convenient. Yet it was not quite certain that Timothy would come to them; for, in , he expresses a doubt whether he would. Paul was probably deeply engaged in Asia, and did not think it proper then for him to leave his field of labour. He probably supposed also, that Timothy, as his ambassador, would be able to settle the difficulties in Corinth as well as if he were himself present. My beloved son . In the gospel. See . He supposed, therefore, that they would listen to him with great respect. And faithful in the Lord . A true Christian and a faithful servant of Christ; and who is, therefore, worthy of your confidence. Of my ways . My doctrine, my teaching, my mode of life. Which be in Christ . That is, my Christian life; my ministry; or my conduct as a Christian and a follower of the Saviour. As I teach every where , etc. This was designed probably to show them that he taught them no new or peculiar doctrines; he wished them simply to conform to the common rules of the churches, and to be like their Christian brethren everywhere. The Christian church is founded everywhere on the same doctrines; is bound to obey the same laws; and is fitted to produce and cherish the same sprat. The same spirit that was required in Ephesus or Antioch, was required at Corinth; the same spirit that was required at Corinth, at Ephesus, or at Antioch, is required now. (+) "Timotheus" "Timothy" (++) "remembrance" "Who will remind you"

1 Corinthians 4:17

Verse 17. For this cause. In order to remind you of my doctrines and my manner Of life. Since I am hindered from coming myself, I have sent a fellow-labourer as my messenger, well acquainted with my views and feelings, that he might do what I would do if I were present.

Have I sent unto you Timotheus. Timothy, the companion and fellow-labourer of Paul. This was probably when Paul was at Ephesus. He sent Timothy and Erastus into Macedonia, probably with instructions to go to Corinth if convenient. Yet it was not quite certain that Timothy would come to them; for, in 1Cor 16:10, he expresses a doubt whether he would. Paul was probably deeply engaged in Asia, and did not think it proper then for him to leave his field of labour. He probably supposed also, that Timothy, as his ambassador, would be able to settle the difficulties in Corinth as well as if he were himself present.

My beloved son. In the gospel. See Acts 16:1-3, 1Timm 1:2. He supposed, therefore, that they would listen to him with great respect.

And faithful in the Lord. A true Christian and a faithful servant of Christ; and who is, therefore, worthy of your confidence.

Of my ways. My doctrine, my teaching, my mode of life.

Which be in Christ. That is, my Christian life; my ministry; or my conduct as a Christian and a follower of the Saviour.

As I teach every where, etc. This was designed probably to show them that he taught them no new or peculiar doctrines; he wished them simply to conform to the common rules of the churches, and to be like their Christian brethren everywhere. The Christian church is founded everywhere on the same doctrines; is bound to obey the same laws; and is fitted to produce and cherish the same sprat. The same spirit that was required in Ephesus or Antioch, was required at Corinth; the same spirit that was required at Corinth, at Ephesus, or at Antioch, is required now.

(+) "Timotheus" "Timothy" (++) "remembrance" "Who will remind you"

1 Timothy 1:2

Continuation of Note from 1Timm 1:1. Material for Verse 2 is at end of this material.

Such appears to have been the state of things when the apostle was compelled suddenly to leave Ephesus. He had hitherto directed the affairs of the church there mainly himself, and had endeavoured to correct the errors then prevailing, and to establish the church on a right foundation. Matters appear to have been tending tot he desired result; religion was acquiring a strong hold on the members of the church Acts 19:18-20; error was giving way; the community was becoming more and more impressed with the value of Christianity; the influence idolatry was becoming less and less, Acts 19:23, seq. and the arrangements for the complete organization of the church were in progress. Such was the promising state of things in these respects, that the apostle hoped to be able to leave Ephesus at no very distant period, and had actually made arrangements to do it, Acts 19:21. But his arrangements were not quite finished, and before they were completed, he was compelled to leave by the tumult excited by Demetrius. He left Timothy, therefore, to complete the arrangements, and, in this first epistle, gave him all the instructions necessary to guide him in that work.

This view of the state of things in Ephesus at the time when the apostle was constrained to leave it, will enable us to understand the drift of the epistle, and the reasons why the various topics found in it were introduced. At the same time, the instructions are of so general a character, that they would be an invaluable guide to Timothy not only at Ephesus, but through his life; and not only to him, but to all the ministers of the gospel in every age and land. A more detailed view of these topics will be furnished in the analysis prefixed to the several chapters of the epistle.

The epistles to Timothy and Titus occupy a very important place in the New Testament, and without them there would be a manifest and most material defect in the volume of inspiration. Their canonical authority has never been questioned by the great body of the church, and there is no doubt that they are the productions of the apostle Paul. If the various epistles which he wrote, and the various other books of the New Testament be attentively examined, it will be found that each one is designed to accomplish an important object, and that if any one were removed, a material chasm would be made. Though the removal of any one of them would not so impair the volume of the New Testament as to obscure any essential doctrine, or prevent our obtaining the knowledge of the way of salvation from the remainder, yet it would mar the beauty and symmetry of the truth, and would render the system of instruction defective and incomplete.

This is true in regard to the epistles to Timothy and Titus, as it is of the other epistles. They fill a department which nothing else in the New Testament would enable us to supply, and without which instructions to man respecting redemption would be incomplete. They relate mainly to the office of the ministry; and though there are important instructions of the Saviour himself respecting the office, Mt 10, Mk 16, and elsewhere; and though, in the address of Paul to the elders of Ephesus, Acts 20, and in the epistles to the Corinthians, there are invaluable suggestions respecting it: yet, such is its importance in the organization of the church, that more full and complete instructions seem to be imperiously demanded. Those instructions are furnished in these epistles. They are as full and complete as we could desire in regard to the nature of the office, the qualifications for it, and the duties which grow out of it. They are fitted not only to direct Timothy and Titus in the work to which they were specifically appointed, but to counsel the ministry in every age and in every land. It is obvious that the character and welfare of the church depend greatly, if not entirely, on the character of the ministry. The office of the ministry is God's great appointment for the preservation of pure religion, and for spreading it abroad through the world. The church adheres to the truth; is built up in faith; is distinguished for love, and purity, and zeal, in proportion as the ministry is honoured, and shows itself qualified for its work. In every age corruption in the church has commenced in the ministry; and where the gospel has been spread abroad with zeal, and the church has arisen in her strength and beauty, it has been pre-eminently where God has sent down his Spirit in copious measures on those who have filled the sacred office. So important, then, is this office to the welfare of the church and the world, that it was desirable that full instructions should be furnished in the volume of revelation in regard to its nature and design. Such instructions we have in these epistles, and there is scarcely any portion of the New Testament which the church could not better afford to part with than the Epistles to Timothy and Titus. Had the ministry always been such as these epistles contemplate, had they who have filled the sacred office always had the character and qualifications here described, we may believe that the church would have been saved from the strifes that have rent it, and that the pure gospel would long ere this have been spread through the world.

But it is not to the ministry only that these epistles are of so much value. They are of scarcely less importance to the church at large. Its vitality; its purity; its freedom from strife; its zeal and love, and triumph in spreading the gospel, depend on the character of the ministry. If the church will prosper from age to age, the pulpit must be filled with a pious, learned, laborious, and devoted ministry, and one of the first cares of the church should be, that such a ministry should be secured. This great object cannot better be attained than by keeping the instructions in these epistles steadily before the minds of the members of the church; and though a large part of them is particularly adapted to the ministers of the gospel, yet the church itself can in no better way promote its own purity and prosperity than by a prayerful and attentive study of the epistles to Timothy and Titus.

THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PAUL TO TIMOTHY.

CHAPTER 1.

ANALYSIS OF CHAPTER 1.

This chapter comprises the following subjects :--

(1.) The salutation to Timothy, in the usual manner in which Paul introduces his epistles, 1Timm 1:1,2.

(2.) The purpose for which he had left him at Ephesus, 1Ti 1:3,4. It was that he might correct the false instructions of some of the teachers there, and especially, as it would seem, in regard to the true use of the law. They gave undue importance to some things in the laws of Moses; they did not understand the true nature and design of his laws; and they mingled in their instructions much that was mere fable.

(3.) The true use and design of the law, 1Timm 1:5-11. It was to produce love, not vain jangling. It was not made to fetter the conscience by vain and troublesome austerities and ceremonies; it was to restrain and bind the wicked. The use of the law according to these teachers, and according to the prevailing Jewish notions, was to prescribe a great number of formalities, and to secure outward conformity in a great variety of cumbrous rights and ceremonies. Paul instructs Timothy to teach them that love, out of a pure heart and a good conscience, was the elementary principle of religion, and that the "law" was primarily designed to restrain and control the wicked, and that the gospel brought to light and enforced this important truth.

(4.) The mention of the gospel in this connection, leads Paul to express his thanks to God that he had been intrusted with this message of salvation, 1Timm 1:12-17. Once he had the same views as others. But he had obtained mercy, and he was permitted to publish that glorious gospel which had shed such light on the law of God, and which had revealed a plan of salvation that was worthy of universal acceptation.

(5.) This solemn duty of preaching the gospel he commits now to Timothy, 1Timm 1:18-20. He says that he had been called to the work in accordance with the prophecies which had been uttered of him in anticipation of his future usefulness in the church, and in the expectation that he would not, like some others, make shipwreck of his faith.

Verse 1. Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ. Rom 1:1

By the commandment of God. 1Cor 1:1.

Our Saviour. The name Saviour is as applicable to God the rather as to the Lord Jesus Christ, since God is the great Author of salvation. Lk 1:47. Comp. 1Timm 4:10, Tit 2:10, Jude 1:25.

And Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul had received his commission directly from him. Gal 1:11, Gal 1:12.

Which is our hope. Col 1:27.

(a) "by the commandment" Acts 9:15

---------------------------------------------------------------------- Verse 2. Unto Timothy. For an account of Timothy see Intro, 1.

My own son in the faith. Converted to the Christian faith by my instrumentality, and regarded by me with the affection of a father. 1Cor 4:15. Paul had no children of his own, and he adopted Timothy as a son, and uniformly regarded and treated him as such. He had the same feeling also towards Titus. Tit 1:4. Comp. Gal 4:19; 1Thes 2:7, 1Thes 2:11; Phm 1:10.

Grace, mercy, and peace, etc. Rom 1:7.

1 Timothy 1:18

Verse 18. This charge. This command or injunction. It does not refer to any "charge," or "cure," which he had as bishop or minister, as the word is sometimes used now, but to the commands or injunctions which he was delivering to him. The command particularly referred to is that in 1Timm 1:3.

According to the prophecies which went before on thee. The general meaning of this is plain. It is, that Paul was committing to him an important trust, and one that required great wisdom and fidelity; and that in doing it he was acting in conformity with the hopes which had been cherished respecting Timothy, and with certain expressed anticipations about his influence in the church. From early life the hope had been entertained that he would be a man to whom important trusts might be committed; and it had been predicted that he would be distinguished as a friend of religion. These hopes seem to have been cherished in consequence of the careful training in religion which he had had, 2Ti 2:2, 3:15, and probably from the early indications of seriousness, prudence, and piety, which he manifested. It was natural to entertain such hopes; and it seems, from this place, that such hopes had even assumed the form of predictions. It is not absolutely necessary to suppose that these predictions referred to by the word prophecies were inspired, for the word may be used in a popular sense, as it is often now, We speak now familiarly of predicting or foretelling the future usefulness of a serious, prudent, studious, and pious youth. We argue �rom what he is, to what he will be, and we do not deem it unsafe or improper to hazard the prediction that, if he lives, he will be a man to whom important interests may be intrusted. As there were, however, prophets in the Christian church, Acts 11:27; 1Cor 14:32, and as it is possible that in some cases they were inspired to foretell future events, it cannot be regarded as improper to suppose that some of them had foretold the future usefulness of this religiously educated youth. Whatever may be meant by the expression, this general observation may be made, that when a young man enters on the active duties of life, and when great interests are intrusted to him, it is not improper to remind him of the hopes which had been cherished of him; of the anticipations which had been formed of his future usefulness; and of the expressions which have been used by the pious and the discerning respecting his future character. This is a kind of reminiscence which will rather increase his sense of responsibility than flatter his vanity; and it may be made a means of exciting him to diligence and fidelity. A virtuous young man will not willingly disappoint the long-cherished hopes of his friends. He will be likely to be made more diligent by the remembrance of all their fond anticipations of his future success.

That thou by them. By those prophecies. That is, that being stimulated and excited by those predictions and hopes, you might be led to fidelity and usefulness.

Mightest war a good warfare. The Christian life is often compared to a warfare or struggle for victory, comp. Eph 6:10-17, 1Cor 9:7 2Cor 10:4, and the services of the Christian ministry especially are likened to those of a soldier, 2Ti 2:3,4, 4:7. The meaning here is, that he should contend with earnestness as a Christian and a minister in that holy service in which he was engaged, and endeavour to secure the victory. He "wars a good warfare" who is engaged in a righteous cause; who is faithful to his commander and to his post; who is unslumbering in observing the motions of the enemy, and fearless in courage in meeting them; who never forsakes his standard, and who continues thus faithful till the period of his enlistment has expired, or till death. Such a soldier the Christian minister should be.

(a) "according to the prophecies" 1Thes 4:14 (*) "on thee" "concerning thee"

2 Timothy 1:2

Verse 2. To Timothy, my dearly beloved son. 1Timm 1:2.

Grace, mercy, and peace, etc. Rom 1:7.

(b) "beloved son" 1Timm 1:2

2 Timothy 2:1

CHAPTER II.

ANALYSIS OF THE CHAPTER.

THIS chapter is made up of various exhortations and encouragements to duty. The apostle exhorts Timothy to be strong in the Christian graces, 2Ti 2:1; to commit the great trust which he had received to faithful men, 2Ti 2:2; to endure hardships like a good soldier, 2Ti 2:3-7, and refers him

(a.) to the case of one who goes to war, whose great business it is to please him in whose service he is 2Ti 2:4;

(b.) to the case of one who strives for a crown at the games, 2Ti 2:5; and

(c.) to the husbandman who looks onward for the reward of his labour, 2Ti 2:6. He then, in order to encourage to be patient in enduring the trials to which he would be exposed, refers him

(a.) to the certainty of the truth of that religion in whose cause he would suffer, 2Ti 2:8;

(b.) to his own case, reminding him how much he had endured in that cause, 2Ti 2:9,10;

(c.) to the fact that our sufferings here will be crowned with certain glory hereafter, 2Ti 2:11,12; and

(d.) to the assurance that the Lord Jesus will be faithful to all his promises to his people, 2Ti 2:13. These things the apostle then exhorts him to press upon the hearts of others, that they might not waste their time in unprofitable pursuits, but might engage in the same great and arduous struggle for securing the reward, 2Ti 2:14. He then exhorts Timothy to study to perform his duties in such a way that he Would not be ashamed, and to avoid the unimportant strifes which were then raging; and to enforce this, he refers to a real case with which Timothy was acquainted--that of Hymeneus and Philetus, who, by unprofitable speculations, had been led to deny a fundamental doctrine of religion, 2Ti 2:15-18. Yet, Paul says, he should not be discouraged because some had been led into dangerous errors. The foundation of God remained firm. Those that were truly his were known, and would not apostatize, 2Ti 2:19. In illustration of this, and to show that it was to be expected that all would not honour religion, the apostle refers to a house in which there were all sorts of vessels, some to honour and some to dishonour, and says that, if any one would endeavour to free himself from all that was base and impure, he would be a vessel meet for the use of the Master, 2Ti 2:20,21. To accomplish this, he gives Timothy various directions respecting his conduct. He was to flee from youthful lusts; he was to follow righteousness, faith, charity, and peace; he was to avoid foolish questions; he was to be example of gentleness and meekness, and he was patiently to instruct those that were of a different character, 2Ti 2:22-26.

Verse 1. Thou therefore. In view of the fact stated in the previous chapter, that many had turned away from the apostle, and had forsaken the paths of truth.

Be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus. Comp. Eph 6:10. The meaning is, Be strong, relying on the grace which the Lord Jesus only can impart.

(a) "be strong" Josh 1:7, Eph 6:10