3:15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the {7} house of God, which is the church of the living God, the {i} pillar and ground of the truth.
(7) The pastor always has to consider how he carries out his duties in the house of the living God, in which the treasure of the truth is kept.
(i) That is, with regard to man: for the Church rested upon that cornerstone, Christ, and is the preserver of the truth, but not the mother.
3:15 But if I tarry. In that case he wrote that Timothy might understand how to act.
How thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God. Conduct thyself in the management of the church.
Which is the church of the living God. The house of God is not the temple of Diana, which stood there at Ephesus.
The pillar and ground of the truth. The church is the pillar and support of the truth because it preaches it to the world, preserves it, and transmits it from generation to generation.
3:15 That thou mayest know how to behave - This is the scope of the epistle. In the house of God - Who is the master of the family. Which is - As if he had said, By the house of God, I mean the church.
3:14-16 The church is the house of God; he dwells there. The church holds forth the Scripture and the doctrine of Christ, as a pillar holds forth a proclamation. When a church ceases to be the pillar and ground of truth, we may and ought to forsake her; for our regard to truth should be first and greatest. The mystery of godliness is Christ. He is God, who was made flesh, and was manifest in the flesh. God was pleased to manifest himself to man, by his own Son taking the nature of man. Though reproached as a sinner, and put to death as a malefactor, Christ was raised again by the Spirit, and so was justified from all the false charges with which he was loaded. Angels ministered to him, for he is the Lord of angels. The Gentiles welcomed the gospel which the Jews rejected. Let us remember that God was manifest in the flesh, to take away our sins, to redeem us from all iniquity, and to purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These doctrines must be shown forth by the fruits of the Spirit in our lives.
