1:1 Paul, {1} an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, [which is] our hope;
(1) First of all, he affirms his own free vocation and also Timothy's, that the one might be confirmed by the other: and in addition he declares the sum of the apostolic doctrine, that is, the mercy of God in Christ Jesus apprehended by faith, the end of which is yet hoped for.
1:1 The Work Assigned to Timothy
SUMMARY OF I TIMOTHY 1:
Greetings. Why Timothy Was Left at Ephesus. The True Object of the Commandment. Whom the Law Affects. Paul's Call to the Apostleship. Hymenaeus and Alexander.
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ. As one object of this letter was to strengthen Timothy's authority, Paul writes as an apostle.
By the commandment of God. See Ro 16:26. As the Judaizing opposers tried to show that Paul was inferior to Peter and the other apostles, he often recalls the fact that his appointment came not from them, and that he was independent of them. The Lord sent him to the Gentiles, as they were sent to the Jews (Ac 9:15).
1:1 Paul an apostle - Familiarity is to be set aside where the things of God are concerned. According to the commandment of God - The authoritative appointment of God the Father. Our Saviour - So styled in many other places likewise, as being the grand orderer of the whole scheme of our salvation. And Christ our hope - That is, the author, object, and ground, of all our hope.
1:1-4 Jesus Christ is a Christian's hope; all our hopes of eternal life are built upon him; and Christ is in us the hope of glory. The apostle seems to have been the means of Timothy's conversion; who served with him in his ministry, as a dutiful son with a loving father. That which raises questions, is not for edifying; that which gives occasion for doubtful disputes, pulls down the church rather than builds it up. Godliness of heart and life can only be kept up and increased, by the exercise of faith in the truths and promises of God, through Jesus Christ.
