1 Timothy 1:12

1Ti_1:12

Putting me into the ministry.

The summons to service

I. It was a sign of divine Grace. In Gods abounding grace he found himself not only forgiven, but summoned to service; made a chosen vessel to bear Gods treasure unto the Gentiles. He never ceased to be filled with wonder, that the Lord had counted him faithful, or esteemed him to be worthy of trust; and his highest ambition was to respond to this gracious confidence. For that is one of the best results of being trusted--it develops a sense of responsibility, and appeals to all that is noblest in the nature. Trust your child with some important message, or duty, and he will be more careful over it than over what is trivial. The apostle was put in trust of the gospel; in other words, he was commissioned to make known Gods way of salvation through Christ, and upon him largely rested the responsibility of winning men to God, and then combining them in Christian communities. A higher work could not be sought for than this, and no ambition is more sacred and divine than that which prompts one to pray for it. He speaks expressly of the ministry--the service, as the Revised Version has it--which might vary in form, but had as its essence the doing of something for Jesus Christ. And those who have any experience of this service feel that they need the superabounding grace of God to guide and sustain them in the work to which they have been Divinely called. The oil from the olive tree must flow to the golden candlestick, or the light will die out. The well must be fed from heaven, indirectly through many a hidden channel, or it will soon be exhausted. And of Christ Jesus we may say, All my springs are in Thee. In the law we find restraint, in the Christ we find inspiration.

II. But lest it should be thought that there was any natural innate worthiness of such a trust on Pauls part, he goes on to show that this summons to service came to one who was utterly undeserving.

1. It was like Paul, and therefore another indication of the authenticity of this Epistle, to call prominent attention to what he had been before his conversion. Like David he could say, My sin is ever before me. The remembrance of past sin with Paul was not a source of sorrow only, but it was a source of thanksgiving. It was something like one of those wonderful clouds we see at sunset. At first it looms ominously on the horizon, as if the blackness of darkness were resting on the distant hill, but at last the sunlight streams forth, the edges of the cloud become dazzlingly bright, and soon the whole is suffused with purple, and crimson, and gold; the dark cloud is glorified, and we feel the evening would have lost half its beauty if the cloud had not been there. Pauls description of his previous career is painted in colours black enough. Let the thought of that infinite love lead you to repentance, lest you be found at last not only to have disobeyed Divine law, but to have rejected Divine mercy.

2. It was not with a desire to lessen the enormity of his guilt that he adds, I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. Paul was a persecutor, not because he was indifferent to the claims of God, but because in his ignorance he thought he ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus.

III. Finally, it is evident that Divine grace which gave the call and forgave the sinner, had as its signs in the heart of the convert--faith and love. The grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant, with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus--that is, they found their sphere of action in Christ. It was not merely that the former persecutor was led to see the transcendent excellence of Jesus, but such faith in Him, such love towards Him were aroused in his heart, that the persecutor became the apostle, who said, The love of Christ constraineth us. (A. Rowland, LL. B.)

Ministers thankful for their office

I. Christ furnishes men for the ministry. This Paul more than intimates in the words of the text. And everywhere in the New Testament, ministers are represented as the servants and ambassadors of Christ, and as his peculiar, ascension gifts to the Church. Hence we may justly consider Christ as forming and qualifying, as well as authorizing, all His own ministers, in every age of the Church. Thus a good capacity, a good education, and a good heart, are the noble qualifications which Christ bestows upon those whom He raises up, and employs in the sacred work of the gospel ministry.

II. Reasons why the ministers of Christ are thankful for their office.

1. The ministerial office bears a favourable aspect upon a life of religion and vital piety. His duty carries him among lively Christians, among mourning saints and distressed sinners; where the beauties of religion, the worth of souls, and the presence of God, serve to solemnize his mind and to warm his heart with devout and heavenly affections. Besides all this, the peculiar difficulties which attend his office yield him a fair opportunity of improving his mind in some of the most amiable of the Christian graces.

2. The ministers of Christ are thankful for their office because it gives them peculiar advantages to enrich their minds with useful and Divine knowledge. A man might be as great a metaphysician as Locke, as great a philosopher as Newton, as great a naturalist as Solomon, and yet, in point of the noblest knowledge, fall far below the apostle Paul, who understood the deep things of Divine revelation, which alone can explain all the works and ways of the Supreme Being. His business therefore requires him to extend his researches to matters of a higher nature, and of more importance, than those which employ the attention of the sons of science; and so affords him a happy opportunity of feeding his mind with the same glorious truths which angels now desire to look into, and which all holy beings will for ever contemplate, with growing ardour and delight. And this is a good reason why he should be thankful for his office.

3. A greater reason is, that it opens before him the largest sphere of usefulness. It belongs to his office to strengthen the cords of civil society, by condemning vice, by inculcating virtue, and by enforcing the righteous laws of man from the Word of God and the motives of eternity. And it is a part of his duty to attend to the rising hopes of his flock, and instil into their young and tender minds the first principles of virtue and wisdom; which lay the broadest foundation for peace and harmony among families, among societies and larger communities. But his widest sphere of usefulness lies in that Divine authority with which he is invested, to bear the messages of God to men, and teach them those great and important truths by which they may become wise to salvation. By virtue of this authority Paul become so extensively useful in the first age of Christianity.

4. Their work is of such a nature as to carry its own present and future reward with it. The ministers of Christ receive no inconsiderable reward as they go along, before their labours and their lives are ended.

III. reflections:

1. The office of the ministry is the most desirable office in the world. This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.

2. The ministerial office needs no foreign aid to recommend itself to those who are qualified for it. Some are ready to apprehend that the ministry would soon become vacant if it should once unhappily lose the protection and support of the civil power.

3. The ministerial office is no burden to the people. One, who calls himself a moral philosopher, undertakes to prove in the face of stubborn fact, that the people of Israel were utterly unable to support their expensive priesthood. And many, at this day, seem to have the same opinion concerning the ministers of Christ.

4. The ministers of the gospel ought to give themselves wholly to the duties of their office.

5. The ministers of the gospel should cheerfully submit to that state of self denial, in which the nature of their office requires them to live.

6. Christ has laid His ministers under the most endearing obligations to be faithful in their office.

7. It is a privilege to hear, as well as to preach the gospel. It is a privilege of the Gentiles to hear Paul, as well as a privilege of Paul to preach to the Gentiles. (N. Emmons, D. D.)

The attractions of the Christian ministry

It was a wise proverb that the king of Israel quoted to a boastful Syrian invader, when he said, Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off. Our text is not the boastful exultation of an untried soldier, but rather the calm, joyful expression of the gratitude of a veteran. He had faced the angry eyes of those who at Damascus regarded him as a heretic, because he had seen more light than they. The estimate which a man of such experiences puts upon his vocation, after a trial covering about thirty years, is worthy of careful consideration. Paul was thankful for the privilege of these thirty years in the ministry of Gods dear Son. Let us consider some of the attractions of the Christian ministry. It is not forgotten that earnest, scholarly and religious men are needed in all the ministries of human life. We may, perhaps, best set forth our theme by an examination of the grounds of our satisfaction and joy in the ministry of Jesus Christ.

I. The characteristics of the gospel. Paul had zeal and joy in his work because he knew he was presenting a religion which is the outcome of--

1. A Divine revelation. God has spoken. Paul went forth, not with a Bible, but with the Word of God.

2. A system of Divine power: not a philosophy, a guess, a theory to be entertained; but a life, a present working of a Divine energy in the soul.

3. The remedial character of the gospel gives zeal and joy to those who preach it.

4. The historic connections of Christianity have given and now give impulse to zeal and joy to those who are set for its defence. This thing was not done in a corner. Christianity is no beggar in the world of thought, asking for recognition, but a system rooted firmly in the soil of human history, and bearing fruits of which its adherents need never speak with hesitation.

5. Its power to satisfy the wants of the human soul.

II. The attractions of the work itself.

1. Our contact with good men. In religious and charitable work, much of our time is spent in contact and converse with the excellent of the earth.

2. The affectionate regard in which we are held by our people.

3. The opportunity afforded for the growth of character.

4. The opportunities afforded in the ministry for the cultivation of scholarship.

III. The crown set before us. The work of the Christian ministry is not completed on earth. Allow me to conclude with a few words of fraternal exhortation as to the claims of this work and the kind of men that are required in it. And need I say that, first of all, men are wanted of an unworldly spirit. The spirit that was in Agassiz when he said, I have no time to make money, is that needed in the ministry of reconciliation. Again, the ministry needed calls for men of good common sense, and a good stock of it. Finally, the times demand in the Christian ministry men of solid learning. (T. F. Burnham.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ti 1:12-14. And I thank Christ Jesus — Here thanksgiving, an important branch of divine worship, is addressed to the Lord Jesus; who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful — The meaning is, I thank him for putting me into the ministry, and enabling me to be faithful therein; who was before a blasphemer — Of Christ; a persecutor — Of his church; and injurious — In my behaviour toward it; or rather a reviler, as υβριστην may be properly rendered, namely, of his doctrine and people. But I obtained mercy — He does not say, because I was unconditionally elected, but, because I did it ignorantly — Because, though I acted in a very rash, savage, and criminal manner, yet I did not therein contradict the sentiments of my own conscience; in unbelief — Not knowing nor believing that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, or that those whom I persecuted were his servants. Not that his ignorance took away his sin, but it left him capable of mercy, which he would hardly have been, had he acted as he did in contradiction to the conviction of his own mind: for had he knowingly opposed what he apprehended to be truth, (especially truth of such unspeakable importance to the glory of God and the salvation of mankind,) out of regard to his secular interest, he would doubtless have been left to perish under a judicial blindness and hardness of heart. It is probable, as Paul was “then a scholar at Gamaliel’s feet, he might not have been present when any of Christ’s miracles were performed, as Christ spent but little time at Jerusalem. The popular cry was strong against him, and the Pharisees and rulers treated him with so much contempt, and were so full of malignity toward him, and so ready to advance the most slanderous reports to the prejudice of his character, that it is the less to be wondered at that this rash, hot youth was borne down by the torrent. Yet we see how far Paul was from thinking all this, and whatever could be added to it, a sufficient excuse. Instead of insinuating, with some, that the miracle wrought for his conversion to Christianity was a reward for his extraordinary integrity and virtue while a Jewish zealot, he speaks of himself as one of the greatest sinners upon earth, and thereby shows, by the way, how much guilt a man may contract without acting directly contrary to the convictions of his mind, if he has neglected an impartial care in forming his principles of action.” — Doddridge. And the grace of our Lord — Whereby I obtain mercy; was exceeding abundant — Υπερεπλεονασε, super-abounded; with faith — Opposite to my preceding unbelief; and love — Opposite to my blasphemy, persecution, and reviling; which is in Christ Jesus — Which, through his mediation and the influence of his Spirit, was implanted in my heart, thereby giving life and comfort to my profession.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES

1Ti_1:12. He counted me faithful.—For the very reason that he had been “a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious,” the Jerusalem Christians looked askance at him when he was introduced as a brother; Ananias at Damascus thought his penitence a ruse, and Paul himself does not complain of the mistrust (Act_22:19); but the grace of God that treats him as trustworthy fills him with thankfulness.

1Ti_1:13. A blasphemer.—In the general acceptation of the word. He was one who would say vehemently, “Jesus anathema!” (1Co_12:3). To revile the name of Christ—as the martyrs were asked to do—was to blaspheme. A persecutor.—Lit. one who pursues another. And injurious.—One who does not content himself with an anathema, but proceeds to personal violence. I did it ignorantly in unbelief.—The Saviour had intimated that blind rage would confuse the murder of men whose only crime was belief in Christ with a sacrifice to God. Our Lord does not regard ignorance as sufficient excuse, but asks that the ignorant be forgiven (Luk_23:34). So St. Paul says he obtained mercy—was dealt with leniently.

1Ti_1:14. And the grace … and love.—The full sense is: “[And not only was I pardoned,] but the grace of our Lord so superabounded [beyond my deserts] that I was also brought to believe in and love Jesus Christ whom I had blasphemed” (Blomfield).

1Ti_1:15. This is a faithful saying.—R.V. “Faithful is the word.” This expression, with variations, occurs five times in the Pastoral epistles, and probably was used in a liturgical manner. Compare 1Ki_10:6; Rev_21:5; Rev_22:6. Of all acceptation.—An excellent translation (Ellicott). Came into the world to save sinners.—Not to be limited to the sense—His mission in life was to rescue sinners. Many scriptures remind us that the purpose was not formed when Christ found Himself surrounded by sinners, but before. Of whom I am chief.—To explain away the force of this expression is seriously to miss the strong current of feeling with which even in terms of seeming hyperbole the apostle ever alludes to his conversion and his state preceding it (Ellicott).

1Ti_1:16. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy.—The “howbeit” is the same word as “but” in 1Ti_1:13, which the R.V. gives as here. It marks the contrast between the apostle’s own judgment on himself and the mercy which God was pleased to show him.

1Ti_1:17. Immortal.—R.V. “incorruptible”: an epithet only found in union with God in Rom_1:23, besides this place. The only wise God.—R.V. drops “wise,” on the overwhelming authority of the MSS.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—1Ti_1:12-17

The Distinguished Honour of the Service of God—

I. Supplies a ground for devout thankfulness.—“I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry” (1Ti_1:12). So far from boasting of the honour conferred upon him in being a minister of the gospel, the apostle attributes it all to the goodness of God, and is full of devout gratitude. He would have been in the same position as the false teachers he exposes but for the grace of God. His fidelity in his apostleship he does not regard as of himself, but as the result of the imparted strength of God: if he was faithful in his stewardship, it was God who made him so, and for this he gives thanks.

1. Remembering the mercy shown to the most notorious of sinners. “Who was before a blasphemer, a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy” (1Ti_1:13). Paul not only himself blasphemed the sacred name of Jesus, but persecuted others, compelling them to do the same, and took a wanton and insolent delight in violence and in outraging the feelings of others. He does not refer to his past sins by way of boast—this is the most besotted form of self-glorying; nor to excuse himself for his ignorance and unbelief; but to exalt the mercy of God, which, notwithstanding his outrageous wickedness, found him out and pardoned him. “In John Bunyan,” writes Guthrie, “God calls the bold leader of village reprobates to preach the gospel—a blaspheming tinker to be one of England’s famous confessors. From the deck of a slave ship he summons John Newton to the pulpit, and by hands defiled with mammon’s foulest and most nefarious traffic brings them that were bound out of darkness, and smites adamantine fetters from the slaves of sin. In Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles, He converts Christ’s bitterest enemy into His warmest friend: to the man whom a trembling Church held most in dread she comes to owe, under God, the weightiest obligations. How much better for these three stars to be shining in heaven than quenched in the blackness of darkness—better for the good of mankind, better for the glory of God!”

2. Recognising the abundant outflow of Divine grace. “And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus” (1Ti_1:14). The grace of God was so abundant that the remembrance of his past sins was effaced and their guilt forgiven: the unbelief which had blinded his mind was replaced with the bright vision of faith in Christ Jesus, and the hatred which prompted his cruelty towards the Church, with love. “Grace will not be confined, for God’s goodness cannot be exhausted. He is rich enough for all. God’s mercy is both free and rich, both bountiful and plentiful, bursting forth round about, round about all ages, round about all nations, round about all sorts, surrounding all those rounds, and with surplus and advantage overflowing all. Not only an abounding grace, abounding unto all, to the whole world, but a grace superabounding, that, if there were more worlds, grace would bring salvation unto them all” (R. Clerke).

3. Declaring the universal blessedness of Christ’s advent. “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1Ti_1:15). The advent of Christ into the world means blessing to all in it; and the purpose of His advent to save sinners is so well authenticated by experience as to merit the unreserved acceptance of all. It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of either the advent or its purpose. “It is not without good reason,” says Bengel, “that the name Christ is sometimes put before Jesus. From the Old Testament point of view progress is made from the knowledge of Christ to the knowledge of Jesus: from the New Testament point of view the progress is from the knowledge of Jesus to the knowledge of Christ.” As the condemned man believes first the king’s favour to all humble suppliants before he believes it to himself, so the order is, not to look to God’s intention in a personal way, but to His complacency and tenderness to all repentant sinners. This was St. Paul’s method, embracing by all means that great and faithful saying “Jesus came to save sinners” before he ranked himself in front of those sinners.

II. Bestowed upon a notorious sinner as typical of the compassion extended to all.—“Of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy … for a pattern to them who should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting” (1Ti_1:16). If Paul, the chief of sinners, obtained mercy, so may all others—from the same source and on the same terms. The worst need not despair: the most abandoned may be recovered. “You have heard of stereotype-printing. When the types are set up, they are cast, made a fixed thing, so that from one plate you can strike off hundreds of thousands of pages in succession, without the trouble of setting up the types again. Paul says, ‘That I may be a plate never worn out, never destroyed, from which proof-impressions may be taken to the very end of time.’ What a splendid thought that the apostle Paul, having portrayed himself as the chief of sinners, then portrays himself as having received forgiveness for a grand and specific end—that he might be a standing-plate from which impressions might be taken for ever, that no man might despair who had read his biography!” (Dr. Cumming).

III. Calls forth a fervent ascription of praise and adoration to the bountiful Giver of all good.—“Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen” (1Ti_1:17). A vehement exclamation of gratitude, of lofty admiration, of adoring awe. God is the King of all the ages, and in the process of time the typical significance of the conversion of a man like Paul can be fully realised. How different his conceptions of the duration of God from the fanciful and misleading æons of the Gnostic heresy, and of the character of God, who alone has immortality in and of Himself, underived from any, and in His very nature is invisible, in opposition to the intermediate deities of the Gnostic dreamer! The Divine wisdom renders foolish and condemns as vanity all the wisdom of men. The thought of eternity, terrible as it is to unbelievers, is delightful to those assured of grace. Calvin well says: “God alone is worthy of all glory; for while He scatters on His creatures in every direction the sparks of His glory, still all glory belongs truly and perfectly to Him alone. There is no glory but that which belongs to God.”

Lessons.—

1. It is an unspeakable honour to be a servant of God.

2. It is impossible to estimate the results of the conversion of one sinner.

3. Praise should be offered to God continually.

GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES

1Ti_1:12-14. Ministerial Responsibility—

I. Should be thankfully acknowledged as a proof of the Divine favour (1Ti_1:12).

II. Should be contrasted with a former life of disobedience and unbelief (1Ti_1:13).

III. Should be used to magnify the abundant grace of God (1Ti_1:14).

1Ti_1:15. The Grand Purpose of the Redeemer’s Advent.

I. A most stupendous fact.—“Christ Jesus came into the world.”

II. A most gracious design.—“To save sinners.”

III. A most appropriate estimation.—“A faithful saying … worthy of all acceptation.”—W. T.

The Essential Truth.

I. The saying.—Christ came not to teach, not as an example merely, but to die.

II. What is said of it.—

1. A faithful saying.

2. Worthy of all acceptation—Homiletic Monthly.

The Chief of Sinners.—“Of whom I am chief.” Every true Christian should feel that he is the chief of sinners—

I. Because he knows himself better than he knows any other man.

II. Because he judges himself by a different standard than other men.

III. Because conscience is more enlightened and more tender.

IV. Because he labours more earnestly to subdue his native depravity.

V. Because he lives in closer fellow-with God.—G. Brooks.

1Ti_1:16. St. Paul a Pattern of the Long-suffering of God.

I. The mercy Paul obtained.

II. The cause for which he obtained it.—E. Cooper.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

III

The Apostle’s communication upon his calling to the ministry of the gospel, and upon the grace, in its high significance, which was glorified in him by his conversion.—Doxology

1Ti_1:12-17

12And12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; 13Who was before13 a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious [insolent]: but I obtained mercy, 14because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And [But] the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 15This is a faithful saying [Faithful is the saying], and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief [first amongst whom am I]. 16Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first [i. e., sinner] Jesus Christ might shew forth all14 long-suffering, for a pattern to 17[of?] them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. Now unto the King eternal [of ages], immortal, invisible, the only wise [alone wise]15 God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

1Ti_1:12. And I thank, &c. Criticism asks how this sentence can have any just connection with the rest, and finds in this prominent setting forth of the apostolate a ground of doubt. Psychology might better ask, whether a man like Paul, in a familiar letter, could withhold such an expression, since in 1Ti_1:11, he had begun to speak of his high prerogative. Besides, this personal allusion is the less out of place, because, among the heretics at Ephesus, there were some certainly who sought to undermine the authority of Paul by allusions to his former history, or even by venturing doubts of his miraculous calling from the Lord. This reference to himself was, again, most appropriate, as an illustration from his own living experience, of his statement in 1Ti_1:8-11, in relation to the law and the gospel.—Who hath enabled me. We need not refer this exclusively to ability for the conversion of men (Bengel), or for the endurance of trial (Chrysostom), or for the doing of miracles (Mack), although none of these need be left out. Without any limitation, Paul refers here to the Divine power which he had in every way received, from the time of his calling to the present. “Quo verbo non modo intelligit, se dei manu principio esse formatum, ut idoneus ad munus suum foret, sed simul complectitur continuam gratiæ subministrationem. Neque enim satis fuisset, semel esse fidelem declaratum, nisi eum perpetuo auxilio confirmasset Christus;” Calvin.—For that he into the ministry, πιστόν με ἡγήσατο. Fidelity is the trait especially required of the ministers of the gospel (comp. 1Co_4:2). Thus the Lord counted Paul faithful—in other words, saw in him one who would prove faithful; and this was the mark of Christ’s trust, that He had given him such an office, θέμενος εἰς διακονίαν; just as a proprietor gives one of his dependents a striking proof of his confidence, when he makes him steward over the rest. The omniscient Lord of the Church foresaw Paul’s fidelity, and sanctified him as a chosen instrument. That the Apostle regarded this fidelity not as of his own merit, but as a gift of grace, appears from 1Co_7:25.

1Ti_1:13. Who was before, &c. A fuller confession of his former character, in order to express more clearly the ground of his thankfulness (1Ti_1:12).—Blasphemer, against the name and truth of the Lord (comp. Act_16:11).—Persecutor, of Christians, both in word and in deed (comp. Act_22:4; Gal_1:13).—Injurious, ὑβριστής, (comp. Mat_22:6; Rom_1:30). “The last phrase strengthens the preceding, as it refers to the abuse springing from arrogance and contempt of others;” Wiesinger.—But I obtained mercy, &c. Not only because he obtained forgiveness of sins, but because, also, he was called to the apostolic office, established in it, and counted faithful; 1Ti_1:12. And why? Because I did it ignorantly, in unbelief. The Apostle does not at all deny that his unbelief was sinful, and thus deserving of punishment; he here refers merely to the one fact, which should mitigate this just sentence. The ἄγνοια in which he had lived made forgiveness possible, since he had not yet begun to sin against the Holy Ghost (comp. Luk_12:45; Luk_23:34; Mat_12:31-32). His ignorance did not at all merit forgiveness, but it left the possibility of it, without impairing the holiness and righteousness of the Lord. The positive ground of this act of mercy lay, at last, altogether in the Divine grace (comp. 1Ti_1:14 and Tit_3:5). [“How could Christ have judged St. Paul faithful, when a persecutor? Some of the schoolmen, as Aquinas, suppose that πιστός is said by anticipation of St. Paul’s future character, ex provisis meritis;” Wordsworth.—W.]

1Ti_1:14. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant, ὑπερεπλεόναδε—the only instance in which this word is found in Paul. When he speaks of sin (Rom_5:20), he there uses the word ἐπλεόνασεν; when, on the contrary, he tells of the mercy bestowed on him, he adds this most significant ὑπέρ. It is as if he wrestled with speech, fully to utter his overpowering feeling.—With faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus. Faith—not a childlike trust in God in general, but a faith whose object is Christ; here, as commonly in the Epistles of Paul, a faith united with love to Christ. “Not the love that Christ has and exercises, but that which He imparts to men” (Olshausen). This faith and this love are ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, because Jesus Himself is their centre (comp. Col_1:4). And when the Apostle says that the grace of the Lord was exceeding abundant, with faith and love (μετά), he does not consider the process or the effects of this grace, but that personal, inward life in men which accompanies it: indicatur, π.κ.ἀ., quasi comites fuisse illiusΧάριτος (Leo). Through this faith and this love he had reached the real possession and enjoyment of the mercy with which the Lord, of His free grace, had enriched him.

1Ti_1:15. Faithful saying, &c. Bengel: “Πιστός, fidus, gravissima præfandi formula. Scit Paulus, quod dicit et de quo confirmet ipsaque sermonis simplicitate refutat secus docentes, eo communiora tractans, sed decore, quo abstrusiora affectabant alii. Sic quoque;” Tit_2:1.—And worthy of all acceptance, πάσης ἀποδοχῆς, worthy of belief without any reservation whatever. The Apostle means an acceptance from which every doubt is excluded, and which thus acts through the intellect as well as the heart.—That Christ Jesus, &c. The expression, came into the world, has its full exposition in the truth of our Lord’s pre-existence (comp. Joh_16:32). The word κόσμος is here to be understood not in a moral, but in a physical sense, as an opposite to the higher moral order of the world. Paul states the object of this incarnation without any limit whatever; for which reason, too, the article is omitted, ἀμαρτωλοὺς σῶσαι (comp. Luk_19:10; Rom_5:6). The Pauline conception of αωτηρία is not opposed to a state of unhappiness in general, but to a lost state: “Subest in hoc verbo emphasis, nam qui officium Christi esse fatentur salvare, cogitationem tamen hanc difficilius admittunt, quod ejusmodi salus ad peccatores pertineat. Semper enim abripitur sensus noster ad respectum dignitatis, simul atque indignitas apparet, conzidit fiducia;” Calvin.—Of whom I am chief. In a psychological view, it is noticeable how much trouble commentators have taken to turn aside from the clear import of this word, being more concerned, apparently, for the honor of Paul than he was himself. The best of these explanations may be found in De Wette. But whoever believes that a personal confession like this exceeds the bounds of truth, proves that he has very little conception of the humility and love of the Apostle, who freely allows that he is chief in the long catalogue of sinners, because he knows his own sin better than that of others, and gladly, too, esteems others better than himself (comp. 1Co_15:9; Php_2:3; Eph_3:8).

1Ti_1:16. Howbeit, for this, &c. In proportion to the depth of his humility, he rises now in boldness of faith. Should any one wonder that such grace had reached the chief of sinners, Paul sets against this the cause (ἀλλά), and shows the worldwide significance of his own conversion. So great a sinner had for this very reason received grace, ἵνα Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς ἐνδείξηται τήν ἅπασαν μακροθυμίαν.—Long-suffering. The Divine attribute of the Lord, whereby He does not at once punish the sinner, but prolongs the opportunity of repentance. In the pardon of one less wicked than Paul, this grace could not have shown its full glory; but in him, τῷ πρώτῳ, is revealed ἡ ἄπασα μακροθ, so that Paul’s conversion appears a very marvel of the love of Jesus Christ for sinners. How much farther the purpose of this miracle reaches than to the Apostle and his contemporaries, is evident from what immediately follows.—For a pattern to them to life everlasting. By the word ὑποτύπωσις, which is used again only in 2Ti_1:13, is denoted the original, normal, typical character of the event (τύπος, Rom_5:14; ὐπόδειγμα, 2Pe_2:6). Paul stood before the eyes of all after generations as a witness to the power, the grace, and the love of the Lord; so that the greatest of sinners need not doubt that grace. The Lord had dealt with him as the king of a rebellious city, who should release at once the rebel chief; as a physician in an hospital, who should cure the most diseased; so that thenceforth no guilty, no sick, need doubt the possibility of grace and salvation. In this sense Paul was a type, τῶν μελλόντων πιστεύειν ἐπ’ ἀυτῷ; “not so much in himself as an object of faith, but rather in his trustful belief, as the perfect assurance of our salvation,” Rom_9:33; Matthies. The aim of this believing trust appears again from what immediately follows: εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον. See, in Bengel, another less probable relation of the thought. It is not strange that, when the Apostle gives to this grace toward him a significance so great for all coming ages, his heart rises in a hymn of thanksgiving (1Ti_1:17). And no wonder, also, that he speaks so fully here of his highest privilege; for not by the law, but the gospel only, could he praise the mercy of the Lord to him, and to so many after him. Thus this whole confession serves also as the confutation of the heretics, who had placed the former above the latter (comp. 1Ti_1:6-10).

1Ti_1:17. Now unto the King eternal, τῶν αἰώνων. According to some, King of the worlds; αἰῶνες is here taken in the sense of Heb_1:2; so, e.g., Leo: regem totius mundi. It is better, however, on account of the preceding τῶν μελλ. πιστ., to suppose that the Apostle had in his mind not the conception of space, but that of the succession of ages. Only in the process of time can the typical significance of the conversion of Paul (1Ti_1:16) be fully realized; and God is the King of all the ages, in whom the later believers are brought together. The conception that the kingdom of God is an eternal dominion, lies not so much in the words τῶν αἰώνων (Wiesinger), as in the following ἀφθάρτῳ. It may be that this lofty yet rare expression (it occurs only in the Apocrypha of the Old Testament; comp. also Psa_145:13) may have flowed the more readily from the pen of the Apostle, because, in this letter, he opposes those heretics of Gnostic tendency who were wont to speak of Æons in an entirely different and fanciful sense.—Immortal (comp. Rom_1:23 and 1Ti_6:16), who alone has immortality.—Invisible, not only who is not seen, but who, in the nature of the case, cannot be seen (comp. Joh_1:18; 1Ti_6:16; Heb_11:27).—Only.Σοφῷ with μόνῳ is a spurious interpolation, probably transferred from Rom_16:27.—Forever and ever (comp. Gal_1:5; Php_4:20), [Most recent English expositors agree with the German in rejecting σοφῷ; e.g., Alford, Ellicott, Conybeare.—W.] This doxology, if compared with others, shows in every feature such a Pauline character, that it de serves to be placed among the evidences for, not against (Schleiermacher, and others), the genuineness of the Pastoral Epistles.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. It is admitted that Paul was wont to regard the whole history of the Divine revelation, under the old covenant, from a typical and symbolic standpoint. The creation, for instance, of the man and the woman, the first sin, the life of faith in Abraham, the relation between Sarai and Hagar, the passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea, and their fortune in the desert, are not isolated historic facts, but point with higher significance to great truths, or to ever-recurring laws (see 1Co_10:1, &c.; Gal_4:23, and elsewhere). In the same manner he considers the event of his own conversion. It stands before his view as a mirror, which images the mercy of the Lord to the greatest sinner in all succeeding times. This thought gives us the point of view from which we must always regard the most striking examples of Christ’s power. The Lord works not only dynamically, but symbolically; and every new act of His might and love is a sign of what He will continually repeat in still higher measure.

2. The conversion of Paul is one of the highest revelations of the majesty and power of the Divine grace. We see in it a grace not only overpowering and searching, but forgiving, strengthening, and purifying. It is alike clear what are the natural and insurmountable barriers in the reception of this grace; as where one sins wilfully, so that there remains no more offering for sin (Heb_10:26). Had Paul had no ἄγνοια, his forgiveness would have been quite impossible, since, in that case, he would have committed a sin unto death (1Jn_5:16-17), by which the inward link of connection with the Divine mercy, salvation, and atonement would have been entirely wanting.

3. We find a self-revelation like this of Paul, on a larger basis, in the confessions of S. Augustin. It is worth our study, in an ethical view, to compare, with this feeling of personal unworthiness, the gross Pelagian self-conceit of Rousseau’s confessions. It is this union of the deepest humility with the most unshaken faith, that unlocks the secret of such singular grandeur of character in Paul.

4. “Christ Jesus came into the world,” &c.—a gospel within a gospel; as Joh_3:16; 1Jn_4:9-10, and several other places. Observe how simple the Apostle’s confession of faith becomes, as he draws nearer to the close of life. In the great antithesis of sin and grace, all is finally resolved. The gospel a glad message for the lost; this is all, but this is enough. Here is exactly seen the accord, on one side, which the gospel finds, and, on the other, the discord against which it clashes.

5. As with Paul, so with many since, we see how the worst foes of the truth, after their conversion, have become its strongest witnesses. Thus, S. Augustin; later, John Newton; in the history of missions, Van der Kemp, and many others.—The natural cause and deep significance of this fact.

6. If the conversion of a single Paul called forth such a hymn of thanksgiving, how much louder will it resound when the kingdom of God is come, and all His wonderful ways for the redemption of the manifold millions are revealed before all saints.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

No higher ground of thanksgiving than for conversion to the truth.—The great contrast between the once and the now in the life of Paul. How far it must be repeated with every Christian.—The glory of the minister of the gospel whom the Lord has counted faithful, and has placed in office.—The difference between pardonable and unpardonable sin.—How far the ignorance of unbelief is self-condemned.—The conversion of Paul an evidence of the power of grace: (1) No fall so deep that grace cannot descend to it; (2) no height so lofty that grace cannot lift the sinner to it.—The inseparable union of grace on the side of the Lord, and of faith and love on the side of the sinner.—Faith and love no meritorious cause of grace, but only the means through which it is appropriated.—That “mercy has been given to me,” the highest boast of faith.—What grace works in the sinner, before, in, and after his conversion.—In what way the Christian, after the pattern of Paul, must look back on his early errors: (1) With thanksgiving for his redemption (1Ti_1:12); (2) with constant humility (1Ti_1:13-15); (3) with unshaken and steadfast faith; (4) with glad glorifying of the Lord (1Ti_1:17).—The great end of the manifestation of the Son of God in the world.—The gospel a glad message, which (1) embraces all sinners; (2) is worthy of all acceptance.—Paul a pattern of the deepest humility, united with the greatest faith.—“Of whom I am chief”: (1) How far can each one repeat this word for himself? (2) why is this confession necessary? Without it, (a) there is no desire for redemption; (b) no delight in redemption; (c) no knowledge of the worth of redemption.—What can the greatest sinner learn for his encouragement and guidance from the pardoned Paul?—God the King of the ages: (1) He sways them with His mighty will; (2) He outlives them on His eternal throne.—The glorification of God the highest end of redemption.—The conversion of Paul a worthy subject for the glorifying of God on earth and in heaven (comp. Gal_1:24).

“Of whom I am chief,” a beautiful preparatory theme for the Holy Supper. “I have obtained mercy,” an appropriate subject for the celebration of the Supper itself. “Now unto the King eternal,” a fitting topic for the sermon of thanksgiving, where, as through Holland, it is preached after the celebration of the Supper. 1Ti_1:12 specially suited for an ordination, or for a church festival.

Starke: Lange’s Op.: In the work of our conversion, we must ascribe nothing to our own power, but all to God (Php_2:13). Every teacher must be sure of his Divine call to the office (Act_20:28).—Although he who is justified knows that he has forgiveness of sins, still he regards that time of his life with a constant feeling of shame; yet this will be joined with a spirit childlike and resigned to the will of God.—Osiander: The grace of God is the richer and more abundant the greater our transgressions have been, when we have repented truly and from the heart (Rom_5:20).—As often as the example of a converted sinner is offered in the sacred Scriptures, our faith in the forgiveness of sins should be strengthened.—Is God an eternal King? We need not fear that tyrants will drive Him from the throne of His majesty. Since He cannot die, let us fly to Him in all our trials, and reflect, God still lives!—Heubner: Because Paul acted openly and sincerely as a persecutor, God accepted him. Here the saying of Johnson applies: “I love a good hater;” i. e., I love one who, with true, frank conviction, is opposed to me.—Christianity is for sinners, not for the righteous.—The long-suffering forbearance of God toward the unbelieving.—What incalculable results may come from the conversion of a sinner!

1Ti_1:12-17. The Epistle for the seventh Sunday after Trinity, in the Grand Duchy of Hesse, and elsewhere: Beck: Mercy meets us as (1) the ground; (2) the way; (3) the end.—Lindemann: How encouraging a faith is this faith in the mercy of God! It awakens us (1) to sincere humility; (2) to steadfast patience; (3) to heartfelt repose; (4) to a thankful joy.—Schmaltz: The blessedness of grace.—Alt: Man in his rejoicing over the gracious work of God.—Natorp: What deep cause we have to humble ourselves before God.—Ad. Monod: The signs of a true conversion shown in the example of Paul: (1) What it is; (2) what its purpose; (3) how it originates. See his third sermon on Paul, in the introduction of the work already mentioned.

[Jeremy Taylor: This consideration St. Paul urged as a reason why God forgave him, because he did it ignorantly. For heresy is not an error of the understanding, but of the will. And this is clearly insinuated in Scripture, wherein faith and a good life are made one duty, and vice is called opposite to faith, and heresy opposed to holiness.—Bishop Hall: “To save sinners.” Add, if thou wilt, “whereof I am chief.” Thou canst say no worse of thyself than a better man said before thee, who, in the right of a sinner, claimed the benefit of a Saviour.—W.]

Footnotes:

[12]1Ti_1:12.—καί is wanting in A. F. G., and others, and upon this account has been left out by Lachmann. On the other hand, it is retained by Tischendorf. It is not in the Sinaiticus.

[13]1Ti_1:13.—[Τὸν προτ., Recepta. The authorities are in favor of τό. So also Lachmann, Tischendorf, and the Sinaiticus. Τὸν was probably an attempted correction of the text. After ὄντα Lachmann inserts με; Tischendorf omits; not in the Sinaiticus.—E. H.]

[14]1Ti_1:16.—[πᾶσαν; ἅπασαν is the reading adopted by modern critics. So also in the Sinaiticus.—E. H.]

[15]1Ti_1:17.—Received text: μόνῳ σοφῷ; wherefore, also, Luther: “To the alone wise.” On the ground of A. D.1 F. G., and others, Griesbach removes σοφῷ from the text; and his example has been almost universally followed. σοφῷ is also not in the Sinaiticus. [The English Version, like Luther, “only wise.”—E. H.]

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1:12-17 This expression of gratitude is a parenthesis from Paul’s charge to Timothy (1:3-11, 18-20). Triggered by the mention of Paul’s role (1:11), it gives perspective on the source of Paul’s thankfulness and provides a model for its readers. When talking about his own work, Paul directs glory to God and makes it plain that he is doing God’s work (see also 2 Cor 1:21-22; 2:14-17; 3:4-6; 4:7; 12:9-10).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

1Ti 1:12. Χάριν ἔχω, I thank) A modal expression. [See Append. on Sermo Modalis.] These are correlatives: Christ entrusted Paul with the Gospel: Paul, being “accounted faithful,” ‘thanks’ Christ. He thanks Him at 1Ti 1:17; and in all his epistles and in their introductions.—ἐνδυναμώσαντι, who hath endued me with power) True conversion and calling confer power, Rom 5:6.—πιστόν με ἡγήσατο, counted me faithful) A Metonymy of the antecedent for the consequent; i.e. He hath entrusted to me the office of the Gospel ministry: θέμενος, while he put (in that He put me), denotes the very act. The fact that He entrusted the ministry to me, is the moral aspect: the fact that He put me into it, is as it were the physical aspect of His act. In the phrase, He counted me faithful, we have an example of ἀνθρωποπάθεια (the actions of men attributed to God). For if I count any one faithful, and trust him, this is a kind of thing opposite of actual knowledge.[10] But the Divine judgment concerning Paul, that he would he faithful, is infallible. God sees and knows all things. Therefore, in the active sense, ΠΊΣΤΙς does not properly apply to Him. Faith and vision are things antithetic. I wished to convey all this idea by the expression Metonymy, which I used above.

[10] That is to say, Trust in the faithfulness of a man can only strictly exist on the part of man. God knows all that is in man, and what he is about to do. Therefore trust in a man’s faithfulness only applies to God by ἀνθοωποπάθεια.—ED.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ti_1:12. After pointing in these last words to his personal relation to the gospel, the apostle, down to 1Ti_1:17, describes the grace experienced by him, not merely to let it be seen what assurance he had for his gospel (Wiesinger), but also to prove by his own example (πρὸς ὑποτύπωσιν κ.τ.λ., 1Ti_1:16) the glory of the gospel entrusted to him as the εὐαγγ. τῆς δόξης τοῦ μακαρίου Θεοῦ. There is therefore no ground for de Wettes criticism, that the self-styled apostle lets fall here the thread of his meaning, that he may not have to take it up again. This section is in the closest connection with the preceding one, since it shows how deep is the contrast between the heresy and the gospel. The heresy, on the one hand, takes up unfruitful speculations, and, whenever it wishes to become practical, it places the Christian in bondage to the law. The one thing which is all-important, the forgiveness of sins, it does not assure, and hence it does not know the compassion of the Lord. On the contrary, it is of the very essence of the gospel to reveal this compassion; and in proof of this, Paul appeals to his own experience.

χάριν ἔχω] We have the same expression in 2Ti_1:3 (comp. also Luk_17:9; Heb_12:28); and in the other Pauline Epistles we have instead: εὐχαριστῶ.

τῷ ἐνδυναμώσαντί με] must not be limited to the strength granted for enduring afflictions and sufferings; it is rather to be applied to his whole work as an apostle. The proper reason of thanksgiving is only furnished by the clause that follows ὅτι κ.τ.λ.; but an additional reason is given in this participle.[61]

Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ κ.τ.λ.] is not to be explained, according to some older expositors: qui me potentem reddidit Christo, for Christ, but as a dative closely belonging to the verb.

ὍΤΙ ΠΙΣΤΌΝ ΜΕ ἩΓΉΣΑΤΟ] ΠΙΣΤΌς corresponds with the following ΔΙΑΚΟΝΊΑ. The reason of his thanksgiving is Christs confidence in him that he would become a faithful ΔΙΆΚΟΝΟς.[62] This confidence the Lord has shown by committing to him the ministry of the gospel, hence he adds: θέμενος εἰς διακονίαν, which is either placing me in the ministry (Heydenreich, van Oosterzee, Hofmann), or setting me apart for the ministry (de Wette, Plitt, Winer). The latter seems to be more in accordance with the usage of the N. T.; comp. 1Th_5:9. De Wette rightly remarks that the participle does not stand for ὡς τίθεσθαί με, nor is it to be taken as a pluperfect; it is simply the proof of πιστόν με ἡγ.; see also Winer, p. 326 [E. T. p. 365].

If the apostles thanks are due to the Lord on the general ground of His confidence, they are all the more due that he had been before an opponent of the gospel; to this the next verse points.

[61] According to the reading of א: ἐνδυναμοῦντι without με is to be taken as a simple attribute: Christ Jesus who bestows strength.

[62] Cf. 1Co_7:25 : γνώμην δὲ δίδωμι ὡς ἠλεημένος ὑπὸ χυρίου πιστὸς εἶνας. Paul gives the nature of this διακονία in Act_20:24 : ἡ διαχονία ἣν ἔλαβον παρὰ τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ, διαμαρτύρασθαι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τῆς χάριτος τοῦ Θεοῦ.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ti 1:12-14 . I cannot mention my part in the furtherance of the gospel without expressing my gratitude to our Lord for His forgiveness of my errors and His confidence in my natural trustworthiness, and His grace which gave me strength to serve Him.

1Ti 1:12 . This parenthetical thanksgiving, which is quite in St. Paul’s manner, is suggested by ὃ ἐπιστεύθην ἐγώ . Cf. 1Co 15:9 sqq. , Eph 3:8 .

χάριν ἔχω : see note on 2Ti 1:3 . ἐνδυναμώσαντι : The aor. is used be cause the writer’s thoughts pass back to the particular time when he received inward strength increasingly, Act 9:22 . In Phi 4:13 the present participle is appropriate, because he is describing his present state. The word ἐνδυναμοῦσθαι is only found in N.T. in Paul and Act 9:22 . Is it fanciful to suppose that Luke’s use of it in Acts was suggested by his master’s account of that crisis? ὅτι : because . πιστόν : trustworthy , as a steward is expected to be, 1Co 4:2 . See ref. There is as Bengel remarks, a touch of ἀνθρωποπάθεια , of anthropomorphism or accommodation, in πιστόν με ἡγήσατο . The Divine Master knew that His steward Paul would be trustworthy. Paul, not unnaturally, speaks as if God’s apprehension of him were of the same relative nature as his own hope of final perseverance.

θέμενος εἰς διακονίαν : The fact that Christ employed Paul in His service was a sufficient proof of His estimate of him. διάκονος and διακονία are used in a general sense of St. Paul’s ministry also in Rom 11:13 , 1Co 3:5 , 2Co 3:6 ; 2Co 4:1 ; 2Co 5:18 ; 2Co 6:3 , Eph 3:7 , Col 1:23 ; Col 1:25 . Cf. 1Ti 4:6 , 2Ti 4:5 ; 2Ti 4:11 . The nature of it is exactly defined in Act 20:24 , “to testify the gospel of the grace of God”.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12-17. Paraphrase. Yes, it was entrusted to me; but when I say me, I must stop to thank Him who gave me strength for the task, Christ Jesus our Lord, for He deemed that He could trust me; for His own purpose He chose me for service,—me who before had blasphemed His truth and persecuted and harried His followers. But mercy was shown to me, because I did it in blindness while still unbelieving; but the grace of our Lord overflowed its channel and flooded my heart with faith and love, that perfect love which is known only in Christ Jesus. Faithful, indeed, is that saying, and worthy of whole-hearted acceptance:

“Christ Jesus stooped this world within

Sinners to rescue from their sin,”

sinners—of whom I am chief; yet for this very purpose was mercy shown to me, that in me first Jesus Christ might make clear that there are no limits to His long-suffering, and so make me the first sketch of all the myriads who are going to believe on Him and win life eternal. Now to Him who rules the ages, to the immortal, the invisible, the only God be honour and glory age after age. Amen.

This section is a personal digression, dominated by the emphatic ἐγώ (11); but it is not a mere digression, it serves as an encouragement to Timothy (cf. ἔλεος, 2; ἡλεήθην, 13, 16); and it illustrates the main purpose of the gospel, to save sinners and to produce love and faith; cf. 2Ti 1:12-14.

12. χάριν ἔχω] 2Ti 1:3, not elsewhere in St. Paul, but it was a common phrase; cf. Luk 17:9 and Heb 12:28; Pap. Oxyr. i. 113, χάριν ἔχω θεοῖς πᾶσιν (Dibelius); perhaps a little stronger than εὐχαριστῶ. “I feel and show, I express, gratitude.”

τῷ ἐνδυναμώσαντι] Perhaps a reminiscence of Php 4:13 πάντα ἰσχύω ἐν τῷ ἐνδυναμοῦντί με. Here the primary thought is “who gave me strength for my task as Apostle,” the time being that of ἐπιστεύθην: Cf. ὅτι πιστόν . . . διακονίαν: and 2Ti 1:7 πνεῦμα δυνάμεως: 2Co 3:5 ἡ ἱκανότης ἡμῶν ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ: Ign. Smyrn. 4, πάντα ὑπομένω, αὐτοῦ με ἐνδυναμοῦντος τοῦ τελείου ἀνθρώπου: but there lies behind this “the strength to conquer sin and obey the law” (cf. Rom 5:6, Rom 8:3), and this thought emerges in 14-16, Cf. 10-11.

ὅτι πιστόν με ἡγήσατο.] “Fidelem si putaveris, facies,” Seneca, Ep. Mor. i. 3; Cf. 1Co 7:25 ἡλεημένος ὑπὸ κυρίου πιστὸς εἶναι.

θέμενος] Appointing for His own purposes: cf. ἔθετο, 1Co 12:18, 1Co 12:28, 1Th 5:9 οὐκ ἔθετο ἡμᾶς εἰς ὀργήν, and ἐτέθην, inf. 2:7, 2Ti 1:11, 2Ti 1:1 P 2:8 (ubi v. Hort). There is perhaps a reminiscence of Isa 49:6, quoted by St. Paul of himself, Act 13:47 τέθεικά σε εἰς φῶς ἐθνῶν, and of Jer 1:5 προφήτην εἰς ἔθνη τέθεικά σε.

εἰς διακονίαν] Not only εἰς ἀποστόλην; for service of any kind, cf. 1Co 16:15, 2Ti 4:11, Heb 1:14, Act 11:29 (when Paul was used for much humbler service), 20:24 in Paul’s address to the elders of Ephesus; but, above all, for the ministry of reconciliation, 2Co 5:18.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He maintaineth of necessity his Apostleship against some that did carp at his former life, debasing himself, even to hell, to advance Christ’s only mercy, wherewith he abolished all those his former doings.

Which gave me strength, not only when I had no will to do well, but also when I was wholly given to evil.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Here the apostle, I. Returns thanks to Jesus Christ for putting him into the ministry. Observe, 1. It is Christ's work to put men into the ministry, Act 26:16, Act 26:17. God condemned the false prophets among the Jews in these words, I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied, Jer 23:21. Ministers, properly speaking, cannot make themselves ministers; for it is Christ's work, as king and head, prophet and teacher, of his church. 2. Those whom he puts into the ministry he fits for it; whom he calls he qualifies. Those ministers who are no way fit for their work, nor have ability for it, are not of Christ's putting into the ministry, though there are different qualifications as to gifts and graces. 3. Christ gives not only ability, but fidelity, to those whom he puts into the ministry: He counted me faithful; and none are counted faithful but those whom he makes so. Christ's ministers are trusty servants, and they ought to be so, having so great a trust committed to them. 4. A call to the ministry is a great favour, for which those who are so called ought to give thanks to Jesus Christ: I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath put me into the ministry.

II. The more to magnify the grace of Christ in putting him into the ministry, he gives an account of his conversion.

1. What he was before his conversion: A blasphemer, a persecutor, and injurious. Saul breathed out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, Act 9:1. He made havoc of the church, Act 8:3. He was a blasphemer of God, a persecutor of the saints, and injurious to both. Frequently those who are designed for great and eminent services are left to themselves before their conversion, to fall into great wickedness, that the mercy of God may be the more glorified in their remission, and the grace of God in their regeneration. The greatness of sin is no bar to our acceptance with God, no, nor to our being employed for him, if it be truly repented of. Observe here, (1.) Blasphemy, persecution, and injuriousness, are very great and heinous sins, and those who are guilty of them are sinners before God exceedingly. To blaspheme God is immediately and directly to strike at God; to persecute his people is to endeavour to wound him through their sides; and to be injurious is to be like Ishmael, whose hand was against every one, and every one was against him; for such invade God's prerogative, and encroach upon the liberties of their fellow-creatures. (2.) True penitents, to serve a good purpose, will not be backward to own their former condition before they were brought home to God: this good apostle often confessed what his former life had been, as Act 22:4; Act 26:10, Act 26:11.

2. The great favour of God to him: But I obtained mercy. This was a blessed but indeed, a great favour, that so notorious a rebel should find mercy with his prince.

(1.) If Paul had persecuted the Christians wilfully, knowing them to be the people of God, for aught I know he had been guilty of the unpardonable sin; but, because he did it ignorantly and in unbelief, he obtained mercy. Note, [1.] What we do ignorantly is a less crime than what we do knowingly; yet a sin of ignorance is a sin, for he that knew not his Master's will, but did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes, Luk 12:48. Ignorance in some cases will extenuate a crime, though it do not take it away. [2.] Unbelief is at the bottom of what sinners do ignorantly; they do not believe God's threatenings, otherwise they could not do as they do. [3.] For these reasons Paul obtained mercy: But I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly, in unbelief. [4.] Here was mercy for a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an injurious person: "But I obtained mercy, I a blasphemer," etc.

(2.) Here he takes notice of the abundant grace of Jesus Christ, Ti1 1:14. The conversion and salvation of great sinners are owing to the grace of Christ, his exceedingly abundant grace, even that grace of Christ which appears in his glorious gospel (Ti1 1:15): This is a faithful saying, etc. Here we have the sum of the whole gospel, that Jesus Christ came into the world. The Son of God took upon him our nature, was made flesh, and dwelt among us, Joh 1:14. He came into the world, not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance, Mat 9:13. His errand into the world was to seek and find, and so save, those that were lost, Luk 19:10. The ratification of this is that it is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation. It is good news, worthy of all acceptation; and yet not too good to be true, for it is a faithful saying. It is a faithful saying, and therefore worthy to be embraced in the arms of faith: it is worthy of all acceptation, and therefore to be received with holy love, which refers to the foregoing verse, where the grace of Christ is said to abound in faith and love. In the close of the verse Paul applies it to himself: Of whom I am chief. Paul was a sinner of the first rank; so he acknowledges himself to have been, for he breathed out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, etc., Act 9:1, Act 9:2. Persecutors are some of the worst of sinners: such a one Paul had been. Or, of whom I am chief, that is, of pardoned sinners I am chief. It is an expression of his great humility; he that elsewhere calls himself the least of all saints (Eph 3:8) here calls himself the chief of sinners. Observe, [1.] Christ Jesus has come into the world; the prophecies concerning his coming are now fulfilled. [2.] He came to save sinners; he came to save those who could not save and help themselves. [3.] Blasphemers and persecutors are the chief of sinners, so Paul reckoned them. [4.] The chief of sinners may become the chief of saints; so this apostle was, for he was not a whit behind the very chief apostles (Co2 11:5), for Christ came to save the chief of sinners. [5.] This is a very great truth, it is a faithful saying; these are true and faithful words, which may be depended on. [6.] It deserves to be received, to be believed by us all, for our comfort and encouragement.

(3.) The mercy which Paul found with God, notwithstanding his great wickedness before his conversion, he speaks of,

[1.] For the encouragement of others to repent and believe (Ti1 1:16): For this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to those who should hereafter believe. It was an instance of the long-suffering of Christ that he would bear so much with one who had been so very provoking; and it was designed for a pattern to all others, that the greatest sinners might not despair of mercy with God. Note here, First, Our apostle was one of the first great sinners converted to Christianity. Secondly, He was converted, and obtained mercy, for the sake of others as well as of himself; he was a pattern to others. Thirdly, The Lord Jesus Christ shows great long-suffering in the conversion of great sinners. Fourthly, Those who obtain mercy believe on the Lord Jesus Christ; for without faith it is impossible to please God, Heb 11:6. Fifthly, Those who believe on Christ believe on him to life everlasting; they believe to the saving of the soul, Heb 10:39.

[2.] He mentions it to the glory of God having spoken of the mercy he had found with God, he could not go on with his letter without inserting a thankful acknowledgment of God's goodness to him: Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. Observe, First, That grace which we have the comfort of God must have the glory of. Those who are sensible of their obligations to the mercy and grace of God will have their hearts enlarged in his praise. Here is praise ascribed to him, as the King eternal, immortal, invisible. Secondly, When we have found God good we must not forget to pronounce him great; and his kind thoughts of us must not at all abate our high thoughts of him, but rather increase them. God had taken particular cognizance of Paul, and shown him mercy, and taken him into communion with himself, and yet he calls him the King eternal, etc. God's gracious dealings with us should fill us with admiration of his glorious attributes. He is eternal, without beginning of days, or end of life, or change of time. He is the Ancient of days, Dan 7:9. He is immortal, and the original of immortality; he only has immortality (Ti1 6:16), for he cannot die. He is invisible, for he cannot be seen with mortal eyes, dwelling in the light to which no man can approach, whom no man hath seen nor can see, Ti1 6:16. He is the only wise God (Jde 1:25); he only is infinitely wise, and the fountain of all wisdom. "To him be glory for ever and ever," or, "Let me be for ever employed in giving honour and glory to him, as the thousands of thousands do," Rev 5:12, Rev 5:13.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The honor done him in having the Gospel ministry committed to him suggests the digression to what he once was, no better (Ti1 1:13) than those lawless ones described above (Ti1 1:9-10), when the grace of our Lord (Ti1 1:14) visited him.

And--omitted in most (not all) of the oldest manuscripts.

I thank--Greek, "I have (that is, feel) gratitude."

enabled me--the same Greek verb as in Act 9:22, "Saul increased the more in strength." An undesigned coincidence between Paul and Luke, his companion. Enabled me, namely, for the ministry. "It is not in my own strength that I bring this doctrine to men, but as strengthened and nerved by Him who saved me" [THEODORET]. Man is by nature "without strength" (Rom 5:6). True conversion and calling confer power [BENGEL].

for that--the main ground of his "thanking Christ."

he counted me faithful--He foreordered and foresaw that I would be faithful to the trust committed to me. Paul's thanking God for this shows that the merit of his faithfulness was due solely to God's grace, not to his own natural strength (Co1 7:25). Faithfulness is the quality required in a steward (Co1 4:2).

putting me into--rather as in Th1 5:9, "appointing me (in His sovereign purposes of grace) unto the ministry" (Act 20:24).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 12. I thank Christ] I feel myself under infinite obligation to Christ who hath strengthened me, ενδυναμωσαντι, who hath endued me with various miraculous gifts of his Holy Spirit, and put me into the ministry, διακονιαν, the deaconship, the service of mankind, by preaching the Gospel, for that he counted me-he knew that I would be, faithful to the charge that was delivered to me.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12 I give thanks Great is the dignity — of the apostleship, which Paul has claimed for himself; and he could not, looking at his former life, be accounted at all worthy of so high an honor. Accordingly, that he may not be accused of presumption, he comes unavoidably to make mention of his own person, and at once frankly acknowledges his own unworthiness, but nevertheless affirms that he is an Apostle by the grace of God. But he goes further, and turns to his own advantage what appeared to lessen his authority, declaring that the grace of God shines in him so much the more brightly.

To our Lord Jesus Christ When he gives thanks to Christ, he removes that dislike towards him which might have been entertained, and cuts off all ground for putting this question, “Does he deserve, or does he not deserve, so honorable an office?” for, although in himself he has no excellence, yet it is enough that he was chosen by Christ. There are, indeed, many who, under the same form of words, make a show of humility, but are widely different from the uprightness of Paul, whose intention was, not only to boast courageously in the Lord, but to give up all the glory that was his own.

By putting me into the ministry. Why does he give thanks? Because he has been placed in the ministry; for thence he concludes that he hath been, accounted faithful Christ does not receive any in the manner that is done by ambitious people, but selects those only who are well qualified; and therefore all on whom he bestows honor are acknowledged by us to be worthy. For is it inconsistent with this, that Judas, according to the prediction, (Psalm 109:8) was elevated for a short time, that he might quickly fall. It was otherwise with Paul, who obtained the honor for a different purpose, and on a different condition, when Christ declared that he should be

“a chosen vessel to him.” (Acts 9:15.)

But in this manner Paul seems to say that faithfulness, by which he had been previously distinguished, was the cause of his calling. If it were so, the thanksgiving would be hypocritical and contradictory; for he would owe his apostleship not only to God, but to his own merit. I deny, therefore, that the meaning is, that he was admitted to the rank of an apostle, because God had foreseen his faith; for Christ could not foresee in him anything good but what the Father had bestowed on him. Still, therefore, it continues to be true,

“Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.” (John 15:16.)

On the contrary, he draws from it a proof of his fidelity, that Christ had made him an Apostle; for he declares that they whom Christ makes Apostles must be held to be pronounced faithful by his decrees.

In a word, this judicial act is not traced by him to foreknowledge, but rather denotes the testimony which is given to men; as if he had said, “I give thanks to Christ, who, by calling me into the ministry, has openly declared that he approves of my faithfulness.”

Who hath made me powerful He now introduces the mention of another act of the kindness of Christ, that he strengthened him, or “made him powerful.” By this expression he does not only mean that he was at first formed by the hand of God, so as to be well qualified for his office, but he likewise includes the continued bestowal of grace. For it would not have been enough that he was once declared to be faithful, if Christ had not strengthened him by the uninterrupted communication of aid. He acknowledges, therefore, that he is indebted to the grace of Christ on two accounts, because he was once elevated, and because he continues in his office.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(12) And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me.—Better rendered, who hath given me strength within. The ancient authorities here are divided; the majority omit the first word of the verse, the connecting “and.” With or without this word, the sense is much the same; for on the words, “the gospel . . . committed to my trust,” the Apostle pauses, overwhelmed with the flood of grateful memories which such a thought let loose. “How I thank God,” wrote St. Paul, “who hath strengthened me within, with this power to bear witness to my Master!—me of all persons, who was once a blasphemer of His royal name! What an example I—your teacher, the founder of this Church of Ephesus—am of the transforming grace of the gospel—of its sweet, mighty power to forgive sins.” It was the thought of the great love, passing understanding, of the tender, pitiful mercy which suffered so wondrous a trust to be committed to the charge of such a sinner, that called forth the ejaculation of deep thankfulness we read in the twelfth and following verses.

If we ask more particularly respecting the exact way in which Jesus Christ “enabled,” or “strengthened St. Paul within,” we must think of his strange power of winning men to his Master’s side; we must remember his miraculous gifts over disease and even death; and last, but not least, that strength of endurance, that brave, sweet patience which made his life of suffering borne for Christ so beautiful, so touching, an example for men.

For that he counted me faithful.—The All. seeing, knowing from the beginning that St. Paul would continue steadfast and true, selected him as “His chosen vessel” to bear His name and the glad news of His salvation into many lands.

It is observable, however, that this very faithfulness, this unflinching steadfastness, which seems to have been the reason why the Lord chose him for his great work, St. Paul, in a well-known and remarkable passage, refers to as a gift of grace which he had obtained in mercy of the Lord (1Co_7:25).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12–17. Faithful Ministry. Timothy is further reminded of St Paul’s own Calling and Commission

12. This strong feeling quite accounts for the abruptness with which once again (after many other utterances of his own religious experiences) he claims ‘all the mercy’ and acknowledges ‘all the sin,’ and offers ‘all the service.’ We must omit ‘and,’ reading with R.V. I thank him that enabled me, even Christ Jesus our Lord.

The whole paragraph which follows is the drawing out of all that came into his mind as he wrote the Gospel—entrusted—to me. The ego at the end of the verse, so emphatic, is ample connexion, especially when the first word of the new sentence is ‘Thanks’:—‘To me—even to me; Jesus Christ be praised; He gave me pardon, He gave me work, He gave me strength.’

At the same time this statement of his own case is well fitted to carry on the two thoughts that have been in his mind, (1) the encouragement of Timothy to faithful ministry, (2) the saving and cheering power of the true doctrine compared with the condemning, despairing character of the law.

who hath enabled me] The aorist tense has the balance of authority here, and refers to the strength given, with and at the time of the commission. I thank him that enabled me, rather than ‘hath enabled me.’

faithful] i.e. after the time of preparation that followed his Conversion, the years of retirement in Arabia and at Tarsus, a.d. 36–44, he was judged to be ‘trusty,’ ‘trustworthy’; Barnabas ‘brought him to Antioch’ to be a ‘prophet and teacher,’ Act_11:26; Act_13:1, and then the Holy Spirit of Jesus said, ‘Separate me Saul and Barnabas for the work whereunto I have called them,’ Act_13:2.

putting me into the ministry] Better appointing me for service. The present participle in English gives the exact force of the aorist here. ‘He shewed that He counted me faithful by giving me work.’

As to diakonia, ‘ministering,’ ‘service,’ ‘ministration,’ ‘ministry,’ are used by R.V. in different places; the other passage where ‘service’ is used being Heb_1:14, ‘ministering spirits sent forth to do service for the sake of them that shall inherit salvation.’ We may at any rate say that the noun could not have had, if we go by N. T. usage, so soon the formal meaning ‘the ministry,’ whatever definiteness the word diakonos, ‘minister, deacon,’ may have now obtained; see note, 1Ti_3:1; Int. pp. 15, 16, 18; App. C.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And I thank Jesus Christ our Lord, &c. l The subject matter of this thanksgiving being the apostle's call to the ministry of the word, and his furniture and fitness for it, shows, that while others were fond of being teachers, and called doctors of the law, he esteemed it an high honour and special favour bestowed upon him, that he was a preacher of the Gospel; and that all his gifts and abilities for it were not of himself, nor from men, but were owing to the free grace of God, and favour of Christ; wherefore he gloried not in them, as if he had not received them, but gives Christ the glory of them, and thanks to him for them,

who hath enabled me; who gave him all his abilities for the preaching of the Gospel, and all that strength to perform the various parts of labour and service he was called unto, and all that firmness, resolution, and fortitude of mind he was endued with, to bear and suffer what he did for the sake of Christ and his Gospel,

For that he counted me faithful; not that he was so antecedent to the grace and gifts bestowed on him by Christ, or that Christ foresaw that he would be so, and therefore chose him for his service; but he counted him faithful, having made him so by his grace, and thus he kept him; faithfulness being a necessary requisite and qualification for a Gospel minister, he having a great trust committed to him, being made a steward of the manifold grace and mysteries of God:

putting me into the ministry. The ministry of the word, the work of the ministry, or preaching of the Gospel, the dispensation or administration of it to the sons of men; this he did not thrust himself into, nor take this honour to, and of himself; nor was he put into it by men, but was chosen to it of God, and called unto it by the Spirit, and was placed in it by Christ himself, who in person appeared to him, and made a minister of him; see Rom 1:1 Act 13:2. The Arabic and Ethiopic versions read, "his ministry", the ministry of Christ.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;

Ver. 12. Who hath enabled me] Christ sends none but whom he gifts. Asinos elegit Christus et idiotas, sed oculavit in prudentes, simulque dona dedit et ministeria.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord - The mention of the gospel 1Ti 1:11, and of the fact that it was committed to him, leads the apostle to express his gratitude to him who had called him to the work of preaching it. The Lord Jesus had called him when he was a blasphemer and a persecutor. He had constrained him to leave his career of persecution and blasphemy, and to consecrate himself to the defense and the propagation of the gospel. For all this, though it had required him to give up his favorite projects in life, and all the flattering schemes of ambition, he now felt that praise was due to the Redeemer. If there is anything for which a good man will be thankful, and should be thankful, it is that he has been so directed by the Spirit and providence of God as to be put into the ministry. It is indeed a work of toil, and of self-denial, and demanding many sacrifices of personal ease and comfort. It requires a man to give up his splendid prospects of worldly distinction, and of wealth and ease. It is often identified with want, and poverty, and neglect, and persecution. But it is an office so honorable, so excellent, so noble, and ennobling; it is attended with so many precious comforts here, and is so useful to the world, and it has such promises of blessedness and happiness in the world to come, that no matter what a man is required to give up in order to become a minister of the gospel, he should be thankful to Christ for putting him into the office. A minister, when he comes to die, feels that the highest favor which Heaven has conferred on him has been in turning his feet away from the paths of ambition, and the pursuits of ease or gain, and leading him to that holy work to which he has been enabled to consecrate his life.

Who hath enabled me - Who has given me ability or strength for this service. The apostle traced to the Lord Jesus the fact that he was in the ministry at all, and all the ability which he had to perform the duties of that holy office. It is not necessary here to suppose, as many have done, that he refers to miraculous power conferred on him, but he makes the acknowledgment which any faithful minister would do, that all the strength which he has to perform the duties of his office is derived from Christ; compare Joh 15:5 note; 1Co 15:10 note.

For that he counted me faithful - This is equivalent to saying that he reposed confidence in me. It means that there was something in the character of Paul, and in his attachment to the Saviour, on which reliance could be placed, or that there was that which gave the assurance that he would be faithful. A sovereign, when he sends an ambassador to a foreign court, reposes confidence in him, and would not commission him unless he had reason to believe that he would be faithful. So it is in reference to all who are called by the Redeemer into the ministry. They are his ambassadors to a lost world. His putting them into the ministry is an act expressive of great confidence in them - for he commits to them great and important interests. Hence, learn:

(1) That no one ought to regard himself as called to the ministry who will not be “faithful” to his Master; and,

(2) That the office of the ministry is most honorable and responsible. Nowhere else are there so great interests entrusted to man.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Here St. Paul expresses his most humble and solemn thanks to Christ for his rich favour in calling him to the high office of all apostle, for by

the ministry that is to be understood; and it is so called by way of excellence, it being the most glorious and Divine ministry that ever was established in the church: and he ascribes to our Saviour the praise of all that he performed in the faithful discharge of it. He saith:

Christ enabled me, that is, endowed him with fidelity, zeal, courage, and all otber qualifications requisite for that honourable and difficult ministry, 2Co 3:5,6. The end of that sacred ministry was, to enlighten and reform the world from superstition, and that vicious and vain conversation that was so pleasing to carnal men, to abolish those corrupt customs that had taken such deep root, and to plant the truth that comes from above, and to publish a holy law so opposite to corrupt nature. This work was opposed by the craft and cruelty, the artifice and violence, of the powers of darkness, in conjunction with the perverted world; and the glory of the apostle’s resisting such enemies is entirely due to Christ. He adds, as a motive of his thankfulness, that Jesus Christ

counted him faithful, which is an evident proof that he intends that he made him faithful. His faithfulness was not the cause or motive, but the fruit and effect, of the grace of God in calling him to the ministry. This he expressly declares, 1Co 7:25, hath obtained mercy to be faithful. If our Saviour had only discovered his fidelity, without bestowing that grace upon him, there had not been a reason of such affectionate thanksgiving; for that always supposes some favour and benefit received.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. God’s commitment of this charge to Paul by him gratefully recognised, 12-17.

St. Paul is well authorized to commit this charge to Timothy; for it was his unparalleled lot to receive it fresh and pure from God himself.

12. I thank Christ—To be honoured and blest with so divine a charge called forth all his gratitude to the bestower, Christ.

Faithful— Trustworthy; one who would never betray his trust.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I thank for and I thank, A.V and T.R.; him that enabled me, even Christ Jesus our Lord for Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, A.V; appointing me to his service for putting me into the ministry, A.V I thank, etc. This outburst of praise for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ, who had called him to the ministry of the Word, is caused by the thought, which immediately precedes, of his being entrusted with the gospel. He thus disclaims any notion of merit on his part. That enabled me (ejndunamwsanti). This verb occurs once in the Acts (9:22); three times in St. Paul"s other Epistles (Rom_4:20; Eph_6:10; Php_4:13) three times in the pastoral Epistles (here; 2Ti_2:1 2Ti_4:17); and namiv Heb_11:31. It denotes the giving that peculiar power which was the gift of the Holy Ghost, and which was necessary for the work of an apostle to enable him to bear witness to Christ in the face of an adverse world. This power (du) Christ promised to his apostles before his ascension. (Act_1:8) St Paul received it after his conversion. (Act_9:22) He continued to hold it throughout his apostleship; (Php_4:13) he enjoyed it especially at the approach of his martyrdom. (2Ti_4:17) It comprised strength of faith, strength to testify and to preach, strength to endure and suffer. St. Paul"s whole course is the best illustration of the nature of the dunamiv which Christ gave him, (see inriv Eph_3:6) the ca the diakonia, and the dunamiv all brought together as here). Appointing me to his service. The A.V, putting me into the ministry, is a better rendering, because" the ministry" exactly expresses the particular kind of service to which the Lord appointed him (see the exactly parallel passage. (Eph_3:7) The absence of the article is unimportant (Rom_12:7; 1 Corinthians. 2Ti_4:11) (For the general phrase, comp. Acts 1Co_12:28; or, still more exactly as regards the grammar, (1Th_5:9)

Vers. 12-18.

The apostle.

The character of the apostle and true minister of the gospel stands out here in striking and glorious contrast with that of the heretic. Called by the grace of God to the ministry of the Word, not self-appointed; enabled by the grace of God, not trusting in his own cleverness; seeking the glory of God and the salvation of souls, not aiming at his own self-exaltation; the apostle and minister of Christ moves altogether in a different plane from the heretical leader. A humble sense of his own unworthiness, instead of arrogant self-conceit; a lively apprehension of the mercy and love of God to his own soul, instead of a self-sufficient reliance upon his own intellect; a faithful delivery of the truth committed to him, instead of a presumptuous fabrication of new doctrines; and a glowing faith and love, with a growing apprehension of the glory of the central truths of the gospel, instead of a vain reaching after new things, and an itching for exciting fables mark off the true servant of Christ from the pretentious heretic by unmistakable distinctions. Well were it for the Church if these characteristics of the true bishop of souls were more distinctly visible in all her ministers. Questions, and strifes of words, and fables, and speculations, which tend to division more than to unity, may be found in the teaching and writing of professing Churchmen, as well as in those of avowed heretics. Let "the faithful saying" hold its supreme place in the heart and in the teaching of the Church"s ministers, and the unity as well as the holiness of the Church will be proportionately increased. Its strength to resist heresy will be increased in the same degree.

Vers. 12, 13.

Ejaculation of thankfulness for this high trust.

Though he appears to turn aside for a moment from the false teachers, he is still carrying out his design to inspire Timothy with a proper view of the true nature and importance of the gospel.

I THE SUBJECT-MATTER OF HIS THANKSGIVING. "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, that enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, appointing me to the ministry.

1. The Lord gave him strength for his work. "He enabled me." He gave him all his intellectual abilities, all his capacity for winning men to the truth, all his firmness, endurance, and patience in preaching the gospel.

2. The Lord gave him his appoint-melt to the ministry.

(1) The apostle did not thrust himself into it, nor take this honor to himself, neither was he called unto it by men.

(2) It was the Lord himself who made a minister of him; for the apostle speaks of "the ministry which I received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God". (Act_20:24) The ministry here signifies the more humble service, rather than the apostleship; for he refers rather to the work to be done than to the prerogatives of his office.

(3) The Lord counted him faithful for the work; not that the faithfulness was a foreseen quality which became the ground of his call to office, but that he counted him faithful because he made him so, for he speaks of himself as" one who hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful". (1Co_7:25) Faithfulness must be the pre-eminent quality of the steward of God. (1Co_4:2)

II HIS THANKSGIVING IS GREATLY ENHANCED BY THE THOUGHT OF HIS DEEP UNWORTHINESS. "Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and a doer of outrage." These are words of bitter self-accusation.

1. He had been a blasphemer. He spoke evil himself of the Name of Jesus, and compelled others to follow his example. (Act_26:11) This was the highest sin that could be committed against God.

2. He had been a persecutor. "I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women". (Act_22:4) He "breathed out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Act_9:1. He not only spoke evil of Christ, but persecuted Christ in his members.

3. He had been a doer of outrage. Not content merely with reproachful words, he broke out into deeds of violence. His conduct was contumelious and injurious in the last degree. T.C.

Vers. 12-17.

Personal digression.

I THANKFULNESS FOR BEING APPOINTED BY CHRIST TO HIS SERVICE. "I thank him that enabled me, even Christ Jesus our Lord, for that he counted me faithful, appointing me to his service." At the close of the eleventh verse Paul brings in his relation to the gospel of the glory of the happy God. It was a trust committed to him, i.e. it was made his great business to convey the message of happiness to his fellow-men. And as He was made responsible, so also He was empowered. He was not sent a warfare on his own charges. He was supplied with all that was necessary for the discharge of the duties connected with the trust. And so he cannot refrain from turning aside for a little, to pour forth his soul in gratitude to him who empowered him as he also gave him the trust, even Christ Jesus our Lord, the great Head of the Church, from whom proceed all ministerial appointments and all ministerial qualifications. What called forth his gratitude was, that Christ reposed confidence in him in appointing him to his service. He saw that he was one who could be used and trusted for the furtherance of the gospel; and so he gave him the appointment and the qualifications. To be assured of this as Paul was is great joy. How thankful ministers should be, if they have some evidence, in their own earnestness and in the fruits of their ministry, that they have not mistaken their calling!

II THE CONSIDERATION OF HIS PREVIOUS LIFE. "Though I was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: howbeit I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief." The gratitude of the apostle was enhanced by the consideration of his persecuting career. He was before a blasphemer, his evil speaking being directed against the Name of Jesus of Nazareth. He was also a persecutor even in this respect, that he compelled others to blaspheme. And he rose to the full conception of a persecutor in the tyrannical way in which he went about the work of" persecution. At this stage of his life he was far removed from being the minister of Christ. But though he showed no mercy, he obtained mercy. There was this to be said for him, that what he did against Christ he did ignorantly. He acted under an erroneous impression. It was not that he knew Christ to be the Son of God, and hated him for his Divine credentials, especially because he manifested the Divine goodness. But he was carried away by zeal for the Jewish religion, which, he thought, was greatly endangered by the triumphs of Christianity. He was thus not in the most direct, most deliberate way, against Christ. And, so far as he was not throwing away the most sacred convictions, he was within the pale of mercy. He was within the scope of the Savior"s intercession from the throne, if we are to regard it as conformed to his intercession from the cross, which was in these words: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do words which are echoed by Peter in his address to the Jews, "And now, brethren, I wet that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers." It was in a state of unbelief that he was ignorant. This implied that he had not followed his lights as others had followed theirs, not greater than his. He had been directed away from Christianity by confidence in his own righteousness. And be had given way to the disposition, so natural to the depraved heart, to make a tyrannical use of power. He was, therefore, most culpable, standing in need of repentance and forgiveness, as Peter went on to impress on the Jews in the address just referred to: "Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.

III GRACE ABOUNDING EXCEEDINGLY. "And the grace of our Lord abounded exceedingly with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus." In Romans 5. Paul says of sin that it abounded; here the same word is used of grace, with an addition to it which gives it the force of a superlative. He labors to express the stretch of grace which our Lord had to make toward him when he, a guilty persecutor, was saved. His salvation was accompanied by the two graces, faith and love. From being a disbeliever in Christianity he became a humble believer in it, even preaching the faith of which formerly he made havoc. From having the spirit of the persecutor he came to have the spirit of the Christian, forgiving those who persecuted him, and seeking to subdue men, not by force, but by the power of Christian truth and example. It is said of this love that it is in Christ Jesussubsisting in him, and determined in its outgoings by him. We can understand that his own experience of salvation had to do with his eminence as a minister of Christ. It filled him with deep personal gratitude to his Savior. It urged him to labor, so as to take revenge on himself for the evil he had done. It fitted him for sympathizing with others in such condition as that in which he had been. And it enabled him the better to understand the sweet gentle spirit of the religion of Christ, that he could contrast it with his own unlovely persecuting zeal.

IV THE GOSPEL THROUGH WHICH GRACE OPERATED.

1. Reliableness of the gospel. "Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptation." When our Epistle was written, this was one of the sayings that passed as proverbs in Christian circles. This profatory formula is peculiar to the pastoral Epistles. The first clause, which occurs five times, points to the certitude of the gospel. The would-be teachers of the Law apparently Essenes dealt in fables for which there was no ground of certainty, and in genealogies or namings of intermediate agencies, which only ministered disputings as to the names. The apostle regards the gospel as the embodiment of certainty. Venturing our immortal souls upon the truth of this saying, it will not prove a myth, but a glorious reality. The

2. second clause, which occurs twice, points to the saying as worthy of a universal welcome. Let all men lay hold upon it as an essentially good saying good for the whole nature; it is only the reception it deserves.

3. Particular form in which the gospel is presented. "That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." This is the gospel in all simplicity, to which the aged apostle cleaves. The Anointed of God for salvation said of himself, "I came out from the Father, and am come into the world." The world is to be understood in the physical sense; it is the earth, however, not in the purity of the conception, but the earth as it has become the congenial abode for sinners. It could not be said of Christ when he was here, that this was his original or congenial abode. He came into the world, he came from a pure world, from the Father, and that meant a world of highest purity. And what drew him to this world, with all its uncongeniality? Jesus, the Name which he has made his own, the Name which is above every name, points to his nature as love. It is of the nature of love to find a congenial outlet in saving. But whom on this earth did Christ come to save? Men who were wronged, upon whom superhuman powers were causelessly inflicting tortures? Did he come to assert their innocence against their strong oppressors? No; men who were in the wrong themselves, who were wrongers of God, and were the causes of their own misery. It was sinners that drew the Savior down to earth. He longed to save them from their misery, from themselves as the guilty causes of their misery, from their sinful habits and associations, and to make them pure as the heaven from which he came. In saving sinners, he had to suffer from sinners, in his purity coming into contact with their impurity, and exposing him to their hate. He had especially to suffer in the room of sinners, in all the loneliness of a pure, perfect life, treading the wine-press of the Divine wrath against sin.

1. Individualization of the gospel. "Of whom I am chief." He was not at the head of sinners in this sense, that at one time he had reached a point beyond which sinning could not go in heinousness. He had not committed the sin against the Holy Ghost. He had not sinned like Judas, in close neighborhood to Christ and in clear impression of his Divinity. He had never been, in sinning, beyond the pale of mercy. Neither was he in the position to compare himself with all who had obtained mercy, and to say infallibly that he was the greatest of them all. But he was at the head of sinners in his sense of his own utter unworthiness apart from Christ. That unworthiness he viewed chiefly, we may say, in the lurid light of his persecuting career. It was so complete a self-revelation, that he could not keep it from coming up before his imagination when he thought of sell. But this self-revelation was not all before his conversion. He knew how self was ever seeking to mingle with all he did. In the whole discovery, then, of what he was apart from Christ, as one for whom the gospel was intended, he could say in all truthfulness of feeling, and with no decrease of truthfulness as he advanced in the Christian life, but rather an increase, that he was at the head of the class of sinners.

V ENCOURAGEMENT TO SINNERS. "Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me as chief might Jesus Christ show forth all his long-suffering, for an ensample of them which should hereafter believe on him unto eternal life." There was a fitness in Paul as chief in obtaining mercy also coming at an early period in the history of the Christian Church, for the sake of future generations. He was a typical illustration in what happened in his case of the fullness of the long-suffering of Christ. For the first thirty years of his life he was going in the wrong direction altogether. As he drew near the end of that period he seemed far enough away from believing, in the active violent part he took against Christ. But Christ did not, as he could have done, make his hostility to recoil upon his own head. But he treated him magnanimously, as one who is conscious of pure intention and forgiving love can do his foe. He treated him without haste, giving him space for experience, for thinking about the Divine dealing, and for seeing his error. And, in the end, Paul was subdued into believing, to the praise of the long-suffering of Christ. Whoever thinks he is far enough away from believing, in resistance to the Divine leadings, in hostility offered to Christ, Paul would have him to be encouraged by his example to believe on Christ, the certain end, of this believing being eternal life, or possession, up to our capacity, of the blessedness of the Divine life.

VI DOXOLOGY. "Now unto the King eternal, incorruptible, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen." The apostle concludes his personal digression with a doxology which is unique in its character, and, we may be sure, appropriate. God is styled, as he is nowhere else in the Scriptures, literally "King of the ages," i.e. Sovereign Controller of the vast periods under which centuries and millenniums are included. Outside of them himself in his absolute eternity, he sways all that takes place in them. He can be long-suffering as he is in Christ; he does not need to be in haste, having the ages in which to work out his purposes. He is also styled "incorruptible," as he is also in Rom_1:23; and "invisible," as he is in Col_1:15 and Heb_2:2-7 There is great difficulty in all religions in rising above gross notions of God. As a pure Spirit there is denied of him the corruptibility and visibility which pertain to our corporeal nature. There is not, therefore, permitted a corporeal representation, or any image of him, as tending to degrade our conception of him. He is further styled "the only God," as in 1Ti_6:15 he is styled the only Potentate." This seems to be chiefly directed against the Essene religion, which invested their intermediate agents with Divine powers of creation. To God, as thus exalted, is ascribed, with a fullness of expression, honor and glory (as in Rev_5:13) to the ages of ages over which the Divine existence extends. R.F.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I thank Christ, who hath enabled me, in that he accounted me faithful, having put me into the ministry - The meaning is, I thank him for putting me into the ministry, and enabling me to be faithful therein.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Ver. 12. The thought of such a gospel having been committed to him—one so unworthy in himself of having any treasure of God entrusted to him—leads the apostle to recall with adoring gratitude the treatment he had received from God his Saviour. In doing so, he in one sense breaks off the thread of his former discourse,—leaving, as he does, for a time the false teachers, against whom he had been cautioning Timothy; but, in another, he is still prosecuting his design: for undoubtedly his main object was to inspire Timothy with right views of the nature of the gospel, and of the course it behoved him to follow in teaching and enforcing its lessons. The reference to false teachers was itself subordinate to this design; so that the occasion now taken to discourse of his own case as a singular exemplification of the gospel of God’s glory, is not of the nature of a digression, but is in perfect keeping with the general drift and aim of his instructions. It is also such an experimental record as might well come from the pen of the apostle himself, though we can scarcely conceive any one presuming to indite it in his behalf, far less to palm it on the church in his name. Ellicott, who vindicates the entire suitableness of the passage to the purpose of the apostle, justly says of it: “Thus, without seeking to pursue the subject in the form of a studied contrast between the law and the gospel (he was not now writing against direct Judaizers), or of a declaration how the transgressors of the law were to attain righteousness, he more than implies it all in the history of his own case. In a word, the law was for the condemnation of sinners, the gospel of Jesus Christ was for the saving of sinners and the ministration of forgiveness; verily, it was a gospel of the glory of the blessed God.”

Χάριν ἔχω—I give thanks. This is not the apostle’s usual mode of expressing thanks: he generally uses the single verb εὐχαριστῶ; but χάριν ἔχειν also occurs in 2Ti 1:3, in Heb 12:28, Luk 17:9; and χάρις itself in the sense of thanks frequently by our apostle, Rom 6:17; 1Co 15:57; 2Co 2:14, etc. The apostle gives thanks to Christ Jesus our Lord, who had given him power, or strengthened him—ἐνδυναμώσαντι—namely, to receive such a commission or charge as had been entrusted to him. He has respect to the work of an apostle, in relation to the gospel of Christ’s glory, as at once a very arduous and a very responsible undertaking, which, however honourable, would have oppressed and crushed him, but for the strengthening and sustaining grace which he received from above. This endowment of grace is undoubtedly to be connected with the whole work of his apostleship; not merely, as some, with the performance of miracles, or, as others, with the patient endurance of trial and suffering: for, while supernatural power was needed for these, they still formed an incidental and subsidiary, not the primary, object of the apostolic calling. The great end for which he received this calling, as Paul himself elsewhere testifies, was to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ, and thereby win men to the love and service of God, and form them into communities of believing Christians. And as this was emphatically a divine work, in which, if left to himself, he should have laboured in vain, the same gracious Lord who gave him the call to the work, gave him also the aid necessary to its successful prosecution.

With thanks for the power conferred on him, however, the apostle couples the acknowledgment of his own deep unworthiness: he had been counted worthy to be put in trust with the weightiest charge, and furnished with the noblest gifts for its execution, though in himself he had been an offender of the deepest dye. The Lord, he says, reckoned me faithful, or trustworthy (πιστόν); adding the proof in a participial clause, appointing me for service—εἰς διακονίαν—for ministerial employ. Such employ necessarily requires fidelity in the person appointed to discharge it; and on this account, no doubt, the apostle chose the humbler and more general term of service, rather than apostleship, to designate his office, because viewing it here with reference to the work he had to do, not to the prerogatives given him to exercise. He thus also, for practical purposes, brought his case down to a level with Timothy’s, or that of any other servant of Christ. Whatever specific office they may hold, it is essentially a service they have to render; and the higher the office, the more onerous and important also the service: so that every one bearing office in the church of Christ is here admonished, by the example of the apostle, to regard himself as appointed to a duty of service, and to see in that a proof of the trust reposed in him by the great Head of the church; therefore also a call to fidelity in the work given him to do.

Patrick Fairbairn — An Exposition of Ezekiel (1851), Jonah (1849), and The Pastoral Epistles (1874) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Paul’s Praise for the Grace which He has Experienced

v. 12. And I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry,

v. 13. who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious; but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly, in unbelief.

v. 14. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

v. 15. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

v. 16. Howbeit, for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should here after believe on Him to life everlasting.

v. 17. Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever! Amen.

St. Paul could not even think of, nor mention, his part in the furtherance of the Gospel without expressing his gratitude to the Lord for His forgiving kindness and stimulating confidence: Thanks I render to Christ Jesus, our Lord, who has given me ability, because He considered me faithful in placing me into the ministry. Paul emphasizes the grateful attitude of his heart as he broaches this topic, which never fails to excite his humble and admiring thanks. From Christ Jesus, the Lord of the Church, he had received the ability and strength for the work of the ministry, of preaching the glorious Gospel of the atonement through the merits of the Savior. When Jesus had called him, placed him into office, He had deemed him trustworthy for the work of the ministry; He Himself had been his Leader and his Model in faithfulness, 1Co 7:25. Note: This thought offers food for thought to both pastors and parishioners, the former feeling the dignity and responsibility of their office, a fact which should stimulate their faithfulness, the latter realizing the fact that ability and faithfulness are God’s gifts to their pastors, and valuing them highly for that reason.

The apostle now shows why he, for his own person, had cause for such humble thanksgiving, writing of himself: Who formerly was a blasphemer and persecutor and insolent; but mercy have I experienced, because in ignorance I acted, in unbelief. The grace of our Lord, on the other hand, superabounded with faith and love in Christ Jesus. At the time of Paul’s conversion the scales fell from his eyes with regard to this life during his youth, when he was surrounded with the darkness and blindness of Pharisaism. He now knew that he had been a blasphemer, that he had blasphemed the person and the office of Christ, Act 26:9. More, he had been a persecutor, he had shut up saints in prison, and when they were put to death, he had given his voice against them, Act 26:10-11; Act 9:4; Act 22:4; Gal 1:13-23; Php 3:6. To these facts was finally added the feature of insolence, of despitefulness, of scornful meanness. This characterizes the condition of man’s heart before the regenerative power of the Word of God has exerted its power. Paul’s frank confession shows his humility and the consciousness of his utter unworthiness for this great office. His jubilant cry, therefore, rings out all the more gratefully, praising the mercy of God which he had experienced in being brought to faith. Upon the sinner who was unwittingly loaded down with such a great measure of guilt the inexpressible mercy of God was poured out. In continuing, the apostle first gives an explanation of God’s merciful kindness in his case. He had acted in ignorance, in unbelief. His entire life and education in Jewish teaching had been of a nature to keep him in ignorance of the grace of God in the redemption of Christ. He does not offer an excuse, but he gives an explanation why forgiveness in his case was still possible. Having shown that his ignorance had not yet reached the point where it became wanton perverseness, by which he would knowingly and maliciously have made the work of the Holy Spirit in his heart impossible, Mat 12:30-32; Mar 3:28-30; Luk 12:10; Heb 6:4-8, he lays all the emphasis upon the only reason for his having obtained grace, namely, that God wanted to show the superabundance of His grace and mercy in this vessel of His grace. The measure of his sins being so great. Paul stood in need of an unusually great measure of mercy. And the grace of God was accompanied by, and wrought in him, faith and love in Jesus Christ. Faith and love can exist only where they are firmly founded and daily renewed in Christ Jesus, where they daily gain strength and life from Him. Instead of blaspheming, Paul now believed in Christ with all his heart; instead of persecuting the believers with scornful insolence, he now practiced the love which gave evidence of his fellowship in Christ.

The apostle’s own experience with regard to the grace of God now prompts him to set forth a brief summary of the grace of God in Christ Jesus: Trustworthy is the word, and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first. This sentence is evidently a summary of Gospel truth as it was in use in the early Church. See Mat 18:11; Luk 19:10. The saving of sinners, of lost and condemned mankind, was the object of Christ’s coming into the world, Joh 3:16. Paul emphasizes this message over against the false doctrines of the Judaizing teachers as altogether trustworthy, absolutely reliable. This being true on the part of God, it follows that it may and should be accepted by men with all readiness of heart and mind, trusted in with simple faith. It is certainly true, an assurance of priceless worth. The last words of this verse are not to be regarded as a specimen of false modesty, but as an example of true and adequate knowledge of sin. When a sinner, through the application of the Word, becomes conscious of his sin, he sees in himself nothing but guilt and damnation. He no longer frames any excuses, he no longer makes any invidious comparisons; he knows that in the long list of sinners he stands at the head, because he is best acquainted with his own guilt.

The frankness of the apostle in humbling himself beneath the meanest of sinners now serves to bring out the more beautifully the merciful love of Christ Jesus, the Savior: But on this account I received mercy, in order that in me, as the first one, Jesus Christ would show all long-suffering, for a pattern to them that would believe on Him unto eternal life. Paul is here set forth as an example, a pattern, a type for those men of all times that would be brought to faith. Just as Paul at one time belonged to the fierce enemies of Christ, to those that opposed the preaching of the Cross, so he now, through the immeasurable grace of Christ, is saved and believes in his Redeemer. In his case we see that no sin is too great for the merciful love of the Savior. All men, no matter what their transgression, that accept this doctrine that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, will, by this faith, obtain eternal life. In the presence of their Savior, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light, they will enjoy the life for which they were intended to the full, world without end. Let every Christian, therefore, apply these words to himself with a firm trust in the mercy and grace revealed in the Gospel.

The mere thought of such ineffable bliss as promised to him in the Gospel and accepted by him in faith, causes the apostle to lift up his voice in grateful acclaim: But to the King of the Ages, immortal, that cannot be seen, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever! Amen. The apostle praises God as the eternal Ruler, who lives and reigns from everlasting to everlasting. This great King is immortal, deathless, beyond the power of destruction, in contrast to the temporal, transitory world. The opening of new world periods, the rise and fall of nations, everything that concerns this mundane sphere, does not influence the everlasting Ruler in His essence. He dwells in a sphere beyond the ken of mortal men; no man has seen nor can see Him, Joh 1:18; Col 1:15; Heb 11:27; 1Jn 4:12. His glory is too great and overpowering to be seen by the eyes of sinful men, Exo 33:20. And He is the only God, the blessed and only Potentate; there is none beside Him, His glory will He not give to another nor His praise to graven images, Isa 42:8. To Him, therefore, the apostle and with him all Christians give glory and honor forever and ever. This is most certainly true.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

ARGUMENT 3

PAUL THE CHIEF OF SINNERS

12. “I give thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ, who fills me up with dynamite.” The Greek here is endunamosanti. En means with, dunamis, dynamite. It is the verb form of the word and in aorist tense, which reveals an instantaneous action. Hence, Paul certifies that Christ filled him up with dynamite in a moment. No wonder he was always loaded, and ready to shoot on a moment’s notification. The same Omnipotent Christ is ready to load up you and me, and prepare us every moment to fire on the devil. “Because he considered me faithful, putting me in the ministry,

13. “Formerly being an evil speaker, a persecutor, and an insulter; but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorant in unbelief.” Honesty was the saving trait in Paul’s character. Fortified by the greatest human learning, the most consummate ecclesiastical bigotry, and official power, he could only be convinced by a miraculous intervention. If you are perfectly honest, though literally blinded by the devil and led captive at his will, God will deliver you, if he has to work a miracle, as in case of the proud, obdurate, persecuting Saul of Tarsus.

14. Here he certifies that the grace, along with faith and love in Christ Jesus, abounded in his case. In the Scriptures we constantly see the superlative preeminence of faith and love, the one Constituting the human, and the other the Divine hemisphere, in the glorious plan of salvation.

15. “—Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am first;

16. “But on this account I obtained mercy, in order that in me the first Jesus Christ may show forth all long suffering, for an example of those about to believe on him unto eternal life.” Paul was first in official position, leadership, learning, and influence in his day. Many have stumbled over this statement, but I see no good reason. Cognomens and epithets survive changes of character in all human circles. In my peregrination I preach side by side with saloonkeepers, drunkards, infidels, thieves, and gamblers, with a number of whose names I am perfectly familiar. We all know them, and frequently designate them by these dark epithets. While all this is true, it is equally true that they are wonderfully saved, gloriously sanctified, filled with the Spirit, and preaching the gospel like messengers from heaven, God everywhere setting his seal on their labors of love. Paul is this day the same chief of sinners, playing on his golden harp among the angels. We will never be angels. Through all eternity we will be nothing but sinners saved by grace. In conversion you are a justified sinner; in sanctification, a purified sinner; and in heaven, a glorified sinner. We must be jealous of our sinnership, as this is the basis of our claim on Christ, since he saves none but sinners. So long as we are in this world, we need him not only to save us, but to keep us saved. If we should forfeit our sinnership, we would forfeit our salvation, as Christ is the Savior of sinners only. Yet it is diabolical foolery to say we must keep on sinning. Neighbor John is well known as a painter; though he has not painted a house since he got rich twenty years ago. Neighbor Samuel is a sailor, so born, reared, and educated; but he has not sailed in twelve years. At the time of this writing Paul was the chief of sinners, yet, as he says himself in the same sentence, gloriously saved, and consequently a great encouragement to “those who shall believe on Him unto eternal life.”

18. The gifts of prophecy laid down in Paul’s catalogue (1 Corinthians 12) constitute the enduements of the Holy Ghost, necessary qualifications to preach the gospel. Timothy had received these with his call to the ministry. “That you may war a good warfare in the same.” These extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost constitute the Christian’s panoply, with which he wages an exterminating war against sin and Satan; the Spirit serving as armor-bearer, putting in his hand the implement needed in every emergency.

19. “Having faith and a good conscience, which certain ones having cast away have made shipwreck concerning the faith.” A true faith always bears the heavenly fruit of good works. Faith and works are the two oars of the salvation boat, in which you sail across this probationary ocean, plowed with a thousand cyclones, to the bright golden shore of a blessed immortality. When your faith fails, your works are no longer in harmony with the Divine administration. Then it is impossible to have a good conscience.

20. “Of whom is Hymeneus and Alexander, whom I have delivered to Satan, that they may learn not to speak evil.” Among the many fallen Christians on all sides breaking Paul’s heart, here are two preachers so far deflected from the faith once delivered to the saints that Paul finds it necessary to turn them out of the Church; i.e., excommunicate them from the New Testament Ecclesia, turning them over to Satan. Regeneration takes you out of the world, and sanctification takes the world out of you. So the bona fide Christian is doubly divorced from the world. God calls the devil the “God of this world.” (2Co 4:4.) Hence, the world and the Church are utterly separate and distinct, having no fellowship either with other, the devil ruling the one, and God the other. Hence, to turn people out of the New Testament Church is to surrender them to Satan. Excommunication is the last and most powerful remedy. It will convict sinning Church members when nothing else will. Ejectment from the kingdom of grace is but preliminary to their rejection from the kingdom of glory. Hence, it is calculated to alarm, convict, and bring to repentance when everything else has failed. We see here that Paul does it for their good, “that they learn not to speak evil.” When the devil gets them in his black clutches, and the Holy Ghost shows them an open hell and the seething billows rolling at their feet, Paul hopes they will take alarm and repent.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12–14. Who hath enabled me. Hath given me power to preach this glorious gospel, by counting me faithful, and appointing me to his service.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

Paul tells how he acted in the past and encourages Timothy to trust God.

he considered me faithful

"he considered me trustworthy" or "he regarded me as reliable"

he placed me into service

Paul speaks of the task of serving God as if it were a place that one could be placed in. AT: "he assigned me to serve him" or "he appointed me as his servant" (See: Metaphor)

I was a blasphemer

"I was a person who spoke evil against Christ." Paul is referring to his character before he was a Christian.

a persecutor

"a person who persecuted those who believed in Christ"

violent man

"a person was cruel towards other people." This is a person who believes he has the right to hurt others.

But I received mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief

"But because I did not believe in Jesus, and I did not know what I was doing, I received mercy from Jesus"

I received mercy

"Jesus showed me mercy" or "Jesus had mercy on me"

But the grace

"And the grace"

the grace of our Lord overflowed

Paul speaks of God's grace as if it were a liquid that could fill a container and spill out of the top when the container is full. AT: "God showed me much grace" (See: Metaphor)

with faith and love

This is the result of God showing much grace to Paul. AT: "which caused me to trust in Jesus and love him"

that is in Christ Jesus

This speaks about Jesus as if he were a container that holds a liquid. Here "in Christ Jesus" refers to having a relationship with Jesus. AT: "that Christ Jesus enables me to give to God because I am united to him" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

Jesus

lord

faithful

blasphemy

persecute

receive

mercy

believe

grace

faith

love

in Christ

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

12–17. PARENTHETIC DOXOLOGY

These verses are a digression, quite in the manner of St Paul, suggested by the thought of the Divine mercy vouchsafed to him personally. Cf. 1Co 15:9; Eph 3:8.

12. Before χάριν, the rec. text with D2KL inserts καί, which would be quite in accordance with Pauline usage; it is, however, omitted by אAGP f g.

א* and some cursives have ἐνδυναμοῦντι (as in Php 4:13); but אcAD2GKLP support ἐνδυναμώσαντι.

12. χάριν ἔχω. This formula of thankfulness (instead of the more usual εὐχαριστῶ with which St Paul begins nearly all his letters) occurs again 2Ti 1:3. Cp. Luk 17:9 and Heb 12:28.

τῷ ἐνδυναμώσαντι. To Him that hath enabled me; a favourite expression with Paul in reference to the grace of Christ. In the Ephesian letter he bids his correspondents ἐνδυναμοῦσθε ἐν κυρίῳ (Eph 6:10); he charges Timothy ἐνδυναμοῦ ἐν τῇ χάριτι τῇ ἐν Χρ. Ἰησοῦ (2Ti 2:1); of himself he says ὁ κύριος … ἐνεδυνάμωσέ με (2Ti 4:17), and (a close parallel to the present passage) πάντα ἰσχύω ἐν τῷ ἐνδυναμοῦντί με (Php 4:13). In the beginning of his ministry it was said Σαῦλος δὲ μᾶλλον ἐνεδυναμοῦτο (Act 9:22); and the spiritual δύναμις, needed for the due discharge of the apostolic office, was never lacking throughout his course. The aorist participle here suggests a direct reference to the early days of his preaching (see 1Ti 1:13), but we must not limit the reference to these. A study of the verb in the various contexts in which it is found is instructive. Of all the faithful may the words be used, ἐδυναμώθησαν ἀπὸ ἀσθενείας (Heb 11:34); none can more fully realise their truth than those upon whom the burden and responsibility of the pastoral office have been imposed.

ὅτι. That, not because. The sentence expresses the reason of his thankfulness.

πιστόν. The word occurs eleven times in this Epistle. Here it means ‘trustworthy,’ as at 1Co 4:2; Heb 11:11 see on 1Ti 1:15 and 1Ti 4:3 below.

ἡγήσατο. This is a common Pauline word. Cp. 1Th 5:13; 2Co 9:5; Php 2:3; Php 2:25 &c.

θέμενος. Appointing me (note the tense); the word is used of the Divine purpose (as in 1Th 5:9) and so is not equivalent to ‘putting me,’ cp. 1Ti 2:7; 2Ti 1:11.

διακονίαν. The word διακονίαν is used here, not specially of the function discharged by a διάκονος, but in the general sense of ‘ministry.’ St Paul frequently speaks of his apostolic office as a διακονία and of himself as a διάκονος. Compare, e.g., Rom 11:13 τὴν διακονίαν μου δοξάζω, also 2Co 5:18; 2Co 6:3; and, again, Col 1:23 τοῦ εὐαγγελίου … οὖ ἐγενόμην ἐγὼ Παῦλος διάκονος, and 1Co 3:5; 2Co 3:6; Eph 3:7 &c. διακονία, in short, originally meant service of any sort; it is applied in Act 1:17; Act 1:25 to the service of apostleship, and is continually used throughout the Pauline Epistles in a wide and general sense. By the second century the words διακονία, διάκονος were generally restricted to the third order of the Christian ministry, and the beginnings of this specialisation of meaning may be traced in the N.T. Cp. e.g. Rom 16:1; Php 1:1; 1Ti 3:8; 1Ti 3:12 (where see notes). Thus the use of this word here to denote the apostolic office is in favour of an early date for the Epistle. No writer of the second century (by which time the distinction of orders was fully recognised) would have used a term then significant of the lowest grade in the ministry for St Paul’s ministerial work; cp. 2Ti 4:5.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hath enabled [ενδυναμωσαντι] . An unclassical word, found in Paul and Acts. See Act 9:22; Phi 4:13. Three times in the Pastorals. Counted [ηγησατο] . A common Pauline word.

Putting [θεμενος] . Better appointing. The participle defines counted me faithful. He counted me faithful in that he appointed, etc.

Into the ministry [εις διακονιαν] . Better, appointing me to his service. The conventional phrase "the ministry" gives a wrong impression. The term is general, covering every mode of service, either to God or to men. Diakonoi ministers is used of the secular ruler, Rom 13:4. See also 1Co 12:5; 1Co 16:15; 2Co 3:7, 8; Eph 4:12, and on minister, Mt 20:26.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.