Considered Faithful… (1 Timothy 1:12-14) 160608
12 Ca,rin e;cw tw/| evndunamw,santi, me Cristw/| VIhsou/ tw/| kuri,w| h`mw/n( o[ti pisto,n me h`gh,sato qe,menoj eivj diakoni,an 13 to. pro,teron o;nta bla,sfhmon kai. diw,kthn kai. u`bristh,n( avlla. hvleh,qhn( o[ti avgnow/n evpoi,hsa evn avpisti,a|\ 14 u`perepleo,nasen de. h` ca,rij tou/ kuri,ou h`mw/n meta. pi,stewj kai. avga,phj th/j evn Cristw/| VIhsou/Å
I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord whom has encouraged me, because He has considered faithful, putting me into service; though formerly being a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, and yet I have been shown mercy, that being ignorant, I acted in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was abound exceedingly, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.
Yesterday was father’s day; it was my first father’s day. I am thankful and grateful to God for giving me Alethea. I still remember the day Alethea was born; my eyes were filled with tears of joy, and gratitude, that God entrusted me a sinner such a beautiful and delicate life to nurture and care for. People who know me will also know that I was not in my best condition emotionally to embrace such huge responsibility, but yet God trusted me.
As Paul was being grateful to God to consider him faithful (v12), I also thank God for trusting me and consider me worthy. As God put Paul into service, He also has called into His service. I know that there are still much more issues in my life that I have to deal with, but nonetheless God is willing to use my imperfection to minister to others. Sometimes, I am really amazed and even amused by how God uses a broken vessel like me.
I can identify with Paul when he claimed to be a former blasphemer, a persecutor and a violent man (v13). I have my fair share of these when I was a pre-believer as I did so out of ignorant and unbelief (v13b). But what God is looking for in Paul’s life and my life is not perfection; He is looking for faithfulness.
When God considered Paul faithful, this faithfulness is not a virtue that earns Paul a commission, but is a requirement for God’s “service” (Liefeld, Walter L. “God’s Gracious Commission to Paul (1:12 – 14)” In The NIV Application Commentary: 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus. By Walter L. Liefeld, 70. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, © 1999).
Am I being faithful? How can I be faithful? It is purely by sheer determination? Paul says that it is by the grace of our Lord which is abounding exceedingly, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. It is no doubt that I can be considered faithful by God in Christ Jesus, and nowhere else. There are three things mentioned here: grace, faith and love.
Commentator says that Paul loves to use “triad” to make his point clear, and I believe that such three dimensional approach of truth gives us a fuller and more complete picture. "Grace" provided his salvation, "faith" appropriated it, and "love" applied it (Earle, Ralph. “A. God’s Abundant Grace (1:12-14)” In The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Volume 11. 354. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, © 1978).
Indeed, it is by grace of God who sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the Cross, that we are saved. And by putting our faith in Christ Jesus is the only way to embrace the goodness of this grace. And love will be the result of our lives as we understand and receive the love of God. The grace of God will end up in some form of action or application in life. It saddened me to hear from Christians who attend church with the sole motive is to receive “grace”. I have no issue with grace, but if grace remains as grace, it is a waste. Grace has to be translated into practical action and service. Maybe it is time for us to consider how we can be of service to our friends, colleagues, classmates, family and church.
May God consider you faithful.
May God consider me faithful.
HHS…
Abel…
