Letter of Encouragement… (1 Timothy) 190608
1Timothy 1
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, according to the command of God, our Savior and Christ Jesus, who is our hope; to Timothy, a (my) legitimate child in faith; grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
As I urged you to remain (stay put) in Ephesus, while I go to Macedonia, so that you may instruct some of these people not to offer different (or strange) teachings; nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which bring about useless speculation, rather than training (in the way of salvation) of God in faith.
But the goal of the instructions is love, out of a pure heart and a good conscientious and a sincere faith.
Some, who have missed the mark, are being turned away into empty talks; desiring to be teachers of the law, but having no understanding neither about what they are saying nor what they speak confidently.
But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, having know this, that the law is not given to the righteous, but to those (who are) lawless and rebellious, godless and sinful, wicked and profane, those who kill their fathers and mothers, murders, fornicators, sodomites (homosexuals), kidnappers, liars, and perjurers; and whatever else which is opposed to sound teaching according to the glorious good news of the blessed God, to whom I was convinced of.
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.
The word is faithful, and worthy of every acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of (among) whom I am the first (champion among the sinners). And yet because of this, I have been shown mercy in order that in me firstly, Christ Jesus might demonstrate all the (perfect) patience, for (as) an example of being about to believe in Him for eternal life. And to the king eternal, imperishable, invisible, the only God, worthy and glory for ever and ever, amen.
This command I entrust to you, son – Timothy, according to the prophecies which come before concerning you, that you may make war (fight) in His good warfare (fight), having faith and good conscience, which some who have rejected, suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith; which is Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I handed over to Satan, in order that they may be disciplined not to blaspheme.
As I put the entire chapter one of First Timothy together, I discover that not only Greek is poor, my English is also not so good. But nonetheless, I can still sense the heartbeat of Paul, wanting to pass on the baton of overseeing the church in Ephesus to Timothy. And yet, there are so many pressing issues that have to be handled with care. Paul, being a caring and compassionate predecessor or mentor of Timothy, he is genuinely concerned about how Timothy can handle and therefore writes this letter to empower him, to encourage him and also to give him some good pastoral tips.
I have written yesterday that this is also like a commissioning letter to Timothy, in some military sense. As I read chapter one again, I sense Paul’s passionate concern for the true gospel to be proclaimed by Timothy and even to this generation. The commission is not for Timothy alone, we, or rather I, are also the partaker of this charge of duty to bring the true gospel to the people God has assigned.
Yesterday, I receive a call from a good friend who tries to find out how I have been doing. As I reflect and reply him later in the night, I discover that I am at quite a lost. I do not really know what will be my future ministry be like, though Christian Education is the big idea, but exactly how it will take shape, I have absolutely no idea. And when I was asked about what people group I will be taking care of in church, it seems to me that there is no need of me to be on staff with the church. So what should I be doing? I don’t know. All I know and recall as I share with my wife, I just have to take one step at a time. This is a faith journey.
The word faith or faithful appear least seven times in chapter one. Christian ministry is a business of faith and faithfulness. I cannot anticipate what is ahead of me, but I can try to be faithful in what He calls me to put my faith in.
Maybe you are also going through similar situation in life, not knowing what is ahead of you; but take heart and pay attention to what God is speaking to you and follow it by faith. It is not going to be easy. Like Paul’s letter to Timothy, we can see that Paul did not tell Timothy that overseeing the church in Ephesus is going to be a bed of roses, but roses come with thorns. Paul warns Timothy of the critical issues and possible oppositions. This letter of Paul to Timothy gives us a sense of reality in our Christian walk, not restricting to Christian ministry only.
May this letter be an encouragement to you. It has been an encouragement to me. I am now commission to face the reality of my faith. Let us face it together.
HHS
Abel…
