1 Timothy 1:12-17

Sermon Exegesis for September 19th, 2010.
"Christ Jesus Came to Save Sinners" (Luke 15:1-10) [CW 278, 374, 382]

1 TIMOTHY 1:12

Verses 12-17 form a rather large parentheses (an extended doxology); the thought of verse 11 will be picked up again in verse 18. Jesus entrusted to Paul the glorious gospel, and so at this point Paul breaks off into a prayer of thanks.

12 Χάριν ἔχω τῷ ἐνδυναμώσαντί με Χριστῷ ᾽Ιησοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, ὅτι πιστόν με ἡγήσατο θέμενος εἰς διακονίαν,

12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service.

Χάριν ἔχω is used here as an idiom, "I have thanks" = "I give thanks" as in 2 Timothy 1:3. ἐνδυναμώσαντί is an aorist participle from ἐνδυναμόω, "strengthen." The original scribe of Sinaiticus wrote ἐνδυναμoῦντι but it was corrected it to ἐνδυναμώσαντί (an understandable slip, since Philippians 4:13 has τῷ ἐνδυναμoῦντι με). The same slip was made in a few minuscules (33, 330, 451, lectionary 603, the Sahidic Coptic manuscripts, one Old Latin (g), and by Theophylact. Epiphanius has both readings, but the text before us has the overwhelming attestation. The participle is attributive, substantival. This word is really a reference to Paul's conversion. Two forms of this same verb occur in the same passage of the Shepherd of Hermas: "Be strong and be made more powerful by them [the commandments]. May all who keep them be strengthened" (Hm 5,2,8). Turner (Moulton IV, p. 104) describes ἐνδυναμόω as an "exclusively Jewish" term." His point there regards the relatively few Hebraisms in the Pastorals compared with the other letters of Paul, and his concluding remark is worth keeping in mind: "We cannot say that the Greek style [of the Pastorals] is the most elegant in the NT, but it is the least Semitic, most secular, and least exciting. It is commonplace."

The word order of Χριστῷ ᾽Ιησοῦ "Christ Jesus" is typical of Paul, who loves to declare that the promised Messiah is the same Jesus who came as promised and rescued us from our sins. κυρίῳ is equivalent to יהוה, the LORD.

ὅτι begins a causal clause (although it could be argued that what follows is simply declarative).

ἡγήσατο is the aorist middle indicative (3rd sg) of ἡγέoμαι. The middle voice is simply due to the verb being deponent. It has two distinct meanings, (1) "lead, guide" and (2) "consider, regard." The second sense of this word (the meaning here) is rare in the Apostolic Fathers and does not occur at all in 1 Clement. It is, however, common enough in Paul, occurring seven or eight times, two of which are in the Pastorals (cf. 1 Tim. 6:1). See also 2 Clement 5:6, "So what should we do...except lead a holy and righteous life, and consider this world's thing as not ours, and not desire them?" The word often takes a double accusative, "to consider _____, ______." Here the one considered is με "me," and the considered opinion of "me" is πιστόν, "useful." All of this is possible only by the grace of God ("By the grace of God I am what I am," 1 Cor. 15:10).

θέμενος is a middle aorist participle (masc nom sg) from τίθημι, "put, place, appoint." Although the meaning of τίθημι does not change very much whether it is active, middle or passive, the active and passive occurrences appear to fall into one category, and the middle voice into another. From a brief examination of some passages, I suspect that the middle voice tends to observe the action of "appointing" affects the speaker or the speaker's interest, but I have by no means exhausted the incidents and there could well be exceptions. The participle could be one of a number of things here. Both manner (circumstantial) and temporal fit, or even a result clause, but I believe that it shows attendant circumstance.

εἰς διακονίαν "for ministry" or "for service," which truly amount to the same thing. The main qualification for this kind of service is "apt/qualified to teach others." Otherwise, there is really no difference between a Christian father and a Christian pastor. Due to circumstances and the work of the devil, not all who are qualified for the ministry will serve in it, and due to the work of the devil and the wake of damage that he leaves behind, some who are not qualifies will serve anyway. But the will of God is that the men who serve in the ministry will be πιστος, "reliable men." The other qualifications are there in the Holy Spirit's own penmanship: Above reproach, the husband of but one wife (here we would naturally allow that a single man, like Paul himself, is still qualified, but the comment is to guard the office from sin), temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money, etc. (1 Tim. 3:2-3).

1 TIMOTHY 1:13

13 τὸ πρότερον ὄντα βλάσϕημον καὶ διώκτην καὶ ὑβριστήν· ἀλλὰ ἠλεήθην, ὅτι ἀγνοῶν ἐποίησα ἐν ἀπιστίᾳ,

13 Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy when I acted in ignorance and unbelief.

ὄντα is circumstantial concessive, "Even though," and here it is followed by a triad of sins: βλάσϕημον "blasphemer," διώκτην "persecutor," and ὑβριστήν "violent man." All three are anarthrous to show the bad quality of the man that Paul once (τὸ πρότερον) was. Such triads are more common in Jude than in Paul. ἀλλὰ shows a strong contrast and is to be expected after a concessive participle. I am aware that BDF labels this participle as substantive (§413.3), but concessive appears to be the correct interpretation here.

ἠλεήθην "I was shown mercy" is the first person aorist passive indicative from ἐλεάω (although this form appears to be from ἐλεέω). The ἐλεέω root occurs often in the LXX, in the Pentateuch and prophets (Gen 33:5, 11; 43:29; Ex 23:3; 33:19; Jer. 6:23. As long as we're on the subject, the ἐλεάω forms occur only in the poetic (and apocryphal) sections of the LXX (Psalm 36[37]:26; 114[115]:5; Prov 13:9; 14:31; 21:26 and Tobit 13:2. We should never forget that "God is rich in mercy" (Eph. 2:4). We should not only see that God had mercy on Paul/Saul the violent opponent of Christianity so early that it was still called only "the Way," but that Paul, like everyone else, is passive in the reception of God's mercy. We only receive it. We don't make it happen.

ὅτι here is causal, but non-final. The reason for God's mercy was that God was merciful; the need for God's mercy was in Paul's violent and ignorant unbelief.

ἀγνοῶν ἐποίησα ἐν ἀπιστίᾳ, The type of participle here (from ἀγνoέω, be ignorant) is described by Blass and Moulton (I, p. 230) as "conjunctive," and this would result in a smoother translation than the NIV's "I was shown mercy because I acted in...unbelief" to "I was shown mercy when I acted in...unbelief."

Although some, such as the Essenes, placed a great deal of weight on the difference between knowing and unknowing sin (cf. the Manual of Discipline), to "know God" is often simply a synonym for conversion ("You have opened the eyes of our hearts to recognize that you alone are the Most High, the Holiest of the holy." 1 Clement 59:3): Knowledge of God's will does not come apart from faith in God's word. Only in unbelief can a person be ignorant of God's will, and a person without any knowledge of God is still without excuse (Romans 1:20). A man can can have no knowledge of God's word at all and yet say things which come remarkably close to God's word, as Plato did: “The truly righteous man will have to endure the lash, the rack, chains, the banding-iron in his eyes, and finally, after every extreme of suffering, he will be crucified -- and then he'll learn his lesson that it's better so seem righteous than to actually be righteous.” (Republic II, 361-362)

Paul persecuted the church in his ignorance, but Christ saved him and ended his ignorance by his grace.

1 TIMOTHY 1:14

14 ὑπερεπλεόνασεν δὲ ἡ χάρις τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν μετὰ πίστεως καὶ ἀγάπης τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ ᾽Ιησοῦ.

14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

ὑπερεπλεόνασεν δὲ "And...he poured out superabundantly." ὑπερεπλεόνασεν is aorist in form, 3rd person singular indicative from ὑπερπλεoνάζω. This rare word occurs in both readings of The Shepherd of Hermas, Mandate 5,2,5: the main text has "When all these spirits live in one vessel, where the Holy Spirit also lives, the vessel can’t contain them, and it overflows," and the fragment POxy 3526 has “When all these spirits live in one vessel, the Holy Spirit can’t contain that vessel, and it overflows.” In both cases, the final word is ὑπερπλεoνάζει. The list of Pauline words coined or borrowed using the prefix ὑπερ- is impressive; without them our lexicons would be quite narrow at upsilon.

ἡ χάρις τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν The grace of our Lord (cf. John 1:16). Here is a place to remember that χάρις "grace," more fully ἐν χάριτις μόνῃ, "by grace alone," is one of the pillars of the Lutheran Reformation. Paul runs to superlatives and compounds of ὑπερ- when he gets around the word "grace" because he's been there in the Third Heaven; he has seen what it is and what it means, and he will remain flabbergasted and blubbering over with excitement whenever it comes to talking about it. Sell everything you have when you find the pearl in the shop, so you can buy it and own the pearl! (Matthew 13:45-46).

μετὰ πίστεως "with faith." μετά with the genitive presents the idea of being "in the same company with." Therefore another of the great solas is here in the company of love (which itself is the greatest gift of all, 1 Cor. 13).

καὶ ἀγάπης "and love," genitive singular. Also governed by μετά, love it set in "the same company with" grace."

τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ ᾽Ιησοῦ. "Which is in Christ Jesus." The article τῆς is a relative pronoun summarizing both faith and love (singular by attraction to the singular ἀγάπης). The key word here is ἐν, enclosing all of these blessings within the sphere of Christ, the anointed Messiah, who fulfilled the promises of the Father and brought us salvation and peace in his own blood.

1 TIMOTHY 1:15

15 πιστὸς ὁ λόγος καὶ πάσης ἀποδοχῆς ἄξιος, ὅτι Χριστὸς ᾽Ιησοῦς ἦλθεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἁμαρτωλοὺς σῶσαι· ὧν πρῶτός εἰμι ἐγώ,

15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-- of whom I am the worst.

πιστὸς ὁ λόγος "Here is a trustworthy saying." Although a few Fathers including Augustine have ἀνθρώπινoς "human" instead of πιστὸς "faithful," the manuscript evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of the text we have. It is always a valid question to ask, does πιστὸς ὁ λόγος point ahead to what's about to be said, or behind at what has just been said? In this case, the answer lies in the recitative ὅτι which follows and provides the content of the λόγος. Note that both λόγος and ἄξιος are nominative singular, so that both the "saying" and its "worthiness" are in apposition, so that this is a "worthy message," or (since there are more modifiers), "a message worthy of all acceptance" (πάσης ἀποδοχῆς).

The aorist ἦλθεν recalls the fact of Jesus' incarnation, Passion, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension on our behalf. It is brought forward here simply as a fact without any emphasis on time. As in vers 14, Χριστὸς ᾽Ιησοῦς is in this order because Paul is drawing our attention to the office of Christ, the Messiah, and reminding us that the Messiah was not an unknown person, but Jesus himself.

εἰς τὸν κόσμον "into the world" shows motion into (εἰς takes an accusative object). The act of Christ's work was not thrust upon someone incidentally found to be worthy here below, but the plunge of God himself into the cosmos for our sakes.

ἁμαρτωλοὺς σῶσαι· "to save sinners." σῶσαι is an aorist infinitive, the aorist shows a fact without reference to time, and the infinitive here is an infinitive of purpose, although it could show result as well. But the context implies purpose in this case. Since the accusative plural ἁμαρτωλοὺς is anarthrous, it underscores the quality of those who are sinners, who are lost in their sins and in desperate need of the Saving God.

ὧν πρῶτός εἰμι ἐγώ "of whom I am foremost." The relative ὧν refers back to ἁμαρτωλούς "sinners" as its antecedent. The adjective πρῶτός is ordinal, "first, foremost," and in the context of "sinners" we arrive at "worst." Almost all of Paul's ἐγώ εἰμι "I am" statements (if I may call them that) point to the Savior rather than to Paul:

• 1 Cor. 1:12 "I am of Paul" corrects factionalism and points to Jesus.
• 1 Cor. 3:4 "I am of Paul" does the same.
• 1 Cor. 12:16 "I am not an eye... I am not of the body" points to the headship of Christ.
• Romans 11:1 "I am an Israelite" comes in a description of God's grace.
• Romans 11:13 "I am the Apostle to the Gentiles" is a continuation of this grace and a description of Paul's service to Christ.
• 1 Cor. 15:10 "by grace... I am what I am" emphasizes God's grace
• 1 Cor. 13:2 "I am nothing" reveals Paul's status without God's gifts.
• 1 Cor. 15:9 "I am the least of the Apostles" is a confession of Christian humility
• Php. 4:11 "I am not saying... because I am in need" is said in thanks for the gift of Christians to their Christians brothers.
• 2 Cor. 11:12 "Are they Hebrews? So am I" (etc.), references to the former life in contrast to the new life in Christ.
• 2 Cor. 11:23 "I am more!" another reference in the same context, underscoring the sinfulness of the boasting of the Judaizers and Paul's opponents in Corinth.
• 1 Tim. 1:15 "I am the worst," the chief of sinners, in need of Christ.
• Rom. 1:14 "I am obligated both to Greek and non-Greeks," his obligation as an apostle.
• Rom. 7:14 "I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin" illustrating the need for Christ.
• 1 Cor. 9:1-2 (asserts Paul's apostleship in Christ)
• Col. 2:5 "Though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit" a statement of brotherhood and fellowship in Christ.
• Acts 20:26 "I am innocent of the blood of all men," a reference to the forgiveness of sins.
• Acts 21:39 "I am a Jew..." establishing Paul's identity during a misunderstanding.
• Acts 22:3 "I am a Jew..." establishing Paul's background before his conversion by Christ.
• Acts 23:6 "I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee." An appeal to the Sanhedrin for a fair hearing.
• Acts 25:10 "I am now standing before Caesar's court," a statement of location.
• Acts 26:29 "I pray...all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains." A prayer for the conversion of the world.
• Acts 27:23 "Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve"

Bengel rounds off any comment here in his footnote on the word εἰμι: "'I am,' he says, not 'I was,' including the very moment of writing."

1 TIMOTHY 1:16

16 ἀλλὰ διὰ τοῦτο ἠλεήθην, ἵνα ἐν ἐμοὶ πρώτῳ ἐνδείξηται Χριστὸς ᾽Ιησοῦς τὴν ἅπασαν μακροθυμίαν, πρὸς ὑποτύπωσιν τῶν μελλόντων πιστεύειν ἐπ' αὐτῷ εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον.

16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.

ἀλλὰ διὰ τοῦτο ἠλεήθην "But" (ἀλλὰ) always presents a strong contrast. ἠλεήθην is aorist passive from ἐλεέω, "be merciful." The διὰ τοῦτο "because of this" refers back to the previous verse, that Paul was the very worst of sinners.

ἵνα ἐν ἐμοὶ πρώτῳ "so that in me the worst." ἵνα here expresses purpose. Once again ἐν draws a sphere around Paul, who describes himself once again as πρώτῳ "the greatest (of sinners)." This sinful Pauline sphere shows us a Pharisee who was a fierce and bloodthirsty persecutor of Christians, turned suddenly into the very pinnacle of Christians; the missionary spreading the gospel with the same fervor he had used to attack.

ἐνδείξηται Χριστὸς ᾽Ιησοῦς τὴν ἅπασαν μακροθυμίαν, "Christ Jesus might show his complete longsuffering patience." ἐνδείξηται aorist middle subjunctive ἐνδείκνυμαι "show." The subjunctive generally expresses contingency, here it is used in a Classical Greek construction with ἵνα to show purpose (Moulton III, p. 100). The μακροθυμίαν "longsuffering patience" of God is carried to its superlative with the rare ἅπασαν ("rarely used by Paul; most frequently by Luke" - Thayer) meaning "wholeness, completeness." I can't disagree with Bengel, "Whereas even a less proportion (of longsuffering), so to speak, may restore such as are not so great sinners" (loc.)

πρὸς ὑποτύπωσιν "as an example." ὑποτύπωσιν is not dative, but a fem. accusative. πρὸς with an accusative means "for, as," and similar prepositional ideas. Paul turns again to a ὑπο- term to show that he was not merely an example, but an ultimate example, an archetype.

τῶν μελλόντων πιστεύειν ἐπ' αὐτῷ εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον. "For those who would believe on him and receive eternal life." The present participle μελλόντων is attribute adjectival, best translated with a relative clause: "those who [would]." μέλλω with an infinitive frequently occurs as a periphrastic future construction (Moulton III, p. 89d). The construction ἐπ' αὐτῷ signals a faith placed or built upon Christ. Baur calls this use of ἐπί and the dative "with verbs of believing, hoping and trusting." We see it in Luke 24:25; Paul (Romans 9:33; 10:11; and here) and Peter (1 Peter 2:6).

1 TIMOTHY 1:17

17 τῷ δὲ βασιλεῖ τῶν αἰώνων, ἀϕθάρτῳ, ἀοράτῳ, μόνῳ θεῷ, τιμὴ καὶ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων· ἀμήν.

17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

τῷ δὲ βασιλεῖ τῶν αἰώνων, "Now to the King who is eternal." This verse forms a doxology. The dative expresses a blessing. Bengel again: "The thought of eternity is particularly delightful to those assured of grace, while it miserably terrifies others" (loc. cit.).

ἀϕθάρτῳ, "immortal," is a word more common in Paul than anywhere else, although Peter uses it (1 Peter 1:4; 3:4) and some of the earlier Fathers (2 Clem. 7:3; ITrall. 11:2, "their fruit would be imperishable"). The meaning "incorruptible" might be the meaning in Barn. 16:9, "He leads those who had been enslaved to death into the incorruptible temple," although "immortal" would fit there as well.

ἀοράτῳ, although this can mean "without sight" (Lucian), here is clearly means "invisible." Although this word is a little more common in the Fathers (2 Clem 20:5; Dg 7:2; Hv 1,3,4; Hv 3,3,5; IMag 3:2; IPol 3:2, etc.) it is also comfortable in Paul's ink (Romans 1:20; Col 1:15) and occurs in Heb. 11:27 as well, the only "non-Pauline" place in the NT, if Hebrews is indeed non-Pauline.

μόνῳ θεῷ, "the only God," This is simply another way of stating the final clause of Deuteronomy 6:4, יְהוָה אֶחָד "the LORD is one [unity]." Jude said more fully, "The only God our Savior" (Jude 25).

τιμὴ καὶ δόξα "be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." The construction τιμὴ καὶ δόξα is an asyndeton, but really τιμὴ and δόξα express the content of the blessing (τῷ...) of this verse. The reader will perhaps supply words not present here but common in other doxologies ("power," etc.) without damaging the thought.

εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων· ἀμήν. The full phrase εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων "forever and ever" is not uncommon in Paul: Gal.1:5; Php. 4:20 and 2 Tim. 4:18 (cp. Romans 1:25; 9:5; 11:36; 16:27). Moulton says that the Hebrew עוֹלָמִים "is behind αἰῶνες, which means both 'world' (Heb. 1:2; 1 Tim 1:17?..., 1 Clem. 35:3; 55:6; 61:2) and 'eternity' (Barn 18:2...Luke 1:33; Gal 1:5; [etc.]" (III p. 25). I disagree that "world" is the meaning either here or above in "King eternal," although the former could perhaps be "King of the universe." But "eternal" appears to be the intended meaning in the context of immortal, invisible, etc.

• 12. God considered me faithful, appointing me to service ***
• 13. I was a blasphemer (and worse) but mercied (ignorance) **
• 14. I was graced abundantly *****
• 15. Logoς: Chr. came to save sinners; I am the worst. **
• 16. Mercied so he could desplay patience to eternal life. ***
• 17. eternal, immortal, invisible, only God. Honor&Glory! ** (doctrine)

"SHOWN GRACE TO SHOW HOW GRACIOUS GOD IS!"

Augustine: "He understands forgiveness who has sinned much."

Luther on forgiveness: "The devil hates, but Paul hammers, this doctrine. The article of the forgiveness of sins is the most important, and it is of all the most comforting. To Satan it is truly the worst, and it is the most hateful. This is the reason why Paul always has on his tongue: grace, grace, grace! He does this to spite the devil." (Table Talk No. 962).