1 Timothy (Written)

Saturday, 23 December 2017

Seen by angels, 1 Timothy 3:16d

The word aggelos, or angels, simply means “a messenger,” or “a delegate.” It is used in the New Testament elsewhere to speak of humans. However, despite this being the case, this is most certainly speaking of the heavenly host, not earthly humans. There is no article in front of “angels” in the verse, thus it doesn’t fit that this is speaking of the apostles. Instead, heavenly angels – both during His earthly ministry, and upon completion of it – are what is being written about by Paul here.

His coming was announced by Gabriel to Mary. Though this mighty angel may not have understood the full implication of what was to occur, the proclamation was made. Angels attended Christ at various times in His ministry, and there is no doubt that the heavenly host viewed His life, even at times when no such attendances are recorded. As Christ Himself said in Matthew 26:53 – “Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?” The implication is that the angels were ever-ready to attend to Him.

These same angels would have seen His crucifixion and death, and they would not have known what to make of the sight. It was a mystery kept by God alone until it was revealed. Even the heavenly host had to wait to see what God had planned. And they did see it. In fact, an angel is recorded to have been at the tomb, ready to announce that He was no longer there. That the attending angel was unaware of what would occur is recorded by Paul in Ephesians 3 –

“To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, ⁹ and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; ¹⁰ to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, ¹¹ according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Ephesians 3:8-11

Peter as well said that what the prophets had written was unknown to both them and even to the angels, saying that they desired to look into those things (1 Peter 1:12). The reason Paul includes the angels in this is to show that all of creation was a witness to the spectacle of Christ’s coming, His ministry, His death, and His resurrection. No part of creation would miss the significance of who Christ is. And thus, for all eternity, it would be evident that Jesus Christ is God incarnate. The angels of this clause will be contrasted to the Gentiles in the coming clause to show the scope of the mystery.

Life application: Angels were in attendance at the time of Christ’s earthly ministry. As we are in Christ, it is logical to assume that God has us being watched by angels as well. This cannot mean that we will be free from harm, but that if we ever have an event which appears miraculous occur around us, we may have been attended to by them. In other words, God has our lives safe and secure in His capable hands. Should times of trial and great sadness arrive, it is not that He doesn’t care, but that He has allowed these things to occur for His own sovereign purposes. Christ suffered, and we too may do so, but in the end, we shall be brought safely into that glorious place attended by all of the heavenly host.

Glorious God, knowing that Christ suffered and died for us is to then be assured that our own sufferings are not out of Your control. And because He rose from the dead, we have the absolute guarantee that we, who have received Christ as Lord, will likewise raise from the dead. No grief on earth, and no power in heaven, can prevent us from being raised to new life. Thank You, O God, for Your gift of Jesus to us. Amen.

Friday, 22 December 2017

…Justified in the Spirit, 1 Timothy 3:16c

This continues Paul’s poetic offset concerning “the mystery of godliness.” First Paul said that “God was manifested in the flesh.” Next he says that He, meaning Jesus, was “Justified in the Spirit.” There is dissension among scholars whether this is speaking of His own spirit, that which animates Him, or the Holy Spirit. Some, not wanting to be definitive and possibly err say that it is speaking of both.

The same Greek preposition, en or “in,” is used in both clauses so far. Therefore, unless Paul is equivocating on the meaning of the word between clauses (something unlikely), it is speaking of two different aspects of the life of Christ. Rather than being instrumental (by), He was “Justified in the Spirit.” But this justification isn’t purely in form alone (a mode of justification), but rather Paul is surely speaking of a local form of justification; His sphere of life.

God (Jesus) was manifested in the flesh – it is the sphere of physical existence.

Jesus (being God) was justified in the Spirit – it is the sphere of His physical existence.

With this understanding, we can then apply this to His life. First, however, the term “justified” must be explained. Vincent’s Word Studies notes that based on Paul’s use of the word in relation to Christ elsewhere, it should be understood to mean “vindicated.” This is generally agreed by scholars to be the case. And so Paul’s intent is that Jesus was “vindicated in the Spirit” in His advent when he was manifested in the flesh.

This came about through the conduct of His life. On one hand, while in the flesh, He was ridiculed, He was hated, He was attacked, and He was dismissed. He claimed to be God in the flesh, and He was rejected by those who heard His claim. Their rejection however, did not change the truth of the matter at all. There were those who seemed to realize that He was, in fact, God and yet He was crucified and died. Even Mary, His mother, must have had some type of doubts as to what Christ’s nature was when she stood at His cross and watched Him breath His last. And even the heavenly host (including the devil himself) did not grasp what God was doing in Christ. Upon His death, the devil must have thought he was the victor. Surely none could imagine what lay head. It was believed that His life ended in futility, and yet… He was justified in the Spirit.

He was raised from the dead, proving His claims. His manifestation in the flesh (meaning being God) was vindicated. His life of troubles and woes was seen for what they truly were meant to be, and He was vindicated. Those who said He was insane were proven wrong through His resurrection, thus He was vindicated. Everything about Him that was so very misunderstood was realized to be the work of God, and by God Himself.

And this is fully in accord with what the apostles say of Him in their speeches in Acts, and in the New Testament epistles. The Holy Spirit is called, “the Spirit of Christ,” in Romans 8. Again in Galatians 4, the Holy Spirit is referred to as the Spirit of God’s Son. Again and again throughout the epistles, the work of the Spirit and the work of Christ are spoken of interchangeably. Therefore, though having been crucified and died, Christ as Spirit is justified, or vindicated. He was manifested in the flesh – fully Man and yet fully Divine.

The body of support for this vindication actually requires placing all the words of Scripture before a man and saying, “Here, God was manifested in the flesh (a thought which you may find incredible!), but He was justified in the Spirit.” From the first pages of the Bible, through the entire Pentateuch, in the writings, in the psalms, and in the prophets as well, all of Scripture shows what God would do. And when it happened, it could not be believed or understood until the resurrection. But in His resurrection, Christ was JUSTIFIED IN THE SPIRIT. Praise God for His amazing wisdom, revealed in the “mystery of godliness.” Surely it is great.

Life application: If you don’t believe Jesus is God, you have a serious theological meltdown. You have completely missed the entire point of Scripture. God could not have made this any clearer. To miss this point is like missing the fact that trees are made of wood.

Lord God, the most obvious thing found in all of Scripture is that You stepped out of eternity and manifested Yourself in the flesh. Nobody could have believed it, and surely those who were told still had doubts. Mary looked at the lifeless body of Christ and must have wondered what You had done. But all was vindicated in the resurrection. Every doubt can be dismissed, every naysayer is proven foolish. Great is the mystery of godliness, O God. But once it is revealed, it is marvelous. Thank You, O God, for Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Thursday, 21 December 2017

God was manifested in the flesh, 1 Timothy 3:16b

This may be one of the most contested lines of all in the New Testament. It either says, “God was manifested in the flesh,” or “He was manifested in the flesh.” The difference comes down to whether the Greek letters Ὃς (He who) are correct, or if it was Θεὸς. The possible reason for the difference would be a contraction of the word Θεὸς to Θς. The reason it cold be such a contraction is that if a word was contracted, a line would be placed above the letters to show it was a contraction. This occurs in some ancient manuscripts, but it then it is believed by some that the line was added later. Microscopic evaluations of the manuscripts have been made, but the controversy remains. And yet, it shouldn’t.

If this is “He who,” it is speaking of either God or Christ. Some versions simply say, “Christ was revealed” (NLT). This is because the following lines are obviously speaking of Christ. The question then comes down to whether the true reading is “God,” and thus it is an explicit reference to the Deity of Christ, or it is speaking of Christ, without any hint of a comparison to His divine nature. In the end, it really doesn’t matter, except to those who have a presupposition that Christ is not God. To anyone who simply picks up the Bible, and reads it without any presuppositions, it is as apparent as the rising of the sun on a clear day that Jesus is God incarnate, something implied in this verse, even if it says “He who.”

To say, “He who was manifested in the flesh,” implies that the Being in question preexisted; there was existence prior to His time in the flesh. Understanding that, and taking all of the rest of Scripture in proper context, the incarnation of God in human flesh is the only logical conclusion of what is being relayed. One must disregard countless references to the incarnation, both implicit and explicit which are found elsewhere, in order to say that the One being referred to is a created being.

This One existed, and then He appeared in the flesh of a human body. He is the One who was promised at the very fall of man in Genesis 3:15. He is the One anticipated thousands of times in the writings of the Old Testament. He is the One who is exactingly described by the authors of the gospels. He is the One explained time and again in the epistles, and who is the center of every theological explanation of what God has done in the stream of human existence. He is the One revealed in John’s apocalypse, the book of Revelation, who is worshiped and adored by the heavenly host. He is the One to whom the final sentence of Scripture is devoted. He is Jesus our God. The use of “God” or “He who” by Paul is important, but it is not at all necessary to determine Deity of the reference for the sound reader of Scripture. Those who come to this verse and who will then use it to argue against the Deity of Jesus Christ have already proven themselves biblically illiterate fools. Whether implicit or explicit, the truth remains that “God was manifested in the flesh.”

One thing is certain, the writers of the gospels and epistles all believed that Jesus is God. One, of countless examples of this, is to be found in Luke’s gospel. In Luke 8, we read the following –

“Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, ^39 ‘Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.’ And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.”

Jesus told the man to “tell what great things God has done for you.” Luke then explains how the man took this literally by speaking of the great things Jesus [meaning “God”] had done. This is not an isolated instance. The words of Scripture are clear. Jesus is God.

Life application: If you struggle with the Deity of Jesus Christ, you need reread the Bible without any presuppositions, praying first to God that He will reveal to you the truth of the matter. His Deity is so obviously referred to that you will literally overflow with notes pointing to this truth.

Your word, O Glorious God, tells us that You were manifest in the flesh in the Person of Jesus Christ. What a marvelous story of love! What an incredible story of glory. For those who saw and believed, how blessed they were. For those of us who have heard and believe, how much more blessed are we! And so we proclaim that Jesus is Lord, to Your glory. Amen.

Wednesday, 20 December 2017

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: 1 Timothy 3:16a

Due to the length of 1 Timothy 3:16, it will be divided up into several readings.

The words of this verse form an axis on which the book pivots. Paul now says to Timothy words which are truly astounding to contemplate. In this, he begins with, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness.” This is being stated to support what was said in the preceding verse, which is that the church is “the pillar and ground of the truth.”

The word translated as “without controversy” is an adverb, literally it says, “confessedly.” It gives the idea of “by common consent.” What this means is that there can be no dissent in what he will proclaim. The authority of God in heaven, the Source of godliness, is in full agreement with what will be said concerning his words.

What will be written by Paul is what that truth consists of in its fullest and most poignant sense. In other words, it is a paraphrase of the word “truth” in relation to Christ and the church. The church is what rests on, and what supports, the truth; and this truth is revealed in, and consists of, the mystery of godliness. As Charles Ellicott states, “Yes, confessedly great – so great that the massive grandeur of the pillar is only in proportion to the truth it supports.

Vincent’s Word Studies shows how the word “godliness” is meant to be expressive of how the believer in Christ is to conduct his life – “The contents of this truth or mystery is Christ, revealed in the gospel as the Savior from ungodliness, the norm and inspiration of godliness, the divine life in man, causing him to live unto God as Christ did and does.” Vincent’s further states, “The mystery of godliness is the truth which pertains or belongs to godliness. It is not the property of worldly wisdom.” In other words, without Christ, the world could not understand or attain godliness.

Paul’s use of the word “mystery” tells us that these truths of Christ were unknown before the coming of Christ, and they are only revealed in His Person and work. The use of the word “mystery” here does not mean that this is the first unveiling of the mystery, which is something that occurred, for example, in telling about the rapture in 1 Corinthians 15 (“Behold, I tell you a mystery…” 1 Corinthians 15:51). Rather, this is his explanation of the mystery that had become known to the church because of having observed Christ’s work in relation to Scripture.

What he will say in the rest of this verse is the explanation of that mystery of godliness. In understanding the example, man can then apply the example to his life. In doing so, godliness will be attained. In attaining the state, the man will attain what is required to be pleasing to God.

Life application: Paul’s words in 1 Timothy 3:16 form a snapshot of the gospel. In accepting, by faith, the words of this verse, one is accepting the gospel message. It is that which reconciles fallen man to God once again. Always be ready to tell others of the truth of the gospel. Without that knowledge man cannot attain godliness. And without godliness, man remains separate from God.

Lord God, Your word shows that we attain godliness through faith in the gospel message. Christ came in the flesh, he was justified in the Spirit, he was seen by angels, he was preached among the Gentiles, He was believed on in the world, and He was received up in glory. It is through faith in the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, that we are reconciled to You once again. Help us to share this message of life with all people. Let us be bold in our proclamation. Give us this desire and ability, O God. Amen.

Tuesday, 19 December 2017

…but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth… 1 Timothy 3:15

Paul had just written that he hoped to come to Ephesus shortly, but now he notes this may not be the case. The word translated as “delayed” is found only here and in 1 Peter 3:9 when speaking of the supposed slowness of the Lord’s return. Paul may not actually make it in a timely manner, and what if he never made it back? The words are a necessary instruction for Timothy (and for all of the church throughout this dispensation), as he says, “so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself.”

Though this is written in the singular, it is speaking to all men and women. He has given instructions to all, concerning right and proper order within the church. He has also given instructions for the selection of leaders over the church. His words are for that proper conduct for Timothy, for the church at Ephesus, and for all churches at all times. The words are for conduct “in the house of God.”

This term, “house of God,” is derived from Old Testament symbolism. The house of God was the tabernacle/temple which was among the people of Israel, and it was also a term used of the people of Israel. Paul now transfers this to the church and to the people within the church. More importantly, his letters are directed to Gentiles and Gentile locations. Thus, the church is something unique and entirely different than that of the Old Testament’s definition. It is a spiritual entity which is comprised of any and all who have professed faith in the completed work of Christ Jesus. This is explicitly stated in the words, “which is the church of the living God.”

There is probably quite a bit on Paul’s mind when writing these words. The word translated as “church” is ecclesia. It is a called out assembly. However, it is rightly translated as “church” here because he has just called it “the house of God.” It is the people who form the church, and who are, according to Ephesians 2:21, a “building, being fitted together” into “a holy temple in the Lord.” This is a church in which God Himself, the living God, will dwell in and among His people. He is set in contrast to the false god of Ephesus, Diana (aka Artemis), which is described in some detail in Acts 16. Further, He is set in contrast to any false god of any location. Only He is the living God. This church of the living God, is then called by Paul, “the pillar and ground of the truth.”

Some scholars say that this term is to be applied to the truth which will next be stated by Paul, and not to the church itself. This is not correct. The church is the pillar of the truth, and the purpose of a pillar is to support. Pillars throughout history have borne inscriptions. The church bears the inscription of TRUTH which it maintains and supports. As long as a church within the church proclaims the truth of God’s word, it is such a pillar. And the true church as a whole is the pillar of truth. Further, a pillar is a two-way structure. It stands on a base, and it is a base for continued support. Thus, the pillar that stands on Christ (John 14:6 – I am the way, the truth, and the life) is founded on the truth, and it then supports the house which sits upon it. The truth to the world is the church which proclaims Christ; and without that church, there can be no truth of God.

Life application: The importance of Paul’s letter to Timothy, and adhering to what is stated by him concerning proper functioning of the church, is not to be understated. When a church veers off of the words of Paul, which outline the structure and requirements of the church, it is no longer a sound pillar of the truth. How important it is then to be obedient to what is written by him here!

Lord God, Your word places a very heavy emphasis on the church and its proper functioning. Without a church based on Jesus Christ, there is no truth to be expressed concerning who You are and what You expect. And when a church does not adhere to what You have outlined in Your word, then the world will see a church which is not reflective of Your truth. Much is tied up in how our church is based, and in how it is conducted. And so help us to be obedient to Your word and the truth of Christ which is found in it. Amen.