 |  |
which he had heard from Paul even as he is further enjoined in the very next
verse to `keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us' that good deposit that
had been entrusted to him.
When Paul looked back to the day when he had been enabled by the Lord
and put into the ministry, he referred to that gracious call and equipment
saying `And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love
which is in Christ Jesus' (1 Tim. 1:14). This passage is followed by the
only other occurrence of hupotuposin (form) in the New Testament where it is
translated `pattern' (1 Tim 1:16).
When the apostle referred to his threefold office as a preacher, as an
apostle, as a teacher of the Gentiles, he added the words `in faith and
verity' (1 Tim. 2:7). The reader will call to mind many other passages in
which faith and love are brought together by him, but these two references in
the first epistle are sufficient to supply the indication we need.
As a zealous Pharisee, Paul had known what it was to hold doctrines of
tradition in a persecuting spirit, and to this he refers in 1 Timothy 1:13,
saying `who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I
obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief'. It is in pointed
contrast that he uses the words `with faith and love' in the verse that
follows.
Timothy is urged `to be strong' (2 Tim. 2:1), yet at the same time to
`be gentle' (2 Tim. 2:24) in meekness instructing those that oppose, rather
than violently opposing them; to endure hardness rather than inflict it upon
others. To hold the form of sound words `in faith' and so to hold it
resolutely, loyally, unflinchingly, yet also `in love' which gives rather
than takes, which `suffers long and is kind' which indeed `never faileth'.
Human nature is prone to extremes. Either `faith' will be stressed to the
overshadowing of love, or love will be dispensed at the expense of truth.
The whole of Paul's pastoral epistles (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus) provide a
commentary upon the bearing of these two words `faith and love' and their
ennobling influence on the minister and his message. This `faith and love'
both in 1 Timothy 1:14 and 2 Timothy 1:13 are `in Christ Jesus'.
An examination of the way in which the titles of Christ are distributed
through the New Testament, and a patient checking of the Revised text, will
reveal that Paul alone of the writers of the New Testament uses the title
`Christ Jesus'. The altered order of the two names, places the emphasis upon
the present ascended and glorified Christ whereas `Jesus Christ' tells us
that He Who on earth bore the name `Jesus' is the Christ of God.
While Saul of Tarsus was not the first sinner to be saved and to
receive eternal life upon believing, yet if there is a doctrine that is
distinctly involved in the use of the titles `Christ Jesus' then 1 Timothy
1:16 may indicate that Paul was indeed the `first' to be saved by Him in this
new capacity; Alford reads `Christ Jesus' here where the A.V. and the R.V.
retain `Jesus Christ'.
Both Paul's conversion and Paul's doctrine contribute a `pattern' and
his insistence upon the exalted and glorified Christ must be followed by all
who would preach acceptably in the present time. The relation of 1 Timothy
1:15,16 with the context and rest of the epistle is worked out and
demonstrated in the second Epistle as a whole. These brief notes we trust