1 Timothy 1:12

1:12-17 The apostle knew that he would justly have perished, if the Lord had been extreme to mark what was amiss; and also if his grace and mercy had not been abundant to him when dead in sin, working faith and love to Christ in his heart. This is a faithful saying; these are true and faithful words, which may be depended on, That the Son of God came into the world, willingly and purposely to save sinners. No man, with Paul's example before him, can question the love and power of Christ to save him, if he really desires to trust in him as the Son of God, who once died on the cross, and now reigns upon the throne of glory, to save all that come to God through him. Let us then admire and praise the grace of God our Saviour; and ascribe to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, three Persons in the unity of the Godhead, the glory of all done in, by, and for us.

{11} And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath {g} enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; (11) He maintains of necessity his apostleship against some that did find fault with his former life, debasing himself even to hell, to advance only Christ's only, with which he abolished all those his former doings. (g) Who gave me strength, not only when I had no will to do well, but also when I was wholly given to evil.

1 Timothy 1:12-14 . And I thank Christ Jesus — Here thanksgiving, an important branch of divine worship, is addressed to the Lord Jesus; who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful — The meaning is, I thank him for putting me into the ministry, and enabling me to be faithful therein; who was before a blasphemer — Of Christ; a persecutor — Of his church; and injurious — In my behaviour toward it; or rather a reviler, as υβριστην may be properly rendered, namely, of his doctrine and people. But I obtained mercy — He does not say, because I was unconditionally elected, but, because I did it ignorantly — Because, though I acted in a very rash, savage, and criminal manner, yet I did not therein contradict the sentiments of my own conscience; in unbelief — Not knowing nor believing that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, or that those whom I persecuted were his servants. Not that his ignorance took away his sin, but it left him capable of mercy, which he would hardly have been, had he acted as he did in contradiction to the conviction of his own mind: for had he knowingly opposed what he apprehended to be truth, (especially truth of such unspeakable importance to the glory of God and the salvation of mankind,) out of regard to his secular interest, he would doubtless have been left to perish under a judicial blindness and hardness of heart.

It is probable, as Paul was “then a scholar at Gamaliel’s feet, he might not have been present when any of Christ’s miracles were performed, as Christ spent but little time at Jerusalem. The popular cry was strong against him, and the Pharisees and rulers treated him with so much contempt, and were so full of malignity toward him, and so ready to advance the most slanderous reports to the prejudice of his character, that it is the less to be wondered at that this rash, hot youth was borne down by the torrent. Yet we see how far Paul was from thinking all this, and whatever could be added to it, a sufficient excuse. Instead of insinuating, with some, that the miracle wrought for his conversion to Christianity was a reward for his extraordinary integrity and virtue while a Jewish zealot, he speaks of himself as one of the greatest sinners upon earth, and thereby shows, by the way, how much guilt a man may contract without acting directly contrary to the convictions of his mind, if he has neglected an impartial care in forming his principles of action.” — Doddridge. And the grace of our Lord — Whereby I obtain mercy; was exceeding abundant — Υπερεπλεονασε , super-abounded; with faith — Opposite to my preceding unbelief; and love — Opposite to my blasphemy, persecution, and reviling; which is in Christ Jesus — Which, through his mediation and the influence of his Spirit, was implanted in my heart, thereby giving life and comfort to my profession.

Here St. Paul expresses his most humble and solemn thanks to Christ for his rich favour in calling him to the high office of all apostle, for by the ministry that is to be understood; and it is so called by way of excellence, it being the most glorious and Divine ministry that ever was established in the church: and he ascribes to our Saviour the praise of all that he performed in the faithful discharge of it. He saith: Christ enabled me, that is, endowed him with fidelity, zeal, courage, and all otber qualifications requisite for that honourable and difficult ministry, 2 Corinthians 3:5,6 . The end of that sacred ministry was, to enlighten and reform the world from superstition, and that vicious and vain conversation that was so pleasing to carnal men, to abolish those corrupt customs that had taken such deep root, and to plant the truth that comes from above, and to publish a holy law so opposite to corrupt nature. This work was opposed by the craft and cruelty, the artifice and violence, of the powers of darkness, in conjunction with the perverted world; and the glory of the apostle’s resisting such enemies is entirely due to Christ. He adds, as a motive of his thankfulness, that Jesus Christ counted him faithful, which is an evident proof that he intends that he made him faithful. His faithfulness was not the cause or motive, but the fruit and effect, of the grace of God in calling him to the ministry.

This he expressly declares, 1 Corinthians 7:25 , hath obtained mercy to be faithful. If our Saviour had only discovered his fidelity, without bestowing that grace upon him, there had not been a reason of such affectionate thanksgiving; for that always supposes some favour and benefit received.

1 Timothy 1:12 . Χάριν ἔχω , I thank ) A modal expression. [See Append. on Sermo Modalis .] These are correlatives: Christ entrusted Paul with the Gospel: Paul, being “accounted faithful,” ‘thanks’ Christ. He thanks Him at 1 Timothy 1:17 ; and in all his epistles and in their introductions.— ἐνδυναμώσαντι , who hath endued me with power ) True conversion and calling confer power , Romans 5:6 .— πιστόν με ἡγήσατο , counted me faithful ) A Metonymy of the antecedent for the consequent; i.e. He hath entrusted to me the office of the Gospel ministry: θέμενος , while he put ( in that He put me ), denotes the very act. The fact that He entrusted the ministry to me, is the moral aspect: the fact that He put me into it, is as it were the physical aspect of His act. In the phrase, He counted me faithful , we have an example of ἀνθρωποπάθεια (the actions of men attributed to God). For if I count any one faithful , and trust him, this is a kind of thing opposite of actual knowledge .[10] But the Divine judgment concerning Paul, that he would he faithful, is infallible. God sees and knows all things. Therefore, in the active sense, ΠΊΣΤΙς does not properly apply to Him. Faith and vision are things antithetic. I wished to convey all this idea by the expression Metonymy , which I used above. [10] That is to say, Trust in the faithfulness of a man can only strictly exist on the part of man. God knows all that is in man, and what he is about to do.

Hath enabled (ἐνδυναμώσαντι) An unclassical word, found in Paul and Acts. See Acts 9:22; Philippians 4:13. Three times in the Pastorals. Counted (ἡγήσατο) A common Pauline word. Putting (θέμενος) Better appointing. The participle defines counted me faithful. He counted me faithful in that he appointed, etc. Into the ministry (εἰς διακονίαν) Better, appointing me to his service. The conventional phrase "the ministry" gives a wrong impression. The term is general, covering every mode of service, either to God or to men. Διάκονοι ministers is used of the secular ruler, Romans 13:4. See also 1 Corinthians 12:5; 1 Corinthians 16:15; 2 Corinthians 3:7, 2 Corinthians 3:8; Ephesians 4:12, and on minister, Matthew 20:26.

12. The honor done him in having the Gospel ministry committed to him suggests the digression to what he once was, no better (1Ti 1:13) than those lawless ones described above (1Ti 1:9, 10), when the grace of our Lord (1Ti 1:14) visited him. And—omitted in most (not all) of the oldest manuscripts. I thank—Greek, "I have (that is, feel) gratitude." enabled me—the same Greek verb as in Ac 9:22, "Saul increased the more in strength." An undesigned coincidence between Paul and Luke, his companion. Enabled me, namely, for the ministry. "It is not in my own strength that I bring this doctrine to men, but as strengthened and nerved by Him who saved me" [Theodoret]. Man is by nature "without strength" (Ro 5:6). True conversion and calling confer power [Bengel]. for that—the main ground of his "thanking Christ." he counted me faithful—He foreordered and foresaw that I would be faithful to the trust committed to me. Paul's thanking God for this shows that the merit of his faithfulness was due solely to God's grace, not to his own natural strength (1Co 7:25). Faithfulness is the quality required in a steward (1Co 4:2). putting me into—rather as in 1Th 5:9, "appointing me (in His sovereign purposes of grace) unto the ministry" (Ac 20:24).

Verse 12. - I thank for and I thank , A.V. and T.R.; him that enabled me , even Christ Jesus our Lord for Christ Jesus our Lord , who hath enabled me , A.V.; appointing me to his service for putting me into the ministry , A.V. I thank , etc. This outburst of praise for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ, who had called him to the ministry of the Word, is caused by the thought, which immediately precedes, of his being entrusted with the gospel. He thus disclaims any notion of merit on his part. That enabled me ( ἐνδυναμώσαντι ). This verb occurs once in the Acts (Acts 9:22); three times in St. Paul's other Epistles ( Romans 4:20 ; Ephesians 6:10 ; Philippians 4:13 ); three times in the pastoral Epistles (here; 2 Timothy 2:1 and 2 Tim 4:17); and Hebrews 11:31 . It denotes the giving that peculiar power which was the gift of the Holy Ghost, and which was necessary for the work of an apostle to enable him to bear witness to Christ in the face of an adverse world. This power ( δύναμις ) Christ promised to his apostles before his ascension ( Acts 1:8 ). St Paul received it after his conversion ( Acts 9:22 ). He continued to hold it throughout his apostleship ( Philippians 4:13 ); he enjoyed it especially at the approach of his martyrdom ( 2 Timothy 4:17 ). It comprised strength of faith, strength to testify and to preach, strength to endure and suffer. St.

Paul's whole course is the best illustration of the nature of the δύναμις which Christ gave him (see in Ephesians 3:6 the χάρις , the διακονία , and the δύναμις all brought together as here). Appointing me to his service. The A.V., putting me into the ministry , is a better rendering, because" the ministry" exactly expresses the particular kind of service to which the Lord appointed him (see the exactly parallel passage, Ephesians 3:7 ). The absence of the article is unimportant ( Romans 12:7 ; 1 Corinthians 16:15 ; 2 Timothy 4:11 ). (For the general phrase, comp. Acts 20:28 ; 1 Corinthians 12:28 ; or, still more exactly as regards the grammar, 1 Thessalonians 5:9 .) 1 Timothy 1:12