Greeting
1 Paul, a an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, b for the sake of the promise of life c in Christ Jesus:
2 To Timothy, my dearly loved son.
Grace, mercy, and peace d from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Thanksgiving
3 I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience e as my ancestors did, when I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day. f 4 Remembering your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I recall your sincere faith g that first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice h and now, I am convinced, is in you also.
6 Therefore, I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands. i 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, j but one of power, ,k love, l and sound judgment.
Not Ashamed of the Gospel
8 So don’t be ashamed m of the testimony about our Lord, n or of me his prisoner. o Instead, share in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power p of God. 9 He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, q not according to our works, r but according to his own purpose s and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. 10 This has now been made evident through the appearing t of our Savior Christ Jesus, who has abolished death u and has brought life v and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 For this gospel I was appointed w a herald, apostle, and teacher, 12 and that is why I suffer x these things. But I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to guard what has been entrusted to me ,y until that day. z
Be Loyal to the Faith
13 Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching a that you have heard from me, b in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit who lives in us. 15 You know that all those in the province of Asia c have deserted me, d including Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 May the Lord grant mercy e to the household of Onesiphorus, f because he often refreshed me g and was not ashamed of my chains. h 17 On the contrary, when he was in Rome, i he diligently searched for me and found me. 18 May the Lord grant that he obtain mercy j from him on that day. You know very well how much he ministered at Ephesus. k
A. Thanksgiving (1:3–5). In his first letter, Paul wrote without the normal prayer of thanks and seemed simply to want to get down to business. Now, perhaps sensing that Timothy’s resolve is less solid than he originally thought, Paul prays. Paul thus describes Timothy’s ministry in the context of gratitude for the grand story line of covenant faithfulness (1:3). This includes Paul and Paul’s own family (now including Timothy) and Timothy’s own family (1:5). Timothy does not minister alone and in isolation. He stands in a long line of saints.
B. First appeal: Rekindle the gift and be courageous (1:6–7). 1:6. Timothy’s ministry in Ephesus is challenging. He is a young man (1 Tm 4:12) charged with the oversight of one of the largest and best-established churches in Paul’s mission. Paul has warned that strong, erring would-be leaders could emerge (Ac 20:30). Though Paul has written off by name two false teachers as being shipwrecked in faith (1 Tm 1:19–20), at least one is still in Ephesus teaching that the resurrection has already taken place (2 Tm 2:17). Because Timothy is cowering at this challenge, Paul encourages him to draw on the resource that is already within. Thus, Paul reminds Timothy of the gift of the Spirit that came to him from God when he was set aside for ministry.
1:7. God’s Spirit is not marked by timidity. Thus, Paul tells Timothy not to play the coward. Paul explains cowardice’s opposite—courage—in several terms: (1) power (God’s rule that will be manifest on the last day [4:1] and is on display now when God converts sinners; see 1:8 and 2:25); (2) love (the goal of ministry; see 1 Tm 1:5; 2 Tm 1:13); and (3) sound judgment (exercising the kind of self-restraint that gives God room to grant repentance; see 2:22–26).
A. Christ’s victory: A gospel worth suffering for (1:8–10). Courage will enable Timothy to join Paul and Jesus in standing for the truth. Just as the Lord himself testified before Pilate (cf. 1 Tm 6:13), so must Timothy be ready to testify and suffer (1:8b). Nor should Timothy be ashamed of his own spiritual mentor, despite Paul’s having to minister from a Roman prison (1:8a). The apostle stresses the power of God on display in the gospel (1:8b).
B. Paul’s life: A life worth emulating (1:11–14). 1:11–12. Paul has been called to serve this gospel as “a herald, apostle, and teacher” (1:11). As a herald, he announces Christ’s lordship of the universe by virtue of his victory over sin and death. As an apostle, Paul establishes the foundation of Christian community. As a teacher, he instructs believers how to live in Christ (see also 1 Tm 2:7). Paul exposes himself to physical suffering and emotional humiliation because he knows God’s resolve to see salvation through to “that day”: the day of Christ’s triumphal return to complete the restoration of all things (1:12; see also Php 1:6).
1:13–14. Paul has delivered a “good deposit” that Timothy is to preserve by his own life of faith and love in Christ (1:14). This deposit is the sum of a “pattern of sound teaching” that Timothy is to teach others (1:13; see chap. 2), with the indwelling Holy Spirit’s help.
C. One other life to emulate, contrasted with counterexamples (1:15–18). 1:15. Sadly, not everyone in Paul’s circle is staying true to the apostle. Though there is surely some exaggeration in Paul’s saying that “all those in the province of Asia have deserted me,” it certainly means that Timothy is serving a church with little backing from Paul’s supporters. Paul is offended enough by two of them to name them, Phygelus (who is otherwise unknown) and Hermogenes (who may be the person identified in the noncanonical, late-second-century Acts of Paul and Thecla as a coppersmith and Paul’s opponent).
1:16–18. Paul is keen to present to Timothy the faithfulness of Ephesus’s own Onesiphorus. Paul prays God’s mercy for Onesiphorus, who has recently found the apostle in his Roman jail and ministered to him there (1:17). Paul reminds Timothy of the way Onesiphorus has served them in Ephesus (1:18). Onesiphorus’s lack of shame at Paul’s chains (the Greek phrase is a clever understatement) becomes yet another example for Timothy to follow (1:16).