1 Timothy 1.2b-Paul's Greeting
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday January 18, 2011
1 Timothy: 1 Timothy 1:2b-Paul’s Greeting
Lesson # 9
Please turn in your Bibles to 1 Timothy 1:1.
This evening we will complete our study of verse 2 by noting Paul’s greeting.
1 Timothy 1:1, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope, 2 to Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.” (NASU)
“Grace, mercy and peace” is composed of the nominative feminine singular form of the noun charis (χάρις) (ha-reece), “grace” and the nominative neuter singular form of the noun eleos (ἒλεος) (el-ay-oce), “mercy” and the nominative feminine singular form of the noun eirene (εἰρήνη) (ear-ree-nee), “peace.”
The noun charis, “grace” in 1 Timothy 1:2 refers to the means by which grace might be received, namely through the mind and thinking of Christ, the Word of God, which is inspired by the Spirit of God.
The Spirit, through the communication of the Word of God to the believer reveals God the Father’s grace policy to the believer.
The noun charis, “grace” refers to the Holy Spirit speaking through the communication of the Word of God to the believer’s human spirit or new Christ nature regarding the will of the Father.
In 1 Timothy 1:2, with this word charis, we have a figure of speech here called metonymy meaning the effect is put for the cause or in other words, the thing effected for the instrument which effects it.
Here grace is put for the Word of God which effects grace.
Therefore, the Spirit of God speaking through the communication of the Word of God to the believer’s human spirit regarding the will of the Father is the means by which grace is received by the believer.
The greeting is more than just that, but rather it is in fact, a Spirit inspired desire that the Ephesians and Timothy would respond to Paul’s Spirit inspired teaching in this epistle regarding the will of the Father for them.
The apostle Paul under the ministry of God the Holy Spirit is appealing to Timothy and the Ephesian believers to respond to his doctrinal teaching in this epistle, which originates from the Lord Jesus Christ.
The noun eleos appears only twice in the salutations of Paul’s epistles, namely, 1 Timothy 1:2 and 2 Timothy 1:2.
Usually only charis, “grace” and eirene, “peace” appear together in the greetings of Paul’s epistles.
However, in 1 Timothy 1:2 and 2 Timothy 1:2, the noun eleos is inserted between the two words.
Thus, these three words together are unique in the Pauline letters.
In 1 Timothy 1:2, the noun eleos depicts a heartfelt response by Paul who has something to give to Timothy, who has a need, namely Spirit inspired instruction as to handle the situation in Ephesus.
The noun means “compassion” in the sense that Paul’s Spirit inspired instruction in this epistle is a reflection of God the Father and God the Son’s concern for Timothy who is in serious need with respect to the situation in Ephesus who are being exposed to false teaching.
This compassion is an expression of both the Father and the Son’s love for Timothy and the Ephesians.
Both the Father and the Son intensely desire and are acting through Paul’s Spirit inspired instructions in this epistle to alleviate the pain and suffering of Timothy and the Ephesians who are suffering from the effects of being exposed to false doctrine.
It speaks of the Father and the Son’s desire to remove this suffering through Paul’s Spirit inspired instruction in this epistle.
The noun eirene refers to the peace of God that is produced by the Spirit in and among believers.
The Spirit does this when believers obey the commands and prohibitions that He guides Paul in issuing them in this epistle and specifically, if they obey his teaching concerning false teachers.
Eirene is used in the salutations of Paul with the noun charis to denote the daily peace the believer receives from fellowship with God (Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3; 2 Cor. 1:2; Eph. 1:2; Col. 1:2; 1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:2; 1 Tim. 1:2; 2 Tim. 1:2; Titus 1:4; Phlm. 1:3).
Notice the word order, “grace” precedes “peace,” which is significant since the sinner cannot experience peace until they have faith in Jesus Christ and appropriate God’s grace that is extended to every believer through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The believer appropriates the grace of God by being obedient to the revelation of the Father’s will that is made known by the Holy Spirit to the believer through the communication of the Word of God by the believer’s divinely ordained pastor-teacher.
The believer’s obedience to the revelation of the Father’s will by the Holy Spirit through the communication of the Word of God will result in the believer experiencing the peace of God in his life.
When Paul uses the expression “grace and peace,” he is referring to the fact that what he is writing to them in this letter under the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit is a revelation of the Father’s will and if this revelation of the Father’s will is obeyed, it will impart blessing to all of them and produce peace in their souls.
“From God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord” is composed of the preposition apo (ἀπό) (ah-poe), “from” and its object is the genitive masculine singular form of the noun theos (θεός) (thay-oce), “God” and the genitive masculine singular form of the noun pater (πατήρ) (pah-tear-ed), “Father” and the adjunctive use of the conjunction kai (καί) (keh), “and” the genitive masculine singular form of the proper name Christos (Χριστός) (cree-stoce), “Christ” and the genitive masculine singular form of the proper noun Iesous (Ἰησοῦς) (yee-soose), “Jesus” and the articular genitive masculine singular form of the noun kurios (κύριος) (ker-dee-oce), “Lord” and the genitive first person plural form of the personal pronoun ego (ἐγώ) (eh-go), “our.”
Christos emphasizes that Jesus of Nazareth, the incarnate Son of God delivered the believer from the sin nature, personal sins, the devil and his cosmic system, spiritual and physical death and eternal condemnation through His substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths and resurrection.
The proper name Iesous is the Greek spelling of the Hebrew word Jehoshua, “Jehovah saves,” and refers to the human nature of the incarnate Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth.
The noun kurios is applied to Jesus Christ and indicates the following: (1) His equality with the Father and the Spirit. (2) His joint-rulership with the Father over the entire cosmos. (3) His highest ranking position as Chief Administrator in the divine government. (4) His absolute sovereign authority as Ruler over all creation and every creature. (5) His victory over the sin nature and Satan and His kingdom.
In His deity, Jesus Christ is “Lord” (See Luke 20:42).
However in His human nature He received this title as a result of His obedience to the Father’s will, which called for Him to suffer a spiritual and physical death on the cross as a substitute for every member of the human race-past, present and future (See Philippians 2:5-11).
In 1 Timothy 1:2, the noun kurios emphasizes the victory that Jesus of Nazareth, who is the Christ accomplished for the believer through His spiritual and physical deaths and resurrection.
His spiritual death solved the problem of personal sins, which are produced by the sin nature through the function of human volition.
His physical death solved the problem of the sin nature, which resides in the genetic structure of the human body.
His resurrection guarantees the believer that he or she will receive a resurrection body at the rapture of the church, which will be immortal and minus the sin nature.
This would give Timothy and the Ephesians encouragement that the victory over their three great enemies has already been accomplished by Jesus Christ, their Savior and they need to only appropriate that victory through faith in the Spirit’s instructions in this epistle.
The personal pronoun ego, “our” denotes possession and the intimate relationship between the three and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The nouns pater, “the Father” and Christos, “Christ” are the objects of the preposition apo, “from,” which functions as a marker of source indicating that grace, compassion and peace “originate” not only “from” God the Father but also “from” the Lord Jesus Christ.
Grace and peace originated from not only the Father but the Lord Jesus as well since all blessings flow to the believer because of the merits of Jesus Christ and His Finished Work on the Cross as well as the believer’s eternal union with Christ.