Notes on 1 Timothy 1:9-17

1 Timothy 1:9

for a lawless and rebellious people. The Law of Moses had at least three uses. Constructively, it served as a compass to guide the covenant community into righteous practices that maintained a loving fidelity to God and to neighbors. For "lawbreakers and rebels," the Law was a search light that exposed their wrong-doing, and a fence to restrain the damage their misdeeds caused in the community (cf. Gal 3:19; Rom 4:15). Because misreadings of the Law were the root of the problem in Ephesus, Paul needed to communicate that while the Law remained relevant, it needed to be used as a light and fence to correct those who were disrupting the church. Paul also corrected misreadings with proper readings of the Law about marriage, sexuality, the treatment of widows, and community leadership.

That conforms to the glorious gospel - 1 Timothy 1:10-11

faithful instruction. "Healthy teaching" is an alternate translation of "sound doctrine" (Gk. hugiainousē didaskalia) that brings out the strong connection Paul made between teaching and social practice. The glorious gospel not only narrates the good news about Jesus Christ it also reconciles people to God and to each other in righteousness, that is, in right relationship.

Paul's experience of the gospel of God's grace - 1 Timothy 1:12-17

Paul's experience of the gospel of God's grace. "As an example" (1:16) to Timothy and the Ephesian church, Paul narrated his own transformative experience of God's mercy in Christ (cf. 1 Cor 15:9-11; Gal 1:13-16; Eph 3:7-9; Phil 3:4b-11). His testimony is rooted deeply in God's own testimony or "trustworthy saying" that "Christ came into the world to save sinners" (v15). Because gifts were only given to the worthy or those capable of some form of repayment in the Roman patronage system, Paul's description of himself as "the worst of sinners" (v16) in receipt of "the grace of our Lord" (v14) was jarring, counter-cultural and note-worthy.

His service - 1 Timothy 1:12

his service. A common short-hand summary of his commission, Paul used this term (Gk. diakonia) to highlight that his message and authority were not self-generated. Nor was Paul some sort of secondary emissary of the other apostles. Rather, Paul's message and authority came directly from Christ to authorize him as an emissary alongside the other apostles

A blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man - 1 Timothy 1:13

a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man. Along with Luke (cf. Acts 9:1-19; 22:3-16; 26:9-20), Paul narrated the story of his encounter with Christ (see note 1:12-17) as a demonstration of the gospel's transformative power. Paul's pre-conversion persecution of the church was rooted in his readings and practice of the Law. His experience of mercy and forgiveness apart from the Law revolutionized his readings and practice. I received mercy. Paul's testimony about the grace and mercy he received from Christ stood in stark contrast to the false teachers of Ephesus, who placed confidence for character reform in law-keeping, which conformed to their readings and practice (see also 1:16).

Pauline summary of the gospel - 1 Timothy 1:14

This sentence is a classic Pauline summary of the gospel containing two of his signature phrases, the grace of our Lord and in Christ Jesus. Grace, gift or favor was a common term in the Roman economy which described a material exchange or a service provided to someone worthy of honor or someone who could repay. The scandal of Paul's gospel summary is that Christ's gift of salvation is given to the unworthy, the dishonorable, to those incapable of repay-ment. The classic Pauline prepositional phrase "in Christ" is rooted in Israel's Scriptures. Abraham and David, in particular, stand as covenant mediators for "the nations" in relation to Israel's God. It is only "in Abraham" (Gen 12:3), "in David" (Ps 72:11, 17) and "in Christ" (Rom 8:1, 38; 1 Cor 1:2; 15:58; 2 Cor 5:2, 17; 12:2; Gal 2:4; Eph 2:13; 4:32; Phil 1:1; 3:14, etc.) that the nations can experience covenantal intimacy with Israel's God.

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