Addressing his disciple Timothy with a letter, Paul reminds him of the gift of God that he received during prayer with the laying on of hands, and that he must now constantly renew within himself...
Addressing his disciple Timothy with a letter, Paul reminds him of the gift of God that he received during prayer with the laying on of hands, and that he must now constantly renew within himself. As is clear, during that prayer Timothy experienced a certain kind of spiritual initiation, that renewal of life, inward and outward, which truly makes a person different, new, opening new life and new possibilities to him. But such effects are never one-time events. A person's transformation is a long and gradual process; one encounter with God, one outpouring of God's breath, even a strong and vivid one, almost never ends the matter. Such an outpouring can begin the process of spiritual change, but after that the person will have to work himself, and above all he will have to understand what has happened to him, the new thing that has entered his life, the new possibilities God has opened to him, and the new tasks God has placed before him. This is the work the apostle reminds his disciple about.
At the same time Paul describes the spirit Timothy received, and that he himself had received earlier, as a spirit of "power, love, and self-control," not of fear or timidity ("fearfulness"). At the center here, as is clear, stands love, accompanied by "power" and "self-control." The "power" mentioned by the apostle is that divine energy which has sustained the being of the universe from the very beginning of its existence and which can manifest itself in a special way where God wants to mark His presence in a special way. Thanks to it, God's miracles do not remain purely spiritual phenomena, receiving the possibility of affecting also the natural processes taking place in the world. By "self-control" (or more precisely, by the corresponding Greek word), Paul means not simply "innocence" in the sexual sense in which it is understood today, but the inner wholeness of a person at all his levels: wholeness of will, wholeness of inner life, and finally wholeness of outward life too, without which a person is not complete.
Such wholeness makes a person a bearer of God's power, which otherwise will not manifest itself in him. But at the center stands not power and not wholeness; at the center is the love with which the Kingdom is permeated and which there, in the Kingdom, is the medium for all relationships existing in it, including the chief ones - the relationship between the Father and the Son, through which the Kingdom exists. It is within and in the context of the Father's relationship with the Son, within the Kingdom, that both wholeness and any manifestations of God's power are possible. But God's breath, the breath of the Kingdom, can exist in a person only in the process of constant renewal: breath cannot be stopped; it exists only in motion. These are the foundational things for Christian life that the apostle reminds his disciple about.
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1:3 Whom I serve from my forefathers - That is, whom both I and my ancestors served. With a pure conscience - He always worshipped God according to his conscience, both before and after his conversion One who stands on the verge of life is much refreshed by the remembrance of his predecessors, to whom he is going.
1:4 Being mindful of thy tears - Perhaps frequently shed, as well as at the apostle's last parting with him.
1:5 Which dwelt - A word not applied to a transient guest, but only to a settled inhabitant. First - Probably this was before Timothy was born, yet not beyond St. Paul's memory.
1:6 Wherefore - Because I remember this. I remind thee of stirring up - Literally, blowing up the coals into a flame. The gift of God - All the spiritual gifts, which the grace of God has given thee.
1:7 And let nothing discourage thee, for God hath not given us - That is, the spirit which God hath given us Christians, isnot the spirit of fear - Or cowardice. But of power - Banishing fear. And love and sobriety - These animate us in ourduties to God, our brethren, and ourselves. Power and sobriety are two good extremes. Love is between, the tie and temperament of both; preventing the two bad extremes of fearfulness and rashness. More is said concerning power, Ti1 1:8; concerning love, Ti2 2:14, etc ; concerning sobriety, Ti2 3:1, etc
1:8 Therefore be not thou ashamed - When fear is banished, evil shame also flees away. Of the testimony of our Lord - The gospel, and of testifying the truth of it to all men. Nor of me - The cause of the servants of God doing his work, cannot be separated from the cause of God himself. But be thou partaker of the afflictions - Which I endure for the gospel's sake.According to the power of God - This which overcomes all things is nervously described in the two next verses.