I’ve now completed the Pastoral Letters (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus). Here are some highlights:
1 Timothy 6:15-16:
15 My heart leaps for joy as I praise God, who:
- is the most honoured and only Sovereign,
- is the King of reigning kings and Lord of ruling lords,
- 16 is the only One who is immortal: he can never decay or die,
- lives in such radiantly glorious light that no one can come close to,
- is invisible: no one has ever seen or can see him.
May all honour and eternal power be given to him! Yes! Amen.
2 Timothy 2:2:
You’ve heard me teach certain matters in the presence of many witnesses. Entrust this teaching to people whom you’ve identified as reliable and trustworthy. Be proactive and make it a priority to invest your time, energy and resources in such people, who should also be qualified to teach others. In this way, the baton of being a faithful teacher will be constantly passed on to equip future generations.
2 Timothy 3:14-17:
14 But as for you, Timothy, make sure that you remain firmly committed to the message you’ve learnt. Don’t abandon, neglect or distort the teachings you have become deeply convinced of. You also know the character of the people from whom you’ve learnt them. 15 You have been taught – and have known – the holy writings from the time when you were a toddler. Their message can make you wise so that you find salvation, which comes as a result of your trust in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God. The whole of Scripture has its source in God himself. It has God-given authority and is valuable to:
- teach God’s truth
- rebuke error
- correct wrong ways and
- train in living right with God.
17 The ultimate purpose of Scripture is practical: that God’s people may be well qualified and fully equipped for all kinds of good works.
Titus 3:3-7:
3 Why should we behave like this? Because at one time, before we trusted in Christ, our lives were completely different from what they’re like now. We used to be foolish and disobedient. We were led astray and were controlled by all kinds of sinful desires and pleasures. We spent our lives full of spitefulness, envy and hatred. We were hated and we hated one another too. 4 But the wonderful kindness and love of God our Saviour broke into human history! When his extravagant goodness appeared to us, 5 God saved us, not because of our own righteous achievements, but because of his mercy. We didn’t deserve to receive God’s salvation at all; he rescued us only because of his infinitely rich mercy. He saved us through the washing of the new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. Compared with our previous life, we became radically changed people! God saved us by washing away our sins; we were born again and were given new life by the Holy Spirit. 6 God poured out his Spirit on us lavishly, flooding our whole lives, through Jesus Christ our Saviour. 7 God’s purpose was to put us right with himself by his grace – his generous love, undeserved favour and overflowing kindness. We have become heirs of God’s promises according to the certain hope of eternal life, the full salvation that we confidently look forward to enjoying for ever.
At the time of writing I am making good progress in editing 1 Corinthians.
