1 Timothy 1:1

1 Timothy 1:1. According to the commandment. Characteristic of the Pastoral Epistles (Titus 1:3, and in another connexion Titus 2:15, but also in Romans 16:26). Stronger and more emphatic than the simple reference to ‘the Will of God' in the earlier Epistles.

God our Saviour. This also is a distinctive note of this group. Though the name of Saviour is still given to the Lord Jesus (Titus 1:4; Titus 2:13; Titus 3:6), it is not limited to Him. The new feature in St. Paul's later language is that he thinks of the Father as essentially a Saviour, in all senses of the word, as the Preserver and Deliverer of mankind (comp. 1 Timothy 2:3; 1 Timothy 4:10; Titus 1:3; Titus 2:10; Titus 3:4). Probably we may trace in this the influence of the language of the Magnificat (Luke 1:47), with which we may well believe him to have become acquainted through his intimacy with St. Luke.

Christ Jesus our hope. At once the ground of hope in the apostle's consciousness of His presence, and the object of hope in his anticipations of the future. The phrase is not a common one, but once before St. Paul had spoken of ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory' (Colossians 1:27), and in both passages has used the language of the LXX. Version of Psalms 65:6: ‘God our Saviour, Thou that art the hope of all the ends of the earth. ‘

My own son in the faith. Better ‘ true child' The word (more affectionate than ‘son') is one which St. Paul, in advanced life, was fond of using of the young disciples, such as Timothy (Philippians 2:20) and Titus (Titus 1:4), in whom he saw a genuine likeness of character to himself. The addition ‘in the faith' distinguishes the relation from that of actual sonship.