Let us begin with the Barclay Commentary for
verses 6-10
ADVICE TO A SERVANT OF CHRIST
1 Timothy 4:6–10
If you lay these things before the brothers, you
will be a fine servant of Jesus Christ, if you feed
your life on the words of faith, and the fine
teaching of which you have been a student and a
follower. Refuse to have anything to do with
irreligious stories like the tales old women tell to
children. Train yourself towards the goal of true
godliness. The training of the body has only a
limited value; but training in godliness has a
universal value for mankind, because it has the
promise of life in this present age, and life in the
age to come. This is a saying which deserves to be
accepted by all. The reason why we toil and struggle
so hard is that we have set our hopes on the living
God, who is the Saviour of all men, and especially
of those who believe.
THIS passage is closely packed with practical
advice, not only for Timothy but for any servant of
the Church who is charged with the duty of work and
leadership.
(1) It tells us how to instruct others. The word
used for laying these things (hupotithesthai) before
the brothers is significant. It does not mean to
issue orders but rather to advise, to suggest. It is
a gentle, humble and modest word. It means that
teachers must never dogmatically and belligerently
lay down the law. It means that they must act rather
as if they were reminding people of what they
already knew or suggesting to them, not that they
should learn from them, but that they should
discover from their own hearts what is right.
Guidance given in gentleness will always be more
effective than bullying instructions laid down with
force. It is possible to lead people when they will
refuse to be driven.
(2) It tells us how to face the task of teaching.
Timothy is told that he must feed his life on the
words of faith. No one can give out without taking
in. Those who teach must be continually learning. It
is the reverse of the truth that when people become
teachers they cease to be learners; each day they
must come to know Jesus Christ better before they
can bring him to others.
(3) It tells us what to avoid. Timothy is to avoid
pointlesstales like those which old women tell to
children. It is easy to get lost in side issues and
to get entangled in things which are at best
embellishments. It is on the great central truths
that people must constantly feed their minds and
nourish their faith.
(4) It tells us what to seek. Timothy is told that,
as athletes train their bodies, so Christians must
train their souls. It is not that bodily fitness is
despised; the Christian faith believes that the body
is the temple of the Holy Spirit. But Paul is
pleading for a sense of proportion. Physical
training is good, and even essential; but its use is
limited. It develops only part of an individual, and
it produces only results which last for a short
time, for the body passes away. Training in
godliness develops the whole person in body, mind
and spirit, and its results affect not only time but
eternity as well. Christians are not athletes of the
gymnasium, they are the athletes of God. The
greatest of the Greeks recognized this. The Athenian
orator Isocrates wrote: ‘No ascetic ought to train
his body as a king ought to train his soul.’ ‘Train
yourself by submitting willingly to toils, so that
when they come on you unwillingly you will be able
to endure them.’
(5) It shows us the basis of the whole matter. No
one has ever claimed that the Christian life is an
easy way; but its goal is God. It is because life is
lived in the presence of God and ends in his still
nearer presence that Christians are willing to
struggle so hard. The greatness of the goal makes
the toil worth while.
~Barclay Commentary
This verse is primarily broken into four
phrases:
1] Fore therefore we both labour and suffer
reproach.
2] Because we trust in the living God.
3] Who is the Saviour of all men.
4] specially of those that believe.
Each part is a lesson in itself. My overall sense of
the commentaries is that they are capturing meaning
of words but slightly missing the meaning at the
spiritual level. This is a rather complex statement
Paul is making to Timothy. Just previous in the text
Paul is strongly admonishing Timothy to teach truth
and to keep false doctrine out of the church, out of
the teaching, and out of the lives of the
congregation. He says in verse 6 that a good
minister, and therefore all true members of the Body
of Christ are "nourished up in the words of faith
and of good doctrine."
In verse 7, we are to refuse all false doctrine [from
wives tales to the secret knowledge of the Gnostics]
and to exercise ourselves rather unto godliness. In
verse 9, Paul says that what he has just stated is a
faithful saying and worth of all acceptation. All
members must accept the fact that we avoid false
doctrine and favor, in its place, true doctrine and
the invoking of the power of the Holy Spirit
producing godliness...us becoming like Christ and
conforming to His image and thinking.
Then Paul utters this complex statement of what we
are doing and what God is doing in His plan for
mankind. Let us take each of the four parts in turn:
1] For therefore
we both labour and suffer reproach:
For therefore we both labor
- This verse was necessary to explain what he
had before said; and here he shows that his meaning
was not that the followers of God should enjoy
worldly prosperity and exemption from natural evils;
for, said he, it is because we exercise ourselves to
godliness that we have both labor and reproach, and
we have these because we trust In the living God:
but still we have mental happiness, and all that is
necessary for our passage through life; for in the
midst of persecutions and afflictions we have the
peace of God that passeth knowledge, and have all
our crosses and sufferings so sanctified to us that
we consider them in the number of our blessings.
~Adam Clarke
For therefore we both labour
and suffer reproach - In making this truth
known, that all might be saved, or that salvation
was offered to all. The “labor” was chiefly
experienced in carrying this intelligence abroad
among the Gentiles; the “reproach” arose chiefly
from the Jews for doing it.
~Barnes Notes
For therefore we both labour
- Not in the word and doctrine, though they
did; nor in the exercise of internal godliness,
though there is a work in faith, and a labour in
love; nor with their own hands, at their trades and
business, to support themselves, and others; but by
enduring hardships and afflictions, as stripes,
imprisonment, weariness, pain, watchings, fastings,
hunger, thirst, cold, and nakedness; see 2
Corinthians 11:23. ~John
Gill
Quoted verse:
2 Corinthians 11:23
Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I
am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above
measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.
For therefore we both labor
and suffer reproach - Animated by this
promise. We both labour and suffer reproach - We
regard neither pleasure, ease, nor honour. Because
we trust - For this very thing the world will hate
us. ~John Wesley
In Robertson's Word Pictures it gives "we
labour" and "[we]
strive" as Pauline words [words
Paul uses] and references Colossians 1:29
Colossians 1:29
Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his
working, which worketh in me mightily.
Notice the commentary on Colossians 1:29
Whereunto I also
labour - See 1 Corinthians 15:10.
Striving -
Greek agonizing. He taxed all his energies
to accomplish this, as the wrestlers strove
for the mastery in the Grecian games.
According to his
working - Not by my own strength, but
by the power which God alone can give; See 1
Corinthians 15:10.
~Barnes Notes
1 Corinthians 15:10
But by the grace of God I am what I am: and
his grace which was bestowed upon me was not
in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than
they all: yet not I, but the grace of God
which was with me. |
In the People's New Testament for "We
labor and suffer reproach" gives us to read 2
Corinthians 11:21-27. We have already looked at
verse 23 above so this will give us the greater
context of that verse.
2 Corinthians 11:21-27
21 I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had
been weak. Howbeit whereinsoever any is bold, (I
speak foolishly,) I am bold also.
22 Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites?
so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I.
23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool)
I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes
above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths
oft.
24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes
save one.
25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned,
thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I
have been in the deep;
26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in
perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen,
in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in
perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in
perils among false brethren;
27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often,
in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and
nakedness.
2] Because we
trust in the living God:
Because we trust in the living
God - This does not mean, as our translation
would seem to imply, that he labored and suffered
“because” he confided in God, or that this was the
“reason” of his sufferings, but rather that this
trust in the living God was his “support” in these
labors and trials. “We labor and suffer reproach,
for we have hope in God. Through him we look for
salvation. We believe that he has made this known to
people, and believing this, we labor earnestly to
make it known, even though it be attended with
reproaches.” The sentiment is, that the belief that
God has revealed a plan of salvation for all people,
and invites all people to be saved, will make his
friends willing to “labor” to make this known,
though it be attended with reproaches.
~Barnes Notes
Because we trust in the living
God - for the accomplishment of the said
promises, who has power, and therefore can, and is
faithful, and therefore will, make good what he has
promised; and since it is life he has promised,
faith is the more encouraged to trust in him, since
he is the living God, in opposition to, and
distinction from, lifeless idols; he has life in
himself, essentially, originally, and independently,
and is the author and giver of life, natural,
spiritual, and eternal, unto others. Wherefore there
is good reason to trust in him for the fulfilling of
the promises of the present and future life, made
unto godliness. ~John Gill
Because we trust - For
this very thing the world will hate us.
~ John Wesley
We trust in - Better
is, "have set our hope on." See Romans 15:12 and 1
Peter 1:13
Romans 15:12
And again, Esaias [Isaiah in 11:10] saith, There
shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to
reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles
trust.
1 Peter 1:13
Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober,
and hope to the end for the grace that is to be
brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
~Vincent's Word Studies
3] Who is the
Saviour of all men:
Who is the Savior of all men
- Who has provided salvation for the whole human
race, and has freely offered it to them in his word
and by his Spirit. ~Adam
Clarke
Saviour — even in this
life. This commentary then references verse 8 of
this chapter where it says, "but godliness is
profitable unto all things, having promise of the
life that now is, and of that which is to come."
~Jamieson, Fausset and Brown
Who is the Saviour of all men
- Preserving them in this life, and willing to save
them eternally. ~John
Wesley
Robertson's Word Pictures says: "for sōtēr applied
to God as here. Not that all men “are saved” in the
full sense, but God gives life (1 Timothy 6:13) to
all (Acts 17:28).
1 Timothy 6:13
I give thee charge in the sight of God, who
quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who
before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;
Acts 17:28
For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as
certain also of your own poets have said, For we are
also his offspring. ~
Robertson's Word Pictures
Now from the Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge a few
scriptures showing that God is a physical Saviour
here and now as well as the ultimate spiritual
Saviour in the plan of Salvation:
The Saviour here and now:
Psalm 36:6
Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy
judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest
man and beast.
Psalm 107:2
Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath
redeemed from the hand of the enemy;
The ultimate Saviour in the plan of Salvation:
1 Timothy 2:4
Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto
the knowledge of the truth.
1 Timothy 2:6
Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified
in due time.
1 John 2:2
And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for
ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Now notice how the John Gill states this. This
one should greatly define what "Saviour of all men"
really means.
Who is the Saviour of all men
- in a providential way, giving them being and
breath, upholding them in their beings, preserving
their lives, and indulging them with the blessings
and mercies of life; for that he is the Saviour of
all men, with a spiritual and everlasting salvation,
is not true in fact. ~John
Gill
What does it mean here, "is not true in
fact"? It is making a distinction between what
some might think the phrase means and what we know
to be the truth. To a person without spiritual
understanding, he might take, "[God]
who is the Saviour of all men" to mean that no
matter what, all men will be saved. You and I
know this is not true. What it is saying is
that ultimately the opportunity of Salvation is
offered to all men. Clearly a goodly number
will either reject it and/or fall from this process.
So to say that God is the Saviour of all men is to
say He is a being who brings the opportunity for
Salvation to all men. Everyone will have their
opportunity but it is not absolute assurance that
all will necessarily see Salvation and the Kingdom
of God. We see this confirmed in the fourth
phrase of the verse.
4] Specially of
those that believe:
Specially of those that
believe - This is evidently designed to limit
the previous remark. If it [the
third phrase] had been left there, it
might have been inferred that he would “actually
save” all people. But the apostle held no such
doctrine, and he here teaches that salvation is
“actually” limited to those who believe [who
enter and remain in the Salvation Process].
This is the specialty or the uniqueness in the
salvation of those who actually reach [The
Kingdom], that they are “believers." All
people, therefore, do not enter [The
Kingdom with eternal life], unless all
people have faith [the
Salvation Process].
~ Barnes Notes with some
editing by me
Specially of those that
believe - What God intends for All, he
actually gives to them that believe in Christ, who
died for the sins of the world, and tasted death for
every man. As all have been purchased by his blood
so all may believe; and consequently all may be
saved. Those that perish, perish through their own
fault. ~Adam Clarke
Specially of those that
believe - whom though he saves with an
eternal salvation; yet not of this, but of a
temporal salvation, are the words to be understood:
or as there is a general providence, which attends
all mankind, there is a special one which relates to
the elect of God; these are regarded in Providence,
and are particularly saved and preserved before
conversion, in order to be called; and after
conversion, after they are brought to believe in
Christ, they are preserved from many enemies, and
are delivered out of many afflictions and
temptations; and are the peculiar care and darlings
of providence, being to God as the apple of his eye:
~John Gill
Note: John
Gill's use of language here might lose some but what
he is saying is that there is eternal salvation for
those that believe in addition to temporal salvation
in the here and now for everyone. God is clearly
working in the lives of every human who has ever
lived. He offers temporal salvation to every human
according to His will for the here and now. Notice
how He preserved you between birth and your call to
repentance, baptism and the receiving of the Holy
Spirit. He is doing a specific work with all humans
between their conception and their calling to the
Salvation Process before the return of Christ,
during the millennium or in the Second Resurrection.
Interestingly the terrible hardships mankind has
suffered throughout history and even death are part
of that Providence and temporal Salvation. God uses
everything in His plan and can use any element, even
hardships, war, crimes, diseases, famines,
earthquakes, hurricanes and physical death in that
Work.
What is the ultimate outcome of all this?
1 John 5:10-13
10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the
witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath
made him a liar; because he believeth not the record
that God gave of his Son.
11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us
eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath
not the Son of God hath not life.
13 These things have I written unto you that believe
on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that
ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the
name of the Son of God. |