Survey
of the Letters of Paul: 1 Timothy 6:14
That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing
of our Lord Jesus Christ:
And to keep
himself unspotted from the world. -
That is, religion will keep us from the
maxims, vices, and corruptions which prevail
in the world, and make us holy. These two
things may, in fact, be said to constitute
religion. If a man is truly benevolent, he
bears the image of that God who is the
fountain of benevolence; if he is pure and
uncontaminated in his walk and deportment,
he also resembles his Maker, for he is holy.
If he has not these things, he cannot have
any well-founded evidence that he is a
Christian; for it is always the nature and
tendency of religion to produce these
things. It is, therefore, an easy matter for
a man to determine whether he has any
religion; and equally easy to see that
religion is eminently desirable. Who can
doubt that that is good which leads to
compassion for the poor and the helpless,
and which makes the heart and the life pure?
~Barnes Notes |
1 Peter 1:19
But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot:
2 Peter 3:14
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such
things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in
peace, without spot, and blameless.
The commentary for 2 Peter 3:14 and the phrase,
"without spot, and blameless."
It should be an object of earnest effort
with us to have the last stain of sin and
pollution removed from our souls. A deep
feeling that we are soon to stand in the
presence of a holy God, our final Judge,
cannot but have a happy influence in making
us pure. ~Barnes
Notes |
That thou keep this
commandment without spot - Two things are
mentioned here:
1. That the commandment itself - the whole doctrine
of Christ, should be kept entire.
2. That his life should be agreeable to that
doctrine. Keep it without spot - let there be no
blot on the sacred book; add nothing to it; take
nothing from it; change nothing in it. Deliver down
to thy successors the truth as thou hast had it from
God himself. ~Adam Clarke
That thou keep this
commandment - Meaning either what he had now
last of all enjoined him, to fight the good fight of
faith; or the whole of the orders he had given him
throughout the epistle, relating both to the
doctrine and discipline of the house of God; or
rather the work and office of preaching the Gospel,
which was committed to him by [God through] the Holy
[Spirit], and enjoined him by the commandment of the
everlasting God: and this the apostle, before God
and Christ, charges him to observe and keep, in the
following manner. ~John
Gill
Keep this commandment —
Greek, “the commandment,” that is, the Gospel rule
of life. ~Jamieson,
Fausset, Brown
Keep this commandment —
Usually of a single commandment or injunction, but
sometimes for the whole body of the moral precepts
of Christianity. The reference may be explained by
ἡ παραγγελία the commandment, meaning the gospel
as the divine standard of conduct and faith. ~Vincent's Word Studies
Keep this commandment —
Not one only, but the will of Christ.
~People's New Testament
2] Unrebukeable. At least one
commentary combines "without spot" and
"unrebukeable."
Unrebukable - So that
there be no occasion for reproach or reproof.
~Barnes Notes
Unrebukable - Let there
be nothing in thy conduct or spirit contrary to this
truth. Keep the truth, and the truth will keep thee.
~Adam Clarke
Without spot, and
unrebukeable. - the sense is, that he would
discharge his ministerial function with all
faithfulness and purity; that he would sincerely,
and without any adulteration, preach the pure Gospel
of Christ; and that he would so behave in his life
and conversation, that his ministry might not be
justly blamed by men, or he be rebuked by the church
here, or by Christ hereafter: and this he would have
him do. ~John Gill
3] Until the appearing of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Until the appearing of our
Lord - Hand it down pure, and let thy conduct
be a comment on it, that it may continue in the
world and in the Church till the coming of Christ.
~Adam Clarke
Until the appearing of our
Lord Jesus Christ. - to judge the quick and
dead at the last day, and which will be very
illustrious and glorious. Now Christ is hid from the
eyes of men, but to them that look for him he will
appear a second time in great glory; in the glory of
his Father, and of his own, and of the holy angels;
and when his saints will appear with him in glory:
and this the apostle the rather mentions, since
every man's work and ministry will then be made
manifest; this bright day of Christ's appearing will
declare it, and everyone must give an account of
himself, and his talents, unto him: and this shows
that the apostle did not design this charge, and
these instructions, for Timothy only, but for all
other ministers of the Gospel, till the second
coming of Christ; though this was then, as now, so
much unknown, when it would be, that it could not be
said but Timothy might live unto it.
~John Gill
Until the appearing of our
Lord Jesus Christ. - His coming in person.
Believers then used in their practice to set before
themselves the day of Christ as near at hand; we,
the hour of death. The fact has in all ages of the
Church been certain, the time as uncertain to Paul,
as it is to us; hence, he says, “in HIS times”: the
Church’s true attitude is that of continual
expectation of her Lord’s return.
~Jamieson, Fausset, Brown
Until the appearing of our
Lord Jesus Christ. - The language seems to
imply a feeling that Christ would come in Timothy's
time; at any rate Timothy is to keep that in view.
~People's New Testament
Let us finish with the Treasury of Scriptural
Knowledge:
1] That thou keep this commandment
1 Timothy 6:20
O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy
trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and
oppositions of science falsely so called:
1 Timothy 4:11-16
11 These things command and teach.
12 Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an
example of the believers, in word, in conversation,
in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
13 Till I come, give attendance to reading, to
exhortation, to doctrine.
14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was
given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the
hands of the presbytery.
15 Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly
to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.
16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine;
continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both
save thyself, and them that hear thee.
1 Chronicles 28:9-10
9 And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy
father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with
a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts,
and understandeth all the imaginations of the
thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of
thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off
for ever.
10 Take heed now; for the LORD hath chosen thee to
build an house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do
it.
1 Chronicles 28:20
And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of
good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed:
for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he
will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou
hast finished all the work for the service of the
house of the LORD.
2] Without spot
Ephesians 5:27
That he might present it to himself a glorious
church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such
thing; but that it should be holy and without
blemish.
Hebrews 9:14
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through
the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to
God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve
the living God?
1 Peter 1:18-19
18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed
with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from
your vain conversation received by tradition from
your fathers;
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a
lamb without blemish and without spot:
2 Peter 3:14
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such
things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in
peace, without spot, and blameless.
3] Unrebukeable.
Philippians 2:15
That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of
God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and
perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in
the world;
Colossians 1:22
In the body of his flesh through death, to present
you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his
sight:
Jude 1:24
Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling,
and to present you faultless before the presence of
his glory with exceeding joy,
4] Until the appearing of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:8
Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may
be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:6
Being confident of this very thing, that he which
hath begun a good work in you will perform it until
the day of Jesus Christ:
Philippians 1:10
That ye may approve things that are excellent; that
ye may be sincere and without offence till the day
of Christ;
1 Thessalonians 3:13
To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable
in holiness before God, even our Father, at the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
1 Thessalonians 5:23
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I
pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be
preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Titus 2:13
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious
appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus
Christ;
1 Peter 1:7
That the trial of your faith, being much more
precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be
tried with fire, might be found unto praise and
honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
1 John 3:2
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not
yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when
he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall
see him as he is.
Revelation 1:7
Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall
see him, and they also which pierced him: and all
kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.
Even so, Amen.
Now a recap:
1. Serve God with a perfect heart and a willing
mind.
2. Be strong and of good courage. God is with
you.
3. Be you Holy.
4. Purge your conscience from dead works.
5. Be diligent that you be found without spot.
6. Christ makes you unrebukeable. Be
unrebukeable [Jude 1:24]
7. Be confident of the fact that God will work with
you to the end, meaning the appearing of Jesus
Christ and your salvation.
8. You are a son of God.
9. God is stablishing your heart.
10. Focus on the appearing of Christ in the sky [another
way of saying, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God.].
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