Paul’s Son in the Faith, 1 Tim 1:1-2

(1) Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope, (2) To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. (1 Tim 1:1-2)

As John MacArthur rightly stated, one of the greatest joys for any parent is to see their son or daughter grow up into a mature adult. And in the same way, it is also true for someone you have mentored. As Christians, we pray, hope, counsel, encourage, guide, correct, restore and trust those whom we love in Christ and have poured our lives into. “There is no greater joy for a spiritual parent than to beget a true child in the faith and lead him to maturity.” [1] This is even more true for Paul, since he is our example.

In this epistle, we will see not only the great love that Paul had for Timothy, but his desire to equip him with everything that he would need to pastor and lead the large Ephesian church as well as anything else the Lord led him into. Paul desired to reproduce himself in Timothy, but not as a legacy for himself. Paul was completely sold out to living and dying for the one that called and delivered him from the life he once lived. Paul desired to see everyone he encountered come to a full knowledge of the risen Messiah as he had.

As personal as this letter is to Timothy, he and Titus were not his only spiritual children, there are quite a few mentioned throughout the New Testament: Dionysius and Damaris (Act 17:34), Gaius (mentioned 5 times, see Acts 19:29), Sopater (Acts 20:4), Tychicus (Eph 6:21), Trophimus (Acts 20:4, 21:29), Stephanas (1 Cor 16:15), Clement (Php 4:3), Epaphras (Col 1:7), the Corinthians (1 Cor 4:15), and likely most of those mentioned in Romans 16. And these are just the ones we know about listed in Scripture. But of all of these people, there are only two that he called a true child of the faith, Timothy and Titus. And of the two, it seems that Timothy was the one that reflected Paul the most. [2]

(19) But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. (20) For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. (21) For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus. (22) But you know of his proven worth, that he served with me in the furtherance of the gospel like a child serving his father. (Php 2:19-22)

For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church. (1 Cor 4:17)

These two verses show you how much Timothy meant to Paul. At the moment, it may seem that the focus is only upon the mentor to his pupil, and it is, but it is also a letter from one man in ministry to another, something that is repeated by many of the early church fathers in centuries to come.

The Apostle Paul

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope, (1 Tim 1:1)

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus”

“And he saw Paul coming, a man small in size, balk-headed, crooked thighs [note: bow-legged], well-built, with eyebrows meeting, rather long-nosed, full of grace. For sometimes he seemed like a man, and sometimes he had the countenance of an angel.”

An Eyewitness, Physical Description of Paul | Study the Church

Besides Jesus, the Apostle Paul is likely one of the most important people to have lived in the first century of the church’s existence. Is the description of Paul above true? No one will know this side of heaven, but it is a depiction from a 2nd century apocryphal writing that has influenced artistic renderings of Paul in painting throughout the history of the Church.

Paul started off life as Saul, likely named after King Saul as he was a prominent member of the tribe of Benjamin. He was born into a Jewish family in the city of Tarsus, a province in the southeastern portion of modern-day Turkey. At the time, the city was a hub of culture and learning.

By birth, Paul was a Roman citizen (Act 22:25-28) and from Philippians 3:5-6, we know he had a Hebrew ancestry as a Benjamite.

“His parents were Pharisees—fervent Jewish nationalists who adhered strictly to the Law of Moses—who sought to protect their children from “contamination” from the Gentiles. Anything Greek would have been despised in Saul’s household, yet he could speak Greek and passable Latin. His household would have spoken Aramaic, which was the official language of Judea.”

Who was Paul in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org

And as we read in Acts and Galatians 1:14, Paul was “a fanatically committed, zealous devotee of Judaism” [3], which can be seen in his eager willingness to approve of the murder of Stephen (Acts 8:1) as well as his desire to see that other Christians receive the same sentence. Paul would have seen the emergence of Christianity as a direct threat to the Jewish faith. He had also become a lawyer, which had put him on the path of becoming a member of the Sanhedrin.

That all changed on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-18) as he sought to continue his goal of persecuting more Christians. During his encounter with Jesus, he was struck blind as he had a conversation with the risen Messiah, radically saved and dramatically changed for the rest of his life. He would be directly taught by Jesus and other believers of that city.

“apostle”

Definition of ‘apostle’ – the Greek word, apostolos, { ap-os'-tol-os } which means ‘a delegate, messenger, one sent forth with orders’ and ‘specifically applied to the twelve apostles of Christ.’ [4] Louw and Nida define it as “one who fulfills the role of being a special messenger (generally restricted to the immediate followers of Jesus Christ, but also extended, as in the case of Paul, to other early Christians active in proclaiming the message of the gospel).” [5]

There is also the simple meaning of ‘apostle’ as being a ‘sent one,’ which Paul was but he was also much more than that because he was an ambassador sent by Jesus. This wasn’t Paul lording his position or his calling over others, but as this letter was likely intended to be read to the church Timothy was pastoring, and was about Timothy having to address the false teachers in that church, it was Paul making sure the church understood who he was and that Timothy carried the authority of Paul, who in turn carried the authority of Christ.

This direct teaching from Christ Jesus is what qualifies Paul as an apostle, which is also what qualified the original 12 disciples, minus Judas. There were others that are sometimes referred to as apostles, such as Matthias (Acts 1:21-26) who was chosen to take the place of Judas, Barnabas (Act 14:14), Epaphroditus (Php 2:25) and several others (Andronicus and Junius (Rom 16:7) and James, the Jesus’ brother (Gal 1:19)), but none of these men were chosen and commissioned by Jesus nor is their sufficient proof that they were all taught by Jesus in the same way as the 12 disciples and Paul were. Some people may give a liberal definition of the term ‘apostle’ as ‘messenger’ and include these others but as we see from the definitions above, it should be limited to those men that were specifically chosen and commissioned by Jesus.

It should also be stressed that this choosing and commissioning was not by their choice, it was a divine calling and each of these men knew it and never once did they use it in an arrogant boast to promote themselves over others. Some have wondered why Paul even mentioned his apostolic authority and the answer to that seems to be,

the apostle intended these letters to be read to the local church congregations. He knew that both his recipients [Timothy and the church] were being challenged by false teachers and he wanted to strengthen the hands of these two pastors [Timothy and Titus]. [6]

“Christ Jesus”

Another interesting fact within Scripture is that Paul uses this phrase frequently instead of what the other writers chose to use, “Jesus Christ.” We see “Christ Jesus” in only one place outside of Paul’s writings, in Acts 24:2. Paul does use the phrase “Jesus Christ” as well, but Peter, James and John do not. Some have speculated that this is because while the other Apostles saw Jesus first as a man and then as divine, Paul’s first exposure to Jesus was as the risen and glorified Christ.

“according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope”

“according to the commandment of God”

This phrase is really connected to the first part above. Paul is an apostle according to the commandment of God because it is God who called and commissioned him. No one can call themselves an apostle, or a prophet for that matter, because no one can call themselves into ministry. It can only be God who does the calling and commissioning. And by reminding both Timothy and the church at Ephesus that he was in fact an apostle, Paul was saying that he was on the same level as the other twelve apostles, whom Jesus had called His disciples and later His apostles. He was also telling them all that it was Jesus that had taught him the Gospel he was commissioned to teach, just as Jesus had taught the other apostles. [7] In addition, Paul understood his calling was not optional, he saw it as a necessity to fulfill that commission in his life.

John MacArthur added this,

Paul had a direct charge from God the Father and Jesus Christ to carry out his ministry. That mandate included the writing of this letter, which put on Timothy and the church a heavy burden to obey its injunctions. [Commandment] refers to a royal command that is not negotiable, but mandatory. Paul, Timothy, and the congregation at Ephesus were under orders from the Sovereign of the universe. Paul may have chosen this stronger term because of the false teachers at Ephesus, who likely questioned his authority. [8]

“God our Savior”

Paul understood that God was not only his Savior but theirs as well. And it was a phrase that would have been familiar to Jews in the Ephesian church since it has its roots in the Old Testament (‘God of my salvation’ - Ps 18:46; 25:5; 27:9; Mic 7:7; Hab 3:18). He is the source of our justification and sanctification. “God is the deliverer from sin and its consequences (cf. 2 Thess. 2:13). The liberal notion that the God of the Old Testament is a wrathful, vengeful God whom the gentle, loving Christ placated is both false and blasphemous.” [9]

“and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope”

Jesus is our hope because it was always the Father’s plan that our salvation would come through Christ Jesus and what He accomplished by His life, death and resurrection, which is why He is the hope of every believer. And not just what He did then, but what He is doing in us in the present. As believers, we have an assurance of a life in heaven with God; a confident expectation from a God who never fails to keep His promises.

to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Col 1:27)
Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (1 John 3:2-3)

Greeting to Timothy

To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. (1 Tim 1:2)

“Timothy, my true child in the faith”

The name ‘Timothy’ means ‘honoring God’ or ‘one who honors God.’ We introduced Timothy in the previous blog, but let’s look a little closer at who he was. Paul saw fit to tell us the names of his mother, Eunice, and his grandmother, Lois, (2 Tim 1:5) and that he had been raised in the Jewish faith and that he was acquainted with the Scriptures (2 Tim 3:15), which would have been the Old Testament. At least at the time of this epistle’s writing, his father was no longer part of his life. But the real question is: who was he to Paul? [10]

Paul likely met Timothy on his first missionary journey (Act 13-14) when traveled through Lystra, where Timothy lived. It was then that he responded to the Gospel and embraced Christ as his Savior and Lord. By the time First Timothy was written, Timothy had traveled with Paul for 15 years and was Paul’s constant companion since he is mentioned 20 times outside of the two epistles of Timothy. As John MacArthur pointed out,

He remained behind in Berea with Silas after persecution forced Paul to leave for Athens (Acts 17:13-15), but later joined Paul there (cf. Acts 17:15). He was with Paul in Corinth (Acts 18:5), was sent by Paul into Macedonia (Acts 19:22), and accompanied him on his return trip to Jerusalem (Acts 20:4). He was with Paul when he wrote Romans (Rom. 16:21), 2 Corinthians (2 Cor. 1:1), Philippians (Phil. 1:1), Colossians (Col. 1:1), the Thessalonian epistles (1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:1), and Philemon (Philem. 1). He frequently served as Paul's troubleshooter, being sent by him to the churches at Corinth (1 Cor. 4:17), Thessalonica (1 Thess. 3:2), and Philippi (Phil. 2:19), and now Ephesus. [11]

We can also see this by how Paul referred to Timothy in Scripture. When Paul was sending him to Philippi, he wrote this,

For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus (Php 2:20-21)

But there are some commentators that paint Timothy, wrongly in my opinion, as a fearful and maybe even a nervous man based on some of the things Paul wrote in his letters (1 Cor 16:10), yet do not apply this same criticism to Paul (1 Cor 2:3; Acts 18:9). So, imagine what it must have been like to be Timothy. After being his companion for 15 years, he was now on his own, so to say. He had been with one of the most towering intellects in the early church, a man with a gifting to write Scripture, refute Jews and confound gentiles. Imagine the inadequacy that you would feel. Paul implicitly trusted Timothy, but did Timothy trust himself? That is the question I would be asking.

But Paul saw him as his ‘true child in the faith.’ The word, ‘true,’ is the Greek word, ‘gnēsios’ { gnay'-see-os }, and means ‘genuine, sincere,’ and as we saw in the previous blog, stood for children legitimately born in wedlock. He also used the word ‘child’ and not ‘son’ which seems to be Paul saying that he gave spiritual birth to Timothy in the Christian faith. One could consider that Paul was telling everyone throughout history that this is what a true child of the faith looks like.

So, what then does it mean to be a true child of the faith? There are five characteristics that John MacArthur saw as implied in Paul’s opening verses of First Timothy, chapter 1. They are summarized and paraphrased here to add additional clarity to who Timothy was and how important he was to Paul. [12]

Saving Faith

To start with there has to be true salvation, which can only be found in Christ. And all throughout this epistle Paul proclaimed the genuineness of Timothy’s faith in Christ as his Savior and Lord. Paul uses language to encourage Timothy and includes him as a co-laborer in his ministry as an apostle, saying: ‘God our Savior,’ ‘who is our hope,’ ‘Christ Jesus our Lord,’ ‘the goal of our instruction,’ ‘the grace of our Lord,’ ‘our hope,’ ‘our doctrine,’ and ‘our teaching.’ Using the word ‘our’ seems to have been Paul telling Timothy and the Ephesian church that he represented Paul and his authority, was a believer on the same level as Paul, and that his presentation of the Gospel was the same as Paul’s.

Continuing Obedience

One of the hallmarks of a true believer is a life-pattern of obedience and that was the pattern in Timothy’s life. He was well spoken of, and demonstrated a loyal devotion to God. That was not the case of those for whom Paul was sending Timothy to reprove and correct.

Humble Service

Anyone that is a true believer is a servant of Jesus. In essence, whatever Paul asked Timothy to do, he did. While some sought leadership roles in the church to exalt themselves, Paul was asking Timothy to do the difficult tasks that true leadership demands. Paul asked him to take over the leadership of a large church, confront the false teachers, which means he had the teaching and the knowledge and wisdom to refute their beliefs. Paul was asking him to bring guidance and correction to the church, to save it from apostasy. But it also meant Paul believed he had the grace and the love to restore those that had erred.

Sound Doctrine

It also means that a true child of the faith understands and can communicate sound doctrine. Sitting under Paul for those 15 years, Timothy could not be anything other than a student of sound doctrine. That also meant that he was a teacher of the same. It was the only thing that was going to refute the false teachers in the Ephesus church. It was also the only thing that was going to protect the church from the ravages of theirs or anyone else’s false teachings. And because Paul had confidence in Timothy, he knew he would faithfully stand by and defend the truth of the Gospel and would not be swayed by their false doctrines.

Courageous Conviction

Anyone who has attempted to evangelize family, friends and / or strangers and proclaim Christ as Lord has to have courage in their convictions. The same is true for those that have taught the doctrines of God. As MacArthur said, “Any dead fish can float downstream; it takes a live one to fight the current.” Anyone with strong convictions in their Christian faith must have some spiritual maturity to go along with that as well as knowledge of the Word of God. This had to be the case for Timothy, as Paul had put him in the Ephesian church to utilize his convictions to protect the people of God from the ‘strange doctrines’ being circulated throughout the church. And Timothy maintained those convictions even when they cost him his life. Tradition says that he was martyred in Ephesus 30 years later for opposing the worship of the goddess Diana.

Paul’s Greeting

“Grace, mercy and peace”

Definition of ‘grace’ - the Greek word, ‘charis’ { khar'-ece } means ‘good will, loving-kindness, favour.’ A slightly longer and fuller definition would be ‘of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues.’ Louw and Nida define it as, “a favorable attitude toward someone or something—‘favor, good will.’” [13] John MacArthur defines grace in a way that most Protestants understand it, as “God’s undeserved favor, love, and forgiveness that frees sinners from the consequences of sin.” [14]

Definition of ‘mercy’ - the Greek word ‘eleos’ { el'-eh-os } means a ‘kindness or good will towards the miserable and the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them.’ Louw and Nida define it as, “to show kindness or concern for someone in serious need—‘to show mercy, to be merciful toward, to have mercy on, mercy.’” [15] And MacArthur defines ‘mercy’ as what “frees us not from the consequences of sin, but from the misery that accompanies it.” [16]

Definition of ‘peace’ - the Greek word ‘eirēnē’ { i-ray'-nay } means ‘the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is.’ Louw and Nida define it as “a set of favorable circumstances involving peace and tranquility—‘peace, tranquility.’” [17] Again, MacArthur gives the definition as “the result of grace and mercy. It refers not only to harmony with God but also to tranquility of soul.” [18]

“As [one commentator] well expressed it, ‘Even grace will not give peace to man, unless mercy accompany it; for man needs pardon for the past no less than strength for the future.’ As in the opening verse, so here, the source of this triad of blessings is given as God and Christ (from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord). Christ is the mediator of all the blessings which the Father bestows.” [19]

A greeting using ‘grace, mercy and peace’ expresses the essence of the Gospel. They are needed from the first breath we take until the very last one we take.

We can also think of this as George Knight did when he wrote that,

“Grace” indicates God’s favor which saves, keeps, and now instructs and enables one to live the Christian life. “Mercy” indicates God’s continuing compassion which Timothy may have especially needed (cf. 2 Tim. 1:7–8). “Peace” indicates the tranquility and stability which are needed in the Christian life. [20]

“from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord”

This ending stresses the deity of Christ and His equality with the Father because part of the heresy in the Ephesian church was a rejection of Jesus’ deity. But it is also that grace, mercy and peace can only come from God through the completed work of Christ on the cross.

PAUL, AN apostle (special messenger) of Christ Jesus by appointment and command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus (the Messiah), our Hope, To Timothy, my true son in the faith: Grace (spiritual blessing and favor), mercy, and [heart] peace [be yours] from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

(1 Tim 1:1–2)

The Amplified Bible (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1987).

Footnotes

Ibid, p. 2.
Ibid, p. 3.
G652 - apostolos - Strong's Greek Lexicon (NASB95)
Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), p. 541.
Ralph Earle, “1 Timothy,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Ephesians through Philemon, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981), p. 348.
Summarized from John R. W. Stott, Guard the Truth: The Message of 1 Timothy & Titus, The Bible Speaks Today (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), p. 39.
Ibid, p. 5.
Much of what follows was summarized from John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, 1 Timothy (Chicago: Moody Publishers © 1995), p. 6, and 1 Timothy | Evidence Unseen.
These next five sections are summarized and paraphrased from John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, 1 Timothy (Chicago: Moody Publishers © 1995), pp. 6-11.
Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), p. 298.
Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), p. 750.
Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), p. 246.
Donald Guthrie, Pastoral Epistles: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 14, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1990), pp. 70–71.
George W. III Knight, “1-2 Timothy/Titus,” in Evangelical Commentary on the Bible, vol. 3, Baker Reference Library (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1995), p. 1101.

Sources

The primary sources for this study are: John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, 1 Timothy (Chicago: Moody Publishers © 1995), the commentaries found in Logos Bible Software, Ver 10, © 2026, and the commentaries found in Online Bible, Computer Program, © 1987-2025.

All Scriptures quotes are from the New American Standard Bible, 1995 Revision, unless otherwise noted. Verse links from Blue Letter Bible.

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