Fuentes arqueológicas. Excavaciones en «El Convento»

PREVIEw

Paul now turns directly to Timothy with final instructions. The impor-tance of Timothy’s life and work is stated in 6:11-12, with four impera-tives that relate to daily activity, followed by a doxology emphasizing God’s sovereignty (6:13-16). Finally, in 6:20-21, Timothy is commanded to guard the deposit of faith.

OUTLINE

Four Commands, 6:11-12 Doxology, 6:13-16 Guard the Trust, 6:20-21 EXPLANATORY NOTES Four Commands 6:11-12

Paul gives his final instructions in the form of imperative commands.

The first imperative, shun, is strong: Timothy is to flee from the desire to be rich, with its accompanying evils (1 Tim 6:9-10). Turning from these evils, Timothy is commanded with a second imperative:

Pursue six virtues. The combination shun and pursue also occurs in 2 Timothy 2:22 and calls to mind Paul’s ethical instructions else-where to “put off” and “put on” (Eph 4:22-24; Col 3:8-17). In turning away from the vices of the opponents (1 Tim 6:4-5), Timothy is to pursue three pairs of virtues: righteousness and godliness, faith and

138 1 Timothy 6:11–16, 20–21 love, endurance and gentleness (6:11). These virtues also appear in 2 Timothy 2:22-25; 3:5, 10 (NIV). The first pair, righteousness and god-liness, calls Timothy’s attention to right relationship with God and to a life fully consecrated to God. The second pair, faith and love, calls attention to a trusted and loving relationship with others in the church. Faith and love appear together several times in the letters to Timothy and Titus (1 Tim 1:5, 14; 2:15; 4:12; 6:11; 2 Tim 1:13; 2:22;

3:10; Titus 2:2). The third pair, endurance and gentleness, emphasizes steadfastness as an enduring quality needed in Timothy’s leadership in the midst of opposition (2 Tim 3:10; Titus 2:2).

A third imperative, fight, speaks of Timothy’s athletic effort to win the race (1 Tim 6:12). Timothy must pursue the good fight of faith with all his effort. He is to keep and protect the Christian faith (6:20) and remain faithful. This imperative emphasizes Paul’s call to daily perse-verance and ties into the athletic imagery used elsewhere in the let-ters to Timothy and Titus (1 Tim 4:10; 2 Tim 2:2-4; 4:7).

Finally, the fourth imperative, Take hold of eternal life, means to grasp tightly and hang on to eternal life (Mounce: 356). God called Timothy to eternal life. Now Timothy must persevere and hang on to it. Regarding this eternal life, Timothy made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses (6:12b). Some NT scholars take good confession to refer to Timothy’s ordination, when hands were laid on him. Others take good confession to refer to Timothy’s confession of faith in his baptismal vows.

Since the call to eternal life came at the same time as Timothy’s good confession, and this confession was made in the presence of many wit-nesses, I take it to mean his baptism. Christian baptism took place in the presence of the congregation and was accompanied by one’s confession of faith in Christ. These four imperatives “exhort Timothy to persevere both in his life in Christ and his ministry (the present) and thereby to secure the awaited prize (the future), by being reminded of his begin-nings—God’s call and his own response (the past)” (Fee 1988: 150).

Doxology 6:13-16

In addition to a public confession of faith, Timothy lives and carries out his ministry in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus (6:13a). Verses 13-16 are one sentence in Greek. Fee notes a chiastic pattern (Fee 2007: 435):

A The living God

B The historical Christ who bore witness preceding his crucifixion B´ The coming of Christ

A´ The eternal and only God

1 Timothy 6:11–16, 20–21 139 Timothy is charged to keep the commandment in the presence of God and Christ Jesus and to continue to keep the commandment until the eschatological appearing of Christ Jesus. The text climaxes with a doxology. Timothy is given this command in the presence of Christ Jesus, who made a good confession before Pontius Pilate. Jesus’ faith-fulness as a specific historical act becomes the basis by which Paul exhorts Timothy to faithfulness, in contrast to the unfaithful teachers.

Timothy is charged to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ (6:14). The commandment is the entire work that Paul has commissioned Timothy to do. The command is to remain unblemished, above reproach, never contaminated by deviant teaching or vain speculations. Faithfulness and perseverance are required until the appearing (epiphaneia) of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Instead of using the more common term for our Lord’s appearing (parousia), Paul uses epiphaneia or its cognate verb several times in the letters to Timothy and Titus (2 Tim 1:10; 4:1, 8; Titus 2:11,13; 3:4).

Epiphaneia is the same word that was used for the appearance of the Roman emperor. By applying the term epiphaneia to Christ Jesus, Paul makes a direct assault on emperor worship.

Here Paul breaks out in a doxology (1 Tim 6:15-16). The content of the doxology declares God’s sovereignty and kingship in opposition to Roman imperial worship [Names for God and the Imperial Cult, p. 357].

Seven phrases are stated in the doxology.

The blessed and only Sovereign emphasizes God’s sovereignty. God is not one sovereign among many sovereigns; God is the only Sovereign.

King of kings and Lord of lords calls attention to two OT ideas: King of kings was first used for the Babylonian and Persian emperors (Ezek 26:7; Dan 2:37; Ezra 7:12). By the time of the Maccabees, it was applied to God (163 BC; 2 Macc 13:4). Lord of lords expressed God’s exclusive sovereignty over all other deities (Deut 10:17; Ps 136:2-3). Both terms were brought together in late Judaism (1 Enoch 9.4) and together des-ignate Christ in Revelation 17:14 and 19:16.

He alone has immortality declares that God alone is eternal, not the mortal emperor. Nor does the human soul naturally possess immor-tality, as many Greeks taught (I. H. Marshall 1999: 667).

And dwells in unapproachable light. In the OT, God’s glory comes in the form of light, cloud, or smoke, which are associated with God (Exod 13:21; 33:17-23; 40:34-38; Ps 104:2; Isa 10:17). In the NT the heavenly city is described as needing no light because God’s presence provides light (Rev 22:5). Indeed, “God is light” (1 John 1:5-7).

Whom no one has ever seen or can see shows that the invisibility of God is clearly set forth in both the OT (Exod 33:20) and the NT (John 1:17-18).

140 1 Timothy 6:11–16, 20–21 To him be honor and eternal dominion indicates that only God is wor-thy to be honored because of his eternal rule (1 Tim 1:17; Eph 1:19-20;

6:10; 1 Pet 4:11; 3:22; Jude 25; Rev 1:6; 5:13).

Gordon D. Fee aptly describes the significance of this doxology.

“Ephesus was not only the haven of Artemis, but an early center of emperor worship as well. This doxology, therefore, is Paul’s parting shot that the God with whom the church has to do in the gospel of Christ is none other than the supreme Ruler of the universe, the Lord over all other lords” (Fee 1988: 154).

Guard the Trust 6:20-21

Paul closes the letter with a final warning about the opponents’ activi-ties. Two exhortations are found in these final verses: a positive one exhorting Timothy to guard what has been entrusted to him, and a negative one condemning the unhealthy teachers. For the third time in this epistle, Paul addresses Timothy by name (1:2; 18, 6:20), thus person-alizing the final command and warning in this direct address.

Timothy is commanded to guard what has been entrusted to you (6:20a). The term deposit or what has been entrusted to you refers to a valuable possession placed in the hands of another person for safe-keeping. A person whom another entrusts with a treasured possession was under a sacred and legal duty to keep the deposit safe (Fee 1988:

160). The word deposit catches one’s attention in light of what Paul said earlier in this chapter about riches. Timothy has been entrusted with the gospel, not with money. His task is to resist unhealthy teaching, persevere in the faith, proclaim, and teach the true gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Tim 4:12-14; 6:2b; 2 Tim 1:14). Timothy is to guard this depos-it, to protect it like a guard watching over a prisoner. As Paul was entrusted with the good news of Jesus Christ, so Paul now entrusts Timothy with the gospel. Timothy must protect and pass the gospel on to the next generation (2 Tim 2:2).

Negatively, Timothy must avoid the constant chatter of the oppo-nents (1 Tim 6:20b). He must turn away from and avoid their constant evil language and contradictions of the truth, which they falsely claim as knowledge (gnōsis). The opponents’ emphasis on knowing or having secret insight into truth came to full fruition later in the second cen-tury with fully developed Gnosticism. In reality, the opponents do not perceive or have insight into the truth of the gospel, since they have turned aside from it. Their false claim is indicated by the phrase by professing it some have missed the mark as regards the faith (6:21a). These words call to mind 1:6, where the same verb is used for their error.

Some implies that some persons within the church have strayed away

1 Timothy 6:11–16, 20–21 141 from the faith. These unhealthy teachers are the underlying reason for this letter. Instead of having faith in Christ, they have gone astray in asceticism, legalism, and denial of the resurrection (1 Tim 4:1-3;

2 Tim 2:18). At the same time, they selfishly used religion as a means of financial gain (6:3-10). Consequently, they have missed the mark regarding the faith. Therefore Timothy is commanded to avoid their speech and arguments [Unhealthy Teaching, p. 366].

Finally, Paul closes the letter with a simple Grace be with you (6:21b).

This is the shortest final farewell of any NT letter. It is a goodbye mes-sage stated in the language of God’s goodness and grace, from which the church finds its life and can preserve despite the havoc opponents have brought upon it.

2 Timothy

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