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This is the fourth installment in this series of notes on the Pastoral Epistles. Comments are encouraged.

The Calling of Paul

1:12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength. He has judged me trustworthy in appointing me to his service; 1:13 though I used to be a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and contemptuous. However, I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief; 1:14 and the grace of our Lord filled me with the faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 1:15 Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 1:16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might show his perfect patience, and as an example to those that would later believe on him unto eternal life. 1:17 To the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Notes
Raymond F. Collins writes: "Typically an epistolary thanksgiving appears immediately after the formal salutation of the Hellenistic letter. Paul regularly follows Hellenistic practice (Rom. 1:8; 1 Cor. 1:4; Phil. 1:3; 1 Thess. 1:2; Phlm. 4; cf. Col. 1:3; 2 Thess. 1:3). The Pastor, however, departs from the style of the classic Hellenistic letter. His thanksgiving occurs only after he has given an explanation of why the letter has been written. His thanksgiving is also different from the typically Pauline letter in that it presents a lengthy description of the apostle himself. Paul's own thanksgivings are expressions of gratitude to God for the faith and love of the community to which he is writing. Rhetorically the Pauline thanksgivings serve as a kind of pathos argument. They are a captatio benevolentiae, an appeal to the goodwill of Paul's correspondents. Serving to reinforce the image and authority of the purported letter writer (1:1), the thanksgiving of 1 Timothy reinforces the ethos appeal of the Pastor's missive." (2002: 35)

Collins notes three ways in which the thanksgiving in 1 Timothy is different from the typical Pauline thanksgiving. First, instead of "I give thanks" (εὐχαριστῶ), this writer uses the "stilted" expression χάριν ἔχω, "I have thanks" (which may reflect the Latin gratias ago).Second, Jesus Christ instead of God is the one to whom thanksgiving is addressed. Third, the expression of gratitude is for the favor shown to Paul instead of focusing on the events in the community to which he writes.

Jouette M. Bassler argues: "To describe this appointment in terms of being judged or deemed faithful or trustworthy (v. 12; cf. 1 Cor 7:25) strikes, however, an odd note. The passage speaks of a former life that was anything but faithful (v. 13; see also Gal 1:13-17) and communicates a strong message about divine grace that confronts and transforms sinners (v. 14; see also Titus 3:3-5). Yet it is reading too much into this phrase to insist that it means that Christ's act of choosing Paul rendered him at once worthy. Instead the author hints at a period between the act of grace, which transformed the life of the former persecutor and provided the requisite faith and love (vv. 13-14), and the appointment to Christ's service, which was based on tangible evidence of that faithfulness. This drives a small but significant wedge between two events that Paul himself regarded as one: his life-changing encounter with the resurrected Christ and his commission to be an apostle (Gal 1:13-17). The wedge was necessary, however, for this author's changed circumstances, for the appointment of proven, faithful ministers was exceedingly important in the struggle with opposing teachers, and here Paul serves as a model for that process (see also 3:10-11; 2 Tim 2:2; Titus 1:9)." (1996: 43)

J. L. Houlden agrees that the passage strikes an odd note: "Thus: could Paul have said that in appointing him to his service God had deemed him faithful (v. 12)? Did Paul think of faith (or faithfulness) as a qualification for work in quite that sense? Both this use of the word and the steadiness of character which it expresses are closer to the mentality of this writer (see the qualities required of his church officers in ch. 3) than that of Paul. Then, would Paul have said that he had received mercy from God in his appointment to his service because he had acted ignorantly in unbelief (v. 13)? The impression is that God overlooked Paul's apparent unsuitability for the post (as in the rest of the letter, we are almost in a world where we can speak of church employment), because there was the extenuating circumstance that in opposing Christ he had acted in ignorance. How fair-minded of God! And how remote we are from the Pauline dynamic of total unworthiness and free unmerited grace. The other motive for the tolerance accorded to Paul is Jesus Christ's patience (makrothumia); and it was displayed in the case of Paul in order that other Christians might also be encouraged. Again, it is hardly a Pauline way of looking at the work of God for man's salvation. It is true that makrothumia appears as a quality of God in Rom. 2:4 and 9:22 (cf. 3:25), but it is in connection with the wide sweep of his dealings with the human race not the close and intimate relationship of grace. It is presented not, as in our passage, as an encouragement to those who are embarking on the Christian life but as a warning and an explanation to those who remain outside it. Moreover, mercy here seems to be almost identical with patience: it is a quality of God's quiet, static, long-term existence rather than his vigorous, dynamic saving work. At a cursory glance, these shifts in sense may seem small. In fact, they are symptoms fo the crucial change which occurred between the life of Paul and the work of his imitator. German theology speaks of it as a shift from 'spirit' to 'office'; that is, from a concern with the direct relationship of God with man for salvation to a concern with the organization and structure of the Church as an institution. The shift was no doubt partly the result of the lower calibre of the later writer, partly the result of the failure of the expected End of the world to materialize, and partly the result of the inevitable pressure of questions of the ordering of the Church. What is interesting in our present passage, which is not ostensibly related to these questions at all, is the way in which the writer, no doubt unconsciously, sees the disposition of God himself reflecting the qualities and attitudes to which he attaches so much importance in the affairs of the church on earth." (1976: 51-52)

Raymond F. Collins states, "In the emerging hagiographic image of Paul that dominated the Pastor's circles, the Pastor now affirms that grace 'superabounded' (hyperpleonasen, a neologism) in Paul. The simple verb pleonazo, 'abound,' by itself has the connotation of abundance, more than enough. The prefix hyper adds an additional nuance to 'more': the Lord's grace is more than more than enough. The Lord's superabundant grace was active with 'faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.' This phrase recurs in 2 Tim. 1:13, where it encapsulates a summary description of the Christian life, as it does here (see 2:15; cf. 4:12; 6:11; 2 Tim. 2:22; Titus 2:2)." (2002: 39)

Collins writes, "Embedded within his reflection on Paul is a statement with a decidedly formulaic ring: 'This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance' (1 Tim. :15). This is the first of five such statements in the Pastoral Epistles. The formula appears in both a longer (1 Tim. 1:15; 4:9) and a shorter form (1 Tim. 3:1; 2 Tim 2:11; Titus 3:8). From a form-critical perspective, the words stand out. They have no parallel in the undisputed Pauline letters, but their use allows the Pastor to move from the subject of Paul's conversion (1:15) to the traditional notion that God desires the salvation of sinners (4:10). In 1:15 the Pastor relates salvation to the coming of Christ Jesus into the world: 'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.' These words have the ring of a creedal formula. They do not, however, explicitly cite the death and/or resurrection of Jesus, the object of most Pauline credal fragments (e.g., 1 Cor 15:3-5; 1 Thess. 1:10; 4:14; 5:10), nor are they introduced by some form of the verb 'believe.' The formula 'This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance' (πιστὸς ὁ λόγος καὶ πασες αποδοχες ἄξιος), appears to stand in the stead of the more traditional 'believe that.'" (2002:41) Raymond F. Collins continues further on, "What then do the words of the long formula 'worthy of full acceptance' add to the familiar 'This is a trustworthy saying'? The additional wording appears only in 1 Tim. 1:15 and 4:9, the only passages in the New Testament where the word 'acceptance' is used. Hellenistic writers used the phrase 'worthy of acceptance' to suggest that particular persons or things were particularly worthy of approbation or admiration. Hierocles used the expression 'worthy of much acceptance' (πολλες ἄξιον αποδοχες; see Stobaeus, Anthology 4.27.20) to describe some laws. Ultimately, what 'worthy of full acceptance' adds to 'trustworthy' is repetition for the sake of emphasis, much as the author of the book of Revelation uses nai, 'yea' or 'verily,' in addition to the 'Amen' of Rev. 1." (2002: 44)

L. T. Johnson writes: "This piece of tradition echoes some passages in the Gospels, most specifically the conviction found in Luke 19:10: 'The Son of Man came to seek out and find that which was lost' (see also Luke 5:32). 1 Tim 5:18 will echo even more closely another Lukan passage (10:7). And although Paul does not often use the language of 'sinner' (ἁμαρτωλός), one instance is worth citing: 'God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us' (Rom 5:8). For other places where Paul connects the death of Jesus to 'our' sins—including himself with the personal pronoun ἐμὸν—see 1 Cor 15:3; 2 Cor 5:21; Gal 1:4." (2001: 180)

Donald Guthrie says of the word translated example (ὑποτύπωσιν) that it "may be understood either as an outline sketch of an artist, or as a word-illustration expressing an author's burning purpose (cf. Simpson). In a sublime sense Paul's experience was to serve as a compelling example to countless numbers who should thereafter believe. The construction (ἐπὶ with the dative) after the verb believe indicates that Christ is the firm basis of faith. Such unshakable assurance serves not only in this life but in eternity." (1957: 66) A. T. Hanson writes, "The word translated typical means a summary or outline sketch. It is only used elsewhere in the New Testament in 2 Tim 1:13, where it means a summary of doctrine. A similar word is used in 2 Pet. 2:6, where the N.E.B. translates it as 'an object-lesson'. But the word seems to convey more a pre-enactment or foreshadowing of what is to come. Paul was to be the first of many apparently hopeless cases who would find rehabilitation in Jesus." (1966: 28)

W. D. Mounce writes: "Along with the faithful saying (see below), there is another literary form worthy of note in vv 12–17—the doxology (v 17). Hanson ([1983] 62) says that “all editors agree that this is a liturgical fragment.” Kelly (55) says it may have come from the Hellenistic synagogue, and Houlden (61) says the parallel phrase “King of Ages” in Tob 13:7, 11 confirms its Jewish origin, an assertion weakened by a textual problem with the phrase in Tobit. The parallel in Tobit, however, is not sufficient evidence for the source of Paul’s doxology. The words ἀφθάρτῳ, “incorruptible,” and ἀοράτῳ, “invisible,” are Hellenistic, although the concepts they describe are fully Jewish, so it is difficult to decide what they actually indicate in terms of source. It seems that caution is necessary when attributing any formalized speech to the realm of a liturgical fragment. It is possible that a creative genius like Paul could couch his thought in exalted poetic terminology." (2002)