SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/16/2024 9:27 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
“Authority”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 2 Timothy 1:1-2a
Message of the verses: “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my beloved son:”
In my last SD on 2 Timothy 1 quoted the last
paragraph that made up John MacArthur’s introduction to his first chapter in
his commentary on 2 Timothy. I like to
quote the last paragraph of his introductions, and this is mostly true of many
Bible commentators, that they give an outline to what the chapter will involve,
and this chapter from 2 Timothy involves “six implicit, but easily discernible,
principles of motivation” and the first one, “authority” is the one that I will
be looking at this morning.
Paul will use this type of introduction in many of his
letters showing who he is, and that is he is an apostle of Christ Jesus. In the introduction it was explained that
Paul’s apostleship already was well understood by Timothy, but it is mentioned
here by way of reminder that despite their close and their loving relationship,
Paul ranked above Timothy in spiritual authority and the reason was because he
brought the Word of the Lord and was writing in that capacity. I for one am thankful that Paul began his letter
to Timothy in this way as it is now a part of the New Testament, but I am not
sure if Paul realized that this letter would be a part of the New Testament
when he wrote it.
MacArthur explains “Intimacy does not preclude
authority. The relationship of love that
parents have with their children does not preclude their authority over their
children. A parent-child relationship of
love without authority is doomed to tragedy for the entire family. No matter how cordial a working relationship
may exist, a business cannot succeed if employees refuse to recognize and
submit to the employer’s authority over them.”
By studying the Word of God in the New Testament one will see Timothy seen 23 times from the book of Acts through Philemon, and so we can conclude that he was an important part of the early church, and was the one that would take over the reins after Paul soon departure. Paul and Timothy shared a deep friendship and Paul’s loving salutation to Timothy carried the full weight of his apostleship. MacArthur writes apostolos (apostle) literally means one who is sent out, ‘a messenger,’ as it is sometimes translated (see. E. g. 2 Cor. 8:23; Phil 2:25). But in the New Testament it more commonly carries the connotation of ambassador, a representative who carries with him the authority of the one he represents. It is used in that sense of the twelve disciples Jesus called during His earthly ministry (Luke 6:13; 9:20) and of Paul, whom Christ called from heaven after His ascension (see Acts 9:3-15; 22:6-14; 26:13-18). The Lord used the verb form of Himself as ‘Jesus Christ whom Thou [the Father] hast sent [apostello]’ (John 17:3), and in the book of Hebrews Jesus is called ‘the Apostle and High Priest of our confession’ (3:1).”
Now as an apostle of Jesus Christ, Paul stood in the
place of Christ and spoke the Word of Christ, and he did all of this by the
will of God who is the Almighty Father.
He (Paul) is not writing this letter to Timothy merely as a dear friend
but as a divinely commissioned ambassador of God the Father and also God the
Son. Paul is not offering brotherly
counsel but he is declaring divine truth with firm authority. This is similar to how a godly family runs,
which is an example that we already wrote about.
Paul does so according to, and this means “in conformity
to,” the gospel, which here is called the promise of life in Christ Jesus. I
think it best to insert the fact that when one thinks of a Biblical Apostle
that the 11 disciples of Jesus Christ along with Matthias, and then Paul are
the only true Apostles there are. If
someone calls themselves an apostle today and is referring to one who
represents Jesus Christ that would be false, as all of these Apostles have long
since died.
MacArthur writes that “Paul’s calling to serve the will of God as a messenger of the Savior was to be discharged by proclaiming the saving good news that those who are dead in sin can find life in Christ Jesus.” That was actually a favored phrase of Paul, that is in Christ Jesus, and this signified his own and every believer’s union with our Lord and Savior through participation in His death, resurrection, and eternal life. Now from Acts to Philemon that phrase “in Christ” is seen 85 times and all true believers are “in Christ.” It is a well known fact that Jesus Christ is Himself “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), and He gives the divine promise that “whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16) and “have it abundantly (John 10:10). MacArthur writes that “Those who claim that promise in faith can claim with Paul that Christ ‘is our life’ (Col. 3:4)”
MacArthur concludes this section on Authority by
writing: “Every worthy father deeply
desires an unbreakable and rich relationship with his children. In the same way, Paul not only desired but
experienced and expressed the intimacy of bonding love that he shared with Timothy,
his beloved son. And just as this
intimacy did not preclude authority, neither did authority preclude
intimacy. As a loving spiritual father,
Paul spoke with apostolic authority to his son in the faith. That authority gave Timothy a strong
incentive for obedience.”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I know that in
the Christian life that there are ups and downs as I walk with the Lord. I suppose that temptations are one of the
main causes of these ups and downs.
Obedience to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is a key to get out of
these ups and downs and I am thankful for this section that I just went
over. Jesus Christ is my Savior and Lord
and the One I am to be obedient to.
My Steps of Faith
for Today: I trust that the Holy
Spirit who lives in me will cause me to have the desire to be obedient to my
Lord today, and every day.
11/16/2024 10:14 AM
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