Lessons #133 and 134
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Apostle Paul’s concern for the Corinthians (1 Cor 4:14-21)
... 16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me. 17 For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church. 18 Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. 20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. 21 What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit?
The message of this section of 1 Corinthians that we are considering is that pastors should show their concern for members of their congregations in what they communicate, in discouraging arrogance and encouraging demonstration of God’s power, and in their manner of guidance of believers. However, we ended our last study with the question of what the apostle meant in the instruction he gave to the Corinthians to become imitators of him with the promise that we will answer the question in our present study. But before we answer this, let me remind you of three facts about imitation. A first fact is that we humans imitate others. Some in arrogance do not want to admit that they imitate others. The truth is that we imitate others, especially the ones we admire. Preachers, particularly, are prone to this behavior. It is for this reason that you will find some preachers imitating the manner of the preaching of a famous preacher. A second fact is that imitation is usually something that occurs after we observe something or someone. In other words, without seeing what a person does there is no way to imitate the individual. A third fact is that that the Scripture indicates that what we should imitate is that which is good only, as we may gather from 3 John 11:
Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.
Bearing these facts in mind will help us to answer the question of what it is that the apostle wanted the Corinthians to imitate.
Admittedly, the apostle did not spell out what it is that the Corinthians should imitate from him, but the immediate context of this epistle and the larger context of the Scripture enable us to answer the question of what it is the Corinthians were to imitate about him. They are to imitate his Christian way of life that consists of doctrine and its application. There are several reasons we believe that our interpretation is correct.
A first reason to believe that the apostle wanted the Corinthians to imitate his Christian way of life is the preceding context of the instruction given in 1 Corinthians 4:16. In the preceding context, the apostle provided two attitudes of the apostles in which he was included which are their hard work and their responses to mistreatment, as we read in 1 Corinthians 4:12–13:
12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.
Although the apostle did not state in this passage that the Corinthians should emulate his hard work, that is implied, as we can gather from his declaration to the Thessalonians of how his hard work was for their example in 2 Thessalonians 3:7:
For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you,
Consequently, there is no reason not to think that when the apostle stated of his hard work and his attitude along with other apostles how to respond to mistreatment that he did not have in mind the necessity of the Corinthians to imitate these attitudes. Hence, the preceding context of the passage of 1 Corinthians 4:16 supports the interpretation that the apostle meant he wanted the Corinthians to imitate his Christian way of life, especially in hard work and handling of suffering or persecutions.
A second reason to believe that the apostle wanted the Corinthians to imitate his Christian way of life is the larger context of the Scripture that conveys that it is the Christian way of life or life style of those who preach and teach the word of God that is to be emulated. Apostle Paul certainly had in mind his Christian way of life when he instructed the Philippians to follow his example, as stated in Philippians 3:17:
Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.
In this passage, the examples that the apostle was urging believers to follow are the things he had stated beginning in verse 6 of the third chapter of Philippians. The apostle had expressed several attitudes. His view of his past privileges was that they were unimportant when it comes to his knowledge of the Savior. His desire in this life can be summed up in one verbal phrase: to come to understand and to know Christ more and more. His attitude towards the past is neither to be guilt ridden nor to dwell on previous spiritual success, rather to keep on advancing to this one goal of glorifying God. This goal requires learning all he could in this life regarding this Savior. These are the things that Apostle Paul was encouraging the Philippians and all believers to emulate, and they indeed are concerned with his Christian way of life. It is the lifestyle of Timothy that the apostle had in mind when he encouraged Timothy to set example for other believers to follow, as implied in 1 Timothy 4:12:
Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.
The apostle later in the same chapter encouraged Timothy to watch his lifestyle along with his doctrine in 1 Timothy 4:16:
Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
The apostle would not have given this injunction to Timothy if he did not believe that the lifestyle of a teacher of the word of God is one that is to be imitated. We are saying that because of these instructions to Timothy, it is inconceivable that when the apostle commanded the Corinthians to imitate him that he was not thinking of his Christian way of life that would include his teaching and lifestyle. The human author of Hebrews makes the same point that the Christian way of life of those who are spiritual leaders are to be imitated, according to Hebrews 13:7:
Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.
The Christian community that was the recipient of the epistle of Hebrews was instructed to imitate the faith of their leaders. This implies that they were to imitate the commitment of the teaching leaders with respect to the word of God, their confidence and trust in the Lord as well as their commitment to the doctrine of the Christian faith. Of course, it goes without saying that it is the lifestyle in its totality as Christians that are to be imitated. That the way of life of the leaders are to be imitated is implied in the instruction of Hebrews 13:7 Consider the outcome of their way of life. The phrase way of life is translated from a Greek noun (anastrophē) that refers to conduct expressed according to certain principles, hence means “way of life, conduct, behavior.” Hence, it is difficult to imagine that Apostle Paul would instruct the Corinthians to imitate him in any other way than his Christian way of life. We cannot get around the fact that the lifestyle of those who teach the word of God is important if they are to be effective communicators of the Christian way of life.
A third reason to believe that the apostle wanted the Corinthians to imitate his Christian way of life is the immediate context that follows the command of 1 Corinthians 4:16, specifically verse 17 that we are about to consider. We are certain that verse 17 is tied to the apostle’s instruction to the Corinthians to imitate his Christian way of life because verse 17 begins with the phrase For this reason. The Greek phrase that begins verse 17 is literally because of this although it may simply be translated therefore since the Greek preposition (dia) that begins the verse when used with a noun in the accusative simply gives the reason why something happens, results, or exists.
Be that as it may, the question is what reason the apostle had in mind in the phrase For this reason? The reason he had in mind is related to his instruction to the Corinthians to imitate him that he gave in verse 16. Although, it is possible to take his reason as answering an implied question of why he took the action stated in verse 17 but the purpose of the action of verse 17 still goes back to the instruction of verse 16 where the apostle commanded the Corinthians to imitate him. Consequently, it is to ensure that they understand in what sense he wants them to imitate him that he took the action described in verse 17.
The action of the apostle that is associated with the phrase for this reason is the proposed visit of Timothy to the Corinthians as in the sentence of 1 Corinthians 4:17 I am sending to you Timothy. Before we examine the sentence, because I am teaching and not preaching, I am compelled to make a comment regarding the translation of this sentence in our English versions. The Greek literally reads I sent to you Timothy or I have sent to you Timothy as reflected in majority of our English versions. In fact, the translators of the 2011 edition of the NIV have followed this more popular translation instead of I am sending to you Timothy that is also reflected in such English versions as the TEV and the NCV. The difference in the two translations is due to how to handle the use of the aorist tense in the Greek. The popular translation that is literal presents the aorist tense from the perspective of the readers while the other presents the aorist tense from the perspective of the writer. The aorist tense used is taken by some interpreters as what Greek grammarians call “epistolary aorist” which is the kind of aorist tense found in letters in which there is a time gap between writing and reading. Thus, according to this view, the apostle out of courtesy to the Corinthians adopted their time perspective that is different from his own. The apostle described what he was about to do, that is, something present with him or will do by sending Timothy but by the time the Corinthians receive the epistle the sending of Timothy would be something in the past for the apostle. There is no equivalent idiom in the English to describe this kind of situation. Therefore, the aorist tense used in this situation is normally translated using either the present or future tense. This is the reason some English versions translated the Greek as I am sending to you Timothy. However, the question is to determine which of the two translation is supported by the context.
The translation I am sending to you Timothy is plagued with problems because of the implication of this translation. It implies that Timothy was the carrier of this epistle. This implication is unlikely because the apostle did not mention Timothy in the introduction of this epistle as he would have done if Timothy was with him at the time of writing this epistle or mention him as sending greeting to them as we find, for example, in the apostle’s epistle to the Romans in Romans 16:21:
Timothy, my fellow worker, sends his greetings to you, as do Lucius, Jason and Sosipater, my relatives.
Furthermore, often when the apostle wrote an epistle and Timothy was with him, he acknowledged him in the introduction of his epistle as when he wrote his second epistle to the Corinthians as we may gather from 2 Corinthians 1:1:
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia:
The same practice was followed by the apostle when he wrote the epistle to the Colossians, as stated in Colossians 1:1:
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
When the apostle wrote to the Thessalonians, Timothy was with him and so he acknowledged him. In his first epistle to them he acknowledged Timothy and Silas who were with him, according to 1 Thessalonians 1:1:
Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you.
The apostle repeats the same acknowledgment of Timothy and Silas in 2 Thessalonians 1:1:
Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Given that it was the practice of the apostle to acknowledge Timothy in his epistles when he was with him as he wrote and given that he did the same in the second epistle to the Corinthians, one wonders why he did not mention him in the introduction of the first epistle to them that we are considering. The only satisfactory explanation is that Timothy was not with him when he wrote the epistle. Furthermore, the apostle’s statement in the closing part of the epistle we are considering implies that the Corinthians would have received this epistle before Timothy comes to them, as indicated by the apprehension of the apostle that Timothy may or may not come to them, according to 1 Corinthians 16:10:
If Timothy comes, see to it that he has nothing to fear while he is with you, for he is carrying on the work of the Lord, just as I am.
Based on these problems that we have indicated, the translation I am sending to you Timothy is unlikely. Therefore, although grammatically the use of present tense is possible, but it is the translation that recognized the basic meaning of the aorist as an action that has occurred, that is, to translate the verb in view with past tense that is a better way to translate the Greek sentence. We mean that it should be translated I sent to you Timothy or I have sent to you Timothy. This approach implies that the apostle dispatched Timothy to the Corinthians before he wrote this epistle but expects him to arrive in Corinth after they had received the epistle. Of course, there is a problem as to when the apostle did this. Although we cannot be certain of the time, it is probably that when the apostle sent Timothy to Macedonia that he would have also requested him to go Corinth as well for we know with certainty that Timothy was dispatched to Macedonia, according to Acts 19:22:
He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer.
By the way, we used the word “dispatch” instead of the word “send” in our interpretation of Timothy’s proposed visit to Corinth because of the meaning of the Greek word used. You see, the word “sending” of the NIV of 1 Corinthians 4:17 is translated from a Greek verb (pempō) that although means “to send” but has different nuances. It can mean to dispatch something through an intermediary, as the apostle used the word to acknowledge the gifts the Philippians sent to him through an unnamed agent or means in Philippians 4:16:
for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need.
The Greek word may mean “to appoint, commission, instruct”, as that is the sense when the word is used with respect to governors in 1 Peter 2:14:
or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.
It is true our Greek word is translated “sent” here in 1 Peter 2:14 but the sense is that of “appointment” or “commission.” Consequently, the clause who are sent by him is translated who have been appointed by him in the TEV and the governors as commissioned by him in the NJB. Nonetheless, the meaning of the word in our passage of 1 Corinthians 4:17 is that of dispatching someone for a purpose or a goal.
The apostle indicated he had dispatched Timothy to the Corinthians but who is Timothy that the apostle dispatched him to the Corinthians? The name Timothy means “the one who honors God.” This name must have been given to him either by his mother or grandmother to express their hope that their son would grow up to be an individual who honors, God; how prophetic was his name. Timothy was the son of a Jewish believing mother and unbelieving Greek father who lived in Lystra. This we know from Acts 16:1:
He came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where `a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek.
It was probably because of his Greek father that he was not circumcised which caused Apostle Paul to circumcise him in order to be a part of his missionary team, according to Acts 16:3:
Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
We should note that the apostle circumcised Timothy because his mother was Jewess for when it came to Titus who was a Gentile through and through, the apostle refused to circumcise him. This he alluded in his recount of his experience in the first church council in Jerusalem, as we read from Galatians 2:3:
Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek.
We assert that Timothy’s father was an unbeliever because Luke was careful to mention that the mother was a believer but says no such thing about his father. His mother’s name was Eunice and his grandmother’s name was Lois, according to 2 Timothy 1:5:
I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
Timothy might have been converted during the first missionary Journey of the apostle, but it was during the second missionary Journey that we heard first about him. Apparently, he must have been taught the Hebrew (OT) Scriptures by his mother and grandmother so that the apostle could assert that he had known the Scriptures from his childhood, as we read in 2 Timothy 3:15:
and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
Therefore, when he responded to the gospel of Jesus Christ he was at least well versed in the Hebrew Scriptures, giving him a similar background to Apostle Paul. This may be one of the many reasons the apostle chose him to be a part of his missionary team. Once, he joined the apostle during his second missionary journey, he played a prominent role in the remainder of the second missionary journey. For example, when Paul was forced to leave Berea because of an uproar started by Jews from Thessalonica, Silas and Timothy were left behind to strengthen the work in Macedonia, as we may gather from Acts 17:13-14:
13 When the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, they went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. 14 The brothers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea.
Timothy was indeed an important member of the apostle’s missionary team as can be gathered from the various assignments that the apostle gave him. He was sent to Corinth to deal with the crisis in that church by teaching them truth as the apostle mentioned in the passage of our study, that is, 1 Corinthians 4:17. The apostle proposed and probably sent him to the Philippians to encourage them, as we learn from Philippians 2:19:
I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you.
In addition, Timothy was sent to the Thessalonians to teach them and help in the spreading of the gospel, as recorded in 1Thessalonians 3:2:
We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God's fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith,
He was also sent to Ephesus at some later time to pastor that church. According to the church historian, Eusebius, who wrote in A. D. 325, Timothy was the first bishop of Ephesus. He, like Apostle Paul, was imprisoned for the gospel of Jesus Christ, as we may gather from the assertion of the human author of Hebrews in Hebrews 13:23:
I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you.
Of course, he was with Apostle Paul during his Roman imprisonment as implied by the fact that the apostle mentioned Timothy when he wrote his prison epistles, as for example, Philippians 1:1:
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:
Timothy was a well-respected young man in his Christian community even before he became a part of the apostle’s missionary team, as we learn from Acts 16:2:
The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him.
Apostle Paul himself had a high opinion of him as indicated by the descriptions of him he gave in our passage of study, that is, 1 Corinthians 4:17.
Apostle Paul described Timothy first in 1 Corinthians 4:17 as his spiritual son in the phrase my son. The word “son” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (teknon) that we encountered previously in 1 Corinthians 4:14 that has several meanings. However, for completeness in our present consideration of verse 17, we need to review what we said about it. The word, no doubt, refers to a child as an offspring of human parents as the apostle used it in his instruction to children to obey their parents in Colossians 3:20:
Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
The Greek word can mean “descendants, posterity” as those who are descendants of a common ancestor as the word is used by Apostle Paul to describe the children of Israel as having a common ancestor in God’s fulfilled promise in Acts 13:33:
he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: “ ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father.’
The Greek word can mean “a child” in the sense of someone that is dear to another without any genetic relations and without distinction in age. So, it is our Greek word that is used in the Lord Jesus’ address to the paralytic He healed, recorded in Matthew 9:2:
Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”
The word “son” is more literally “child.” The use of “child” does not mean that the paralytic is a child in terms of age, but it is a way Jesus described him as being dear. The Greek word can be used to describe a spiritual child in relation to an apostle or a teacher so Paul who is not biological father of Timothy could call him his child in 1 Timothy 1:18:
Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight,
The phrase my son is literally my child. Timothy is a child of Paul in the spiritual sense that he led him to Christ, and he is also his teacher. In the same fashion, the apostle used the Greek word to describe his spiritual relationship with the Galatians since he called them his children in Galatians 4:19:
My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,
It is the same sense that the word is used to describe those who are followers of the false woman teacher in the church of Thyatira in Revelation 2:23:
I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.
The Greek word when used in the plural could refer to members of a given congregation as it is used to describe members of the congregation that Apostle John described as children of the chosen lady in 2 John 1:
The elder, To the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth—
The phrase her children refers to members of the congregation that meets in the house of a real person that the apostle simply addressed as the chosen lady. Of course, our concern is not with the phrase the chosen lady that has generated several interpretations. That aside, our concern is simply to convey that the word “children” can refer to members of a given congregation. The Greek word translated “son” in 1 Corinthians 4:17 we are considering, could also mean “child” in the sense of one who possess the characteristics of another being, as the word is used to describe true Christian women as children of Sarah in 1 Peter 3:6:
like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.
The sentence you are her daughters is literally you have become her children. The sentence does not mean that Christian women are children of Sarah in natural sense but those who obey their husbands demonstrate the same spiritual characteristics of Sarah when she obeyed her husband. Anyway, you see that our Greek word can mean “child” in various senses; so, it is not a trivial matter that we considered the Greek word. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 4:17, the word is used by the apostle to describe Timothy as his spiritual child in the sense that he led him to Christ and is also his teacher of God’s word.
It is not only that the apostle described Timothy as his spiritual son, he expressed his fondness of Timothy in the clause of 1 Corinthians 4:17 whom I love although the literal Greek reads who is my beloved. This is because we have a Greek word (agapētos) that pertains to one who is in a very special relationship with another and so means “only, only beloved.” Thus, it is used to describe the relationship of the Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father on two momentous occasions during the incarnation. The first was during Jesus’ water baptism when a voice spoke from heaven, as recorded in Matthew 3:17:
And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
The clause whom I love is more literally the Beloved. The other occasion is during the transfiguration experience of Jesus when again a voice from heaven spoke, according to the record of Matthew 17:5:
While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
Again, the clause whom I love is more literally the Beloved. The Greek word can pertain to one who is dearly loved hence means “dear, beloved, prized, valued.” This usage is one that is found several times in the NT in the singular to describe an individual. Apostle Paul used the Greek word to indicate Epaphras was dear to him or that he was a valued member of his apostolic missionary team in Colossians 1:7:
You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf,
The phrase our dear fellow servant is literally our beloved fellow slave. Peter used the same word to describe Apostle Paul in 2 Peter 3:15:
Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.
The phrase our dear brother Paul is literally our beloved brother Paul. Apostle John used the Greek word in addressing his letter to Gaius in 3 John 1:
The elder, To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.
The phrase my dear friend Gaius is literally Gaius the beloved since the possessive pronoun “my” does not appear in the Greek, but it is implied. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 4:17, the word is used in the sense of “beloved,” that is, “dearly loved and cherished.” Hence, Apostle Paul meant that Timothy was his dearly loved and cherished spiritual child in the clause my son whom I love.
The apostle goes from his relationship to Timothy to his character of dependability as it relates to the ministry of the word of God because he described him in the next clause of 1 Corinthians 4:17 who is faithful in the Lord. The adjective “faithful” is translated from a Greek word (pistos) that may mean “faithful, dependable, trustworthy.” It is in the sense of “faithful” that the apostle used the word to encourage believers that God will keep an eye on the temptations or trials that come to them, as we read in 1 Corinthians 10:13:
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
It is in the sense of “dependable, trustworthy” that the apostle used it to describe the attitude towards the word of God of the one to be appointed a spiritual leader in Titus 1:9:
He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 4:17, the word means “faithful” in the sense of dependability, trustworthiness or characterized by steadfast affection or allegiance.
The apostle meant to convey that Timothy is characterized by his steadfast affection, dependability, devotion to the ministry of our Lord Jesus. It is because of this that the apostle added the phrase in the Lord. The phrase implies not only that Timothy is faithful as a Christian and loyal to the apostle but that he is faithful in things related to the Lord, which in this case is the ministry of the word. There is a sense we can say that there is no higher honor that can be bestowed on a believer on this planet than to say that such a person is a faithful slave of Jesus Christ. This is the honor that Apostle Paul bestowed on those who were his co-workers in the ministry. We have already noted that he described Epaphras that way. This is the way he described Tychicus in Ephesians 6:21:
Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing.
Apostle Paul was not alone in bestowing this honor to his co-workers so did Apostle Peter when he described Silas using the same adjective in 1 Peter 5:12:
With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.
These apostles described their co-workers that way because it is true so that the Holy Spirit directed them to describe them as faithful. It is the same honor of faithfulness that God the Holy Spirit directed the human author of Hebrews to describe Moses in Hebrews 3:5:
Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house, testifying to what would be said in the future.
The Holy Spirit knows the truth about us so my question to you is this: Is the Holy Spirit considering you a faithful Christian? Are you faithful in your devotion to God’s word? Are you faithful in doing what God instructs? Are you faithful in the support of the ministry? Are you faithful in prayer? Faithfulness in prayer is clearly required of believers in Romans 12:12:
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Are you faithful or dependable that you are consistent in doing everything in your power to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ? You should be able to answer these questions in the affirmative. In other words, you should not belong to the class of the unfaithful since the Scripture tells us that it is rare to find those who are faithful or trustworthy or dependable as we may gather from Proverbs 20:6:
Many a man claims to have unfailing love, but a faithful man who can find?
The first sentence although may be understood to mean that many claim to love their friends, but it is probably meant to be understood that many claim to be trustworthy because of the second clause that used the word “faithful” that refers to being trustworthy or dependable. That aside, this passage in Proverbs implies that is rare to find people who are trustworthy. This indictment should never apply to the believer. Faithfulness is always desirable in the believer since it is also beneficial to be faithful as stated in Proverbs 28:20:
A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.
In this passage, the phrase a faithful man refers to an individual that is honorable and trustworthy in the person’s dealings, particularly in business relations. Such a person would be rewarded. Of course, it is not difficult to understand that the principle of blessing stated here applies to the spiritual life. Those who consistently devote themselves to the study and application of the word of God are blessed in that they grow spiritually and enjoy peace and are stable in life even in the midst of sufferings.
Again, my fellow believers, let me repeat that it is a great honor for any believer to be described as a faithful Christian. Thus, it is not surprising that the Lord encouraged believers in the church of Smyrna to remain faithful in the face of persecution in Revelation 2:10:
Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.
We should strive to become faithful believers in the sense that we are trustworthy as the Holy Spirit requires of the wives of deacons in 1 Timothy 3:11:
In the same way, their wives are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.
It is important for us to strive to be faithful because our God is faithful as the Scripture tells us severally; for example, in 2 Thessalonians 3:3:
But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
We should, of course, recognize that the Lord is the One who will enable us to become faithful so that we should pray to Him to grant us the ability of being faithful. Apostle Paul recognized this truth that he spoke of the privilege of being faithful in his apostolic ministry that the Lord granted him in 1 Corinthians 7:25:
Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.
The point we want to emphasize is that we should continue to desire to be faithful or considered faithful by the Lord and He will grant that desire. We have considered Apostle Paul’s descriptions of Timothy, especially that of being faithful so why did the apostle have to do this? We are out of time so we will answer this question next week if the Lord permits. But let me leave you to ponder the question; Can you be described as a faithful Christian?