Page 6 - Pastoral Epistles I & 2 Timothy, Titus

2 Timothy 4:6-8. For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my
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departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
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8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will
award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
The Apostle Paul

The Recipients of the Pastoral Epistles: (1) Timothy.
Someone once said that “Timothy was the representation of the mystery of the church.”

What do we mean when we talk about the mystery of the church?
Ephesians 3:6. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel,
members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
Colossians 1:27. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches
of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
The mystery of the church simply means that Gentiles can be part of God’s family by faith alone. Being a part of
God’s family has nothing to do with race, creed, sex, age, which Bible translation you prefer, or how much money
you put in the offering. It has to do with faith in God’s Son, Jesus, as the long-awaited Messiah. We either
believe it or we don’t believe it.

1 John 4:15. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and
they in God.

 Timothy was the representation of the mystery of the church in that he was the son of a Gentile father
and a Jewish mother.

Acts
16:1. Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose
mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek.
When Paul left Lystra, he took Timothy with him as a disciple, and Paul became like a spiritual father to him.

1 Timothy 1:2. To Timothy, my true son in the faith.

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