1 Timothy 1:12 - Exposition

I thank for and I thank, A.V. and T.R.; him that enabled me, even Christ Jesus our Lord for Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, A.V.; appointing me to his service for putting me into the ministry, A.V. I thank , etc. This outburst of praise for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ, who had called him to the ministry of the Word, is caused by the thought, which immediately precedes, of his being entrusted with the gospel. He thus disclaims any notion of merit on his part. That enabled me ( ἐνδυναμώσαντι ). This verb occurs once in the Acts ( Acts 9:22 ); three times in St. Paul's other Epistles ( Romans 4:20 ; Ephesians 6:10 ; Philippians 4:13 ); three times in the pastoral Epistles (here; 2 Timothy 2:1 and 2 Timothy 4:17 ); and Hebrews 11:31 . It denotes the giving that peculiar power which was the gift of the Holy Ghost, and which was necessary for the work of an apostle to enable him to bear witness to Christ in the face of an adverse world. This power ( δύναμις ) Christ promised to his apostles before his ascension ( Acts 1:8 ). St Paul received it after his conversion ( Acts 9:22 ). He continued to hold it throughout his apostleship ( Philippians 4:13 ); he enjoyed it especially at the approach of his martyrdom ( 2 Timothy 4:17 ). It comprised strength of faith, strength to testify and to preach, strength to endure and suffer. St. Paul's whole course is the best illustration of the nature of the δύναμις which Christ gave him (see in Ephesians 3:6 the χάρις , the διακονία , and the δύναμις all brought together as here). Appointing me to his service. The A.V., putting me into the ministry, is a better rendering, because" the ministry" exactly expresses the particular kind of service to which the Lord appointed him (see the exactly parallel passage, Ephesians 3:7 ). The absence of the article is unimportant ( Romans 12:7 ; 1 Corinthians 16:15 ; 2 Timothy 4:11 ). (For the general phrase, comp. Acts 20:28 ; 1 Corinthians 12:28 ; or, still more exactly as regards the grammar, 1 Thessalonians 5:9 .)