1 Timothy 2.7-Paul Was Appointed A Herald, An Apostle And He Emphatically Affirms He Taught The Gentiles By Means Of Doctrine Which Is Truth
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday March 23, 2011
1 Timothy: 1 Timothy 2:7-Paul Was Appointed A Herald, An Apostle And He Emphatically Affirms He Taught The Gentiles By Means Of Doctrine, Which Is Truth
Lesson #41
Please turn in your Bibles to 1 Timothy 2:1.
In 1 Timothy 2:7, the apostle Paul writes that the Lord appointed him as a herald as well as an apostle for the express purpose of proclaiming Christ’s redemptive work on behalf of all mankind.
He makes an emphatic declaration of truthfulness that he was also appointed to be a teacher of the Gentiles by means of doctrine, which is truth.
1 Timothy 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. 7 For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. (NASU)
“For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle” is composed of the preposition eis (εἰς) (eece), “for” and the accusative neuter singular form of the relative pronoun hos (ὅς) (oce), “this” and the first person singular aorist passive indicative form of the verb tithemi (τίθημι) (tee-tha-me), “I was appointed” and the first person nominative masculine singular form of the pronoun ego (ἐγώ) (eh-go), “I” and the nominative masculine singular form of the noun kerux (κῆρυξ) (kear-deex), “a preacher” and the conjunction kai (καί) (keh), “and” which is followed by the nominative masculine singular for of the noun apostolos (ah-poe-stah-loce) (ἀπόστολος), “an apostle.”
The antecedent of the relative pronoun hos is the neuter singular form of the noun marturion, “the testimony,” which refers to the voluntary, substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths of Christ on the cross, which redeemed the human race out of the slave market of sin in which all were born physically alive yet spiritually dead.
The relative pronoun hos is the object of the preposition eis, which functions as a marker of purpose answering the question as to “why’ Paul was appointed as a preacher, apostle and teacher of the Gentiles.
The personal pronoun ego, “I” refers of course to Paul emphasizing a contrast between himself and certain pastors in Ephesus who rejected His gospel and authority by adhering to the teaching of the Judaizers and as a result sought to be teachers of the Law emphasizing obedience to the Ten Commandments.
The verb tithemi means “to appoint” in the sense of assigning someone to a particular task, role or function.
It is used here of the Lord Jesus Christ appointing Paul to be a preacher of the gospel, an apostle to the Gentiles and their teacher.
The noun kerux along with apostolos and didaskalos describe Paul’s ministry from different perspectives and are thus not mutually exclusive and do not represent different offices.
This indicated by the fact that everywhere in Paul’s letters to the churches he views his apostleship as encompassing the tasks of proclaiming as a herald the gospel to the unsaved and teaching regenerate Gentiles.
Only here in 1 Timothy 2:7 and in 2 Timothy 1:11 does Paul refer to himself with all three of these terms together whereas in the other letters he does use all three of himself (Knight, page 125).
The noun kerux speaks of Paul’s ministry as that of being a herald of Jesus Christ.
The noun apostolos speaks of his ministry from the perspective that he is an authoritative spokesman and witness of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The noun didaskalos describes his ministry as that of educating others through the Word of God as to the character and nature of the Lord and His ways and will.
The term kerux speaks of Paul’s ministry in relation to the unsaved since didaskalos is used exclusively by Paul in his writings of a gift given to the church (1 Corinthians 12:28, 29; Ephesians 4:11).
This would indicate a contrast with kerux implying that the word is used in relation to the unsaved.
Apostolos combines the two ideas emphasizing that Paul is the Lord Jesus Christ’s authoritative messenger to both the unsaved and the saved.
The noun kerux denotes that he was appointed by the Lord Jesus Christ as His messenger or envoy to proclaim the gospel to sinful humanity.
It denotes that Paul was simply a messenger of Jesus Christ who was his sovereign authority.
It also indicates that Paul’s gospel message (Romans 1:16) was absolutely essential for the unsaved since faith in the message would save them from sin, Satan and his cosmic system, spiritual and physical death, condemnation from the Law and eternal condemnation.
This term kerux also implies that Paul’s gospel message did not express his own views but that he was a spokesman for his master, Jesus Christ.
It indicates that Paul was commissioned by the Lord to deliver the gospel message and nothing else.
It means that Paul stuck exactly to the words given to him by the Lord and the orders of his master, Jesus Christ.
The word also indicates that Paul was under the protection of the Lord Jesus Christ, his sovereign.
Indeed, any action taken against Paul would bring down the wrath of the Lord since the former is under His protection.
The term speaks of the fact that Paul was dedicated to the service of Jesus Christ.
The noun apostolos refers to the temporary spiritual gift of apostleship that held maximum authority in the church.
The spiritual gift of apostleship functioned under two categories: (1) Writers of the New Testament (2) Establishment of local churches: (a) The clarification of mystery doctrine (b) The maintenance of a true systematic theology with dispensational emphasis (c) The training of pastors (d) Establishment of local church policy.
Paul was personally commissioned by the resurrected Christ to be the apostle to the Gentiles (See Acts 9:15; 22:21; Romans 11:13; 15:16; Galatians 1:15-16; 2:2, 7-9; Ephesians 3:1; 1 Timothy 2:7).
“I am telling the truth, I am not lying” is an emphatic declaration of truthfulness by Paul. It emphasizes his faithfulness in fulfilling the responsibilities that the Lord gave him with respect to the church in contrast to the apostate pastors in Ephesus who were not faithful.
“As a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth” is composed of the nominative masculine singular form of the noun didaskalos (διδάσκαλος) (thee-thaskaloce), “as a teacher” and the genitive neuter plural form of the noun ethnos (ἒθνος) (eff-noce), “of the Gentiles” and the preposition en (ἐν), “in” and its object is the dative feminine singular form of the noun pistis (πίστις) (pee-steece), “faith” and the conjunction kai (καί) (keh), “and” which is followed by the dative feminine singular form of the noun aletheia (ἀλήθεια) (ahlee-theeah), “the truth.”
The noun didaskalos is used with reference to regenerate Gentiles and describes Paul’s ministry as that of educating Gentile believers through the Word of God as to the character and nature of the Lord and His ways and will.
That the word is being used with reference to Paul’s ministry to saved Gentiles is indicated not only by the word’s use in the New Testament but also it is used exclusively by Paul in his writings of a gift given to the church (1 Corinthians 12:28, 29; Ephesians 4:11).
The noun ethnos refers to the Gentile churches in the Roman Empire, which Paul established and taught the Word of God.
The word is used often by Paul in his writings with respect to those churches that he established and taught that were Gentile in racial background (Romans 1:5, 13; 4:17, 18; 9:24, 30; 10:19; 11:11, 12, 13; 15:9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 18, 27; 16:4, 26; Ephesians 3:1, 6, 8; Colossians 1:27).
Ethnos does not speak of heathen Gentiles since didaskalos is used by Paul of a gift that is given to the church.
The noun pistis is used in an objective sense referring to the content of what Paul taught the Gentile churches or in other words as a description of the gospel.
It would refer to the gospel from the perspective of a body of doctrine or that which is believed by the church.
Aletheia means “truth” referring to the truth of God in an objective sense as a body of knowledge containing the revelation of God’s character and nature, His ways and His will for His children.
The kai is epexegetical indicating that aletheia would be describing the gospel from another perspective than pistis does.
This interpretation would indicate that Paul carried out his teaching ministry to the Gentile churches by means of the content of what the Christian church believes, i.e. “doctrine,” which is truth.
Thus, Paul is saying that he taught the Gentile churches, which he established by means of doctrine (that which the church believes), which is truth in contrast to certain pastors in Ephesus who were not doing so.
Paul is thus not teaching the Gentile churches with his faithfulness or truthfulness but rather by means of doctrine, which is truth.
Pistis like aletheia are synonymous for the gospel and speak of it from different perspectives.
Both words are objects of the preposition en, which is a marker of means by which a function is accomplished.
Here it indicates that Paul taught the Gentile churches which he established “by means of doctrine, which is truth.”