1 Timothy 3.16b-Six Line Hymn About The Lord Jesus Christ
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday May 19, 2011
1 Timothy: 1 Timothy 3:16b-Six Line Hymn About The Lord Jesus Christ
Lesson # 71
Please turn in your Bibles to 1 Timothy 3:14.
We complete our study of chapter three by noting verse 16, which presents a Christ hymn that expresses a common confession in the church and speaks of the mystery of godliness.
1 Timothy 3:14 I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; 15 but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. 16 By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. (NASU)
Not translated is the “epexegetical” or “explanatory” use of the conjunction kai (καί) (keh), which introduces a statement that “explains” in specific terms the meaning of the noun aletheia, “of the truth” that concludes 1 Timothy 3:15.
This use of kai appears in Romans 2:15, 5:14, 17, 7:10, 10:9 and 11:12.
“By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness” is composed of the adverb homologoumenos (ὁμολογουμένως) (owe-moe-low-who-mehnoce), “by common confession” and the nominative neuter singular form of the adjective megas (μέγας) (may-gahs), “great” and the third person singular present active indicative form of the verb eimi (εἰμί) (ee-mee), “is” and the articular genitive feminine singular form of the noun eusebeia (εὐσέβεια) (ef-sev-ee-ah), “of godliness” and the articular nominative neuter singular form of the noun musterion (μυστήριον) (me-stear-ee-own), “of the mystery.”
The adverb homologoumenos means “affirmatively” in the sense that the first century apostolic church “asserted as fact” the mystery of godliness, which is spelled out in the hymn defining specifically what the church asserted as fact.
It speaks of the fact that the entire Christian community in Ephesus is obligated to acknowledge or affirm the truth of this confession or first century apostolic affirmation by both their words and conduct.
The adjective megas describes the revelation of Jesus Christ as superior in importance to the heathen religions including the worship of Artemis whose center was in Ephesus.
Undoubtedly, Paul uses megas to emphasize the superiority of Christianity because it is based upon an historical person, Jesus Christ who performed extraordinary, supernatural deeds, which is confirmed by witnesses and evidence unlike the heathen religions of the world.
Christianity is based upon Jesus Christ the truth whereas the heathen religions of the world are based upon the lies of Satan’s cosmic system.
The noun eusebeia refers to the Christian way of life or the way of godly living in the sense that by the power of the Holy Spirit the Christian is conforming their thinking and conduct according to the Father’s will, which is revealed by the Holy Spirit in the Word of God.
The noun musterion means “mystery” and refers to the gospel message which fully reveals God’s plan of salvation for both Jew and Gentiles by the Spirit through the apostles to the church, which was not fully known to the Old Testament prophets of Israel.
The content of this mystery is Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection for both Jew and Gentile.
“He who was revealed in the flesh” is composed of the nominative masculine singular form of the relative pronoun hos (ὅς) (oce), “He who” and the third person singular aorist passive indicative form of the verb phaneroo (φανερόω) (fah-na-roe-owe), “was revealed” and the preposition en (ἐν), “in” and its object is the dative feminine singular form of the noun sarx (σάρξ) (sarx), “the flesh.”
The relative pronoun hos means “He” referring to the Lord Jesus Christ, which is indicated by the content of the six lines that speak of Him.
The verb phaneroo means “to be revealed, to be manifested” and is used of the incarnation and subsequent earthly life of the Son of God, i.e. His First Advent.
The idea conveyed by the verb is that the Son of God, who by virtue of His divine nature is invisible, was made visible to the human race by dwelling in a human body or clothing Himself with a human nature (cf. John 1:14)
In 1 Timothy 3:16, the noun sarx refers to the impeccable human nature of the Son of God and is the object of the preposition en, which functions as a marker of means indicating that the Son of God was revealed to the human race “by means of” His human nature.
“Was vindicated in the Spirit” is composed of the third person singular aorist passive indicative form of the verb dikaioo (δικαιόω) (thee-kay-owe-owe), “was vindicated” and the preposition en (ἐν), “in” and its object is the dative neuter singular form of the noun pneuma (πνεῦμα) (peh-nev-mah), “the Spirit.”
The verb dikaioo means “to vindicate” and is modified by the prepositional phrase ἐν πνεύματι, “in the Spirit,” which refers to the Holy Spirit.
Together, they refer to the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit raising Jesus of Nazareth from the dead on the third day in fulfillment of the Old Testament Messianic prophecies and according to the Father’s will.
This act “vindicated” Jesus of Nazareth in the sense that it demonstrated that His claims that He was the Son of God were true and that the accusations of His enemies were false and that His execution was a travesty of justice.
The resurrection vindicated Jesus of Nazareth’s claims that He was the Son of God and that faith in Him alone was the only way to receive eternal salvation and escape eternal condemnation.
It vindicated His claims that He was the Messiah of Israel and the fulfillment of the Old Testament Messianic prophecies.
Therefore, the Father vindicated His Son, Jesus Christ by raising Him from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit.
This vindication is mentioned in Acts 2:22-36, 3:11-15, 4:10-12, 10:34-43, Romans 1:4, 1 Corinthians 2:1-9, Ephesians 1:20-21, Philippians 2:5-11, Colossians 2:8-15, and 1 Peter 3:21-22.
The noun pneuma refers of course to the Holy Spirit who is identified as the third Person of the Trinity and is the object of the preposition en, which is a marker of means indicating that the vindication of Jesus Christ was “by means of” the power of the Holy Spirit.
“Seen by angels” is composed of the third person singular aorist passive indicative form of the verb horao (ὁράω) (or-rah-owe), “was seen” and the dative masculine plural form of the noun angelos (ἄγγελος) (ang-yell-loce), “by the angels.”
The verb horao means “to be observed” since it is in the passive voice and is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ being “observed” by angels at His resurrection, ascension and session, thus they bore witness to His vindication.
That the verb refers not only to the ascension of Christ, which was a triumphal procession into heaven, but also to the resurrection and session of Christ is indicated by the fact that the elect angels observed and were witnesses to the resurrection of Christ (Matthew 28:1-2; Luke 24:5-7, 23; John 20:12).
They also were present at His ascension and observed it (Acts 1:10-11).
They were present at His session in heaven since they worship Him in heaven (Ephesians 1:20-23; Philippians 2:6-11; Colossians 2:15; Hebrews 1:6-9; Revelation 4).
“Proclaimed among the nations” is composed of the third person singular aorist passive indicative form of the verb kerusso (κηρύσσω) (kear-ee-so), “proclaimed” and the preposition en (ἕν), “among” and the dative neuter plural form of the noun ethnos (ἒθνος) (eff-noce), “Gentiles.”
The verb kerusso refers to the Christian community led by the apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastor-teachers “publicly proclaiming” the gospel of Jesus Christ “as heralds in a dignified and authoritative manner which commanded the respect and attention of the unsaved Jew and Gentiles who were exposed to it.”
The noun ethnos means “Gentiles” and is used to describe all those members of the human race who are not of Jewish racial descent and specifically, it speaks of heathen Gentiles.
“Believed on in the world” is composed of the third person singular aorist passive indicative form of the verb pisteuo (πιστεύω) (pea-stev-owe), “believed” and the preposition en (ἐν), “in” and its object is the dative masculine singular form of the noun kosmos (κόσμος) (koez-moce), “the world.”
The verb pisteuo is in the passive voice and means to “to be believed upon” and refers to the non-meritorious system of perception of placing one’s “trust” or “confidence in” Jesus Christ as one’s Savior.
The noun kosmos means “humanity” and refers to the unsaved inhabitants of the earth arranged in tribes and nations or peoples who are enslaved to the old Adamic sin nature and to Satan and his cosmic system.
“Taken up in glory” is composed of the third person singular aorist passive indicative form of the verb analambano (ἀναλαμβάνω) (ana-lambano), “taken up” and the preposition en (ἐν), “in” and its object is the dative feminine singular form of the noun doxa (δόξα) (thoex-ha), “glory.”
The verb analambano refers to the ascension of Jesus Christ.
The word is used in the exact same manner for the ascension of Christ in Acts 1:2, 11 and 22.
It refers to the vertical transfer of the glorified, resurrected human nature of Jesus Christ to the third heaven, which contains the throne room of God where He now sits at the right hand of the Father.
The noun doxa, “glory” refers to the manifestation of the Father’s omnipotence, which He exercised by not only raising His Son Jesus Christ from the dead on the third day in fulfillment of the Scriptures but also by taking Him up into heaven and seating Him at His right hand.
It is the object of the preposition en, which is a marker of means indicating that Jesus Christ was taken up into heaven “by means of” the omnipotence of the Father.