Week 46: The Pastoral Letters
Week 46: The Pastoral Letters
Timothy and Titus occupied a special place in the affection and ministry of the apostle Paul. His letters to them contain extremely valuable teaching in relation to the life of the local church.
The background of all three letters is the apostle’s absence. It may be temporary (on account of his hope to visit them) or permanent (on account of his impending death). So his overriding preoccupation is not for himself but for the gospel, which he also calls “the faith,” “the truth,” “the teaching,” or “the deposit.” What would happen to it when he has gone? Ten times he exhorts Timothy and Titus to “teach these things” (1 Tim. 4:11), both guarding the truth and passing it on. Timothy and Titus were also instructed to select and appoint pastors (Timothy in Ephesus, Titus in Crete), whose main responsibility would be both to teach the truth and to refute error. Paul’s strategy is outlined in 2 Timothy 2:2: “The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men [the pastors] who will also be qualified to teach others.” This is the true apostolic succession—a continuity of apostolic teaching from generation to generation, made possible by the New Testament.
Sunday: The Church’s Global Perspective
Monday: Advice to a Young Leader
Tuesday: A Charge to a Man of God
Wednesday: Qualifications for the Presbyterate
Thursday: The Two Epiphanies of Christ
Friday: Resisting the Pressures of the World
Saturday: Paul’s Last Imprisonment