1 Timothy 1:12Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

He said that the gospel of the glory of God had been entrusted to him, a gospel of which those still clinging to the law cannot be partakers. He sets one against the other and places such distance between them that one who clings to the latter is not yet worthy to become a partaker of the former.

It is as if someone were to say that those who need chains and punishment cannot yet be numbered among the company of philosophers.

Since he had previously exalted himself and said many great things about himself, he now both humbles himself and exhorts others to do the same. After writing, “which was entrusted to me” (v. 11), he immediately humbles himself, lest you think he said this out of pride.

See, then, what expression he uses to correct what was said before, when he adds, “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He counted me faithful, appointing me to the ministry.”

Do you see how he always hides his own merits and attributes everything to God? Yet he does so without destroying freedom of will.

An unbeliever might say: If everything belongs to God, and we contribute nothing of ourselves, but God turns us from vice to philosophy like trees and stones, why did He make Paul such, but not Judas?

Therefore see how prudently he speaks, forestalling such an objection. “Which,” he says, “was entrusted to me.” This is his merit and honor, yet not everything belongs to him. See what he says next: “I thank Christ Jesus, who strengthened me.” This belongs to God.

Then again he points to what belongs to himself: “because He counted me faithful.” Certainly this was because he himself wished to cooperate with it. “Appointing me,” he says, “though formerly I was a blasphemer and persecutor and insolent man, but I received mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief.”

See how he speaks both of what belongs to himself and of what belongs to God. Yet he attributes more to the providence of God, and humbles what belongs to himself. Still, as I said before, he does not destroy freedom of will.

What does “who strengthened me” mean? Listen. He took up a great burden and needed great help from above. Consider how hard it was to withstand daily insults, reproaches, slanders, dangers, disputes, accusations, and deaths.

How hard it was not to grow despondent, lose heart, or waver, when from every side thousands of arrows were thrown at him each day. Yet he stood with a firm and fearless countenance.

This was beyond human strength. Yet it did not depend on divine help alone, but also on his freedom of will. That God chose him, foreseeing what he would be, hear what God Himself says before the apostle began preaching: “He is My chosen vessel, to bear My name before nations and kings and the sons of Israel” (Acts 9:15).

Those who carry the royal standard in war, commonly called the lavuron, λάβοΰρον, must have great strength and skill, lest they betray it to the enemies. So those who bear the name of Christ, not only in war but also in peace, must have great firmness. They must not betray it to blasphemous mouths, but bravely hold and carry the cross.

Truly, great strength is needed to bear the name of Christ. Whoever says, does, or thinks anything unworthy does not bear His name and does not have Christ within himself.

But the one who bears this name marches solemnly not through the marketplace, but through the heavens. All are seized with awe at the sight of him. Angels accompany him and marvel at him.

“I thank,” he says, “Christ Jesus our Lord, who strengthened me.” See, he gives thanks to God even for what belongs to himself. Because he is a chosen vessel, he gives Him thanks. Yet this belongs to you, blessed Paul, because God shows no partiality.

But I give thanks, he says, because He counted me worthy of this ministry. For this is a sign that He considers me faithful. In a house, the steward is grateful to the master for his trust. He also regards that trust as a sign that the master considers him more trustworthy than others. So it is here as well.

Then see how, in describing his former life, he magnifies the mercy and love of God for mankind. What does “because He counted me faithful” mean? It means that he betrayed the Lord in nothing.

He said that everything belonged to Him, and even what was his own he called God’s. He did not appropriate the glory of God to himself. Listen to what he says elsewhere: “Men, why are you doing this? We also are men of like nature with you” (Acts 14:15). This is what “because He counted me faithful” means.

And again elsewhere he says, “I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1 Cor 15:10). And again: “He works in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Phil 2:13).

According to his own words, he was worthy of punishment, for mercy is given precisely to such people. And again elsewhere he says: “A hardening has come upon part of Israel” (Rom 11:25).

The reading is probably an error for λάβαρον, labarum, the standard with the cross.

He says: God did not strengthen me simply so, nor without discernment, but because I was found faithful. Yet he did not even say it this way, but: He counted me faithful, again hiding his own merits.

I do not assert, he says, that I was faithful, but that He counted me such. How is this evident? From the fact that He appointed me to service. For how would He have appointed me if He had not seen in me the capacity?

This is like what happens in households. Stewards give thanks to their masters for the management entrusted to them, which they regard as a sign that their masters consider them more trustworthy than others.

God also says of him: "He is My chosen vessel, to bear My name" (Acts 9:15).

Thus he was fit only for preaching. But to accomplish in deed what he had been judged fit for, he received power from God. Whoever intends to preach the name of Christ, that great name, needs no small power.

He needs it in order, through preaching, to seal that name in the souls of believers. The one who accomplishes this is he who thinks, speaks, and acts worthily of that name in all things. Whoever is not such does not accomplish it.

For how can one preach Christ who does not have Christ wholly in himself? Thus Paul was faithful in all things and ascribed nothing to himself that belonged to the Lord. On the contrary, even what was his own he called God's.

"I labored," he says, "more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God" (1 Cor 15:10), and much else of this kind.

That the Gospel of our Savior was entrusted to blessed Paul by Christ Himself, he again shows in the following lines. He adds to what was said earlier: "I thank Christ Who strengthens me, because He counted me faithful, appointing me to service, though I was formerly a blasphemer and persecutor and insolent man. But I received mercy, because I acted ignorantly in unbelief."

St. John Chrysostom says: "The Apostle called the Gospel the Gospel of glory for no other reason than for the sake of those who are ashamed of persecutions and of Christ's sufferings. For this reason he calls the Gospel the Gospel of glory, because he wished to show that the suffering of Christ the Lord constitutes His glory. Or else he is alluding by this to the future. For although your present condition is full of shame and reproach, the future is by no means so. The Apostle said that the preaching of the glory of God was entrusted to me. Since by this he exalted himself and loudly praised himself, he then humbles himself, so that you may not think he says this from pride. I thank, he says, the Lord Who strengthens me. Do you see how he always hides his own merits and ascribes everything to God? Here he also points to what belongs to him: He counted me faithful. This is surely because he himself had to cooperate with it. To be convinced that God chose him, foreseeing what he would be, listen to what God Himself says before the Apostle even began preaching: He is a chosen vessel of Mine, to bear My name before the nations."

According to blessed Theophylact, what belonged to St. Paul was only that he was fit for preaching. But in order actually to accomplish what he had been called fit to do, he received power from above. Without it, he could not have succeeded in anything.

It could not fail to make the same impression on others also. Therefore St. Paul mentions it everywhere, with the aim of presenting in it a visible proof. If the Gospel economy is now introduced in place of the law, then this is not from men, but from God. God acts here, while men serve only as His instruments.

St. Timothy knew all this, and there would have been no need to tell him about it. Yet although the Epistle was written to him, it was not intended for him alone.

“I thank Him who has strengthened me,” ενδυναμωσαντι, may mean “who strengthened me,” that is, gave strength, or “who was strengthening me,” that is, continually giving strength.

The first meaning will point to St. Paul’s conversion, when the Lord gave him strength to believe. The second points to the labors of preaching the Gospel, in which the Lord strengthened him, for they were beyond human strength.

Ambrosiaster expresses the first thought: “Every unbeliever suffers from weakness of spirit, being bound by a carnal mind so as not to believe spiritual things. Therefore the Apostle here expresses his gratitude to Christ the Lord. By the manifestation of His divine majesty, He gave strength to his weak mind to believe. Until then he considered incredible what was preached concerning the Lord’s Godhead, His twofold birth, His resurrection, and the hopes that come from Him.”

All our other interpreters express the second thought. Blessed Theodoret puts these words into the mouth of St. Paul: “I do not offer this teaching to men by acting through my own power. I am established and strengthened by Him who saved me. He made one who had dared to rage against Him a faithful servant of the Gospel.”

St. Chrysostom sees in the Apostle’s words a confession of the great assistance given him from above. “Consider how hard it was to withstand daily insults, reproaches, slanders, dangers, disputes, censures, and deaths, and not fall into despondency, not lose heart, and not be shaken. Though from every side each day whole thousands of arrows were hurled at him, he stood with a firm and untroubled countenance. This was beyond human strength.”

“Christ Jesus our Lord.” In Christian consciousness, the first thing seen is the Person of Christ the Lord, the incarnate Son of God. Behind the veil of His flesh is contemplated the God in three Hypostases, who willed that one of His Persons should be incarnate.

This is impressed upon consciousness by faith. Then life also gives experiential assurances of it, that everything in us is from Christ the Lord. None who attend to themselves are deprived of such assurances.

St. Paul constantly felt the nearness of the Lord who strengthened him. Therefore, as before he had confessed with inspiration, “I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me” (cf. Phil 4:13), so here he thanks the same Lord who strengthens him.

He thanks the Lord who strengthened him, and consequently attributes all successes to Him. Yet since it is fitting to strengthen only one who acts and uses his own efforts, he also suggests that, together with faith in the One who strengthens all, there were all possible efforts of his own.

Looking at the matter from these sides, St. Chrysostom sees in the Apostle’s words, on the one hand, a testimony to his humility. On the other hand, he sees an assurance that in life according to the Spirit of faith, not everything is from the Lord, but the participation of one’s own will is required.

He says: “The Apostle said that the Gospel of the glory of God was entrusted to me. Since by this he exalted himself and praised himself loudly, he then humbles himself, so that you may not think he says this out of pride. ‘I thank,’ he says, ‘the Lord who strengthens me.’ Do you see how he always conceals his own merits and ascribes everything to God, yet in such a way that he does not destroy freedom of will? For an unbeliever might perhaps say: if everything belongs to God, and we ourselves contribute nothing of ourselves, but God turns us from vice to wisdom like trees and stones, why did He make Paul such and not Judas? Therefore see with what prudence the Apostle forestalls this objection. He says, ‘I thank Christ Jesus who strengthens me.’ This refers to God. Then he indicates what belongs to him: ‘because He counted me faithful,’ certainly because he himself had to cooperate with this.”

“Because He counted me faithful.” He gives thanks that God deemed him worthy of trust, foreseeing that he would be faithful to Him. The proof that this was so is that God entrusted to him the ministry of the Gospel: “appointing me to service,” that is, assigning him to serve the Gospel.

For what master will entrust the stewardship of his house to a person whose fidelity he has not verified? So also the Lord entrusted the Gospel to St. Paul, knowing by foreknowledge that he would be faithful.

“To be convinced that God chose him while foreseeing what he would be, listen to what God Himself says even before the Apostle began preaching: ‘He is a chosen vessel for Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles’ (cf. Acts 9:15)” (St. Chrysostom).

Recognizing this in the Lord’s providential arrangements concerning him, the Apostle thanks Him. By this thanksgiving he does not so much express joy that he was recognized as faithful, as he magnifies the ministry of the Gospel entrusted to him. He does this because the Gospel economy itself is exceedingly great.

Because of its greatness, it is also great to be counted worthy of being entrusted with service to it, and to be honored with trust in this work. Thus the Apostle sets forth the surpassing height of the Gospel, without saying this explicitly.

Ambrosiaster writes: “The Apostle was honored as worthy of having entrusted to him the administration of the Lord’s mystery, that is, the Gospel, so that through the law he might confirm the truth of what formerly, out of love for the law, he considered incredible.”

He confirmed this not only by teaching, but also by the very fact of his election to the ministry of the Gospel. No other would have confirmed this as much as Paul, the zealot of the law, transformed into an even more zealous servant of the Gospel.

But let us pause our attention on the very trust placed in St. Paul and on his election. For St. Paul, as a persecutor of the Church, it would have been great if he had merely been brought to faith. Yet he was not only brought to faith, but also appointed its servant and propagator.

It is as if a guilty servant were not only received again into the house, but also appointed steward of the house. The Apostle sees in this an exceeding abundance of mercy toward himself, and he gives thanks.

St. Chrysostom puts these words into the mouth of St. Paul: “I thank the Lord because He deemed me worthy of this ministry, for this is a sign that He considers me faithful. Just as in a house the steward is not only grateful to the master for his trust, but also sets it forth as a sign that the master considers him more worthy of trust than others, so it was here also.”

With the words, “He counted me faithful,” St. Chrysostom also connects this thought: “He did not betray the Lord in anything. He said that everything belongs to Him, and even called his own things God’s, not appropriating God’s glory to himself.”

In this he resembled a good steward, who forgets himself, cares only for the master’s goods, and ascribes every success to the master’s wisdom.

“To St. Paul belonged only this, that he was fit for preaching. But to accomplish in deed what he was recognized as fit for, he received power from above. Without it he could not have succeeded in anything” (Blessed Theophylact).

St. Paul confesses this both here and in many other places. “Listen to what he says: ‘Men, why do you look at us? We are men of like passions with you’ (cf. Acts 14:15). And again: ‘I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me’ (cf. 1 Cor 15:10). And again: ‘It is God who works in us both to will and to do’ (cf. Phil 2:13). This is what ‘He counted me faithful’ means” (St. Chrysostom).

That is, He foresaw that Paul would appropriate nothing to himself, but would ascribe everything to the Lord, as the source of understanding and strength.

Ambrosiaster senses in these words the Apostle’s joy in sufferings for the Lord, against whom he had formerly gone. This is said already at the end of the course of the ministry entrusted to him, which he passed through amid sorrows, privations, and persecutions.

The Lord foresaw that, despite all this, he would be faithful. Seeing this justified, the Apostle thanks the Lord.

“The Apostle showed such devoted fidelity to the Lord, whom he had formerly denied, that he rejoiced more in sufferings for preaching faith in Him than he had formerly delighted in his persecutions of the faithful.”