April 2022

Paul believed a significant prophetic event would happen in his near future, perhaps during his lifetime, and he based that belief on the words of Christ. Inmillennialism, a prophetic view based on the Olivet Discourse and 1 Corinthians 15, accounts for this perspective. As I mentioned in my last post (here),…

The last paragraph of Paul’s first letter to Timothy shows his underlying prophetic perspective. As I’ve said, the pastoral nature of this epistle keeps this viewpoint in the background, but it sometimes crops out. The Apostle’s conclusion (1 Tim 6:13–21) is such a place. In this post, I will discuss…

As I was finishing the previous post (here), the following statement grabbed my attention: “Till I come (Gk. erchomai), give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” (1 Tim 4:13). After a bit of thought, I recognized the reason for my sensitivity to this exhortation. In this non-prophetic context, Paul’s…

Our survey of 1 Timothy brings us to another passage that contrasts two ages: Paul says, “Bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come” (1 Tim 4:8). Commentators have long assumed that…

In his first letter to Timothy, Paul makes a statement that commentators have used to support their gloomy predictions for the church in history. The Apostle says, Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of…