¹⁸This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, ¹⁹keeping faith and a good conscience …

Commandments were not excluded by the apostle of grace, contrary to some misunderstandings prevalent today. Grace has to do with the inability we have to merit God’s favor in any shape or form. We are unworthy, yet He has made us worthy because we have received His righteousness. We are saved by grace through faith to restore us to living as “His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Eph. 2:8–10).  Grace does not eliminate our obligation to God or His expectation of how we should live. But we must be sure in our deepest thinking that our responsibility to God does not become our perceived means to gaining His favor, for “in Him [we] have been made complete…” (Col. 2:10).  In our standing, we are there already. But in our progressive sanctification, we are still on the way.

But in grace, God has not called us to a life of lawlessness. And so Paul feels quite comfortable using the word “command,” which can be translated “instruct” or “charge.”  Paul emphasizes what he is saying to Timothy, possibly a continuation of what he wrote earlier: “But the goal our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” (1 Tim. 1:5). In between, he warns against teachings of the Mosaic Law, but then circles back to continue his instructions to Timothy to “fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience. . . .” Thus, Paul’s instructions are not legalism, implying that Timothy’s obedience will help in some way merit God’s grace. No. Christians have an obligation to live intentionally by faith and conscience (which we take to mean personal integrity).

Paul teaches as a father would instruct his son, reminiscent of Proverbs: “Hear, my son, your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching . . .” (Prov. 1:8). In light of this letter’s being instructional for leadership among God’s people, we can sense Paul’s heart of discipleship, like a father training up his child. In light of Timothy’s being probably in his later 30’s, we might draw the principle that leadership development is a continuous process throughout most of life. Certainly, Timothy’s call to ministry is affirmed when Paul later commands him, “Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery” (1 Tim. 4:14).

Lord, I choose to obey Your calling in my life without any hesitation.