1 Timothy 4:9 – Faithful is the saying!

Faithful is the saying and worthy of all welcome. For for this are we toiling and being reproached, that we rely on the living God, Who is the Saviour of all mankind, especially of believers.

Three times in this letter we read the phrase “Faithful is the saying” (1:15; 3:1 and 4:9). Nothing can match its value in the midst of unhealthy teachings, myths, fake news and so many other unreliable words. If this was the case in Paul’s day, how much more so in ours! That is why it is “worthy of all welcome”. If the red carpet would be rolled out for one word, it would be for this reliable, solid word.

There is a remarkable and logical connection between the first (1:15) and last (4:9) mentions of the word faithful in this letter. In 1:15 the reliable word is that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom he himself claims to be the first. There is the thought: if Christ Jesus saves even the first of sinners, then it cannot be otherwise than that He saves all sinners. Now, what is only tacitly assumed in 1:15 is trumpeted outright and point-blank in 4:10. The living God is a Savior of all mankind!

Delen: