◄ What Does 1 Timothy 1:1 Mean? ►

An apostle is one who is sent; and in almost all of his epistles, Paul is very clear about the legitimacy of his calling, identifying himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ. Paul was personally called and commissioned by the risen, ascended, and glorified Lord Jesus, while journeying to Damascus.

Paul, like the other apostles of Christ, was divinely appointed by God, and many like Paul were also commissioned to write certain portions of the New Testament Holy Scriptures.

The Lord Jesus is the One and Only hope of the world and the only way to gain salvatio. Here, He is clearly identified as the believers HOPE. As Christians who have been born from above, we know that His Spirit lives in us, for He is Christ in us, the hope of glory. We also look to the Lord Jesus as our blessed hope Who will return one day to take those who have trusted in His finished work at Calvary to be with Himself forever.

Jesus Christ is man's only hope and He is given the title 'Saviour', for He it was Who set aside His glory and was born into the very race that He created in His own image. He did this in order to die on the Cross for the sin of the whole world so that whosever believes on Him would not perish but have everlasting life.

But it is the Father in this verse Who is called 'Saviour', for it is not His will that any should perish but that all should come to salvation, by faith in Christ. It was God the Father Who sanctified His only begotten Son and He sent Him into the world to be the propitiation for our sins, and to save the human race.

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are co-equal, co-eternal, and one in essence, but they are three distinct persons with three distinct roles, and yet the Lord our God is One and God alone is our Saviour.

God the Father is our Saviour, for He it was Who formulated the plan of redemption and sent His Son to Redeem the world. God the Son is our Saviour, for He carried out the Father's redemptive plan by being born into the human race as Man's Kinsman-Redeemer, and giving His life as a ransom for many. The Holy Spirit is our Saviour, for He convicts us of our sin, baptises the new believer into the Body of Christ, and conforms us day by day in to the image and likeness of Christ.

God is indeed our perfect Saviour; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And Paul was called and commissioned to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, according to the commandment of God our Saviour and of Christ Jesus, Who is our hope. Praise His holy name.

Heavenly Father, thank You that You are my God and my Saviour and that You sent the Lord Jesus into the world to die as my Kinsman-Redeemer. He gave His life to redeem the world so that by faith in Him all could be saved. Thank You for the work of the Holy Spirit within my heart. I pray that increasingly I may become more like Jesus, my God and my Saviour, in Whose name I pray, AMEN.