“This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance. For this reason we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.”
In verse 9, Paul says, “This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance.” He is referring back to what he has just written. Let’s look back on that as a refresher. “For the training of the body has limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”
This is the third and last time in this first letter to Timothy that he will use the phrase “This saying is trustworthy.” He will use it in his letter to Titus, and one more time in his second letter to Timothy. Paul has a total of five trustworthy sayings in the Pastoral Epistles. I thought it might be interesting to list them out. 1. Christ came into the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). 2. If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble work (3:1). 3. The training of the body has limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come (4:8). 4. He poured out his spirit on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior so that having been justified by His grace, we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:6-7). 5. For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He will also deny us; if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny himself (2 Timothy 2:13). Paul’s trustworthy sayings are powerful reminders of Christ’s atoning work on the cross and of how important it is for us to endure faithfully until the end.
Paul goes on. He writes, “For this reason we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.” I want to look at these verses phrase by phrase.
First, we have the phrase ‘labor and strive.’ When I hear the word ‘strive,’ I think of pushing forward to achieve a goal. But here, the Greek word that Paul uses means to ‘suffer reproach.’ This is to endure shame, disgrace, or disapproval, sometimes while being mocked or insulted, while holding firm to one’s faith. So Paul is saying that we may have to endure the disapproval of men, while holding on to our faith in the living God. Peter says something similar in his first letter. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials so that the proven character of your faith—more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:3-7).
Why do we labor and strive? Because we have put our hope in the living God. I used my Blue Letter Bible app to do a search on the word ‘hope.’ First, what does the word hope mean? According to The Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, it is “An expectation or belief in the fulfillment of something desired.” Here are some verses showing what we put our hope in:
“I have a hope in God, which these men themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection, both of the righteous and the unrighteous” (Acts 24:15).
“He has delivered us from such a terrible death, and he will deliver us. We have put our hope in him that he will deliver us again” (2 Corinthians 1:10).
“We recall, in the presence of our God and Father, your work produced by faith, your labor motivated by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” 1 Thessalonians 1:3)
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age, while we wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:11-13).
I know that is a lot of verses, but it is so important that we anchor our hope in the living God!
Let’s move on to the phrase ‘living God.’ When Jesus asked the disciples who they thought He was, Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). There are many other verses in the New Testament that describe God as the living God. I love what David Guzik says in his Enduring Word commentary. “We trust in the living God: This is to be the great motto of the Christian life. Even as David challenged Goliath in the name of the living God (1 Samuel 17:26 and 36) so our trust in the living God empowers us to accomplish great things for His glory.”
The next phrase could cause confusion if it wasn’t for the clarifying clause that comes after. Let me explain. Paul writes, “…who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.” Someone could take the first part of this verse and say that God will save everyone, a belief known as universalism. But we know that Scripture does not teach this. Craig Blomberg writes this in From Pentecost to Patmos: Acts to Revelation. “Verse 10 seems to introduce a strange distinction between two kinds of salvation until we understand that malista in its five appearances in the Pastoral Epistles (1 Tim 4:10; 5:8; 5:17; 2 Tim 4:13; Titus 1:10) is best translated ‘namely’ rather than ‘especially.’” So that phrase would be better translated as “…who is the Savior of all people, namely those who believe.” We know that salvation is offered to everyone, not just the Jews, and this could explain why Paul chose this expression. We can look back earlier in the letter to get clarity on Paul’s teaching. “First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2:1-4). We are to intercede in prayer for all people because God desires everyone to be saved. Everyone will not be saved, but our job is to pray. And we read just a few verses earlier that in later times some will depart from the faith (4:1), so we know that Paul is not saying everyone will be saved.
So let’s put it all together. The training of the body has only limited benefit. But training in godliness is beneficial, because it is good both for this life and the life to come. As part of this training, we are willing to endure the disapproval of men, being mocked or insulted for our beliefs, because we put our hope in the living God. He has provided the way of salvation for everyone, but only those that believe will be saved.
Grace be with you!
Abundant Joy 