1 Timothy 1:2

Timothy was Paul's "true child in the faith," a real convert of his. So Paul trusted him enough to speak his heart with no evident reservation. The word here is "child," not "son." It speaks of actual spiritual birth, not the dignity of a position. Timothy had not merely copied Paul's character. "In Christ Jesus" Paul had given him birth through the gospel.

We can easily see how such circumstances were bound to draw out a love that was always there. At such a moment that love would come out in a more fitting way. We find this in these letters. He writes to Timothy as his genuine child; it is not at all the usual way in the earlier letters. Here and now was the opening of that long pent-up heart. At the same time he was laying an important commission on a man God had raised up for the purpose. Timothy was still fairly young. Soon he would have to fight his way without the sympathy and support of one who had been such a blessing to him.

Paul wishes Timothy "grace," the divine favour that is enough to lift a person above whatever the circumstances may be. He wishes him "mercy," God showing compassion inside those circumstances. And he wishes him "peace," the calm of soul God gives, so that we pass through all circumstances in unbroken, unruffled communion with the Lord Jesus. Such blessing rests on the unity of the Father and the Son. It is found from no other source, but perfectly there.

He does not say "mercy" to the assemblies. They stand before God as assemblies because of the mercy already shown them. However low their condition might be, God views them according to the nature in which they live by the Spirit. In that nature there is no question of mercy, because the nature is itself of God. Grace and peace are what they are to enjoy from God. But an individual is another matter. However godly or faithful he may be, he is both flesh and spirit. Part of his road still lies ahead and has to be provided for, so he always needs mercy. That is why the apostle wishes it to Timothy and to Titus. He knew how much they needed mercy. It was his own resource, what he had experienced for the comfort of his own soul.

It supposes the need, the constant wants, the difficulties, the trials and the dangers of individual believers. Timothy was in Ephesus. Fierce wolves came from the outside and false teachers from the inside. He needed mercy, so that he would be kept. The days grow darker. The departure from the faith becomes more pronounced. Individual believers need mercy upon mercy to stand and to withstand.

Turning to Timothy, as his own child in the faith, the Apostle desires grace, mercy, and peace for him. But he is thinking of Timothy as a believer, so he now says, "from God our Father" and Christ Jesus "our Lord".

In the fullest sense the believer already owns God's grace, mercy, and peace for ever. They are his because Christ died for him. Yet Paul still wishes these things to Timothy, his child in the faith. Does this not teach us something? The believer constantly needs to take hold in practice of what is already truly his in principle. Take one example. We may know how precious peace with God is. That does not guarantee that we enjoy "the peace of God" all the time.