I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession,
Paul gives his younger fellow-worker a solemn charge, and he names two witnesses for it: God, and Christ Jesus. Why these two names, and what did Christ confess at His trial before the Roman governor Pontius Pilate?
A charge laid before God and Christ
Paul does not just give advice. He sets Timothy in front of two Persons and leaves him there. One writer sets the moment beside an earlier commissioning, and shows what each name does for Timothy:
The Christian's FriendWhen Moses was about to leave this life, God told him to give Joshua a charge in the sight of all the congregation (Numbers 27:19). Now, before Paul left, he gave Timothy a charge — but in the sight of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, making Timothy aware that he stood in their presence. Timothy was to keep the commandment without spot and beyond reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ… Paul placed him before God, who keeps all things in life, and before Christ Jesus, who witnessed a good confession before Pontius Pilate. Mentioning God in this character would give him courage, and remembering Christ Jesus as a faithful witness would encourage him.
God who gives life to all things
Commentators differ over how to read one word here. Some translations say God "gives life to all things." Others say He "preserves all things in life." One writer makes the case for the second sense:
William Kelly"Quickening," or creating, is not the thought. The thought is "keeping alive"… The usage in the New Testament, and in the Greek Old Testament, clearly points to saving alive or preserving. And here it is "all things", not persons, that are in question, though some go so far as to teach the contrary. God, who is the source of life, is also the preserver of all things. The man who takes up His cause in a hostile scene can count on this, and needs to count on it.
That title matters when faithfulness turns dangerous:
Hamilton SmithThe Apostle encourages us to keep this charge. He reminds us that we live in the sight of One who preserves all things in life. Can He not then preserve His own, however severe the conflict they may have to pass through?
What a confession is
One writer defines confession by what it stands against, and by what it costs:
J. G. BellettConfession stands by the truth of God against the lie of man, and it stands by it at the risk of everything. Our Jesus bore this witness. Throughout His life and ministry it was the way of the Son of God to hide Himself… He had come in His Father's name and not in His own. He sought not His own glory, but the glory of Him who sent Him. But the time was to come when He must openly stand confessed.
The scene before Pilate
Why single out this one trial? Look at who faced whom, and at how few words the Lord needed:
Leslie M. GrantHere was God's true Representative in the world, standing before the man who represents the world. How precious and clear His witness, though His words were few. He bore witness to the truth. His kingdom was not of this world, but He was a King indeed, God's King, high above everything that only lasts for a time. He sought no prominence in this world, but the glory of His Father (John 18:33-37). This gives precious character to the commandment Paul tells Timothy to keep: "without spot, beyond reproach." There must be no lapse, no tarnishing of this testimony.
Following in His steps
Christ is more than an example. He went that way first, and He supports His servants now:
William KellyHe is on high to support His servants. But here He was, as no one else, "the faithful Witness," the good Confessor. What cheer for the man who might lose heart through timid advice, or through the demoralising effect of compromise… He has to follow His steps in this as in all things. And if he knows his weakness — as he surely will, more and more, in the hard conflict — he has only to spread it out before the One whose grace is enough and whose strength is made perfect in weakness.
Summary
- Two witnesses. The charge is a commission, not private advice. Paul gives it in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, with Timothy aware that he stands before them both.
- Preserver. The first witness is God, who holds all things in life. His servant in a hostile place can count on Him to preserve His own.
- Confession. The second witness is Christ, who stood by the truth of God against the lie of man, at the risk of everything.
- Pilate's hall. There God's true Representative stood before the world's representative. In a few words He owned that He was King, though His kingdom was not of this world.
- Untarnished. Such a Model stands over the charge. So keep the commandment without spot and beyond reproach, leaning on the grace that is made perfect in weakness.