The Divine Chain of Command
Introduction: Authority is Not a Suggestion
We live in an age that is allergic to authority. Our entire culture is built on the sandy foundation of the autonomous self, which means that every man is his own king, his own priest, and his own god. The modern man does not mind suggestions, he is open to life coaching, and he might even entertain some spiritual advice over his latte. But a command? A directive from a higher authority that is not subject to his personal review or approval? That is intolerable. It is the one great heresy of our time.
Into this swamp of self-referential nonsense, the Apostle Paul opens his letter to Timothy with a bracing dose of reality. The pastoral epistles, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, are God's field manual for church order. They are intensely practical. But we must never forget that all Christian practice is rooted in Christian doctrine. All orthopraxy flows from orthodoxy. And so, before Paul gives Timothy instructions on how to deal with false teachers, how to appoint elders, or how the church ought to conduct itself, he first establishes the ground of all authority. Where does this message come from? Who sent you? By what right do you speak?
Paul's opening is not a polite throat-clearing. It is a declaration of his credentials. It is the establishment of the divine chain of command. He is not writing as a private individual sharing his opinions. He is writing as a commissioned officer in the Lord's army, delivering orders from the highest level of command. If we miss this, we will misread the entire letter. We will treat God's commands as man's suggestions, and the church will continue its slide into becoming a feckless therapy group instead of what it is called to be: the pillar and buttress of the truth.
These first two verses are dense with theology. They establish the source of Paul's mission, the substance of our hope, the nature of discipleship, and the threefold blessing that undergirds the entire Christian life. It is the firm foundation upon which the household of God is to be rightly ordered.
The Text
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, our hope,
To Timothy, my genuine child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
(1 Timothy 1:1-2 LSB)
The Royal Commission (v. 1)
We begin with the source of Paul's authority in verse 1.
"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, our hope," (1 Timothy 1:1 LSB)
Paul identifies himself first as an "apostle." This is not a personality type or a spiritual gift that one might find on a questionnaire. An apostle is a sent one, an emissary with the full authority of the one who sent him. The office of apostle was foundational to the church (Eph. 2:20), and it is closed. There are no apostles today in the same sense as Paul. But the authority of the apostles is not gone; it is resident in their writings, the New Testament. We do not have apostles, but we have the apostolic doctrine. To submit to the Scriptures is to submit to the apostles, which is to submit to Christ.
And how did he become an apostle? Not through a congregational vote or a denominational committee. He was an apostle "according to the commandment of God." The word for commandment here is epitage, which is a military term. It is an order from a commanding officer. Paul did not submit a resume; he received his marching orders on the Damascus road. This is crucial. Christian authority is not democratic; it is theocratic. It flows from the top down. God commands, Christ commissions, the apostles speak, and the church obeys. Any other arrangement is rebellion.
Notice the source of this command. It comes from "God our Savior." Paul is deliberately reaching back into the Old Testament. Who is the Savior of Israel? It is Yahweh, and Him alone. "I, even I, am the LORD, and besides Me there is no savior" (Isaiah 43:11). Paul is making it clear that the God of the Old Testament is the same God who is now saving the world through the gospel. This is a direct refutation of any Gnostic or Marcionite attempt to drive a wedge between the "angry" God of the Old Testament and the "loving" God of the New. They are one and the same God, and His plan of salvation is one unified plan.
The command comes jointly from God our Savior, and from "Christ Jesus, our hope." The Father is the author of the plan, the ultimate source. The Son is the executor of the plan, and the very substance of our hope. And what is this hope? It is not the flimsy, sentimental wish that things might turn out okay in the end. Christian hope is a confident, objective, and certain expectation. It is the sure knowledge that Jesus is risen and reigning right now, and that His kingdom is advancing in history and will one day fill the earth as the waters cover the sea. Our hope is not for a secret evacuation from a doomed planet. Our hope is in the victory of our King, a victory that is being implemented right now. Christ Jesus is not our wishful thinking; He is our hope.
The Covenantal Succession (v. 2)
Having established his credentials, Paul now turns to his recipient.
"To Timothy, my genuine child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord." (1 Timothy 1:2 LSB)
Paul addresses Timothy as his "genuine child in the faith." This is not mere sentimental affection, though their relationship was certainly affectionate. This is the language of spiritual fatherhood and covenantal succession. Paul led Timothy to the Lord and then discipled him, training him up in the apostolic doctrine. He was not just a student or an intern; he was a son. This is God's ordained pattern for ministry. It is not primarily institutional or academic, but personal, relational, and generational. Older men, spiritual fathers, are to raise up younger men, spiritual sons, to carry on the faith once for all delivered to the saints. A man who has not been a son can never be a father.
Timothy was a "genuine" child because he held to the genuine faith. He had not deviated from the doctrine he had received from Paul. This is the test of true spiritual lineage. It is not about personal loyalty to a man, but shared fidelity to the truth of the gospel. The faith is a body of doctrine that is to be guarded, taught, and passed on intact to the next generation.
And what is Paul's blessing upon his son? It is the threefold benediction that fuels all Christian life and ministry: "Grace, mercy, and peace." In most of his other letters, Paul says "grace and peace." But in the pastoral epistles, writing to his sons in the ministry, he inserts "mercy."
Grace is first. Charis. This is the unmerited, unearned, sovereign favor of God. It is the foundation of everything. We are saved by grace, we stand in grace, and we serve by grace. It is the divine initiative that starts it all.
Mercy is next. Eleos. This is God not giving us the judgment that our sins deserve. Why add this for Timothy? Because ministers of the gospel are men who are acutely aware of their own sinfulness. They stand in the breach, they fight on the front lines, and they fail. A pastor who is not constantly overwhelmed by the mercy of God shown to him will become either a prideful tyrant or a despairing coward. Mercy is the oil that keeps the engine of ministry from seizing up.
Peace is the result. Eirene. This is the Hebrew concept of shalom. It is not just the absence of conflict but the presence of wholeness, soundness, and reconciliation. When you have received God's grace (what you don't deserve) and His mercy (not getting what you do deserve), the result is peace with God and the peace of God.
And where do these blessings come from? From the ultimate source: "from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord." The Father and the Son are presented as the single, unified fountain of all spiritual good. This is a quiet, profound assertion of the deity of Jesus Christ. He is not a conduit of blessing; He is, with the Father, the source of blessing. He is our Lord, our sovereign master, to whom we owe all allegiance.
Conclusion: Our Marching Orders
So what does this mean for us? We are not apostles, and we are not Timothy. But the principles here are foundational for every believer and for every church.
First, we must recognize that we live under a command. The Christian faith is not a set of helpful hints for a better life. It is a summons to surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, mediated to us through His authoritative Word. We do not get to pick and choose. We are soldiers under orders.
Second, our hope must be fixed on the person and work of Jesus Christ. He is not a distant hope for the sweet by-and-by. He is a present and reigning King, and our hope is in His historical and cosmic victory. This gives us a rugged, long-term optimism that is not shaken by the morning headlines.
Finally, we are all called to be a part of this covenantal succession. We are to be genuine children of the faith, faithful to the apostolic doctrine. And as we mature, we are to become spiritual fathers and mothers, raising up the next generation to be faithful in their turn. All of this is fueled, from start to finish, not by our own strength or cleverness, but by the endless supply of grace, mercy, and peace that flows from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.