1 Timothy 3:16 - Exposition

He who for God , A.V. and T.R.; manifested for manifest , A.V.; among the nations for unto the Gentiles , A.V.; in for into , A.V. Without controversy ( ὁμολογουμένως ); only here in the New Testament, but used in the same sense in the LXX . and in classical Greek, "confessedly," by common confession. Great is the mystery of godliness. This is said to enhance the glory of the Church just spoken of, to whom this mystery has been entrusted, and so still further to impress upon Timothy the vital necessity of a wise and holy walk in the Church. The mystery of godliness is all that truth which "in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit." Godliness ( τῆς εὐδεβείας ); i.e. " the Christian faith;" what in 1 Timothy 6:3 is called "The words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the doctrine which is according to godliness ( τῇ κατ αὐσεβείαν διδασκαλὶᾳ )," and in 2 Timothy 1:1 , "The truth which is according to godliness." In 2 Timothy 1:9 it is "the mystery of the froth, where ἠ πίστις is equivalent to ἡ αὐσεβεία . Bishop Ellicott, however, does not admit this objective sense of ἡ πίστις or ἡ αὐσεβεία but explains the genitive as "a pure possessive genitive," the mystery appertaining to, or the property of, subjective faith and godliness; but this is a use not borne out b- any passage in which the word "mystery" occurs. It is always mysteries (or mystery) of the kingdom of God, of Christ, of God, of the gospel, and the like. In the following passages the objective sense of ἠ πίστις is either necessary or by far the most natural: Acts 3:7 ; Acts 13:8 ; Acts 14:22 ; Acts 16:5 ; Galatians 1:23 ; Ephesians 4:5 ; Philippians 1:27 ; Colossians 1:23 ; Colossians 2:7 ; 1 Timothy 1:19 ; 1 Timothy 5:8 ; 1 Timothy 6:10 , 1 Timothy 6:21 ; 2 Timothy 4:7 ; Titus 1:13 ; James 2:1 ; Jud James 1:3 . Having thus exalted the "mystery of godliness," St. Paul goes on to expound it. He who ( ὅς ). This is generally adopted now £ as the true reading, instead of θεός ( οσ , instead of θσ ). Bishop Ellicott satisfied himself, by most careful personal examination, that the original reading of the Cod. Alex. was οσ , and that it had been altered by a later hand to θσ . The Cod. Sinait certainly has ὅς , and to this all the older versions agree. The Vulgate has quod , agreeing with sacramentum and representing the Greek ὁ Accepting this, then, as the true reading, we proceed to explain it. ὅς , who, is a relative, and must, therefore, have an antecedent. But there is no expressed antecedent of the masculine gender for it to agree with. The antecedent, therefore, must be understood, and gathered from the preceding words, τὸ μυστήριον τῆς εὐσεβείας . It can only be Christ. The mystery of the whole Old Testament, that which was wrapped in types and hidden under veils, was Christ ( Colossians 1:27 ). Moses spake of him, the Psalms speak of him, the prophets speak of him; but all of them spake darkly. But in the gospel "the mystery of Christ" ( Colossians 4:3 )is revealed. Christ is the Mystery of Christianity. It is, therefore, no difficult step to pass from "the mystery" to "Christ," and to supply the word "Christ" as the antecedent to "who." Was manifested ( ἐφανερώθη ); a word frequently applied to Christ ( John 1:31 ; 1 John 1:2 ; 1 John 3:5 , 1 John 3:8 , etc.). The idea is the same in John 1:14 . Justified in the spirit. This is rather an obscure expression. But it seems to describe our Lord's spotless righteousness, perhaps with special reference to the declaration of it at his baptism, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." We have the same contrast between the flesh and the Spirit of Christ in 1 Peter 3:18 . And between the flesh and the spirit of a Christian man in Romans 8:10 , "The body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness." To this clause apparently the remark of Chrysostom applies, "God became man, and man became God." "The spirit" seems to mean the moral nature—the inner man. Seen of angels. Perhaps the multitude of the heavenly host who welcomed the birth of Christ were permitted to see the new-born Babe, as he seems to have done who described him to the shepherds as "wrapped in swaddling clothes" ( Luke 2:12-14 ). Angels ministered unto him after the temptation ( Mark 1:13 ), and in the Garden of Gethsemane ( Matthew 22:43 , where the word ὤφθη is used), and at his resurrection ( Matthew 28:2 ). The special interest of angels in the " great mystery " is referred to in 1 Peter 1:12 ; Hebrews 1:6 . Preached among the nations ( ἐκηρύχθη ἐν ἔθνεσιν ). It would have been better to keep the rendering "Gentiles" here, to mark the identity of thought with Ephesians 3:6 , Ephesians 3:8 , where, in the apostle's view, the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles, that they might be fellow-heirs with the Jews of the promises of God, is one main feature of the mystery. Believed on in the world. The next step in this ascending scale is the acceptance of Christ in the world as the Savior thereof. The language here is not stronger than that of Colossians 1:5 , Colossians 1:6 , "The word of the truth of the gospel, which is come unto you; even as it is also in all the world, and beareth fruit." And in Colossians 1:23 , "The gospel which was preached in all creation under heaven" (comp. Romans 1:8 ). The statement in Mark 16:15-20 might almost have been in St. Paul's mind. Note the use there of the words κηρύξατε ἐκηρύξαν , τὸν κόσμον ὀ πιστεύσας πιστεύσασι ἀνελήφρη . Received up in glory. The change of "into" (A.V.) into "in" is of very doubtful propriety. In New Testament Greek ἐν , frequently follows verbs of motion, and means the same as εἰς , like the Hebrew בְּ . Our Lord is net said to have ascended in glory (as he appeared at the Transfiguration), but, as St. Mark has it, "He was received up into heaven, and [there] sat down at the right hand of God," fulfilling John 17:5 . This grand burst of dogmatic teaching is somewhat like that in 1 Timothy 2:5-7 . There is no adequate evidence of its being, as many commentators have thought, a portion of a hymn or creed used in the Church. It rather implies the same tension in the apostle's mind which is apparent in other parts of the Epistle.