6. The Holy Spirit in Paul´s Epistles to his co-workers
(written between 62-67 A.D.)
1 Timothy 3:16
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory.
Paul stamped this confession of faith into Timothy, his co-worker, so that he would teach the one faith in the churches that was binding upon all. He called his gospel formulation “the great mystery of the faith”. Following the incarnation of Christ he testified to his justification in the Holy Spirit similar to how he did in the letter to the Romans: “The gospel of God…concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1:1-4). The resurrection of Christ was understood at that time to substantiate His justification, and as proof of His being the Son of God.
Angels had to explain to all mankind the incomprehensible course of Jesus´ life. He appeared to them following His ascension to heaven as the Lamb of God, who was then enthusiastically received and worshiped (Rev. 5:11-12). Through Peter and Paul He was preached to the Gentile nations, and has, since that time, been believed on by individuals scattered throughout the world wherever the gospel has been preached. Today He is sitting at the right hand of God in His original glory. In the Occident, the birth of Christ and His crucifixion have become the focal point of our faith, while in the Orient the resurrection of Christ at Easter is celebrated as the great festival.
1 Timothy 4:1-2
1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.
The abstinence from certain foods as a preparation for the near return of Christ and the forbidding of saints to marry was seen by Paul as being a sign of the prophesied seduction in the end times (ch. 4:3-4). The churches took the voices of their prophets seriously and let themselves be lead in practical matters by the Holy Spirit. Seductive spirits with home-made recipes for personal holiness tried again and again to press into the churches. Paul described their teaching as devilish. Such false prophets were hypocrites with bad consciences, who knew not the peace of Jesus Christ.
2 Timothy 1:6-7
6 Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
Paul encouraged the sensitive Timothy to not preach in the churches with his own intelligence and power of persuasion, but in the power of the Holy Spirit, in His love and in His prudence. The Spirit of God does not prove Himself to be a vague feeling or a dream. Instead, He overcomes the fear in us and reveals Himself to be the continuous power to build up His church in wisdom and in patience. We should memorize verse seven in chapter one, and appropriate its contents into our faith.
Paul does not speak in this verse of a special spiritual gifting, as if something had flowed into Timothy by the laying on of his hands. Rather, he speaks of the basic substance of the Holy Spirit, who had been received by the young believer.
2 Timothy 1:13-14
13 Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 14 That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.
Paul had previously written to Timothy in his first letter: “If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions” (1 Tim. 6:3-4).
Paul not only taught faith in the gospel, but he also lived out his faith and love before the churches. He became a role-model for the coming generations. Whoever has met such men and women should neither stare at them nor glorify them. Instead, he should understand them as mirrors reflecting Jesus Christ, for the Holy Spirit does not glorify Himself or the one He dwells in, but exalts the Lord. On the other hand, the Spirit realizes the gifts and fruit of His power wherever He dwells in the followers of Christ. The reality of the presence of the Holy Spirit in us should never be questioned or allowed to become obscure.
2 Timothy 4:22
The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Grace be with you!
Since Paul presumably meant the human spirit of Timothy with this verse, the presence of the Lord with His Spirit means the authority of the Spirit of Christ in all of the believer´s thoughts and words. Witnesses for Christ and servants of the Lord should not proclaim Christ in their own strength and wisdom, but in the leading and power of His Spirit. This is grace and not earnings. Abiding in this grace does not demand a theological education, but faithful obedience to the gospel.
Titus 3:4-7
4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, 7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Titus, a co-worker of Paul, was appointed by the apostle to difficult ministries. He was to inspect the spiritual development of the church at Corinth and help bring the troubled church to their spiritual senses (2 Cor. 7:6-7, 13-16; 8:6, 16, 23, 24; 12:18). Paul called him his true son in common faith (Titus 1:4) and his brother in 2 Cor. 2:13, whom he could entrust the responsibility for the money collection in Corinth for the suffering mother church in Jerusalem. Since Titus was later charged to select out and appoint church elders and bishops (Titus 1:5-9), and was required to hinder the spread of false teaching, Paul wrote to him spiritual instructions in the “We form” when it involved stabilizing the churches.
The love of God, our Saviour, expressed in His friendliness toward us, desires to save us. He has blessed us, not on the basis of our own works, but alone through His grace and mercy. This salvation is realized in us through the bath of the second-birth, (as baptism was called at that time), and in the renewing of the sinner through the Holy Spirit. This power of God has been richly poured out on us through Jesus, our Saviour. Therein we became certain of our justification by grace and recognized the hope in which we were to inherit eternal life.
In this small catechism for Titus, Paul designated both God and Jesus Christ as “our Saviour”, which recognized once again, that the unity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, since time immortal, is the basis for our salvation.