Run Day 9 Fitted With Truth: Digging Deeper
March 13, 2025
Discover the original intent of Scripture. Make good application to our everyday lives.
Become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
1 Timothy 2:5-7
7 For this I was appointed a herald, an apostle (I am telling the truth; I am not lying), and a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
The Original Intent
1) Is there more than one way to be saved and redeemed from sin? (verse 5)
In verse 1, Paul says it pleases God when we pray and offer thanksgiving for “all”, including kings. Then he connects “all” to something else that pleases God, for “everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (verses 3-4) What is this truth?
Verse 5 says, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus”. One God. One mediator. One way to redemption. One man bridging the gap between sinful man and Holy God. This truth would have been difficult for the Romans to accept.
Romans worshiped many gods, so the idea of one God was foreign, and seemed a little “less than”. In their culture, people chose to worship a god based on what they needed or wanted; whatever fit their whim of the moment, that’s the god they worshipped.
In fact, “After his assassination in 27 BCE, Julius Caesar was soon proclaimed divine and accepted among the gods of the state, officially allowing for the initiation of his worship. Later in the first century CE, this type of Emperor Cult gradually developed in the whole Roman Empire.” (workingpreacher.com) Romans also worshiped their emperor as divinity, but Paul and Timothy both knew the one God, the Triune God, Elohim. He is the only God.
The Romans also believed there were many mediators, but Paul confirmed there was only one mediator, the man Jesus. He is uniquely qualified for this role because He is fully man and fully God. (One God)
Colossians 1:19-20 says, “For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile everything to Himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross.” In Jesus’ own words, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)
The Everyday Application
1) Is there more than one way to be saved and redeemed from sin? (verse 5)
Recently, I attended a women’s conference where the keynote speakers unpacked the seven “I Am” statements of Jesus:
“The Bread of Life” (John 6:35),
“The Light of the World” (John 8:12),
“The Door of the Sheep” (John 10:7, 9),
“The Resurrection and the Life” (John 11:25),
“The Good Shepherd” (John 10:11, 14),
“The True Vine” (John 15:1, 5)
These are statements 1-5 and 7. Statement 6 is our focus in this passage.
“I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6) Three separate statements intimately intertwined.
“I Am The Way” identifies Jesus as the only way to God, and only pathway for our redemption from sin. There is no detour or alternate route. Only Jesus.
“I Am The Truth” is summed up by Psalm 119:160. “The entirety of Your word is truth, each of Your righteous judgments endures forever.” (emphasis mine)
“I Am The Life” neatly ties everything together as evidenced in John 1.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1) “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.” (John 1:4) (emphasis mine)
I love the way Blake Long sums this up, “The only salvation you’ll get outside of Christ is a phony salvation. It’s made up. It doesn’t exist. Salvation only is through Jesus, for “there is no other name under Heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
Only the Son of God can save you. (Theology & Life) There is one path, one way to heaven, salvation and eternity with God. Nothing fancy or complicated. Just Jesus.
The Original Intent
2) How is Jesus the testimony of salvation? (verse 6)
“Biblical salvation refers to our deliverance from the consequence of sin and therefore involves the removal of sin. We are saved from both the power and penalty of sin.” (GotQuestions.org) Jesus gave His life to save us all from the consequences of sin so we could be redeemed and reconciled with God.
In the Old Testament, blood from an animal sacrifice was designated by God as part of the Mosaic Covenant. Thinking on Scripture says, “The animal sacrificial system under the Mosaic Law taught that God is holy, man is sinful, and that God was willing to judge an innocent creature as a substitute in place of the sinner. The animal that shed its blood gave up its life in place of the one who had offended God, and it was only through the shed blood that atonement was made. A life for a life.” All Jewish people were familiar with this, but what about Romans?
“To persuade the gods to favor the requests, a worshipper might make offerings of food or wine, or would carry out a ritual sacrifice of an animal before eating it.” (PBS) No atonement for sin or restoration of relationship.
When Jesus gave His blood sacrifice, His life on the cross, it was for one time, not continual like under Mosaic Law. “But this Man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. He is now waiting until His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:12-14)
By this one sacrifice, Jesus testified of God’s promise, “I will put my laws on their hearts and write them on their minds, and I will never again remember their sins and their lawless acts.” (Hebrews 10:16-17)
God intends for all to be saved if they are willing to believe in Jesus and His blood sacrifice offered in their place.
The Everyday Application
2) How is Jesus the testimony of salvation? (verse 6)
In court cases, witnesses provide their knowledge and testify about events that occurred. They are vetted to ensure they are reliable and truthful. Verse 6 says Jesus is “a testimony at the proper time”. God had promised a Savior.
The prophet Isaiah spoke hundreds of years before Jesus, “But He was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds. We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished Him for the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:5-6) In 739-631 BC, God promised us Jesus, the ransom for all.
In God’s due time, about seven hundred years or so, God made good on His promise. Jesus went to the cross, bore our sins, lay in the tomb for three days and then resurrected Himself to conquer sin and death on our behalf.
Barclay’s Study Bible tells this story:
“There was a man who lost a son in the war. He had lived a most careless and even a godless life; but his son’s death brought him face to face with God as never before. He became a changed man. One day he was standing before the local war memorial, looking at his son’s name upon it. And very gently he said: “I guess he had to go down to lift me up.” That is what Jesus did; it cost his life and death to tell men of the love of God and to bring men home to him.”
God did not need to vet any witnesses, though many could testify to the death and the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus Himself was and is all the testimony we need. Jesus is the embodiment of God’s promise. He is the salvation.
The Original Intent
3) Why was Paul preaching salvation to Gentiles? (verse 7)
When Paul embarked on his missionary journeys, he always entered a city and began teaching in the synagogues with his Jewish brethren. Many opposed him however, while Gentiles readily received and believed his teaching about Christ and salvation. (Acts 13:48-52) Jews often incited violence against Paul. (Acts 14:19-20, Acts 17:1-9)
After many incidents such as in Acts 18:5-8, “because of continued rejection by Jews, Paul began to emphasize his ministry to the Gentiles.” (Enduring Word) Peter had been given a special commission to preach the gospel to the Jews, but God gave Paul a special call to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. (Romans 11:13)
According to ccel.org, Paul “preaches the gospel to the Gentiles, not only with pure affection, but also with an upright and fearless conscience; because he does nothing but by the command of God.”
Jesus’ command to His disciples at the end of His earthly ministry was “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20) Though Paul was not present when Jesus gave this command, he still adhered to it because it is God’s plan for His people, the Jews and His adopted children, the Gentiles. (Galatians 4:4-6)
Paul was doing what pleased God. He was making sure the Gentiles had an opportunity to be saved. He was making disciples, just as God had instructed him.
The Everyday Application
3) Why was Paul preaching salvation to Gentiles? (verse 7)
Theologian Albert Barnes informs, “The Jews had supposed that salvation was designed exclusively for their nation, and denied that it could be extended to others, unless they became Jews. According to them, salvation was not provided for, or offered to pagans as such, but only on condition that they became Jews.” (studylight.org) Thereby, when Paul was teaching salvation through Jesus alone, they rejected it, because it was not the way they had imagined.
How many times have we rejected a direction or answer from God because it was so far from what we had pictured or decided it should be? In the case of Paul preaching salvation to the Gentiles, I am very glad the Jews were wrong about salvation being exclusive to them! Otherwise all Gentiles, including me and probably you if you aren’t a Jew, would be lost.
The Jews of Jesus’ day missed something though. God always had “all people” in mind.
“I am the Lord. I have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will hold you by your hand. I will watch over you, and I will appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations, in order to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon, and those sitting in darkness from the prison house.” (Isaiah 42:6-8)
Praise the Lord that Paul chose obedience to God over his own understanding and popular teachings as a Pharisee. Through his preaching, the gospel was spread to Gentiles. One life, fitted with truth, changed millions.
If you’ve been fitted for truth by taking on Christ’s forgiving atonement for your sin, you too are commissioned to share Jesus. Run with boldness, Sister!
Can We Pray With You?
Prayer is central to our ministry as believers in Jesus as we carry eachother’s burdens and intercede for one another. Our team is honored to share the work of praying alongside you!
This Week's Lock Screen
Authentically living out a life of worship to the God who rescued us from darkness requires accountability and intentionality. Join a GT POD and take the next step in your faith journey!
