THE EPISTLE BEFORE us is the first of a group of four which were written by the Apostle Paul to individuals. They were all written rather late in the Apostle’s life of service, when declension was becoming pronounced in the church, and consequently the heart of that devoted man turned more especially to reliable and trusted disciples who stood firm when others began to slip. This imparts a certain general resemblance to the four, though each has its own clearly marked features.
We might perhaps characterize them as follows—
1 Timothy. The Epistle of godliness.
2 Timothy. The Epistle of courage.
Titus. The Epistle of sobriety and soundness. Philemon. The Epistle of Christian courtesy.
At any rate godliness—or piety as some translate the word—is stamped very distinctly upon the epistle we are now to consider, as any concordance will show. It becomes a very urgent necessity when spiritual life is on the decline.
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