Предисловие

1 Tim. 1:1. Paul, the messenger of Jesus Christ according to the command of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ our hope. This inscription is similar in spirit to the inscriptions of all other Epistles of St. Paul, and in expression it resembles the inscription of the Epistle to Titus. It is shorter than this last one and can be considered an abbreviation of it. And there it is said that the preaching of the Gospel was entrusted to the Apostle at the command of our Savior God, just as there only this applies more to the Lord Jesus, and here more to God the Father, or to God worshiped in the Trinity. And there an indication of hope is introduced, as here, with the only difference that, while there the promise of a false God is placed as the basis of hope, here the basis of the promise itself is presented in the person of the Lord Jesus, just as in Him the fulfillment of the hoped-for promised is seen. "Paul, the Messenger", αποστολος. “Since he intends to write laws to Timothy (and through him to the entire Church), he proclaims himself an Apostle in order to make his word worthy of unquestioning acceptance. It is not mine, he says, that I will speak, but Him who sent me; Be careful not to disobey” (Blessed Theophylact). “And everywhere in his Epistles, Saint Paul adds the name of the Apostle to his name, teaching the listener that he should not assume that what he said is the word of man; because the messenger does not speak on his own behalf; therefore, calling himself a messenger, he immediately turns the listener’s thoughts to the One who sent him. Therefore, in all his Epistles he puts this name first, thereby giving his words the highest degree of authenticity” (St. Chrysostom). "Messenger, by command of God". “He did not say: “called,” but: “by command.” The expression: by command is stronger than the expression: “called” (St. Chrysostom). “The Apostle lets the disciple know that he did not admire the Apostolic title, but received a command from God to offer a saving sermon to everyone” (Blessed Theodoret). “The title of Apostle was great, high and venerable; why we see that Paul everywhere points to the reasons for this title of his (wanting to show), that he does not admire honor for himself, but accepts it (as rightfully belonging to him) and that he does this out of necessity (“I have an urgent duty, I fulfill the Lord’s command” [Blessed Theophylact]). Moreover, when he calls himself “called” (Rom. 1:1) and when he says: “by the will of God” (1 Cor. 1:1) and the like, all this eliminates any thought about curiosity and pride. Because just as the one who seeks that honor that was not given to him from God is subject to the strictest condemnation, so the one who removes and rejects it becomes guilty of another kind of sin - disobedience and disobedience. Therefore, even now, at the beginning of the Epistle to Timothy, Paul speaks about this in these words: “Paul, the messenger of Jesus Christ by the command of God” (St. Chrysostom). Apostle by command of God. “Where was such a command given? In Acts, where the Holy Spirit says: “Separate Me Barnabas and Saul” (Acts 13:2), where the Lord Jesus says to Paul himself: “Go, for I will send you to the nations far away” (Acts 22:21). But whatever the Son or Spirit commanded, St. Paul means commanded from the Father. For the will of the Most Holy Trinity is one” (Ecumenius). And here Saint Paul presents the commandment on Apostleship as coming from God the Savior and the Lord Jesus, “considering such power to equally belong to Them” (St. Chrysostom). “Together with God, he also named the Lord Christ, showing them equal honor, and called God salvation, and Christ hope, not dividing these names and not appropriating one for one, and the other for another, but meaning both of them about each; because blessed David attributed both to one Person: “hear us, O God, our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth” (Ps. 64:6)” (blessed Theodoret). By the way: “God” – appended here: “Our Savior”. Under the word: “God,” when it stands alone, it usually means God the Father; and with the word: “Savior,” the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation, is always thought of. They are united here because of the inseparability of the Father and the Son, by which everything that is Fatherly is more filial, and everything that is filial is the Father. You can, with the word: God, think here about God in the Trinity worshiped, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. For just as the whole economy of salvation is arranged, so the salvation of every believer is arranged, according to the good will and “evidence of the Father, in the holiness of the Spirit, by virtue of obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:2). God is inseparably our Savior: for all the actions of the Trinitarian God are inseparable. The Lord Jesus Christ is called our hope; because He is with us “to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20); if He is with us, then “who is against us?” (Rom. 8:31). Moreover, the Lord Jesus is so named because in Him the fulfillment of what is hoped for is contemplated, cutting off any wavering of hope. He is the one who descended and ascended: he came down, became incarnate, died on the cross, rose again, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. This is all by our nature and for our sake. He led our nature along this path, new and living, so that everyone could see with their own eyes where the path of the procession following the Lord leads, and everyone would burn with the undoubted hope that where He is, there His servants will be (John 12:26). Together, the Apostle brings to these thoughts about God the Savior in the Trinity worshiped and about the Incarnate Son, our hope - not unkindly indulgent in the custom of singling out in the thoughts of the Son the incarnate from the Trinitarian Unity, but on the contrary, teaching the Son and the incarnate to contemplate as inseparable from this Trinitarian Unity: for He became incarnate, “not leaving the bosom of the Father,” and neither introduced, nor diminished, nor changed anything in the mystery of the Divine Trinity. He teaches this with the following guidance: God the Trinitarian is Savior; but the hope of salvation is the Lord Jesus, the Son made flesh. But how is God the Savior if there is no hope of salvation placed in the incarnate Son? Consequently, the Son and He incarnate is there, in the Trihypostatic God, and the thought about Him is affirmed that He is the Savior. Why does Saint Paul bring into account here especially these names: God - the Savior, the Lord Jesus - hope, and, moreover, overshadows himself with both of them, together with Timothy? It seems that there was a need to be inspired. Perhaps Saint Paul was driven out of Ephesus by hostility and left Saint Timothy there in danger from her malice. Why does it promptly raise his thoughts to the Savior and hope: what “encourages his spirit, saying, as it were: we have a Savior - God and hope - Christ. We endure a lot, for this we have great hopes; we are exposed to dangers, intrigues are plotted against us, but we have a Savior - not man, but God. Consequently, neither our Deliverer will faint, because He is God, and no matter what dangers threaten us, they will not overcome us; Neither our hope will put us to shame, because our hope is Christ. We endure misfortunes, (strengthened) by these two, either by the fact that we will soon get rid of (we will be saved) from disasters, or by the fact that we feed ourselves with the best hopes. Consequently, no matter what we endure (here), he says, everything present means nothing” (St. Chrysostom). 1 Tim. 1:2. To Timothy, ever child in the faith: grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. “To the present”, γνησιω, - genuine, real, true. “In faith” - shows in what respect and through what he became a child - not by nature, but by faith, by which he gave birth to him spiritually, just as he said about the Corinthians: “about Christ... Jesus I begat you with the gospel” (1 Cor. 4:15), - and as St. Peter says about Christians in general: “begotten not from Seeds, corrupted, but incorruptible, by the word of the living God and abiding forever” (1 Pet. 1:23). St. Paul says all this, expressing his warm love for Timothy, like a father to a son, praising him as having demonstrated such faith that he was like St. Paul, like a son like a father, and encouraging him to endure the difficulties that he inevitably had to encounter at the present time in Ephesus. We find such thoughts expressed in various ways by the Holy Fathers. Saint Chrysostom says: “The Apostle used a similar expression to this in his Epistle to the Corinthians, when he said: “In Christ Jesus I have given birth,” that is, I have given birth by faith. The word: “again”, he added, wanting to express by this that he has a perfect and greater resemblance to him than others; Moreover, not only this (he wanted to express), but also his love and great affection for him. Notice also what a praise this is (for Timothy), that the Apostle calls him not only his son, but also his ever-child. There was no difference in faith between them. And among people, according to the laws of nature, it happens that a son is similar to his father, but not to the same extent as (when this similarity has a basis) in God (by faith); because then the similarity is more perfect. Here, although they are one and the same by nature, they nevertheless differ from each other in many other respects - color, appearance, intelligence, age, will and other mental and physical, external and internal properties; and there (in God, according to faith) none of these differences take place.” Blessed Theodoret writes: “The Apostle very opportunely combined the word “faith” with a name expressing favor (child); because it was not nature, but faith that made Timothy a child (of St. Paul); Having believed in the Divine preaching, he was worthy to call the Divine Apostle father.” Let us also apply what Blessed Theophylact said: “A child in faith,” that is, born by me through faith. Praising him, he calls him not only a child, but also a “begotten” - “befriended” because Timothy, more than others, retains similarities with him in faith, and because Saint Paul sincerely loved him. He very wisely added: “in faith,” in order to most inspire Timothy in it. For if at first he showed such faith that he was worthy to be called a child of Paul, and a child of all times, then all the more should he now put on it, as if he were fully armed, so as not to be embarrassed and not to fall (in spirit under the pressures that arise). Showing courageous boldness is a matter of faith.” "Grace, mercy and peace". – “Mercy” is an inaccurate beginning; for, having had mercy on us, the Trinitarian God arranged for us a wondrous image of salvation; “grace” - as a force acting for the salvation of every believer, being acceptable through the holy sacraments in the holy Church by faith; “peace” - as the most desired fruit in us of the mercy and grace of a man-loving God. Yet this is “from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” He only does not say: “from God the Father,” so that anyone, delving into the contemplation of the all-merciful God, in the work of arranging our salvation, does not remove from thought the Son of God incarnate, without Whom no one comes to the Father. He does not only say: “from the Lord Jesus,” so that anyone, surveying the work of organizing our salvation, would not stop his ascent to its source by thinking about the incarnate Son, but would reach higher and deeper, to God the Father, into the mystery of the Trinitarian God. But he combines both in order to teach us, in the work of arranging our salvation, to contemplate the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the One God, as inseparably active, and not to obscure the Father and the Spirit by the incarnate Son, and even more so not to rely on His one human nature or on the one man Jesus. Why here, as in the Epistle to Titus, is prayerful goodwill aggravated by the addition: “mercy”? Because pastors and teachers need deep help and the warmest favor of God (St. Chrysostom, Blessed Theophylact, Ecumenius). 2) Beginning of the Message and subject Inspire everyone not to engage in other teachings and fables, but to pay all attention and zeal to the main thing - the holy Christian life of faith. 1 Tim. 1:3, 4. As I begged you to remain in Ephesus, going to Macedonia, so that you will teach some people not otherwise, but listen to fables and endless genealogies, even though they create struggles more than God’s building, which is in faith. "Like" There is no particle corresponding to this “like” particle. It must be supplemented with your own thoughts, like this: just as I begged you to stay in Ephesus and do this and that, do this. I will give you some guidelines and rules for this. These rules are the content of the Message. - “I begged.” “He should not have begged his son to be his father; but, out of warm love for him, and together, in order to show him an example of humility, the Apostle begs him” (Amvrosiast). It could be a matter of mutual love. Saint Timothy wanted to go with Saint Paul, fearing for him because of the difficulties and dangers that he might be exposed to on his further journey, given the hostility of the unbelievers towards him, which probably drove him out of Ephesus. Why was it necessary to beg him to break away for a while from his beloved and carefully watched teacher-father? And Saint Paul could not help but see the labors and dangers that Saint Timothy had to face while remaining in Ephesus. Why doesn’t he authoritatively command him to stay, but begs that this be a matter of his own free will, which could give him more strength to endure labor and danger and eliminate any possibility of grumbling. Saint Chrysostom says: “Listen, what a meek speech, how he speaks to him not in the voice of a teacher, but of a servant. He did not say: I ordered, or commanded, or even persuaded; but what? “I begged you.” - However, we should not do this with all students, but only with the meek and well-behaved; and with others - corrupt and not completely devoted - differently: just as he, writing in another place, says: “Reprove with every commandment” (Titus 2:15). “Abide in Ephesus”, προσμειναι, - wait, stay a little without me; because the Apostle had the intention of returning soon if there was no need to delay (1 Tim. 3:14, 15). "Going to Macedonia". Saint Paul would not have left Ephesus without arranging everything there, if some extreme need had not forced him. This need could also concern him personally, as for the first time, even before his imprisonment, when he was asked by believers to leave because of the death that threatened him. It could also come from the Macedonian Churches. There was something there that urgently required the personal presence of St. Paul. He went there, leaving Saint Timothy in Ephesus as his vicar, in the confidence that he alone would be able to arrange what was to be arranged there. “Yes, you bequeath to someone,” παραγγειλης; what does it mean to simply proclaim, and to proclaim a commandment and a commandment, to command, to oblige with authority to something. “He did not say: beg, but: “yes, you bequeath” - which responds with imperious severity” (St. Chrysostom, Blessed Theophylact). "Someone". Does not identify specific individuals; because they were, of course, known to St. Timothy. Or, perhaps, this inspires Saint Timothy: in speeches to believers, do not refer to those who teach by name, so as not to irritate them even more. Saint Chrysostom says: “he does not list them by name, so that the publicity of the reproof does not make them even more shameless.” However, below he indicates two, Hymenaeus and Alexander, devoted to Satan (1 Tim. 1:20). “Teach not otherwise”, μη ετεροδιδασκαλειν, - which means: “to introduce other teachings” (Blessed Theophylact), - “otherwise”, not as commanded, to teach. The norm of Christian teaching was taught by the Lord, sealed and filled by the Holy Spirit and constituted “the image of sound words” (2 Tim. 1:13), which the Apostles everywhere passed on to those newly enlightened. since the origin of this teaching from God, Who is the very truth, was so tangibly obvious to the Apostles; then they rightly considered every teaching, not only contrary, but also different from this, to be incompatible with the faith of Christ - and such a conviction was conveyed to all believers. They did not tolerate believers getting into arguments, but directly, at first sight, turned away from any teaching that was “different.” You have the undoubted truth, they said; why everything “other” is not the truth, there is no need for you to desecrate your hearing by opening it to such speeches. As soon as there was someone who, having picked up “other” teachings from now on, began to talk about them out loud to believers; then they blocked his mouth, forbidding him to speak, or completely expelled him from the company of the faithful if they did not submit to such a prohibition. As they themselves acted, so they commanded those whom they left in the Churches to act in their stead—so Saint Paul now commands Timothy: do not allow anyone to introduce other teachings. St. Paul does not define what this other teaching was or who the other teachings were. It is enough just that the teaching was different and those who taught differently in order to turn away and turn away from this and that. If only this rule were always preserved among believers, how many deviations from the truth would be prevented by this alone! These otherwise teaching could also be from the pagans, who, trying to reconcile the faith of Christ with pagan wisdom, formed some kind of mixed teaching and began to preach it. But it is more correct to believe that they were from the Jews; for at that time only the Jews could talk tolerantly about the objects of faith. Our interpreters say that they were Jews. Saint Chrysostom says: “there were some false apostles from the Jews here who wanted to again attract the faithful to the law (of Moses); The Apostle accuses them of this everywhere. Meanwhile, they did this not so much out of conscience, but out of vanity and the desire to have disciples; because they competed with blessed Paul and were envious of him.” So do others. “Listen below to fables and endless genealogy.” - “Attention below” - not to pay attention, not to keep in mind, not to study, - not to have such objects about which they usually say: “I can’t get it out of my mind,” but on the contrary, such things about which they say: is it worth thinking and talking about? Saint Paul makes it a law that if any teaching is different from the teaching of God, then one should immediately turn away both the ear and the mind, without starting disputes and competitions. Both pagans and Jews had “fables and genealogies.” “Fables”, μυθοι, - pagan - all the wisdom of the pagans, especially their mythology, the content of which was the genealogy of their gods. Blessed Theophylact writes: “it is very likely that the Apostle here also hints at the Greeks; for they also have myths and genealogies, in which they catalog their gods” (the same with St. Chrysostom). The genealogy of the Jews is that “they usually listed their grandfathers and great-grandfathers, dreaming of thereby appropriating for themselves some kind of historical glory” (Blessed Theophylact). “They made a list of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers before Abraham, thinking to decorate themselves with them, without themselves doing anything worthy of praise” (Ecumenius). Jewish fables are “not the very teaching of the law, but the Jewish interpretation of it, which they call the Deuteronomy (Mishna)” (Blessed Theophylact). The Apostle called fables and genealogies “endless” (απεραντοις from: περας - limit, goal, end) either because there is no end to the talk about it, or because the talk about it has no good purpose and does not bring any benefit, or because they are confused, lack certainty, so that they are difficult to grasp with the mind (St. Chrysostom, Ecumenius, blessed Theophylact). In our time, fables, from which both ears and minds should be turned away, can be called the fantastic history of the self-formation of the world, without the creative action of God. “They do even more than competition.” – “Competitions”, εκζητησεις, – research, research, questioning, torture. “Struggle interprets what, from what, for what, how, in what way this or that was made and is, which does not contribute, but rather hinders salvation” (Amvrosiastes). The mentioned fables and genealogies, as human inventions, do not bear the seal of an authority certifying the truth; why they irritate inquisitiveness and give rise to competition or research and form a habit for this. Those who are accustomed to this do nothing but torture; which is why the area of ​​faith is obscured, dimmed, forgotten, and the soul is filled with empty and fruitless ideas and considerations. – Then faith freezes; If, at the same time, inquisitiveness produces such self-made definitions and decisions that do not agree with faith, then faith is completely ruined. Thus, research does not create “God’s building in faith.” – “Building”, οικονομιαν, – economy. Economy deals with household goods, their acquisition, multiplication and use, so that everyone in the house has enough of everything. The House of God is the Church, which arranges the salvation of believers. God filled this house with every good thing for our salvation. God's economy in this house is that everyone should freely use every good thing that is in it, and through this arrange their salvation. Everything here is controlled by God's grace; the hand that receives the necessary good from her is faith. What contributes to faith contributes to the acceptance of all good from grace to the accomplishment of salvation, and through this is favorable to God’s economy; and what is not like this is not favorable to God’s economy. The apostle asserts that the struggles generated by human inventions are unfavorable to God’s economy, “God’s building in faith,” - they upset faith, this only hand designed and fit to receive good from God’s economy, distributed generously by grace, and thereby stop the effect of salvation, created by grace through faith. Our interpreters mainly pay attention to this harmfulness to faith, which comes from striving and research. Blessed Theophylact writes: “God introduced such an economy that everything in it would be accepted by faith; and they introduce research that upsets this Divine economy.” Ecumenius asks: “What is God’s economy?” - and answers: “the one to accept His blessings by faith, because they are incomprehensible; and to conduct research regarding each of them is contrary to God’s orders according to His house.” Blessed Theodoret explains this: “excessive research is unreasonable, but faith enlightens the mind and reveals the Divine economy.” Saint Chrysostom discusses this subject at length, and reading his judgments is not useless at any time. We present them. “Do you see how he decries inappropriate research? For where there is faith, there is no need for investigation; where there is nothing to explore, why do research there? Research ruins faith: whoever researches something has not yet reached (the knowledge of) it; it is impossible for the one doing the research to believe. That is why the Apostle says: let us not engage in research, because research is no longer faith; for faith has a calming effect on the mind. But (who will say), how did Christ the Lord Himself say: “Seek and you will find” (Matthew 7:7) and: “Test the Scriptures” (John 5:39)? In the first place, “seek” means a request, a strong desire; and in the other, “test the Scriptures” not only does not impose any duty of investigation, but even eliminates it; “test” is the same thing as: study and find out the true meaning of Scripture, not in order to forever engage in research, but in order to stop all research. God wanted to give us many things, but our minds do not comprehend the greatness of His economy. Therefore, what constitutes the greatest healing for our souls must be accomplished with the help of faith: our research is inconsistent with the economy of God. And what is achieved with the help of faith? The fact that we accept God’s good deeds, become better, do not doubt anything, are not perplexed about anything and come to complete peace. Meanwhile, what faith accomplishes and arranges destroys our inquisitiveness, raising many questions and overthrowing faith. – Let’s not engage in research; for this is why we are called faithful, so that we undoubtedly believe what is told to us and do not doubt anything. If what was told to us came from people, then we should study it; but since it comes from God, you only need to revere it and believe it. If we do not believe this, then we will not be convinced that God exists. For how can you know that God exists when you examine His words? The first sign that you know God is to believe what He says, without requiring explanation or proof. It is fair to examine the teaching of the Hellenes, because it was invented by human wisdom; and our teaching was revealed to us by the grace of the Holy Spirit.” 1 Tim. 1:5. The end of the will is love from a pure heart and good conscience and unfeigned faith. There he said what one should not do, but here he indicates what all attention and jealousy should be directed to exclusively. The main thing here is love, and its quality, revival and direction constitute a pure heart, a good conscience and unfeigned faith. And they are all inseparable, one enters into the other, one supports and returns the other. Love is a fruitful tree of paradise, and the soil, atmosphere, warmth, light and moisture necessary for the nourishment and restoration of this tree are purity of heart, peace of conscience and unfeigned faith. This is what one should be jealous about and this is how all one’s care and all one’s efforts should be directed! This is the end of everything. For the flock this is the last goal of moral aspirations, and for the shepherd it is the “end of the testament”, παραγγελιας, - pastoral exhortations, advice, commands, labors and concerns. Direct your activities here and, when you have managed to make your flock such that the indicated virtues - sincere love, conscientious and imbued with faith - constitute the distinctive features of their character; then you will appear as a good shepherd, a shameless worker. “You,” says Saint Paul to Timothy, must teach them to sincerely love the benefactor God and have pure faith, supported by the testimony of conscience” (Blessed Theodoret). Then no other teaching will penetrate into them, and they will not engage in any fables. A different teaching produces division. When the union of love is so strong that no dividing influence can greatly dissolve it, then, without succumbing to the dissolving power of other teaching, it will reflect the other teaching itself. “If you introduce love into them, then every corrupt dogma will not find a place among them,” writes Blessed Theophylact. And Saint Chrysostom says: “nothing brings such harm to the human race as neglect of friendly relations and little care about preserving them; Meanwhile, again, nothing can give such a good direction to life as trying to support them with all your might. This (neglect) was the source of all heresies. “Why is it that Paul, having said: ‘Thou shalt not teach others otherwise,’ shows in love the way by which this can be achieved.” “The end of the will is lyuby.” What kind of love? Comprehensive, both to God and to neighbors. Love for God is jealous of the glory of God, and therefore, that the truth of God reigns everywhere; the same jealousy will not allow a lie contrary to the truth of God to raise its head anywhere. Love for neighbors is jealous of their temporary well-being, and even more so of their eternal bliss; and, since the latter is conditioned by maintaining the faith pure and undamaged, they are jealous that no other teaching damages the purity of their faith. “Love from a pure heart” - for there is love both from an unclean heart (Ecumenius) and such that it makes the heart itself unclean. This is carnal love. There is selfish love, which loves not for the good of the beloved, but for itself; why, as soon as the sacrifice of self-sacrifice is required, she does not stand the test and retreats back. Real love fills the whole heart and loves without any calculations, not limiting itself to one feeling, but always rushing to action. Saint Chrysostom explains: “What kind of love is the Apostle talking about? About sincere, which is not limited to words alone, but stems from spiritual disposition, prudence and compassion. “From a pure heart,” he says, “that is, from straightforward mutual communication, or sincere friendship.” “Love - from a good conscience” - one that does not allow conscience to reproach that not everything has been done that it demanded for the beloved, or one that, with all the readiness and all the effort to do everything for the good of another, in no way, however, allows anything that is contrary to the demands of conscience, or the direct commandments of God. She loves her brother, but not more than God, but for the sake of God, for whose will her conscience, her bearer, always stands. Or love from a good conscience is such love, the existence of which in the heart is evidenced by conscience, which is spoken of not by a word or an external indication, but by an “inner thought that cannot lie to itself. For is there anyone who pretends to himself or tries to hide from himself? (Ecumenius). “Love is unfeigned from faith.” Mutual love is planted in the heart; it is a natural feeling in us. Everyone would naturally love themselves mutually if egoism had not risen as a result of the fall. After this, next to the sympathetic feelings that come from love, we also have egoistic feelings that extinguish sympathetic love. In the natural order, for others egoistic feelings predominate, and then there is no progress in the demands of love; while others have sympathetic feelings, and then there is a lot of scope for love. This latter love, in a natural mood, acting out of sympathy and compassion, is a quality worthy of respect; but it does not have full value or weight if it is not sanctified by its relationship to God, that is, if it is not imbued with faith in order to draw from it the source of excitement, inspiration and strength. Only in this case does love rise to the level of strong love, like death; and without this there is nothing to support self-sacrifice, the sacrifices of which are constantly required by deeds and labors of love. Faith without hypocrisy embraces all dogmas; and they are all really such that, as long as they are unfeignedly contained in the heart, they certainly evoke feelings and deeds of love and inspire them; especially such are the dogmas of providence, redemption, and future bliss. God sees everything and accepts everything that is done for the brethren out of love for Him as if it were directly done for Him; whoever believes this, how can he not hasten through the hand of his brother to put what is required into the hand of God? The Son of God, having become incarnate, gave Himself for us; Will anyone who believes this regret sacrificing to Him what is required to help his brothers in the Lord? Faith inspires that what is sacrificed to a brother is deposited in the eternal blood of God, so that later the sacrificer himself can serve as an eternal treasure in the Kingdom of Heaven; What kind of believer in this is unfeignedly stingy to “sow a blessing so that you can reap a blessing” (2 Cor. 9:6)? Thus love is nourished, sanctified, multiplied and strengthened by unfeigned faith. 1 Tim. 1:6. There are no sins in them, deviating into vanity. "Having made a mistake." αστοχησαντες. “The word: αστοχειν - is used about those who shoot unskillfully” (Blessed Theophylact), not at the target, but the arrows are directed past the target. The Apostle indicated the goal for pastoral and teaching works in love from a pure heart, a good conscience and unfeigned faith; now he speaks about the bad consequences if one of them does not direct his cares and efforts towards this, and about the consequences for them themselves, as teachers. Some, he says, not directing their teaching works towards this goal, deviated into vanity, that is, into fables, genealogies and fruitless research. expressed: αστοχησαντες; because art is needed in order to direct blows directly to the target, and not past it. Therefore, it is necessary that they be guided by the Holy Spirit; for there are many reasons that lead one astray from the straight path, but only one goal must be kept in mind.” - There is only one norm of truth - God-given; what lies outside the area outlined by it cannot bear the seal of truth, and whoever speaks about it is talking idle talk. What kind of a teacher is he who talks a lot? Thus, one who deviates from the designated goal thereby loses the title of a true teacher. 1 Tim. 1:7. Although they want to be teachers of the law, they do not understand either what they say or what they say about them. Having said that they deviated from the straight path, he now explains what this deviation was (Blessed Theophylact), namely that they wanted or decided to teach the law when the time of the law had already passed. There was a time for the law, and then he who taught the law did not talk in vain; and now, when the power of the law has already ceased, to act as a teacher of it means toil in vain, to talk in vain. By acting this way, the Apostle continues, they “do not understand what they are saying,” they do not know what they are saying, and they expose themselves in the fact that “they do not know the purpose of the law, nor the time until which it was destined to rule” (Blessed Theophylact). “If they knew the law, they would believe in Christ; for, knowing the law as it should, they would see that it leads to Christ” (Ecumenius). The words “verb” and “affirm” do not indicate the difference between objects, but the degree of tension in the teaching. They assert, insistently insist that without this and that, defined in the law, there is no way to be saved. Blessed Theophylact writes: “What are they saying? Maybe about purifications and various other bodily acts that were observed according to the law.” He borrowed this from Saint Chrysostom, who says: “they probably discussed the law and talked a lot about purifications and other external rites.” But who were they? Apparently, they were among believers, but did not understand the power of faith and talked about the power of the law. Blessed Theodoret writes: “The Apostle makes it clear that he is not saying this about obvious opponents, but about those who claim to believe in the Lord, but distort the Gospel teaching, suggesting that their foolish reasoning is wiser than the words of God. And that they were from the Jews is clear from what was said: “desiring to be teachers of the law.” Saint Chrysostom gives here general guidance about the darkening of the mind through deviation from the main goal - sincere and conscientious love in the spirit of faith. “Ignorance,” he says, “got its start from avoidance of love. When the soul indulges in carnal objects, then its insight is dulled; and when she turns away from love, then her mental vision becomes darkened. In whom attachment to the transitory takes root, he, being in a state of intoxication with passions, can no longer be an impartial judge of truth.” You might be interested in: