Timothy Sent to Corinth 1 Corinthians 4:17

Because Paul the apostle had “begotten” the Corinthian church members “through the gospel”, he desired for them to “be followers of” him, and in chapter four and verse seventeen of First Corinthians, Paul asks the church members in Corinth, “for this cause have I sent unto you Timothy” where we read:

For this cause have I sent unto you Timothy, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church.

The verse begins, “For this cause have I sent unto you Timothy, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, ...” Paul began with the word, “For” which means “even as, indeed, no doubt, seeing then, verily and therefore” “this cause” or “the reason or account of being followers of Paul” “have I sent” which means “Paul dispatched, transmitted, bestowed or thrust” “unto you” or “to the church in Corinth” “Timothy” whose name means “honoring God” and was “a resident of Lystra, apparently, whose father was a Greek and mother a Jewess; he was Paul's traveling companion and fellow laborer”, “who is my beloved” or “Paul's esteemed, dear, favorite and worthy of love” “son” which means “pupil or disciple because Paul nourished his mind and molded his character”, “and faithful” or “and one who is trusty, worthy of trust, can be relied upon and confiding” “in the Lord” which refers to “the anointed one, the Messiah and the Son of God. Paul “sent” his “son in the faith”, “Timothy”, to the church in Corinth who could be “relied upon” as a “trustworthy” extension of Paul.

The verse continues, “... who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church.”. Paul added the words, “who shall bring you into remembrance” which is the Greek phrase, “anamimnēskō hymus anamimnēskō” which means “call and cause the church member to remember, be reminded, to consider and weigh well” “of my ways” or “concerning Paul's course of conduct and way of thinking, feeling and deciding” “which be in” which means “that are counted within” “Christ” which refers to “the anointed one, the Messiah and the Son of God”, “as I” which refers to “Paul” “teach” which means “hold discourse with other in order to instruct them and to deliver didactic discourses” “every where” or “in all places” “in every church” which refers to “each, any, all, the whole and everyone one of the assemblies of Christians gathered for worship in a religious meeting”. “Timothy”, Paul's son in the faith, was to “remind” the Corinthian church members concerning the “way” Paul conducted himself which he taught in churches everywhere.

When we consider these words from Paul, we discover how important it was for Paul to send a qualified and faithful representative of himself to the Corinthian church. Paul's desire was for the people within the church to follow after Jesus Christ, and inasmuch as Paul “imitated” Jesus, he desired for the churches to as well. We may know people who have been sent by others as “faithful” delegates who represent people within the Christian faith or perhaps we have been sent ourselves to represent someone else. Let us remember we are to ultimately “represent” Jesus Christ and His way to live, and when we project that manner upon another, may the Lord Jesus receive all the glory and honor extended our way.

Next time Paul shares how “now some of” the church members “are puffed up” them, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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