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From: 1 Timothy 6:13-16

An Appeal to Defend the Faith (Continuation)

[13] In the presence of God who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus who
in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, [14] I charge
you to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the ap-
pearing of our Lord Jesus Christ; [15] and this will be made manifest at the pro-
per time by the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
[16] who alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no
man has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

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Commentary:

13-14. “Keep the commandments”: the Greek may be referring to one specific
commandment (as the RSV reflects); but it can also mean law as a whole and,
more likely, the truths of Revelation, that is, the deposit of the faith professed
at Baptism.

St Paul very formally calls in, as witnesses to this instruction, God the Father
and Christ Jesus, “who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good
confession”. Jesus’ “testimony” includes his entire passion and the declaration
he made to the Roman procurator about messianic kingship and his true identi-
ty (cf. Jn 18:36-37).

“Until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ”: when referring to the second co-
ming of Christ the New Testament often uses the term “parousia” (cf. 1 Cor 15:
23; 2 Pet 3:4) or “revealing” (cf., e.g., 1 Cor 1:7); the Pastoral Epistles prefer
“appearing”, epiphany, manifestation (cf. 2 Tim 4:1, 8; Tit 2:13), which better re-
flect the coming of Christ in glory as Savior (cf. 2 Tim 1:10). There is, of course,
a wonderful continuity between the redemptive work of Christ, the action of the
Church in conserving Revelation and passing it on, and the final coming of Christ
at the end of time.

15-16. This doxology or hymn of praise, one of the richest and most beautiful in
the New Testament, may have been taken from the Church’s liturgy (which may
also be the case with the other hymns in this letter: cf. 1:17 and 3:15 -16). It
was possibly a reply to pagan hymns honoring rulers and emperors as gods.
However, it is more likely that this particular hymn was inspired by the Old Tes-
tament, which speaks of God in similar language. Whatever its origin, the impor-
tant thing about the hymn is that it expresses faith in God who merits all praise.

At a time known only to him (cf. Mt 24:36), God the Father will bring about the
glorious manifestation of Jesus Christ. The text refers to four attributes which
show the power and sublimity of God: he is the “only Sovereign”, from whom
all lawful rulers on earth receive their authority (cf. Jn 19:11). He is the “King
of kings and Lord of lords” (literally, “the King of those who reign and the Lord
of those who wield lordship”); this is not, then, a merely honorific title: he does
actually exercise sovereignty over those who claim to possess it (cf. Rev 17:14;
19:16). He is “immortal”, for immortality is proper to God, who is Life (cf. Jn 1:
4); angels and souls are immortal only by virtue of the nature given them by
God. Finally, he is “light” and brightness: these are attributed to God (cf. Ps
104:2) to show his sublimity: God transcends all created things and cannot be
fully comprehended by man. St Thomas explains that an object can be invisible
on two counts either because it lacks brightness, as occurs with things which
are dark and opaque, or because it is too bright, as occurs in the case of the
sun, which is so bright that the human eye cannot look at it; God is so far be-
yond the capacity of the human mind that man cannot entirely take him in even
though what we can learn about him by the right use of reason and through re-
velation is true and accurate (cf. “Commentary on 1 Tim, ad loc.”). The conclu-
sion of the hymn, which is liturgical and pedagogical in style, is similar to that
found in 1:17: there it says “honor and glory”, here “heaven and eternal domi-
nion”, putting more stress on God’s sovereignty.

This and the other hymns which appear in the letter show that the first Chris-
tians were fully aware that man’s true purpose in life is to give glory to God.
“We do not live for the world, or for our own honor, but for the honor of God, for
the glory of God, for the service of God. That is what should motivate us!” (St.
J. Escriva, “The Forge”, 851).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.