1 Timothy 6:13 – Our Sympathetic Witness

I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate… 1 Timothy 6:13, New King James Version

"At the core of every moral code," determines Walter Lippmann in Public Opinion, "there is a picture of human nature, a map of the universe, and a version of history."

Summoning Timothy to a moral code that is less ephemeral than the one in Ephesus, Paul in 1 Timothy 6:13 calls him into deep time. He calls him to re-witness one of the battles Christ fought on behalf of His own.

Christ to knew what it was to confront expediency as a realistic option. He stood before Pilate with a chance to prioritize His own comfort and His own reputation over the well-being of His witness and His followers. It is this Christ, this disciplined and triumphant witness before Pontius Pilate, Paul invokes, who empowers Timothy to be distinctly Christ's in Ephesus.

The Christ-centric version of history, then, is radically different, radically more compelling, than a retrospective story written by those who managed to adjust, or escape, or compromise. HIS history is a train of victories as He leads captivity captive. Temptations, distractions, or put in their place as He is the One Who classifies and rewards in the only lasting fashion.

Since Christ maintained His integrity before Pontius Pilate, He will not turn aside in advocating as His acolytes face temptation. He was tempted in all points as we are and so knows how to plead in accord with the Father's sympathy for our triumph.

"If we know that Jesus is with us," Charles Spurgeon then reasons in Morning and Evening, "every power will be developed, and every grace will be strengthened, and we shall cast ourselves into the Lord's service with heart, and soul, and strength." Given the chance to use today to develop aspects of His character in us which will be our raiment forever, we will not so easily turn aside to the baubles or the praise of men which will not last.

We will not, likewise, so easily ignore those He places on our hearts to woo and rescue with a clearer, more connected vision of Him. He Who prevailed in the only sense that matters before Pilate can prevail in the lives of the weakest witnesses today.

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