Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of 1 Timothy
Chapter 2: One God, One Mediator
First Timothy 2 turns to prayer and worship in the house of God, and in the middle of it stands one of the great statements of the faith. Paul urges 'that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men,' even 'for kings, and for all that are in authority,' because this pleases 'God our Saviour, who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.' Then the towering ground of it all: 'For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all.' One God; one mediator; one ransom. Paul, ordained 'a preacher, and an apostle... a teacher of the Gentiles,' calls men to 'pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting,' and women to adorn themselves 'in modest apparel, with... good works,' learning 'in silence with all subjection.' This chapter shows us a praying church resting on the one God and the one Man who is our ransom.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of 1 Timothy chapter 2. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Greek words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Here Paul calls the church to pray for all men, grounds that call in the one God and the one mediator, and orders the conduct of men and women in worship. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
For All Men
Prayers for all, even kings and rulers.
One Mediator
One God, and the man Christ Jesus between.
Gave Himself for All
God our Saviour wills all men to be saved.
Lifting Up Holy Hands
Order and reverence for men and women.
The Man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:1-7)
Because God our Saviour wills all men to be saved, the church prays for all, resting on one God and one mediator who gave Himself a ransom for all.
There Is One God, and One Mediator Between God and Men
"I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity."
Word Study
"mediator," Greek mesites (μεσίτης). The word means a go-between, one who stands in the middle to bring two parties together, an arbitrator or reconciler. "There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." A mediator must be able to touch both sides. The wonder of the gospel is how God provided such a one: not by sending a third party from outside, but by Himself becoming man. Notice the exact words: there is "one God," and the mediator is "the man Christ Jesus." Paul does not say the mediator is a second divine person standing between God and us; he says the mediator is the man Christ Jesus. The one God, who "will have all men to be saved," reached down and took our humanity, so that in Jesus, God and man meet in one person. The manhood of Christ is the meeting place: as truly God, He can represent God to us; as truly man, He can represent us to God, and lay down His life "a ransom for all." So the mesites does not divide the Godhead into persons who negotiate with one another; rather, the one God became the man who bridges the gulf sin had opened. There is one God, and that one God, manifest in the flesh as the man Christ Jesus, is Himself our mediator, standing in the middle to bring us home.
Explanation
Paul urges that "prayers... be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority," that the church might live "a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness." Why pray for all? Because "God our Saviour... will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." Then the great confession: "there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all." One God, one Mediator, one ransom, one saving desire that reaches every kind of person — the ground of the church's prayer for the whole world.
Gospel Focus
Paul makes prayer the church's first business: "first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men." The scope is wide, "for all men," and specifically "for kings, and for all that are in authority," even the pagan rulers of Paul's day. We pray for those over us, not because they are godly, but so "that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty," a settled society in which the gospel can spread. And this praying for all reflects the very heart of God: "this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." God is called "our Saviour," and His saving desire reaches to "all men"; the gospel excludes no nation, rank, or sinner. Then Paul gives the doctrinal foundation of it all in one of Scripture's clearest confessions: "for there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all." Every phrase is precious to the Apostolic faith. There is "one God", not three, one. And there is "one mediator," and He is "the man Christ Jesus." The one God provided a mediator not by producing a second divine person, but by Himself becoming man; the mediating point is the true humanity of Jesus, in whom God and man are joined. And this one Man "gave himself a ransom for all", He paid the price to redeem us, offering His own life. Because there is one God who saves and one Man who ransoms, the gospel goes to everyone; that is why Paul was "ordained a preacher, and an apostle... a teacher of the Gentiles." The unity of God and the universality of the gospel stand or fall together: one God over all, one ransom for all, one message for all. So we pray for all men, we preach to all men, and we rest our own souls on the one God who became the one Man to be our ransom.
Lifting Up Holy Hands (1 Timothy 2:8-15)
Paul directs how men and women are to conduct themselves in worship: men praying in holiness and peace, women adorned with modesty and good works.
Adorned with Good Works
"I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety."
Word Study
"modest," Greek kosmios (κόσμιος). The word means orderly, well-arranged, decent, becoming; it comes from kosmos, which means both "order" and "adornment" (and from which we get "cosmetic" and "cosmos"). "That women adorn themselves in modest apparel." The instruction is not against beauty or care in appearance, but for a certain kind of adornment, one that is orderly, seemly, and appropriate, springing from "shamefacedness and sobriety," that is, from a modest reverence and sound self-control. Paul contrasts two ways a woman may seek to be attractive: by outward show, "broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array," lavish display meant to draw the eye and outdo others; or by "good works," "which becometh women professing godliness." The truly beautiful adornment of a Christian woman is a godly, ordered life and a heart clothed in good deeds. This does not forbid all ornament, but it sets the priority: the deepest beauty is not applied to the outside but shines from a life well-ordered before God. So kosmios calls the believer, in dress and in all things, to an orderly, becoming modesty that adorns the profession of godliness, so that others see not a spectacle of wealth or vanity, but the quiet beauty of a life given to good works.
Explanation
Paul turns to order in worship. The men are to pray "lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting" — clean hands and a peaceable heart. Women are to adorn themselves "with shamefacedness and sobriety," and above all "with good works," rather than ostentatious display. Paul then addresses a specific teaching situation, appealing to the creation order — "Adam was first formed, then Eve." That particular instruction is one of the most debated passages in the New Testament, including among Spirit-filled, Bible-believing Apostolic and Pentecostal believers, and this commentary does not treat it as settled (see the Gospel Focus below). What is plain, and not in dispute, is the chapter's larger point: worship is to be marked by holiness, modesty, humility, and good order, reflecting God's design rather than the surrounding culture's vanity.
Gospel Focus
Having grounded worship in the one God, Paul now orders its conduct, beginning with the men: "I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting." The lifting of hands was a common posture of prayer, but Paul's stress falls on the word "holy": the hands lifted to God must be clean, the heart free of "wrath" (anger and quarreling) and "doubting" (disputing and unbelief). God looks not at the posture but at the heart behind it. Then he turns to the women, and calls them to a beauty that is inward and moral rather than merely outward: "adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety," not chiefly with elaborate hair, gold, pearls, or costly clothes, but "with good works," which is what truly "becometh women professing godliness." The point is not that women may not dress well, but that their real adornment is a godly life. Paul then addresses a specific teaching situation at Ephesus: "let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man." He grounds it in creation and the fall: "Adam was first formed, then Eve," and "the woman being deceived was in the transgression." This is one of the most contested passages in the New Testament, and sincere, Bible-believing Apostolic and Pentecostal believers read it differently. Some take it as a lasting restriction on women holding the pastoral or eldership office described in chapter 3. Others note that the word translated "usurp authority," the Greek authentein, appears nowhere else in the New Testament and most often carried the sense of seizing or domineering authority improperly, not the ordinary word for recognized, legitimate authority, and that Paul was addressing a specific problem of false teaching at Ephesus (1 Timothy 1:3-7), not issuing a universal ban on women teaching or leading. They also point to women Scripture itself places in teaching, prophetic, and leading roles without rebuke: Deborah, "a prophetess," who "judged Israel" (Judges 4:4); Huldah the prophetess, sought out by the king's own officials for the word of the Lord (2 Kings 22:14); Priscilla, who together with her husband "expounded unto [Apollos] the way of God more perfectly" (Acts 18:26); Phebe, called "a servant of the church" at Cenchrea and entrusted to carry Paul's own letter to Rome (Romans 16:1-2); the four daughters of Philip who "did prophesy" (Acts 21:9); and Paul's own assumption, a few chapters earlier in this very letter to a sister church, that women pray and prophesy in the gathered assembly (1 Corinthians 11:5). Most pointedly for an Apostolic reader, Peter's sermon at Pentecost, the very passage this site's own doctrine of Acts 2:38 stands on, quotes Joel's promise that in the last days God would pour out His Spirit so that "your sons and your daughters shall prophesy... and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy" (Acts 2:17-18). This commentary does not resolve that debate here; it leaves the application of verses 11-12 to local church leadership and individual conscience rather than declaring one reading the settled meaning of the text. What is not in dispute is Paul's own statement elsewhere that in Christ there is "neither male nor female" as to salvation and standing (Galatians 3:28). Then a word of hope closes the chapter: "she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness," for salvation came into the world through childbearing, the Saviour Himself born of a woman (Galatians 4:4). So the church at worship is to be marked by holy praying men and godly, Spirit-filled women, all in reverent order before the one God.
Chapter 2 in Review
First Timothy 2 sets prayer and order at the center of the church's life. Paul urges "supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks... for all men," even "for kings," because this pleases "God our Saviour, who will have all men to be saved." Then the great foundation: "for there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all." He calls men to "pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting," and women to "adorn themselves in modest apparel... with good works," learning "in silence with all subjection," grounding the order of the church in creation and the fall, yet closing with hope: "she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness."
For the Apostolic reader the jewel of this chapter is verse 5. Against every notion of many gods, or of a God divided into separate persons, stands the plain confession: "there is one God." And the one mediator is "the man Christ Jesus", for the one God provided our go-between not by dispatching a second divine person, but by Himself becoming man. The manhood of Jesus is the meeting place of God and men, and in that one Man, God manifest in flesh, we have our ransom. This truth fuels the church's mission: one God who saves, one ransom for all, one gospel for every person, so we pray and preach for all men. And it orders our worship, calling men to holy, peaceable prayer and women to the true beauty of godliness and good works, all in reverent order before the one God our Saviour.
- Pray "for all men," even "for kings, and for all that are in authority" (2:1-2).
- "God our Saviour... will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth" (2:3-4).
- "There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (2:5).
- The one Man "gave himself a ransom for all" (2:6).
- Men are to pray "lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting" (2:8).
- A woman's true adornment is "good works," befitting godliness (2:9-10).
Questions for Reflection
- Do your prayers reach beyond yourself to "all men," even to those in authority over you?
- Do you rest your salvation on the "one God" and the "one mediator, the man Christ Jesus"?
- Are the hands you lift to God "holy," your heart free of wrath and doubting?
- Is your deepest adornment outward display, or a life of godliness and good works?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. Prayer for all men and rulers; God our Saviour: 1 Timothy 2:1-4; Jeremiah 29:7; Ezekiel 18:23; 2 Peter 3:9. One God and one mediator, the man Christ Jesus: 1 Timothy 2:5-7; Deuteronomy 6:4; John 1:14; 1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 9:15. Holy prayer; the adornment of godliness: 1 Timothy 2:8-10; Psalm 24:3-4; 1 Peter 3:3-4. Order, creation, the fall, and salvation: 1 Timothy 2:11-15; Genesis 2:7; Genesis 3:6; Galatians 4:4; Galatians 3:28. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- Prayer for all men and rulers; God our Saviour wills all to be saved: 1 Timothy 2:1-4; 2 Peter 3:9.
- One God and one mediator, the man Christ Jesus, a ransom for all: 1 Timothy 2:5-7; John 1:14; 1 Timothy 3:16.
- Men pray with holy hands; the adornment of good works: 1 Timothy 2:8-10; 1 Peter 3:3-4.
- Order in the church grounded in creation and the fall: 1 Timothy 2:11-15; Genesis 2:7; Galatians 3:28.