The three pastoral letters or epistles are books of the canonical New Testament: the First Epistle to Timothy (1 Timothy) the Second Epistle to Timothy (2 Timothy) and the Epistle to Titus. They are letters from Paul the Apostle to Timothy and to Titus. They are generally discussed as a group (sometimes with the addition of the Epistle to Philemon) and are given the title pastoral because they are addressed to individuals with pastoral oversight of churches and discuss issues of Christian living, doctrine and leadership. While the title is not technically quite correct in that the Epistles do not deal with pastoral duties in the sense of the cure of souls, yet it is popularly appropriate as denoting the essentially practical nature of the subject matter as distinguished from the other Epistles attributed to Paul. The term "pastorals" was popularised in 1703 by D. N. Berdot and in 1726 by Paul Anton.

1 Timothy 1:11 The Gospel

1 Timothy 1:11 that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.
In 1 Timothy 1:8-10 Paul says that the law is good if one uses it properly. It was made not for the righteous but for wicked people and Paul gives examples of such wickedness (those who kill their fathers or mothers ... murderers ... the sexually immoral, etc) rounding off with the catch all whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine. Verse 11 then states that this sound doctrine conforms to the gospel .... In other words, there is no conflict between law and gospel. There is a big difference between seeking to be saved through the gospel and seeking to be saved through the law, of course, but law and gospel in and of themselves are not in conflict. The other things he says about the gospel or good news, the evangel, are that it concerns the glory of the blessed God and, he says, was entrusted to me. The gospel reflects glory on God as it shows his kindness, mercy and love as well as his justice. As an apostle, Paul was entrusted with its wonderful message. So too are those who faithfully preach it today. They must preach it in a way that is trustworthy, a way that glorifies God and a way that is not in conflict with the law. Here are three good tests for a man to use in order to measure his ministry. Am I trustworthily delivering the message? Am I doing it in a way that glorifies God? Am I doing it in a way that does not conflict with the law?

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