“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare” (1 Timothy 1:17-18).
1 Timothy 1:17 offers a reverent expression of praise to God in the form of a “doxology.” A doxology is a brief hymn or verse that honors and glorifies God. One familiar Biblical doxology is the Gloria in Excelsis or Greater Doxology from Luke 2:14. The New Testament book of Romans offers another example: “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen” (Romans 11:36 NIV).
The Biblical book of Jude also contains a doxology that may be sung or spoken in praise of God…
“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen” (Jude 1:24-25 KJV).
The doxology given to us here in the closing verses of 1 Timothy chapter one signals a brief pause in Paul the Apostle’s discourse on the subject of sound doctrine. Paul began that discussion by identifying the presence of false teachers within the city of Ephesus (verses three and four) as well as their inappropriate motives (verses five to seven).
That led to an examination of the Old Testament law and its function in verses eight to eleven. Finally, Paul highlighted his pre-conversion violations of the law by emphasizing the grace that God extended to him through Christ (verses twelve to sixteen).
Paul considered the need for sound doctrine to be so important that he returned to it again here in verse eighteen through the use of military terminology. You see, the charge given to Timothy within this passage referred to an order or command. (1) That was followed by a reference to “waging the good warfare,” a phrase that communicated the image of a soldier serving on active military duty. (2)
Lest we think such terminology is unbefitting of a spiritual teaching, Paul will go on to direct our attention to the cost of unsound doctrine in the final verses of this chapter. That portion of Scripture will offer two personal examples that remind us that there is a price to pay when we fail to observe the Word of God.
(1) G3852 parangelia https://www.billmounce.com/greek-dictionary/parangelia
(2) G4754 Strateuomai https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?t=kjv&strongs=g4754