D. Scott Meadows

Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen (1 Tim 1.17).

A resurgent interest in the doctrine of God (theology proper) is most encouraging, especially if we subscribe to the fundamental principle of soli Deo gloria (glory to God alone). The better we know the glorious God, the better able to praise and serve Him.

First Timothy 1.17 is an extremely important part of the biblical witness to “the living and true God” (1 Thess 1.9). Jonathan Edwards, who habitually enjoyed an inward, sweet delight in God, recalled in his personal narrative the first instance of that spiritual experience.

As I read the words [of 1 Tim 1.17], there came into my soul, and was as it were diffused through it, a sense of the glory of the Divine Being; a new sense, quite different from any thing I ever experienced before. Never any words of Scripture seemed to me as these words did. I thought with myself, how excellent a Being that was, and how happy I should be, if I might enjoy that God, and be rapt [caught] up to Him in heaven, and be as it were swallowed up in Him for ever!

God is the theme of this biblical text with its two parts: theology and doxology. One way to state its teaching is,

All Christians affirm praise to the true God

Theology (God described)

Multitudes praise gods of their imaginations. Theirs is but the worship of idols, even where the false images are mental and without statues of wood and stone. The true worship of God depends upon His self-revelation in Scripture. In it we behold Him by faith and are moved by His grace to praise Him. Consider His testimony here.

He is the “King eternal,” literally, the “King of the ages.” The true and living God is absolutely sovereign, and He is eternal like no other. The King of kings reigns supreme over all His creatures. No one can hold back His hand or even call Him to account for His actions (Dan 4.35). Also, God’s eternity is not an unending passage through time with successive states of being like creatures experience. Rather, as good theologians have grappled with this, they have said that God’s eternity is “the existence and continuance of God without beginning or end and apart from all succession and change. [It is] the simultaneous and perfect possession of endless life” (Richard Muller, DLGTT, “aeternitas”). The distinction of the Creator from the creature could not be any greater.

He is also “immortal,” the One “who only hath immortality” (1 Tim 6.16). He is “the uncorruptible God” who cannot justly be portrayed as “an image made like to corruptible man” or any other creature (Rom 1.23). The Greek word means “not subject to decay and death —‘imperishable’” (LN 23.128). With respect to God, we understand immortality as consonant with His simplicity, immutability, and spirituality. God is “without body, parts, or passions” in any sense whatsoever (2LCF 2.1). All that is in God is God. He is not only unchanging but unchangeable, completely absolute, infinite, and actual, without the potential to be other than He is.

He is also “invisible.” This means that “the divine essence neither has been seen nor can be by bodily eyes” (Turretin, Institutes 20.8.9; cf. 1 Tim 6.16). God is wholly without form (Deut 4.15). Any biblical statements to the effect that someone saw God (e.g., Exod 24.10) must be understood as their perceiving a revelation of Him rather than His invisible essence. The greatest revelation of God to us is Jesus Christ, Himself God (John 1.18; 14.9; Heb 11.27). Again, the Church’s consensus language is that God is “a most pure spirit” (2LCF 2.1), that is, absolutely spiritual.

Finally, He is “the only wise God,” or, “God only wise” (Rom 16.27). He is Wisdom and the fount of it, absolutely unique. Calvin explains this phrase to mean that “He renders foolish, and condemns as all vanity, all the wisdom of men” (in loc.).

Doxology (God praised)

Having described God, Paul expresses his holy wish that to this God should be ascribed “honor and glory for ever and ever,” and this is Paul’s own ascription of praise to this God. Such praises from His creatures add nothing whatsoever to God, but they manifest His essential glory in a manner that creatures like us can perceive. Similar doxologies (lit, “glory words”) in Scripture also mention praise, majesty, blessing, wisdom, thanksgiving salvation, power, might, riches, and strength, as rightly belonging to God and as grounds for worshipping Him (various biblical texts).

The closing word, “amen,” means “so be it.” It calls for the reader to agree and to participate in the heartfelt adoration of this great God.

A grand lesson of this crucial verse is that theology (the revelation of God) is for doxology (the worship of God). The ultimate justification for anything, including the study of theology, is the exaltation and praise of God among His creatures. An important corollary is that bad theology undermines true worship. All Christians should be devoted to becoming better theologians that we might “delight in the Lord” (Psa 37.4) and serve Him by our ardent praises. Will you say “amen?” Ω