Jesus was the one mediator

JESUS WAS THE ONE MEDIATOR
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
1 Timothy 2:5 5Forthere is one God and one mediator
between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
ReasonsForThis Universality Of Prayer In The RelationOf All Went To God
And Christ
1 Timothy 2:5-7
T. Croskery
For there is one God, one Mediatoralso betweenGod and men, himself man,
Christ Jesus. The salvationof men cannot, therefore, be to us a matter of
selfishindifference.
I. THE RELATION OF ALL MEN TO GOD. The unity of God is consistent
with all differences of dispensation. "There is one providence belonging to the
one God." The apostle tells the Romans that, "as God is one," he is the Godof
the Gentiles as well as the Jews (Romans 3:30). There is, indeed, "one God
and Fatherof all" (Ephesians 4:4, 5). The apostle also says, "The mediator"
(Moses)"is not of one" - one seed, i.e. including Jew and Gentile, for Moses
had nothing, to do with the Gentile - but God is one, in relation to Jew and
Gentile (Galatians 3:20). In these passagesthe apostle sets forth the
universality of the gospeloffer. But in the text he infers the universality of the
Divine goodwill from the provisions made for man's salvation.

II. THE RELATION OF ALL MEN TO THE MEDIATOR. "One Mediator
also betweenGod and men, himself man, Christ Jesus."
1. There is but one Mediator. The Gnostic mediation of angels is, therefore,
excluded (Colossians 2:15, 18). Likewise the mediation of saints and angels, as
held by the Church of Rome. This idea is dishonoring to the only Mediator.
There is no Scripture for the distinction made betweena mediator of
redemption (Christ) and mediators of intercession(saints and angels).
2. The Mediator was man as well as God.
(1) He was truly man, in oppositionto the Docetic notionthat he did not
possessa real human nature.
(2) He was God as well as man in his Mediatorship, in opposition to the
Roman Catholic theory that he only mediated in his human nature. The
design of this error is to make way for human mediators. It is said to be
absurd to conceive ofChrist as God mediating betweensinners and himself.
(a) We answerthat the Divine nature operated in Christ's priestly work as
well as the human, for "he through the eternal Spirit" (his own Spirit)
"offeredhimself to God" (Hebrews 9:14).
(b) If he did not mediate in his Divine nature as well as his human nature, he
could not have been in any sense Mediatorof the Old Testamentsaints,
because their redemption was completedbefore he came in the flesh. The
human nature is naturally emphasized because ofthe work of suffering and
death which is here ascribedto him.
3. The passage does notimply that Christ was not God. He is elsewhere
frequently calledGod and true God, but here there is a necessaryreference to
the catholic doctrine of a subordination of office.
4. The reference to the mediatorship brings up the idea of a covenantbetween
God and man. Christ is the Head of humanity, the new Man, the Lord from
heaven, able to restore the lostrelationship between Godand man.
5. The mediatory agencyis wrought through Christ's sufferings and death.
"Who gave himself a Ransomfor all."

(1) This proves that all the blessings ofredemption come from the death of
Christ, not merely from his incarnation.
(2) He voluntarily gave himself as the Victim, yet he is "God's unspeakable
Gift."
(3) His death was strictly substitutionary. The words of the apostle resemble
those of our Lord himself - "he gave himself a Ransomfor many" (Matthew
20:28). He was thus the Substitute contemplated by the apostle as the Messiah
who had obtained from the Father the heritage of all families and nations of
the earth, not Jews alone, but Gentiles.
III. THE TRUE PURPOSE OF THE GOSPELMESSAGE. "The testimonyto
be borne in its own times."
1. Thus the death of Christ is the greatmessage to be carried to all the world.
It is not his birth, or his example, or his truth, but, above all, what is the
completion of them all - his death on Calvary.
2. It is to be preachedin all times till the secondcoming of the Lord.
3. The apostle's own relationto this testimony. "Whereunto I was appointed a
herald and an apostle (I speak the truth, I lie not); a teacherof the Gentiles in
faith and truth." Thus the universality of the remedial scheme is represented
by the very mission of the apostle himself. He was "a herald" to proclaim the
glad tidings here; "anapostle" - let men saywhat they will, he is an apostle,
therefore the surpassing importance of his message -and "a teacherof the
Gentiles" - to mark the world-embracing characterof his gospel - "in filth
and truth," to signalize respectivelythe subjective and the objective elements
in which his apostleshipwas to find its appropriate sphere. - T.C.

Biblical Illustrator
One MediatorbetweenGod and man.
1 Timothy 2:5
The mediation of Christ
J. Feet, D. D.
That there has been a Mediatorin this world is concededby all exceptJews
and heathens. But respecting the precise nature of the work which He has
undertaken and accomplished, there has not been even in those to whom the
knowledge ofthis salvationhas come, clearconceptions, norcorrespondent
emotions of gratitude and thanksgiving. With what distress would you gaze on
the Divine power and infinity, and say, "He is not a Man as I am, that I should
answerHim, and we should come togetherin judgment; neither is there any
days-man betwixt us, that might lay his hand on us both"? With what anguish
would you look around and inquire for some being able and ready to rescue
.you from perdition? But what, in such circumstances, youwould look for in
yam is now declaredunto you. You are now taught on the authority of
inspiration that there is one God and one MediatorbetweenGod and man.
I. WHAT IS IMPLIED IN THE IDEA OF A MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD
AND MAN? The factof a mediation betweenone man and another implies a
difficulty which it is not easyto reconcile. This is equally implied in the
employment of a government to mediate betweentwo other nations. Such
measures are never adopted in the times of peace and of mutual friendship. So

of our attitude to God. The fact that there is a Mediator betweenGod and
man unquestionably proves that there is an alienation which it is exceedingly
difficult to reconcile.
II. ALIENATION DOES NOT IMPLY CRIMINALITY IN BOTH THE
PARTIES WHICH ARE THUS BROUGHT INTO CONFLICT. Onthis
subject a proverb seems to have obtained among men, that in casesof
alienation there is transgressionin both the conflicting parties. "Both are to
blame" is a maxim which has prevailed. It may perhaps be important to show
the fallacyof the principle itself againstwhich I am here contending. We are
often asked, with a confidence amounting almostto the authority of
inspiration, "Do you not believe that in all casesofalienation there is blame
on both sides?" To this we reply, "We do not, we cannotbelieve it." If the
question still be pressed, we ask our inquirer, "Do you not know that there is
an eternal alienation betweensheepand wolves;and have the sheepever
committed any aggressionon the wolves?" You have all heard of the warfare
which goes forwardbetweenthe angels which kept their first estate and those
spirits which have revolted from God. And is it not to be assumedthat in this
controversythe angels, who have always beenspotless in the eyes of Jehovah,
were free from the imputation of guilt? Pre-eminently is this principle
applicable to Jehovah. Of what wrong, respecting us, has He ever been guilty?
Who amongstthose that have in former alines chargedHim with injury or
injustice has ever been able to sustainit? "Let no man say, when he is
tempted, I am tempted of God," etc. The objects around us were never
createdand never designedto be the cause of our transgressions. Our sins are
not the result either of the example of those individuals or circumstances
which God has placed around us. They are the fruit of our own hearts. There
is an alienationfrom Him in the sons of men, and the causes ofthis alienation
are not mutual: the criminality is altogetherwith us.
III. BUT WHO IS THERE THAT IS ADEQUATE TO UNDERTAKE THE
MEDIATORIAL WORK? In human affairs there are many individuals who
are equally competent to settle a difficulty and remove the causes ofalienation
which exist betweena man and his neighbour. And in a greatshare of the
instances which occur, any individual of a multitude that canbe mentioned is
equally as well qualified to undertake the work as any other individual that

can be selected. Notso in the work of human redemption. Here there is but
one Being in the universe who is competent to be a Days-man, a Mediator
betweenJehovahand His offending subjects (Isaiah 63:5).
IV. TO INQUIRE WHY NO OTHER BEING BUT CHRIST IS QUALIFIED
FOR THIS WORK. And here I must frankly confess thatof my own unaided
reasonI am incompetent to tell. And I apprehend that had the family of man
been left to ascertainby their ownintellectual powers what Mediatoris suited
to their circumstances, no one of them would have been able to discoverthe
truth. His agony for reconciliationburst forth in the affecting question,
"Wherewithshall I come before the Lord and bow myself before the high
God? Shall I come before Him with burnt-offerings and calves ofa year old?
Will the Lord be pleasedwith thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of
rivers of oil? Shall I give my first-born for my transgression;the fruit of my
body for the sin of my soul?" Let us go to the Scriptures to ascertainwhat
Christ is; and having thence derived a knowledge ofHis character, let us draw
the only safe conclusion, that on accountof the respects in which He differs
from every other being in existence, He is chosento be the Mediator between
God and man.
V. WHAT, THEN, ARE THE RESPECTSIN WHICH HE DIFFERS FROM
EVERY OTHER BEING? It must here be remembered that in certain
respects He is God. I here refer to His original nature. Of Him, John in his
Gospelsays, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God." Norwas He God only. In some respects He differed
in His mediatorial office from the Father. He assumed into immediate
connectionwith Himself a human body and a rational soul. This was done in
accordancewith the prophets. Isaiah in prophetic vision declared, "Unto us a
Child is born," etc. These expressionsshow the union of divinity with
humanity in our Lord Jesus Christ, and indicate His wonderful adaptedness
to the work of redeeming men from their sins and reconciling them to God.
Are we, then, askedin what respects Christ differs from every other being? Is
it demanded in what respectHe differs from the Father? We reply, by the
addition unto His own glorious nature of all the powers and faculties of man.
He is at once Divine and human. Is it againdemanded in what respects He
differs from men? I reply, He is human and Divine. In these respects He is

altogetherdiverse from any other being in the universe. And viewed in this
attitude, we may wonder, and say in the language ofthe prophet, "There is
none like unto Thee, O God!" Having now learned from the Scriptures the
qualifications of Him who undertook to be the Mediator for us, we cansee His
wonderful adaptations to the work which He has undertaken. Human
salvationrequires a thorough acquaintance with all the wants, perplexities,
and temptations of man. In this respect, sucha Mediatoras He who has
become flesh is wonderfully suited to our condition. He did not undertake to
help the angels. The work of human salvationalso requires a thorough
knowledge ofall the causes anda complete control of all the beings who have
powereither to advance or retard it. And what eyes but those which run to
and fro through the universe are competentto see all the wants, and all the
exposures, and all the means of relief which pertain to the condition of ruined
man? What hands but those which formed the universe are competent so to
direct all the influences of the material and the spiritual worlds in such a
manner as to subserve the welfare of His people and cause them to conspire
togetherfor the promotion of their salvation? What other Presence,except
that which pervades the universe, can be co-extensive with all the wants of His
people who dwell in every part of the earth, who callupon Him for aid at
every hour of the day and of the night What other knowledge but that which
transcends all limitation, and is strictly infinite, can be adequate to an
acquaintance with the condition, the thoughts, the emotions, the feelings, and
the actions ofall the immortal beings who inhabit the vastregions of His
Mediatorship? And what memory short of that to which all past, present, and
future things are equally known is competent to bring togetherall the
particulars of thought, of feeling, and of action, which constitute the life of a
human being; and accuratelyto weighin the balances the gold and the dross
of his character;and not only this, but to extend the process to all the sons of
men, all the apostate, andall the holy angels? Yetall this knowledge must be
possessedby the Son of Man; and all the powers to which we have referred
must be held by Him who undertakes the work of a Mediator betweenGod
and man. This work has commonly been regardedand taught under three
separate heads. The first is His office as a Prophet. This portion of His work
was referred to by Moses whenhe said, "A Prophet shall the Lord your God
raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me. Him shall ye hearin all

things, whatsoeverHe shall sayunto you." In this office it pertained to Him to
revealthe character, the law, and the gospelof God to the children of men,
and cause it to be written and preached unto them. It also pertained to His
work to open the understandings of His people, that they might know the
excellencyof the Father and of His SonJesus Christ. The next particular in
the work of a Mediatoris that of a Priest. He was a Priest, not indeed
according to the order of Aaron, but of Melchizedek. As in the Mosaic history
no priest is named as the predecessorof Melchizedek, so in human
redemption there is no other priest but Jesus Christ. And in this Priesthood
His work differed widely from that of other priests. They first offered
sacrifices fortheir own sins, and afterwards for those of the people; but He
had no occasionto offer sacrificesforHimself. "He was holy, harmless,
undefiled, and separate from sinners." He is able to save to the uttermost
those that come unto God through Him, seeing He everliveth to make
intercessionfor them. A third particular in this work is His office as the Ruler
and Defenderof the people of God. This is called His kingly office. In this
respectthe apostle declares that God "hath put all things under His feet, and
given Him to be Head over all things to the Church" (Ephesians 1:22). Such is
the Mediatorbetweena ruined world and the Holy One of Israel. A Mediator
in some respects Divine, in other respects human. A Mediator who in the
Scriptures is sometimes denominated God, at other times He is calledMan. A
Mediatorwho is set apart by Jehovah Himself to be the Prophet, the Priest,
and the King of your souls;a Mediatorwhom, if you accept, on whom, if you
rely, to whom, if you commit your immortal interests, you shall yet stand on
Mount Zion with songs and eternaljoy. This subjectcalls loudly on us to
admire the wisdom and goodness ofGod. What could He have seenin us or
any of our depraved race that induced Him to conferon us such an immense
favour as this? All, He saw nothing but evil in our hearts, nothing but vice in
our deeds. It was not owing to any righteousnessin us, but of His mercy, that
savedus. The subject calls on us to considerwhat our condition would have
been had not Jesus undertaken to be Mediator betweenGod and man.
(J. Feet, D. D.)

The one Mediator
R. H. Storey, D. D.
"It is goodfor me," said the Psalmist, "to draw near to God." It is the idea of
all true religion that it can be nothing but goodto getnear to God — the
nearer the better; that he who gets near Him finds peace, blessing,satisfaction
of all wants;that awayfrom Him is darkness and unrest. But why have a
Mediatorat all? Why have any one standing betweenyou and God, instead of
going direct to Him, and dealing with Him, without any Mediator? Just
because our nature needs the Mediator. We cannotunderstand the mysteries
of God, which pass our understanding. Out of the limits of our capacity, and
out of the infinitude of God, springs that need of One who shall stand between
Him and us, revealing the Infinite to the finite, the Divine to the human. And
He who does this is called here emphatically "the man Christ Jesus";"for
what man knoweththe things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in
him?" And thus, in order that the life and characterof God should be
understood by us, they must be revealedto us by a man; by one in human
form, and living under human conditions. It is only thus you can come to a
real knowledge ofany person. You must learn his character. Is it hard or
tender; generous ornarrow; wise or foolish? And so your only true knowledge
of the living God must be a knowledge ofHis character, ofHis life, of His
ways. And as these, the life, the character, the ways of the infinite and eternal
God are far above, out of human sight, they must be brought near enoughfor
us to see, revealedto us by a Mediatorwho is Himself a man, the man Christ
Jesus. A God thus revealedwe can know, can understand. This is the idea of
the mediation of Christ; the revealing of what otherwise would be unknown
and unknowable in God; so that we, seeing His face and understanding His
character, may lose the ignorance that is full of darkness, andthe fear that is
full of torment, and may draw nigh to Him with true hearts, and in the full
assurance offaith. The end was spiritual perfectness;the Church was but the
means, and only useful as it servedthe end, and subject to such changes as
might make it serve the end better. But the belief, in which many people seem
to find the essentialnutriment of their spiritual life, is altogetherdifferent
from this. To them the Church is all in all, while Christ recedes into the
distance;and where the Church is not He is not and cannotbe. They do not

deny that He is the original source of Christian life and all its blessings;but to
this truth they add the error, that these blessings canreachthe individual soul
only through one channel of sacraments andministries. They thus interpose
betweenGod and man a certainmediation of the Church's, apart from which
they do not recognize any reality of Christian life at all, thus drawing across
the Holy of Holies a veil as thick as that which was rent in twain on the day of
the crucifixion. Be on your guard lest you should ever learn to regard any
system, or creature, as possessing a right to come betweenyou and your own
Lord and master; or as having the powerto add to or to take from what He
has done, and is doing, for you as the one Mediatorbetweenyou and God.
Now, you may see another example of the tendency. I speak of — to substitute
a lowermediation for the mediation of Christ, in the idea which many have
(especiallypersons in whom feeling is strongerthan reason)as to the relations
which should exist betweenthem and those who occupy the position of their
spiritual guides and instructors, and whose duty it is, as such, to guide and
instruct them. There is a strong desire in all minds, and particularly in minds
of that class, forsympathy where feeling is deeply stirred, for counselwhere
the highestinterests are involved; and there is, too, a strong inclination to
depend on and defer to those, with whom that sympathy and that counselare
found. Sympathy is good;but it is dangerous, when in order to evoke or to
secure it, you. unbare the secrets ofthe soul, and have to relate, even to the
friendliest and justest ear, the trials and difficulties which you find besetting
your inner life. A human director or guide or counselloris safe, not because
he fills a certain office and is ordained to a certain ministry; but when his
characteris such, that you know by the instinct of the spirit that there is in
him the mind of Christ, and that communion with him is communion with one
who is near the Master, and who will help to bring you near. Unless he is this,
he can do nothing for you; he cannot bring you nearerto Christ, he can only
stand betweenChrist and you. Now, in these instances (and more might be
mentioned) we see the one tendency, to push Christ away, and setsomething
of our own, a church, a system, a sacrament, a priest, a teacher, in the
Mediator's place;so that the truth becomes obscuredto us that the life of
every human soul is wrapped up in its direct communion with its God,
through faith in God as Christ revealedHim, and service of God after the
pattern of the Divine life of Christ.

(R. H. Storey, D. D.)
Christ Jesus the Mediator
I. Watkins.
I. THE NECESSITYOF A MEDIATOR. But there are difficulties existing —
a mighty gulf separating Godand man. He cannot cross to us; we cannot cross
to Him. His holiness is one obstacle. "He is of purer eyes than to behold evil."
Guilty and polluted as we are, we cannotapproach that Holy Being without
being at once consumed as were Korah and his companions. We at once see
the necessityof a mediator. His justice is another obstacle. "Justiceand
judgment are the habitation of His throne." Maintaining the honour and
dignity of His government was anotherobstacle. The greatLegislatorof
heaven has enacteda law that sin must be punished, that death must be the
penalty of disobedience. Thatpeace on earth and glory to God may
harmonize, there must be a mediator. Thus we have noticedthe need of a
mediator on the part of Jehovah. The mediator is equally necessaryon the
part of man. Man neededOne who would descendinto the depths of ruin,
place underneath him the arms of omnipotent love, and raise him up — One
who could enter into his dungeon, strike off his fetters, and throw open the
prison door for his release — One who can revealthe MostHigh as a God of
mercy, compassion, and love, yearning over the wandering prodigal, and
anxiously watching for the first sight of a trembling penitent returning home.
II. CHRIST JESUS THROUGH "THE COMBINATION OF THE TWO
NATURES IS ADAPTED TO ACT AS MEDIATOR.
1. He is equal with God; He is "the mighty God."
2. He is acquainted with the mind of God.Christ being human possessesthree
qualifications to actas mediator: —
1. An affinity to our nature.
2. A sympathy with our infirmities.

3. An interest in our cause.Fromthis subject we learn —
1. To admire the wisdom of Godin providing such a mediator.
2. The love of Christ in occupying such a position.
3. The folly of sinners in rejecting this mediator.
(I. Watkins.)
The mediator of the covenant
W. Whitaker, M. A.
Communion with God is our only happiness; it is the very heaven of heaven,
and it is the beginning of heaven here on earth. The only foundation of this
communion is the covenantof grace;and it is the greatexcellencyof this
covenantof grace, that it is establishedin such a mediator, even Jesus Christ.
I. THE ONLY WAY OF FRIENDLYINTERCOURSEBETWEEN GOD
AND MAN. It is through a mediator; that is implied. Whether man in the
state of innocency neededa mediator, is disputed among persons learned and
sober;but in his lapsedstate, this need is acknowledgedby all. God cannot
now look upon men out of a mediator but as rebels, traitor, as fit objects for
His vindictive wrath; nor can men now look up to God but as a provoked
Majesty, an angry Judge, a consuming fire.
II. THE ONLY MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MEN. "One mediator,"
that is, but one. Some acknowledge one mediatorof reconciliation, but
contend for many of intercession. So is Christ said here to be "one mediator,"
that is, but one. This mediator is here describedpartly by His nature — "the
Man"; and partly by His names — "Christ Jesus."
1. His nature — the man"; that is, "Thateminent man," so some;"He that
was made man," so others. "But why is this mediator mentioned in this nature
only?"(1)Negatively:not by way of diminution, as if He were not God as well
as man, as the Arians argue from this Scripture; nor as if the executionof his
mediatorship were either only, or chiefly, in His human nature, as some

affirm.(2) Positively: to prove that Jesus Christ was the true Messiahwhom
the prophets foretold, the fathers expected, and who had in that nature been
so frequently promised: as in the first gospelthat ever was preached(Genesis
3:15), He is promised as the Seedof the woman.
2. His names — "Christ Jesus." Jesus, this was His proper name; Christ, this
was His appellative name. Jesus:that denotes the work and business for which
He came into the world. Christ: that denotes the severaloffices, in the exercise
whereofHe executes this work of salvation.
III. THAT THERE IS NOW NO OTHER WAY OF FRIENDLY
COMMUNION BETWEEN GOD AND MAN, BUT THROUGH A
MEDIATOR. And, indeed, considering what God is, and withal what man is;
how vastly disproportionable, how unspeakablyunsuitable our very natures
are to His; how is it possible there should be any sweetcommunion betwixt
them, who are not only so infinitely distant, but so extremely contrary? Godis
holy, but we are sinful. In a word: He an infinitely and incomprehensibly
glorious majesty, and we poor sinful dust and ashes, who have sunk and
debasedourselves by sin below the meanestrank of creatures, and made
ourselves the burden of the whole creation. If ever Godbe reconciledto us, it
must be through a mediator; because ofthat indispensible necessityof
satisfaction, andour inability to make it (Romans 8:7). If everwe be
reconciledto God, it must be through a mediator; because of that radicated
enmity that is in our natures to everything of God, and our impotency to it.
IV. THAT THERE IS NO OTHER MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND
MAN, BUT JESUS CHRIST. "And one mediator"; that is, but one. And
indeed there is none else fit for so high a work as this but only He.
1. The singular suitableness ofHis personto this eminent employment. To
interpose as a mediator betwixt God and men, was an employment above the
capacityof men, angels, orany other creature;but Jesus Christ, in respectof
the dignity of His person, was every way suited for this work. Which you may
take in these four particulars.(1)That He was truly God, equal with the
Father, of the same nature and substance. Forthe further confirmation, take
these arguments —(a) He whom Scripture honours with all those names

which are peculiar unto God, must needs be God. That Christ hath these
names ascribedto Him appears from these instances:He is not only styled
God — "the Word was God" (John 1:1).(b) He in whom are those high and
eminent perfections, those glorious attributes, of which no creature is capable,
must needs be more than a creature, and consequently God.(2)As He is truly
God, so is He complete and perfect man; having not only a human body, but a
rational soul; and in all things was like to us, sin only excepted. That He had a
real, not an imaginary, body, appears from the whole story of the gospel.(3)
He is God and man in one person.
V. THE SINGULAR FITNESS OF CHRIST FOR THIS WORK OF
MEDIATION ARISES FROM HIS BEING GOD-MAN IN TWO NATURES,
UNITED IN ONE PERSON WITHOUT CONFUSIONOR
TRANSMUTATION.
1. Had He not been truly God, He had been too mean a person for so high an
employment. It was God that had been offended, an infinite Majestythat had
been despised;the person therefore interposing must have some equality with
him to whom he interposes. Had the whole societyof persevering angels
interposed on man's behalf, it had been to little purpose; one Christ was
infinitely more than all, and that because He was truly God.
2. Had He not been completelyman, He had been no way capable of
performing that indispensably-necessarycondition, upon which God was
willing to be reconciled;namely, the satisfying of that righteous sentence
which God had pronounced: "In the day that thou eatestthereof, thou shalt
surely die" (Genesis 2:17).
3. Had He not been God and man in one person, the sufferings of His human
nature could not have derived that infinite value from the Divine nature. We
could not have calledHis blood "the blood of God," as it is called(Acts
20:28): it would have been no more than the blood of a creature, and
consequentlyas unavailable as the blood of bulls, etc. (Hebrews 9:12; Hebrews
10:4).
4. Had He not been God-man without confusionof natures, His Deity might
either have advanced His humanity above the capacityof suffering; or His.

humanity might have debasedHis Deity below the capability of meriting,
which is no less than blasphemy to imagine. And this is the first reason, the
singular fitness of Christ for this work, because ofthe dignity of His person.
The singular fitness of Christ for this employment in respectof the
suitableness ofHis offices. There is a threefold misery upon all men, or a
threefold bar to communion with God.(1) The guilt of their sins, which
themselves are never able to expiate, or satisfy for.(2) The blindness of their
minds, the cure whereofis too difficult for any creature-physician.(3)Their
bondage and captivity to sin and Satan, which are enemies too strong for man
to deal with. Suitably to these three greatnecessities, JesusChristis anointed
of God to a threefold office, of a Priest, a Prophet, a King: the former of which
offices he exercisesonour behalf to God, and the lasttwo from God to us.(a)
The priestly office of Christ is the great, the only relief we have againstthe
guilt of sin. The work of the priesthood consisted, under the law, chiefly of
these two parts.(1)Satisfactionfor the sins of the people (Leviticus 4:15-19,
etc.).(2)Intercessionunto God on their behalf (Leviticus 16:15-17). Both
which were verified in Christ our greatHigh Priest(Hebrews 4:14). His
satisfaction, in discharging those debts which His people had run into with
Divine Justice to the utmost farthing.(3) His intercession;this is the other part
of His priestly office. His satisfaction — that was performed on earth; His
intercessionis per formed chiefly in heaven. By the former He purchased
pardon and reconciliation(2 Corinthians 5:19, compared with verse 21), by
the latter He applies the benefits He hath purchased.(b) The prophetical office
of Christ is the great, the only relief we have againstthe blindness and
ignorance of our minds. He is that greatProphet of His Church whom Moses
foretold, the Jews expected, and all men needed (Deuteronomy 18:15;John
1:24, 25, 45;John 6:14); that Sun of Righteousness,who by His glorious
beams dispels those mists of ignorance and error which darkenthe minds of
men; and is therefore styled, byway of eminency, "that Light" (John 1:8), and
"the true Light" (John 1:9). The executionof this prophetical office is partly
by revealing so much of the will of God as was necessaryto our salvation;
partly by making those revelations powerful and effectual.(1)In revealing the
will of God.(2)In enlightening effectually the souls of His people. In causing
the blind to see, and making them who were once darkness to be "light in the
Lord (Ephesians 5:8) Thus He instructs by His word and by His Spirit (1

Peter1:12).(c) The kingly office of Christ is the great, the only relief we have
againstour bondage to sin and Satan. He to whom "all poweris given in
heaven, and in earth" (Matthew 28:18).
(W. Whitaker, M. A.)
Christ Jesus the only Mediator betweenGodand men
J. Tillotson, D. D.
I. THAT GOD HATH APPOINTED BUT ONE MEDIATOR, OR
ADVOCATE, OR INTERCESSOR IN HEAVEN FOR US, in whose name,
and by whose intercession, we are to offer up all our prayers and services to
God. Besides thatit is expressly said here in the text, "there is but one
mediator betweenGod and men, the man Christ Jesus,"and that the
Scripture nowhere mentions any other: I say, besides this, we are constantly
directed offer up our prayers and thanksgivings, and to perform all acts of
worship in His name, and no other; and with a promise, that the prayers and
services whichwe offer up in His name will be graciouslyanswered and
accepted(John14:13, 14; John 16:23; 24). St. Paul likewise commands
Christians to perform all acts of religious worship in the name of Christ
(Colossians3:16, 17). And indeed, considering how frequently the Scripture
speaks ofChrist as "our only wayto God, and by whom alone we have access
to the throne of grace,"we cannotdoubt but that God hath constituted Him
our only mediator and intercessor, by whom we are to address all our
requests to God (John 14:6; Ephesians 2:18). And we have no need of any
other, as the apostle to the Hebrews reasons (Hebrews 7:24, 25). "But this
person (speaking ofChrist) because He continueth for ever, hath an
unchangeable priesthood," "since He abides for ever, is able to save to the
uttermost all those that come to God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make
intercessionfor us."
II. I proceedto show THAT THIS DOCTRINE OR PRINCIPLE OF ONE
MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MAN, IS MOST AGREEABLE TO
ONE MAIN END AND DESIGN OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, AND

OF OUR SAVIOUR'S COMING INTO THE WORLD, which was to destroy
idolatry out of the world; which St. John calls "the works of the devil" (1
John 3:8).
III. IT IS LIKEWISE EVIDENT FROM THE NATURE AND REASON OF
THE THING ITSELF, THAT THERE IS BUT ONE MEDIATOR AND
INTERCESSOR IN HEAVEN, WHO OFFERSUP OUR PRAYERS TO
GOD, AND THAT THERE CAN BE NO MORE. Becauseunder the gospel
there being but one high priest, and but one sacrifice once offeredfor sin; and
intercessionfor sinners being founded in the merit and virtue of the sacrifice,
by which expiation for sin is made, there can be no other mediator of
intercession, but He who hath made expiation of sin, by a sacrifice offeredto
God for that purpose; and this Jesus Christ only hath done. He is both our
high priest and our sacrifice;and therefore He only, in the merit and virtue of
that sacrifice, whichHe offered upon earth, can intercede in heaven for us,
and offer up our prayers to God.
(J. Tillotson, D. D.)
Only one Mediator
Sunday at Home.
Dora Greenwell's seemedto be a kind of dual nature religiously. On one side,
as it were, she was High Church to the verge of Romanism; on the other, an
earnestand simple evangelicalProtestant. "Howevermuch," she said, "'I may
appreciate the value of greatCatholic ideas... WhenI kneel down to pray I am
a Protestant;with Christ only betweenme and God, and betweenme and
Christ — faith."
(Sunday at Home.)
The atonement
A. Rowland, LL. B.

I. THE NECESSITYFOR A MEDIATOR is distinctly implied. Christ is a
true mediator, because He blends two natures in His own, the Divine and the
human. When a man is down in a horrible pit, a rope dangling above him
would be a mockeryif it were far out of his reach;and a ladder setin the miry
clay beside him would be equally useless,if the ground above were at an
unreachable distance from its highestrung. The only means of
communication, which can bring him salvation, must reachthe sunlit plain
above him, and yet be within his grasp. So is it with the "one Mediator." As
the God-man He reigns in the highest, yet reaches the lowest, and as the Son
of man rather than the Son of David or the Son of Abraham, He touches every
man, whateverhis race or condition.
II. THE ESSENCEOF THE ATONEMENT appears in the statement that He,
the mediator, Christ Jesus, "gave Himselfa ransom for all." The idea of
substitution, howeverlittle it commends itself to the judgment of some who
have often very imperfectly consideredit, is unquestionably involved in this.
The Greek wordtranslated here "ransom," means the redemption price paid
for the deliverance of a slave or captive, and when Jesus "gave Himself" (not
money or power) a ransomfor all, He was like one who takes the place of a
prisoner that the prisoner may go free. If the captive refuses freedomhe
perishes, but the love of his would-be deliverer is none the less. Mostof those
who have rejectedthis greatdoctrine have done so because they have had
pressedhome upon them only one phase of it — as if that were in itself a
complete and satisfactoryaccountof a profound mystery. The atonement has
sometimes been spokenof as a sort of legaltransaction, having no essential
bearing upon moral character, which will procure acquittal for the sinner at
the bar of judgment without setting him free from the usurpation of sin.
1. The God-ward side of the atonementis as important as it is mysterious, but
it is not to be insisted upon as it it were all. The Scripture asserts againand
againin types and in texts that it is in virtue of the death of Christ that God
can justly forgive; that exceptfor His sacrifice the Divine love could not reach
us; that by Him satisfactionwas made to the law of God, and that pardon was
not, and could not be, a bare actof grace. Thesestatements are beyond proof.
They concerna sphere of existence aboutwhich we know absolutelynothing
exceptwhat is revealedin Scripture. They have to do with the relations

betweenthe EternalFather and the Only BegottenSon, about which the
wisestof us are profoundly ignorant. We do not understand how the law of
the Fatherrequired the sacrifice ofthe Son, nor how the death of the God-
man affectedthe purpose of the Father; but are we to say, therefore, that
there is no connectionbetweenthem? Is that the only mystery in life? Why,
what do you know of your own existence in its deeper relations? Yet it has
been a frequent and grievous mistake of popular theologyto dwell upon this
aspectof the atonement only as if it contained the whole truth. But we must
also remember that Christ's giving of Himself as a ransom for all was meant
to have its influence on human hearts. This leads us to contemplate —
2. The man-ward side of the atonement. The Cross ofCalvary assuredthe
world that the Divine love, even for sinners, was capable of the utmost self-
sacrifice, whichtaught many to say, "We love Him because He first loved us."
But there is yet anotherphase of Christ's atoning work which must not be lost
sight of. We have seenthat it vindicated Divine law, and revealedDivine love
so as to touch the hearts of those who saw it, but it was meant also to exert an
ethical. influence overmen.
3. The moral powerof the atonement. Many sneerat professing Christians as
men who persuade themselves that they are relieved from the punishment of
sin, but who show no signs whatever of being redeemed from its power. But
love such as God calls for, and the sacrifice of Calvary demands, is really a
strong and active affection;indeed, we are told that "love is the fulfilling of
the law."
III. THE PROPAGATION OF THIS FUNDAMENTALTRUTH through the
world is to depend upon testimony. Paul says that he himself was a living
witness of it. This is our duty too. It may be that we have not any remarkable
gifts like Paul's, but we may revealto others the power of Christ to save from
sin, if only we ourselves experience thatpower.
(A. Rowland, LL. B.)
Jesus Christ the one MediatorbetweenGod and man

John Richardson, B. A.
Before entering upon the discussionof our text, we would offer a few remarks
on the precise meaning of the term "mediator," in this passage. Now, by the
word "mediator," in its generalmeaning, we understand one who interposes
betweentwo parties, either to obtain some favour from one to the other, or to
adjust and make up some difference betweenthem. But such a mediation may
be either voluntary or authorized, assumedor commissioned. Moses wasa
mediator in the former sense, whenhe showedhimself to his brethren "as
they strove, and would have set them at one again" (Acts 7:26). His
interference was rejected, when he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him
away, saying, Who made thee a ruler or judge over us?" It is not such a
mediator that the text speaks of. It is not presumption, not unauthorized good
intention in Christ when He mediates. But, again:the meaning of the term is
modified by the relative condition of the parties to be brought together. These
may be equal; and then eachis privileged to commit his own part in the
matter in hand to the care of the common arbitrator. A mediator, under such
circumstances, becomesanumpire, a judge, a referee, to whom the interest of
eachparty is committed, and by whose decisioneachparty is bound. But this
does not come up to the idea of Christ's mediation. A further notion of a
mediator is that of one interposing betweenunequals: one that has been
appointed by a superior, who has a right to make his own terms with an
offending inferior, and to depute to whomsoeverhe may see fit the regulation
of the manner in which intercourse is to be carried on betweenhim and those
with whom he may be willing to communicate. Moses,whencalled of God to
the direction of Israel, is an instance of this authorized mediation between
unequals; and, as such, was representative of the one greatMediatorof whom
our text speaks. Bythe term "mediator," then, we are here to understand one
duly commissionedby God, with whom the powerrests, to negotiate between
Himself and man, in order, as God's vicegerent, to receive man's submission
and obedience;and, as man's representative and advocate, to propitiate God's
justice, and to procure and communicate God's blessing.
I. THE PARTIES TO BE RECONCILED ARE "Godand man"; the Creator
and the creature; the rightful Sovereignand the rebellious subject; the kind
Father and the ungrateful child. Strange, it may be said, that there should be

variance betweensuch: was it always thus? No: once all was harmony and
peace and love. Whence, then, did the estrangementarise? FromGod? No:
the profusion and magnificence and beauty of Eden forbid the entertainment
of such a thought. It was in man that the alienation began. But how is the
estrangementperpetuated? "The carnal mind is enmity againstGod":here is
the sinner's having learned to hate what he feels he has abused, and
manifesting the identity of interest and feeling betweenhimself and that evil
one whose cause he now maintains. The very purity of the Being he has
injured makes his hatred but the more malignant: the very lack of palliation
for his disobedience confirms him in his settled purpose still to sin with a high
hand. Thus, what folly and pride began, folly and pride perpetuate.
II. THE PERSON MEDIATING— "the man Christ Jesus."
1. As to His nature, we may remark, that the expression, "the man Christ
Jesus," mustnot be consideredas declarative of His humanity to the denial of
His divinity. He is "Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God";"Godover all,
blessedfor evermore." But the Mediatoris still the "man Christ Jesus."Our
high notions of His Divinity must not cause us to overlook or deny His
humanity. As His Divinity fits Him to actwith God for man, so His humanity
fits Him to actwith man for God. But He must be sinless man. The slightest
flaw in His moral characterwould make Him a criminal, and not an Advocate
— would make His mediation offensive. The circumstance of having a
tendency to sin would imply partiality: He would be prone to palliate rather
than to condemn, and have a tendency to lower the standard of the Creator's
requirements, in order to make easierterms for the creature.
2. Again, as to His commission. He is authorized and empoweredby Him with
whom alone the power rests.
3. His work is threefold: His atonement, intercession, and mission of the
Spirit.
III. THE DESIGN OR END OF THIS MEDIATION, Now, we must bear in
mind that a mediator is required to considerthe interests of both parties in
behalf of whom he acts, and to make terms by which the honour of the
superior, and the restorationto favour of the inferior, may be most effectually

secured. With regardto the Almighty Ruler, His honour and sovereigntymust
be maintained, and His glory acknowledgedand admired. Man's position is
naturally now one of rebellion; but he must be brought to lay down his arms.
Christ, in the person and place of man, has tendered and paid the penalty
incurred, met the demands of offended justice, and now He tenders the
submission of eachindividual child of man that receives Him as his Mediator
by faith. The constructionof man in his original form was a wonder of Divine
skill: the formation of his spirit in knowledge, holiness, andhappiness,
bespoke a master hand; but, when all the beauty of this wondrous production
had been marred by the fall, to re-construct, re-adorn, re-glorify the whole,
was the act only of Him whose thoughts are not as our thoughts. Yet such is
the effectof Christ's mediation. Intelligence continually enlarging and
expanding in the unclouded presence of the very Source of truth; holiness
everlastinglyincreasing in those regions where nothing entereth that defileth;
love for ever glowing with increasing intensity before Him who is its very
essence;happiness continually accumulating in the presence ofHim who
supplies it in inexhaustible abundance — these are the prospects of the
redeemedsoul: this is the high perfectionto which the wisdom and power and
love of Jehovahwill bring the frail fragile thing that Satanshivered, and sin
defiled. The glory of the perfections of Jehovah, then, are acknowledgedand
illustrated. But another end of this mediation was the goodof man. Christ
came to procure the outpouring of the blessing which sin had checkedand
intercepted. Godnow can visit those who had loved Him in Christ Jesus. We
would now proceedto offer a few generalobservations which seemto be
suggestedby the whole subject.
1. And, first, how greatis the unfairness of those who affirm, and the folly of
those who can be persuaded, that the tendency of the doctrine of justification
by faith only, is to engender a carelessandan antinomian spirit.
2. But another observationis this: How great are the injury and injustice done
to Christ by the addition of other mediators! To endeavour to make out a
necessityfor the interposition of the virgin, of saints, or of any priestly
mediator on earth, in order to our availing ourselves of the mediation of the
Redeemer, is grounded on no warranty of Scripture, and reflects injuriously
on the characterof the blessedJesus.

(John Richardson, B. A.)
The Man Christ
Christ's -- a true and proper humanity
R. Ferguson.
In whatever wayGod is pleasedto manifest Himself, the medium of
manifestation must be limited and finite. His union with our humanity, as an
organof revelation, is no more inconceivable than with any other nature
which is restrictedand confined. He was pleasedto assume our humanity as
the form through which to reveal the Divinity, and had He not been conscious
of a complete participation in human nature, He never would have adopted or
employed the designation— Son of Man. Having takenour nature, the man
Christ Jesus followedthe laws of purely human development both in body and
in mind. He not only representedbut passedthrough every successive period
or stage of life. In every sense He was a child — in every sense a youth — in
every sense a man. The socialaffections enterimmediately and inseparably
into the very idea of our humanity. With these socialfeelings our Creatorhas
endowedus, and has fixed our abode in a world in which they are everbeing
calledinto joyous play, and in which there exists the most beautiful provision
for their gratification. Nordoes Christianity interfere with these socialties
and relationships. We are formed to love. Norcan we conceive of any
principle, human or Divine, strongeror more impressive. It is the
conservative principle of families and of societyatlarge. A world without love
would be a world in which every socialbond would soonbe loosenedand
broken, and the human passions become the play of so many lawless forces,
which would ultimately involve societyin eternal enmity and opposition. One
of the most touching scenes in the sociallife and history of Christ is connected
with His death. Notfar from His cross, andjust as He was in the act of giving
up His spirit into the hands of His Father, He beheld His mother standing at a
distance, burdened with sorrow and bathed in tears. While His development
was from first to last without sin — while He was a living and pure model of
that conduct which is pleasing to God — yet His fellowship with humanity was

emphatically a fellowship of suffering. In suffering He surpassedall men. In
proportion to the perfection, refinement, and sensibility of His nature, was the
depth and keenness ofHis affliction. Never was sorrow like unto His sorrow.
We wondernot, therefore, that Christ should have a deep and unmistakeable
sympathy with suffering and with sorrow. Notthat His sympathies could flow
out only amid scenesofgrief and distress. The subject of the purest social
affections, He could freely mingle in the intercourse of men, and share in all
their human joys. In Him we behold that Spirit of liberty with which the
Divine life takes hold of, and appropriates to itself the relations of the world
and of society. Christianity is eminently socialin its character. True piety is
cheerful as the day, and sheds its radiance over every scene. Thatschoolof
spiritual life in which the Saviour taught His disciples differed from every
other. Instead of a sour, austere, unyielding asceticism, He trained them to a
comparatively unrestrained mode of life. Nor was it with poverty only that the
Saviour sympathized. Nor must we lose sight of the truth, that the sympathy
of Christ sprang from the purest and most intense love-that love, which, in
seeking and in blessing its objects, asks nothow, or when, or where. It is true
that this loving, compassionate, sympathizing Saviour, has left this lower
sphere of being, and hath passedinto those higher heavens, in which room is
found for nothing but the most refined and the most sublime enjoyment; and
yet eventhere is "He touched with the feeling of our infirmities." His
sympathies are still with us, whether we be in joy or in sorrow, and He can so
communicate with our spirit, as to give us the consciousnessofDivine succour
and support. We are consciousofthe fellowshipof mind with mind. And what
shall we say of those kindred virtues which clusteredand shone like the most
brilliant constellationin the life and characterof the Man? Humility is the
queen of graces. It is one of the rarestand the truest virtues. It is far removed
from everything approaching to meanness of spirit. Having come into the
world to offer himself a sacrifice for man, there was no actof hazard or of
self-denial to which the Saviour was not prepared and willing to descend.
Allied to this humility is meekness. Self-denialis nothing if clamorous and
noisy. It does not lift up and cause its voice to be heard in the street. It is
silent, unobtrusive, and retiring. If humility be not servility, neither is
meekness to be lookedupon as softness. Hence it is that we read of the
gentleness ofChrist. Not only was He harmless in life, but in death He was led

as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He
opened not His mouth. Not that He can be chargedwith timidity and
weakness.His soul was full of manly energy. A spirit so humble, and meek,
and gentle, could not be wanting in forbearance;but forbearance must not be
understood as involving anything of timidity or cowardice. It is the highest
manifestation of self-control. It follows that this forbearance carries with it
the corresponding idea of patience. In forbearance there must be the powerof
enduring. But patience is not to be resolvedinto insensibility, any more than
forbearance is to be resolvedinto cowardice.The Saviour of man could not
only face oppositionand danger, but He could with calm assurance bearevery
species ofwrong and suffering which could be inflicted on His deeply sensitive
and susceptible nature. It new only remains to add, that this patience was
allied to the most child-like submission — the most perfect resignation. To
give up our own individual will for the will of another in circumstances of
deep suffering, is the perfectionof Christian virtue. Nor were these virtues
embodied and exemplified in the life of Christ otherwise than as a model and
example to man. Our characterand life should be the mirror in which His
virtues are reflected; or rather, our life should be the counterpart of His. We
must copy after our greatpattern. It is not forbidden us in the arrangements
of infinite wisdom and love to cultivate and cherishthe socialaffections to the
highest possible point, so long as they do not withdraw the heart from God,
and the sublime objects of immortality. Nor canour Christianity have its full
development but amid the scenes, and friend ships, and enjoyments of our
present being. Whatsoeverthings are true, whatsoeverthings are honest,
whatsoeverthings are just, whatsoeverthings are pure, whatso ever things are
lovely, whatsoeverthings are of goodreport — if there be any force, and if
there be any praise in them, think on these things, and these things do, and the
God of peace shallbe with you.
(R. Ferguson.)
The man Christ Jesus
R. S. Candlish, D. D.

To pray for all, even for those that are most hostile or most alien (ver. 3), is
goodand acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour. It may well be so, it must
be so. For it is in accordance withHis mind and will as Saviour. He is our
Saviour, it is true; but not ours only (ver. 4). He will have all men- His greatest
enemies, the most outcastprodigals, not excepted — He will have all men to
be saved, and to come to the knowledge ofthe truth. If there are any for
whom we cannot pray directly out of sympathy with them, we can pray for
them out of sympathy with the Lord, who is our Saviour, and who is willing
also to be theirs. All the rather will we pray for them all, when we bear in
mind that they and we are all one. Yes! all are one, they and we are one;
inasmuch (ver. 5) as there is one God for all, one Mediatorfor all, one Saviour
for all. There are not many Gods, so that one might belong to one God and
some to another. There are not many Mediators, many Captains of salvation,
under whose separate banners men might rank themselves at pleasure. There
are not many ransoms, with blood of various hues to meet varieties of taste
among the sprinkled worshippers. There is but one God, to whom all belong.
One God for all. One Mediator for all. One ransom for all. And the ransom,
the Mediator, Christ Jesus, is "the man." Not a man of a particular colour,
whether fair, or dark, or of Ethiopian dye. Not a man of particular race, Jew
or Gentile; of Shem, of Japhet, or of Ham. Not a man of a particular class or
rank, whether of royal ancestryor of lineage proper to His birth in the stable
of an inn. Not a man of a particular temperament, whether sanguine or
morose, grave or gay. Not a man of a particular history, walking in a path
apart. He is "the man Christ Jesus";everywhere, always, to every one, the
same;the man. Therefore they who love Him, the man Christ Jesus, may well
be exhorted to pray for all men.
I. He is the man all through; OUT AND OUT THE MAN. In soul, body,
spirit; in look, voice, carriage, walk;in mind, heart, feeling, affection. In Him
— in all about Him, all He is, and all He does, you see the man; not the man of
honour, the man of piety, the man of patience, the man of patriotism, the man
of philanthropy, but the man. The manhood in Christ Jesus is very noble, but
it is very simple. And it is because it is so simple that it is so noble. None have
ever succeededin drawing His charactersince. Do you ever think of Him but
just as the man? Other men you think of as distinguished by their features.

You remember other men by their peculiarities of manner. But by what
peculiarity do you remember the man Christ Jesus?Oh! it is a blessedthing
to know that Jesus Christ is the man. The man for you, brother, whoeveryou
are — and the man also, I thank God, for me! The man for the strong — the
man for the weak I The man for heroes, for who so heroic as the man Christ
Jesus? The man for you who toil in the carpenter's shop; in the like of which
once He toiled, like you — the man Christ Jesus I
II. He is simply man throughout; IN EVERY EXIGENCY, in every trial,
simply man — the man Christ Jesus!In all His earthly and human
experience, you never find Him other than man; you never find Him less than
man; and you never find Him more than man. He is the Sonof God, you
know;the Father's fellow. But you never think of His being the Son of God as
making His manhood at all different from yours. No!For you never find Him
taking shelterfrom the ills to which flesh is heir in any power, or privilege, or
prerogative of His Divine nature and heavenly rank. Thus, as the man Christ
Jesus, He lies in His mother's bosom, and works at her husband's trade, He is
subject, all His youth, to His parents, He is weary, hungry, thirsty, He is
vexed, grieved, pained, provoked, His soul is exceedinglysorrowful, and at
times His angeris stirred, He cries, and groans, and weeps, He bleeds, and
quivers, and dies. Man's capacityof attainment, man's power of endurance —
what man is fit for, what man canstand, with the help of God, you learn from
the human history of the man Christ Jesus!
III. He is the man exclusively, pre-eminently, PAR EXCELLENCE, to the
absolute exclusionof all others, He is the man, the only man, complete and
perfect. He stands alone as man. Manhood, in its integrity, belongs to Him
alone. Not otherwise, Oh, my brother sinner, could He be the man for you; the
man for me. Let one gatherup in himself all the fragments of the manhood
which you and I share together. Let him collectin one heap, as it were, every
particle of glory and beauty to be found anywhere among the ruins of
humanity. Let him take every greatman's quality of greatness, everygood
man's element of goodness. Takeallthe good, of all sorts, you can possibly
discoverin the records of goodmen of all the ages. Mix, compound, combine
as you may please, you cannotget the man! Forthe man to meet my case,and
satisfy the craving of my soul — must be no thing of shreds and patches; but

complete, perfect, an Unbroken round, in himself one whole. No composite
will do. He must be a single and simple unity; one, like the seamless coat,
woven from the top through. out. But humanity, manhood, has never been
thus one, inwardly and intensely one, since the fall. Men there have been, good
and great. But they have been fragmentary; a bit of manhood in each;often a
very beautiful bit of manhood; but set, alas!and often well-nigh lost, in a
confused, chaotic jumble of inconsistenciesandincoherences!And here is the
man; the man Christ Jesus. All manhood is His; manhood such as yours and
mine; but untainted, incorrupt, one and indivisible, which yours and mine is
not. He is holy, harmless, undefiled; and separate from sinners. Nay, even if
we could fancy a man more complete still, more completely uniting in himself
the excellences ofall other men, and more completelyexcluding their
infirmities and faults; we cannot reachthe idea of one who would not be more
to some than he might be to others;who might be everything to you, and little,
if anything at all, to me. No! If we would find one who is to be the man for me,
for you, for all; we must ascendthe streamof time, and fetch his manhood
from beyond the flood, from beyond the fall! Then, in the unbroken image of
God, manhood, human nature, the very self of man, was truly and- indeed
one. Since then the manhood among men has been manifold and brokenand
fragmentary. The man who is to gatherup the fragments must himself be
whole. The only one who can be the head of all, because He canbe the same to
all, is He who takes ourhuman nature — not as it is now, rent and torn by sin
— but as it once was;one in unbroken, pure, and holy innocence, one in
immaculate likeness to the Holy One. And who is this but the man Christ
Jesus?
IV. HE IS THE MAN TO MEDIATE BETWEENGOD AND MAN. To be the
one Mediator, He must be pre-eminently and distinctively the man; the
representative man; the one man. If mediation is a reality; if it is a real
transactionoutside of us; not an internal process, but the adjustment of an
external relation, as all Scripture teaches us that it is; the mediator must be a
third party, distinct from both the parties betweenwhom He mediates. He
may and must representboth. But He is to be confounded with neither, He is
to be mergedin neither. A man cannot have a mediator within himself; nor
can he mentally create a mediator out of himself. He cannotbe his own

mediator. Every man is not a mediator, nor is it any man indiscriminately
who can be a mediator. Nor will an ideal man, springing, as it were, fully
grown, from the thoughtful head or fond heart, the living ideal outcome and
expressionof those human instincts that are opposedto evil, and yearn for
good, suffice. No. Not though we give it a localhabitation and a name, and call
it the man Christ Jesus of Nazareth. If there is to be realand actualmediation
in the fair and honest sense ofthe term, the man who is to be mediator must
be found for me, not found by me, leastof all found by me in myself. He must
be born, not from among us, but from above. He mush be the man, not by
assentor consenton the part of earth merely, but by the decree ofheaven, or
rather by the creative act of heaven's Lord, doing a new thing on the earth,
bringing in anew the man, the secondAdam! Thus three conditions come
togetherand coalesceas identifying the man who is to be the mediator. First,
He must be the man, not as manhood exists and appears, marred and broken,
among the children of the fall, but as it was in its original oneness and
perfection, when man really bore the image of his Maker. Secondly, He must
be the man, not as suggestedby men's owninstincts, and impulses, and
cravings, but as directly chosen, appointed, introduced by God Himself. And,
thirdly, He must be the man, as being, in His wondrous person, one with God
in the same true and realsense in which He is one with men. All these three
conditions meet in the man Christ Jesus. And they meet in Him as the man
who sounded the utmost depths of human experience, and in the strength of
His pure and simple manhood, aided only by prayer and by the Spirit,
withstoodevil, masteredpain, and by suffering overcame the wickedone.
Truly there is and can be but one MediatorbetweenGod and men, the man
Christ Jesus. The man —(1) Made, as to His human nature, by special
miracle, in the unbroken image and likeness ofGod. The man(2) Who comes
forth from God, bearing His commissionto negotiate peace. The man(3) Who
in respectof His Divine nature, unchanged, unchangeable, is one with God —
the Sondwelling evermore in the Father's bosom.
V. HE IS THE MAN TO GIVE HIMSELF A RANSOM FOR ALL. He who
would do this — must be one who is willing to take your place, and be your
substitute; and fulfil all your obligations, and meet all your responsibilities.
But more than that, He must be Himself free, under no obligations, under no

responsibilities of His own. He must be one who owes nothing to God on His
own account;no service, or righteousness, orobedience;and one also who lies
under no penalty on His own account;againstwhom no charge can be
brought. In whom are these qualifications found combined but in the man
Christ Jesus?ForHis willingness who can doubt it? "Lo, I come," He says
(Psalm 40:7). But willingness alone will not suffice. He who is to be your
surety, your ransom, must be no common man. If He is one who, as a mere
creature, is made under the law, as all intelligent creatures are made under
the law, He cannot answerfor others; He can but answerfor Himself. Not
even if He were the highest of the angelic hostcould He do more. Brother,
thou needesta ransom, an infinite ransom, a perfect ransom, a ransom
sufficient for the cancelling of all thy guilt and the perfecting of thy peace with
God. No such ransom canstthou find in thyself, in me, in any angel. But God
has found it.
VI. HE IS THE MAN TO BE TESTIFIEDIN DUE TIME. A testimony for
fitting seasons,a greattruth to be attestedas a fact at the right crisis of the
world's history, to be ever afterwards preachedand taught as the source of
life to men doomed to die — is this marvellous constitution of the manhood of
Christ Jesus;fitting Him for being the one Mediator, the one Ransom. It is the
testimony for which I am ordained a preacher, an ambassadorfor Christ.
1. It is my ordained and appointed testimony, or rather the Lord's by me, to
thee, O sleeper— to thee, O doubter — to thee, whosoeverthou art, who art
living a godless, unholy life, unrenewed, unreconciled, unsanctified. It is a
testimony in due time to thee.
2. It is the testimony with which I am chargedto thee also, O downcastsoul,
who art afflicted, tossedwith tempest and not comforted, sin-laden, sorrow-
laden, unable to see thy warrant for having peace and life with thy God. I
testify to thee, the Lord testifies by me to thee, that all thou needestis in the
man Christ Jesus, the Mediator, the Ransom, and in Him for thee.
3. It is a timely, seasonable testimonyto thee also, O man of God, my son
Timothy, O child of God, who hast quiet peace in believing, and art walking at
liberty, having respectto all God's commandments. The testimony to thee this

day is of the man Christ Jesus, the Mediator, the Ransom. And it is for every
due time, every fitting season. Forthyself, I urge thy recognitionalways of
Him of whom I testify, the man Christ Jesus. For, whateverthe time,
whateverthe season, it is a due time, a fitting season, forHis being testified to
thee, by the Spirit, as being present with thee. As thou walkestthe streets, or
journeyest along the road, He talks with thee by the way, and opens to thee
the Scriptures concerning Himself; the man Christ Jesus, who taught thus of
old in Galilee and Jewry, speaking as never man spoke. As thou sittestat
meat, He breaks bread with thee, the man Christ Jesus, in whose living,
personal, human, and Divine fellowship, the first disciples at Jerusalemdid
eat their meat with gladness andsingleness ofheart. As thou visitestthe
fatherless and widows in their affliction, He goes with thee, the man Christ
Jesus, who in all their affliction is Himself afflicted. As thou art wearied
among the workers ofiniquity whom thou art seeking to turn to
righteousness, readyto complain, "Who hath believed our report?" see, ever
near thee, at thy side, the man Christ Jesus, who endured such contradiction
of sinners againstHimself, and whose prayer on the cross was,"Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do!"
(R. S. Candlish, D. D.)
Christ, the mediating man
W. Braden.
Jesus Christ as standing for mediatorial purposes betweenGod and man, is
doing a work necessaryto be done before satisfactoryrelations canbe
establishedbetweenthe sinner and the holy God. Our sins have separatedus
from God, and Christ lives to intercede, to mediate for us. Now, this fact has
been so stated at times as to produce false impressions concerning Godand
His feelings towards men. It has been spokenof as though Jesus Christ had to
stand for us in the presence ofGod, to offer Himself as a sacrifice, to persuade
the Supreme to have pity, to take us back into His favour. God is thus
representedas One who sustains a stern anger againstthe entire race, and
who is determined to hold out in His terrible wrath againstthem. Now, I

venture to assertthat any teaching which leaves that idea of God upon the
hearts of men is a gross libel of the Divine nature, utterly contrary to
Scripture, and solemnly untrue. We could not feel any conscious gratitude for
such compulsory pardon as that. If we realized any love or gratitude, it would
not go forth to Him, but to the Mediator who had interposed to save us from
the impending wrath. We should regardGod as One to dread, and Christ only
as One to love. If there is one cleartestimony of Scripture that we are invited
to receive, it is that God's mercy is the fountain and source of the grace we
receive. Christ is the expressionofGod's mercy. Christ is God's gift. Yet, it
may be asked, could not God have savedand reconciledthe world without the
intervention of the man Christ Jesus? He is a very bold dogmatistwho would
say that God could not have redeemed without the aid of the appointed
Mediator. That would be to shut Him up to necessity, to surround Him with
limitations, to restrictHim within the sphere of a single method, forgetting
that with God all things are possible. That God has arranged that this shall
be, warrants us, not in saying that the end could not have been accomplished
in some other way, but that this was in the Infinite Wisdom the best, and that
it met a necessitywhichcould not have been otherwise so well and adequately
met. If you ask what was that necessitywhich resulted in the life and death of
Christ, then Scripture is silent. There it stands, a sublime history, an
accomplishedfact, in some way unexplained to us. Our salvation depends
upon that mediatorial work;the Christ has come betweenus and God, and so
achievedour ransom; and He now appears in the presence ofGod for us. Yes,
there it is; though, I repeat, so far as the Divine side of the work of Christ is
concerned, we know nothing more than this, that it has satisfiedthe Divine
Father, and made salvation possible to all. So we restassuredthat it was the
best way. When, however, we turn to the human side, we perceive how
wonderfully gracious is the arrangementthat the Mediatorshould have been
what He was — a man, the man Christ Jesus. This is what we are askedto fix
our attention upon as of supreme and vital importance to us. He who
undertakes our case andpleads our cause is not an angel, is not to be regarded
as standing in any degree alooffrom us; for though He had a supernatural
birth, that in no sense was meant to separate Him from the race:He is still
essentiallyone with it. It is just what we want to realize. He is distinctively the
man — the man belonging alike to all. His nationality is hot prominent in our

minds, and in no wayestranges oursympathy from Him, or affects our feeling
towards Him. The fact is, as you read the exquisite recordof His life, you feel
that no nation has any specialclaim upon Him. He lives, and acts, and speaks,
and dies as One who belongs to all humanity. Then, carry the thought further.
Your study of the characterand conduct of Jesus Christwill have revealedto
you this great truth — that He does not impress you as manifesting any
particular temperament. We mark off men according to certainpeculiarities
of disposition which they possess:their individuality puts them into classes.
We speak ofthe reservedand the frank, the serious and the gay. Now you find
nothing of all this in Christ. He shows no one quality of mind or heart
predominant over any other. There is a rounded completenessofnature in
Him altogetherunique. What is the consequenceofthis? That He repels none,
and is attractive to all. Men of varying temperaments, like those who formed
the first group of disciples, clusteraround Him, acceptHim as their guide and
teacher. He is the Christ for all — the Mediatorin whom all can trust. He can
draw all temperaments and natures to Himself. See in this again another
proof of His fitness for the office He holds, and the work He undertakes — the
man Christ Jesus, the One Mediator. The world wants no other, no multiplied
agency. Take notice againthat He has none of the faults and flaws and
imperfections of common manhood. Here indeed is His peculiarity. Yes, but
even then you have proof that He is the Man. In Him you have manhood in its
integrity. You have manhood in its grandestpossibilities. But how does that
complete manhood of our Lord help us to rejoice that He is the right One to
become our Mediator? I reply that you could not conceive the idea of an
imperfect one representing the case ofsinners; you could not be content to
trust it in his hands; you could not be sure of the result. His infirmities might
interfere with and mar his grand work. It would not be to such a one that we
could look hopefully to be the means of redeeming us, for he would need
himself to be redeemed. He is a man, knowing us altogether, yet free from our
defects and evil, and so fitted to achieve the work of reconciling us and leading
us back to God. Thus the very integrity of His manhood is the reasonwhy He
should be the Mediatorfor all other men. You are linked to God through
Him, and through Him will come every blessing that God has to give to His
children. Let none fear to come to God, since the way is opened for

reconciliationthrough the Mediator — the man Christ Jesus — and all that
Christ is and all that He has accomplishedare for you.
(W. Braden.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(5) For there is one God, and one mediator betweenGod and men, the man
Christ Jesus.—“For.” This gives the reasonwhy it is goodand well-pleasing in
the sight of God that Christians should pray for all—for there is one Saviour,
God the Father, who wills that all should be saved, and there is one Mediator,
Christ Jesus, who has given Himself as ransom for all. Surely then, to us who
call ourselves by the name of Christ, the fate of the heathen who as yet know
not Christ cannot be a matter of indifference. We must in our praise and
prayer include these strangers whomthe Fatherwills should come to Him, for
whose sake the Son has given his life.
The man Christ Jesus.—St.Paulwith specialemphasis speaks ofthe “one
MediatorbetweenGod and man” as “the man Christ Jesus,” no doubt
wishing to bring into prominence the true humanity of the Lord. It is also a
silent refutation of the docetic errors of some of the false teachers, ofwhose
doctrines Timothy was to beware. These would have persuadedmen that the
Christ Jesus who was nailed to the cross was no man, but simply a phantom.
The human nature of Christ is also speciallymentioned because in this state
He performed His office as Mediator. In the statement of the next verse we
find another reasonfor St. Paul’s allusion here to the fact of the Mediator
being a man. The Messiahmust have takenthe human nature upon Him
before He could have suffered that death which was the ransom of all. Again,
the human nature of the Mediatoris brought forward to show that the
mediatorial office extended over the whole human race—a grandthought,
expressedin the following words—“who gave Himselfa ransom for all.”

BensonCommentary
1 Timothy 2:5-7. For there is one God — One Creatorof all, the Fatherof the
spirits of all flesh, who is no respecterof persons;and one Mediator between
God and men — Appointed by God to make atonement for the sins of men by
his death, and who, in consequence ofthat atonement, is authorized to
intercede with God in behalf of sinners, and empoweredto conveyall his
blessings to them. The man Christ Jesus — Therefore all men are to apply to
this Mediator. By declaring that the one Mediatoris the man Jesus Christ, St.
Paul intimated that his mediation was founded in the atonement which he
made for our sins in the human nature. Wherefore Christ’s intercessionforus
is quite different from our intercessionfor one another: he intercedes as
having merited what he asks forus. Whereas we intercede for our brethren,
merely as expressing our good-will towardthem. We, depraved and guilty
sinners, could not rejoice that there is a God, were there not a Mediator also;
one who stands betweenGod and men, to reconcile man to God, and to
transactthe whole affair of our salvation. This excludes all other mediators, as
saints and angels, whom the Papists setup and idolatrously worship as such:
just as the heathen of old set up many mediators to pacify their superior gods.
Who gave himself a ransom for all — Αντιλυτρον, such a ransom, the word
signifies, wherein a like or equal is given, as an eye for an eye. The clause
seems to be an allusion to Christ’s words, (Matthew 20:28,)to give his life,
λυτρον αντι, a ransom for many. Any price given for the redemption of a
captive, was calledby the Greeks λυτρον, a ransom; but when life was given
for life, they used the word αντιλυτρον. Indeed, this ransom paid by Christ,
from the dignity of his person, was more than equivalent to all mankind. To
be testified in due time — Το μαρτυριονκαιροις ιδιοις, the testimony, that is,
a thing to be testified, in his own seasons;namely, those chosenby his own
wisdom. Whereunto I am ordained — Appointed; a preacher — Κηρυξ, a
herald, to proclaim the grace of it all abroad; and an apostle — To attestby
miracles that greatand essentialdoctrine of it, the resurrectionof Jesus from
the dead. I speak the truth in Christ — As thou, Timothy, well knowest;I lie
not — In pretending to such an extraordinary mission. A teacherof the
Gentiles — As if he had said, I was not only in generalordained to this

ministry, but by peculiar destination was appointed to preach to the heathen
and instruct them; in faith and verity — That is, in the faith of the gospel, and
in the whole system of truth which it comprehends. This same solemn
asseverationthe apostle usedRomans 9:1. He introduces it here in
confirmation of his being an apostle, and a teacherof the Gentiles in the true
faith of the gospel, becausesome in Ephesus denied his apostleship, and
especiallybecause the Jews were so averse to his preaching the gospelamong
the Gentiles, charging his doing it either upon the want of a due regardto his
own nation, or some view of avarice or ambition. On this passageDr. Benson
remarks, “Whatwriter ever kept closer to his subjectthan this apostle? The
more we understand him, the more we admire how much every sentence and
every word tends to the main purpose of his writing.”
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
2:1-7 The disciples of Christ must be praying people; all, without distinction
of nation, sect, rank, or party. Our duty as Christians, is summed up in two
words; godliness, thatis, the right worshipping of God; and honesty, that is,
goodconduct toward all men. These must go together:we are not truly
honest, if we are not godly, and do not render to God his due; and we are not
truly godly, if not honest. What is acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour,
we should abound in. There is one Mediator, and that Mediatorgave himself a
ransom for all. And this appointment has been made for the benefit of the
Jews and the Gentiles of every nation; that all who are willing may come in
this way, to the mercy-seatof a pardoning God, to seek reconciliationwith
him. Sin had made a quarrel betweenus and God; Jesus Christ is the
Mediatorwho makes peace. He is a ransom that was to be known in due time.
In the Old Testamenttimes, his sufferings, and the glory that should follow,
were spokenof as things to be revealedin the last times. Those who are saved
must come to the knowledge ofthe truth, for that is God's appointed way to
save sinners: if we do not know the truth, we cannotbe ruled by it.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
For there is one God - This is a reasonfor offering prayer for all people, and
for the declaration1 Timothy 2:4 that Goddesires that all people should be

saved. The reasonis founded in the fact that he is the common Father of all
the race, and that he must have the same desire for the welfare of all his
children, He has made them of one blood Acts 17:26, and he must have the
same interest in the happiness of all; compare Ephesians 4:6 note; Romans
3:30 note.
And one MediatorbetweenGod and men - see Galatians 3:19-20 notes;
Hebrews 9:15 note. This also is given as a reasonwhy prayer should be
offered for all, and a proof that God desires their salvation. The argument is,
that there is the same MediatorbetweenGod and all people. He is not the
MediatorbetweenGod and a part of the human race, but between"Godand
men," implying that He desired the salvationof the race. Whateverlove there
was in giving the Mediatorat all, was love for all the race;whatevercan be
argued from that about the interestwhich God has in man, is proof of his
interest in the race at large. It is proper, therefore, to pray for all. It may be
remarkedhere that there is but one Mediator. There is not one for kings and
another for their subjects; one for the rich and another for the poor; one for
the masterand another for the slave. All are on the same level, and the
servant may feelthat, in the gift of a Mediator, Godregarded him with the
same interest that he did his master. It may be added also that the doctrine of
the Papists that the saints or the Virgin Mary may actas mediators to procure
blessings for us, is false. There is but "one Mediator;" and but one is
necessary. Prayerofferedto the "saints," orto the "Virgin," is idolatry, and
at the same time removes the one greatMediator from the office which he
alone holds, of making intercessionwith God.
The man Christ Jesus - Jesus was truly and properly a man, having a perfect
human body and soul, and is often called a man in the New Testament. But
this does not prove that he was not also divine - anymore than his being called
God (John 1:1; John 20:28; Romans 9:5; 1 John 5:20; Hebrews 1:8), proves
that he was not also a man. The use of the word man here was probably
designedto intimate that though he was divine, it was in his human nature
that we are to considerhim as discharging the office. Doddridge.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary

5. Forthere is one God—God's unity in essenceand purpose is a proof of His
comprehending all His human children alike (createdin His image) in His
offer of grace (compare the same argument from His unity, Ro 3:30; Ga 3:20);
therefore all are to be prayed for. 1Ti2:4 is proved from 1Ti2:5; 1Ti 2:1,
from 1Ti 2:4. The one God is common to all (Isa 45:22;Ac 17:26). The one
Mediatoris mediator betweenGod and all men potentially (Ro 3:29; Eph 4:5,
6; Heb 8:6; 9:15; 12:24). They who have not this one God by one Mediator,
have none: literally, a "go-between." The Greek orderis not "and one
mediator," but "one mediator also between… While God will have all men to
be saved by knowing God and the Mediator, there is a legitimate, holy order
in the exercise ofthat will wherewith men ought to receive it. All mankind
constitute, as it were, ONE MAN before God [Bengel].
the man—rather "man," absolutely and genetically:not a mere individual
man: the SecondHead of humanity, representing and embodying in Himself
the whole human race and nature. There is no "the" in the Greek. This
epithet is thus the strongestcorroborationofhis argument, namely, that
Christ's mediation affects the whole race, since there is but the one Mediator,
designedas the Representative Manfor all men alike (compare Ro 5:15; 1Co
8:6; 2Co 5:19; Col2:14). His being "man" was necessaryto His being a
Mediator, sympathizing with us through experimental knowledge ofour
nature (Isa 50:4; Heb 2:14; 4:15). Even in nature, almostall blessings are
conveyedto us from God, not immediately, but through the mediation of
various agents. The effectualintercessionofMoses forIsrael(Nu 14:13-19,
and De 9:1-29); of Abraham for Abimelech (Ge 20:7); of Job for his friends
(Job 42:10), the mediation being PRESCRIBED by God while declaring His
purposes of forgiveness:all prefigure the grand mediation for all by the one
Mediator. On the other hand, 1Ti 3:16 asserts thatHe was also God.
Matthew Poole's Commentary
The apostle proves the universal love of God to men by two reasons, the unity
of God, and the unity of the Mediator: though there are divers societiesand
vast numbers of men, yet there is but one God, the Creatorand Preserverof
all. If there were many gods in nature, it were conceivable that the God of
Christians were not the God of other men, and consequentlythat his goodwill

were confined to his own portion, leaving the restto their severaldeities;but
since there is but one true Godof the world, who has revealedhimself in the
gospel, it necessarilyfollows that he is the God of all men in the relation of
Creatorand Preserver. And from hence he concludes:God will have all men
to be saved. He argues in the same manner that salvation by faith in Christ
belongs to the Gentiles as well as the Jews, Romans 3:29,30. The apostle adds,
for the clearestassurance ofhis goodwill of God to save men, that there is
one mediator betweenGod and men, the man Christ Jesus. When the sin of
man had provokedDivine justice, and the guilt could not be expiated without
satisfaction, Godappointed his Sonincarnate to mediate betweenhis offended
Majestyand his rebellious subjects. And it is observable, the parallelbetween
the unity of God and the unity of the Mediator; as there is one God of all
nations, so there is one Mediatorof all. The strength of the apostle’s argument
from the unity of the Mediatoris this: If there were many mediators,
according to the numbers of nations in the world, there might be a suspicion
whether they were so worthy and so prevalent as to obtain the grace ofGod,
every one for those in whose behalf they did mediate. But since there is but
one, and that he is able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him, it
is evident that all men have the same Mediator, and that every one may be
assuredthat God is willing he should be saved, and, for that blessedend,
should by faith and repentance acceptthe covenantof grace. The apostle for
the strongerconfirmation specifies the Mediator,
the man Christ Jesus, to encourage the hopes of all men, from the communion
they have with him in nature, that they may partake of his salvation, and that
this greatMediator, having come from heavenand assumedthe infirmity of
our nature, Hebrews 4:15, will be inclined compassionatelyto assistthem, and
raise them to his heavenly kingdom.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

For there is one God,.... This does not so much regard the unity of God, with
respectto himself, or his divine essence, though that is a truth; but does not
carry in it any apparent and forcible reasonwhy all men should be prayed
for, for which it is produced; but the unity of God with respectto men, as that
there is but one God, who is the Creatorof all men, and who, in a providential
way, is the Saviour of all men; and in a way of specialgrace is the one God,
the one covenantGod of all sorts of men, of Jews and Gentiles;for he has
takenof the latter into the covenantof his grace, as wellas the former, and
has loved them with a specialand distinguishing love, has chosenthem in
Christ to salvation, and has sent his Son to redeem them; and of these he calls
by his grace, regenerates, sanctifies, adopts, pardons, and justifies; see
Romans 3:29 and therefore all sorts of men, Gentiles as wellas Jews, are to be
prayed for: another argument follows,
and one Mediator betweenGod and men; a Mediatoris of more than one, and
has to do with two parties; and these at variance among themselves, between
whom he stands as a middle person; his business is to bring them together,
and make peace betweenthem; and such an one is Christ: the two parties are
God and his elect, who in their natural state are at a distance from God, and
at enmity to him, and who have broken his law, and affronted his justice;
Christ stands as a middle person, a daysman betweenthem, and lays his
hands upon them both; has to do with things pertaining to the glory of God,
and makes reconciliationforthe sins of the people;brings them that were afar
off nigh to God, and makes peace forthem by the blood of his cross, by
fulfilling the law, and satisfying justice for them; in consequence ofthis he
appears for them in the court of heaven, intercedes and pleads for them, is
their advocate, and sees thatall covenantblessings, ofwhich he is the
Mediator, are applied unto them, and preserves their persons, which are
committed to his care and charge, safe to everlasting happiness; and this
Mediatoris
the man Christ Jesus;not that he is a mere man, for he is truly and properly
God; or that he is a Mediatoronly according to the human nature: it was
proper indeed that he should be man, that he might have something to offer,
and that he might be capable of obeying, suffering, and dying, and so of
making satisfactionin the nature that had sinned; but then, had he not been

God, he could not have drawn nigh to Godon the behalf of men, and
undertook for them, and much less have performed; nor would his blood,
righteousness, andsacrifice, have been available to cleanse from sin, to
procure the pardon of it, justify from it, make atonement for it, or make peace
with God: the reasonwhy he is particularly mentioned as man, is, with a view
to the argument in hand, praying for all men; since he who is the Mediator
betweenGod and man, has assumeda nature which is common to them all:
and this Mediatoris said to be one, not so much in opposition to other
mediators, angels or saints departed, though it is a truth, and stands full
againstthem, but with respectto men; there is but one MediatorbetweenGod
and all sorts of men, through whom both Jews and Gentiles have an accessto
God, and peace with him; and therefore prayer through this Mediatorshould
be made for all. So the Jews sayof the Messiah(u), that he is , "a Mediator,
God", a middle personbetweenGod and men. And they call him , "the Pillar
of mediation" (w) or the middle Pillar; that is, the Mediatoror Reconciler.
And Philo (x) the Jew speaks ofthe word, as a "middle" person, and standing
in the middle betweenthe dead and the living, and betweenGod and men. The
Ethiopic version here renders it, "there is one electof God";which is one of
the characters ofthe Messiah, Isaiah42:1.
(u) R. Albo, Sepher Ikkarim, orat2. c. 28. (w) Sepher Jetzira, p. 126. (x) Quis
rerum divin. Hares, p. 508, 509, 510.
Geneva Study Bible
{4} Forthere is one God, and one mediator betweenGod and men, the {b}
man Christ Jesus;
{4} God should not otherwise be manifestedto be the only Godof all men,
unless he should show his goodness in saving all types of men. Neither should
Christ be seento be the only mediator betweenGod and all types of men, by
having takenupon him that nature of man which is common to all men, unless
he had satisfiedfor all types of men, and made intercessionfor all.
(b) Christ Jesus who was made man.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary
1 Timothy 2:5. Εἷς γὰρ Θεός] The particle γάρ connects this verse with the
thought immediately preceding (Wiesinger), and not, as Leo and Mack think,
with the exhortation to pray for all.[89]The apostle wishes by it to confirm the
idea of the universality of the divine purpose of salvationas true and
necessary:he does this first by pointing to the unity of God. There is a quite
similar connectionof ideas in Romans 3:30 (emphasis is laid on God’s unity in
another connectionin 1 Corinthians 8:6, and, in a third connection, in
Ephesians 4:6). From the unity of God, it necessarilyfollows that there is only
one purpose regarding all; for if there were various purposes for various
individuals, the Godheadwould be divided in its nature. As there is one God,
however, so also there is one Mediator.
εἷς καὶ μεσίτης Θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων] The word ΜΕΣΊΤΗς[90]occurs
elsewhere in the Pauline Epistles only in Galatians 3:19-20, where the name is
given to Moses, becausethroughhim God revealedthe law to the people.
Elsewhere in the N. T. the word is found only in Hebrews 8:6; Hebrews 9:15;
Hebrews 12:24, and in connectionwith διαθήκης, fromwhich, however, it
cannot (with Schleiermacherand de Wette) be concluded that the idea
mediator refers necessarilyto the corresponding idea covenant. Christ is here
named the μεσίτης Θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων, because He is inter Deum et homines
constitutus (Tertullian). He is the Mediatorfor both, in so far as only through
Him does God accomplishHis purpose of salvation(His θέλειν) regarding
men, and in so far as only through Him canmen reachthe goalappointed
them by God(σωθῆναι καὶ εἰς ἐπίγν. ἀλ. ἐλθεῖν). Hofmann says:“He is the
means of bringing about the relation in which God wishes to stand towards
men, and in which men ought to stand towards God.” As with the unity of
God, so also is the unity of the Mediator a surety for the truth of the thought
expressedin 1 Timothy 2:4, that God’s θέλειν refers to all men.
To define it more precisely, Paul adds: ἄνθρωπος Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς. This
addition may not, as Otto and others assume, have been occasionedby

opposition to the docetism of the heretics. In other epistles of the N. T. special
emphasis is laid on Christ’s humanity, with no such opposition to suggestit;
thus Romans 5:15; 1 Corinthians 15:21; Php 2:7; Hebrews 2:16-17. In this
passagethe reasonfor it is containedfirst in the designationof Christ as the
μεσίτης (Theodoret:ἄνθρωπον δὲ τὸν Χριστὸν ὠνόμασεν, ἐπειδὴ μεσίτην
ἐκάλεσεν· ἐνανθρωπήσας γὰρ ἐμεσίτευσεν); and further, in the manner in
which Christ carried out His work of mediation, i.e., as the next verse informs
us, by giving Himself up to death.[91]
[89] Van Oosterzeeconfuses the two references:“God’s universal purpose of
salvationis here establishedin such a way that at the same time there is to a
certain extent (!) an indication of a third motive for performing Christian
intercessions.”
[90] Regarding the use of the word in classicalGreek,comp. Cremer, s.v.—
There is no necessityfor Cremer’s opinion, that μεσίτης in the passagesof
Hebrews does not so much mean “mediator” as “surety.”
[91] The ἀνθρώπων suggestedthe ἄνθρωπος all the more naturally, that in the
apostle’s consciousnessthe σωτηρία of men could be wrought only by a man.
Only a man could reconcile men with God; only, indeed, the man of whom it
was said ὃς ἐφανερώθη ἐν σαρκί (chap. 1 Timothy 3:16). Hofmann supposes
that Christ Jesus is here calledἄνθρωπος, “in order to say that, as He became
man to be mediator, He is therefore the mediator and saviour not of this or of
that man, but of all men without distinction.” This thought, however, is more
the ground of the εἷς, for even the mediator “of this or that man” might also
be a man.
Expositor's Greek Testament
1 Timothy 2:5. This emphatic statementas to the unity of the Godhead is
suggestedby the singular σωτῆρος just preceding. The εἷς neither affirms nor

denies anything as to the complexity of the nature of the Godhead;it has no
bearing on the Christian doctrine of the Trinity; it simply is intended to
emphasise the uniqueness of the relations of God to man. The use of one, with
this intention, is well illustrated by Ephesians 4:4-6, ἓν σῶμα, κ.τ.λ. The
current thought of the time was conscious ofmany σωτῆρες. In contrastto
these, St. Paul emphasises the uniqueness of the σωτήρ and θεός worshipped
by Christians. The contrastis exactlyparallel to that in 1 Corinthians 8:6,
εἰσὶν θεοὶ πολλοί, καὶ κύριοι πολλοί·ἀλλʼ ἡμῖν εἶς θεὸς ὁ πατήρ … καὶ εἷς
κύριος Ἰησ. Χρ. The question as to the mutual relations of the Persons ofthe
Godheadhad not arisenamong Christians, and was not present to the writer’s
mind. Indeed if it had been we could not regardthe epistle as a portion of
revealedtheology. Revealedtheologyis unconscious. The prima facie
distinction here drawn betweenεἷς θεός and εἷς μεσίτης would have been
impossible in a sub-apostolic orthodox writer.
Again, the oneness ofGod has a bearing on the practicalquestion of man’s
salvation. It is possible for all men to be saved, because overthem there are
not many Gods that can exercise possiblyconflicting will-power towards
them, but one only. See also Romans 3:30. One Godheadstands over against
one humanity; and the Infinite and the finite can enter into relations one with
the other, since they are linked by a μεσίτης who is both God and man. It is
noteworthy that μεσίτης θεοῦ κ. ἀνθρώπων is applied to the archangel
Michaelin The Test. of the Twelve Patriarchs, Daniel6:2.
ἄνθρωπος explains how Christ Jesus could be a mediator. He can only be an
adequate mediator whose sympathy with, and understanding of, both parties
is cognisable by, and patent to, both. Now, although God’s love for man is
boundless, yet without the revelation of it by Christ it would not be certainly
patent to man; not to add that one of two contending parties cannotbe the
mediator of the differences (Galatians 3:20). See also Romans 5:15. Again, we
must note that ἄνθρωπος (himself man, R.V., not the man, A.V.) in this

emphatic position suggests thatthe verity of our Lord’s manhood was in
danger of being ignored or forgotten.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
5. Forthere is one God] Usually taken as a proof of God’s willing all men to
be saved, as in the quotation from Theodore, 1 Timothy 2:4. But the parallel
passageis ch. 1 Timothy 3:15-16, where the testword ‘the truth’ leads at once
to the recitalof an apparently well-knownelementary creed. And so here, 1
Timothy 2:5-6 give us a creed, a brief exposition of ‘the truth’; and 1 Timothy
2:7 is seento have a much plainer connexionand strongerforce—this creed,
this Gospel, is what you have receivedwith my imprimatur as apostle of the
Gentiles, and is ‘the truth,’ whatever the teachers of false knowledge maysay.
See App. A iii.
and one mediator … the man] Accurate rendering requires one mediator also
… (himself) man. The word ‘mediator’ has now come to be applied without
explanations to Christ; a token of the later use, even of creedformulary. The
places in Hebrews 8:6; Hebrews 9:15; Hebrews 12:24, where Christ is thus
spokenof in contrastto Moses wouldlead on to this usage. ‘Man,’not of the
angelic race, whose aidsome would wish to use for mediation, Colossians2:18.
Cf. Hebrews 2:16.
“The other equally essentialcondition that he should be God is not here
insisted on, for the tendency of Gnosticismwas to Docetism.”
Bengel's Gnomen
1 Timothy 2:5. Εἷς) one, common to all. They who have not this one God, by
one Mediator, have none, [—and therefore they are not saved. Yet GOD
wishes all men to be saved by the saving knowledge ofGod and the Mediator;
but there is a legitimate and most holy order in the exercise ofthat will,
wherewith men ought to receive it. All mankind constitute as it were one man
before God; wherefore it is right, that they who have obtained salvation

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