“Grace to Him who has given me strength, to Jesus Christ our Lord, for He counted me faithful and put me to use.”

(1 Timothy 1:12)

This is a passage of scripture that can easily be misconstrued to suggest that it was Paul’s inward faithfulness that caused God to choose him for service. In reality, just the opposite is true. God chose Paul because of God’s own purposes. God made Paul faithful. Further, God is the one who strengthened and equipped Paul to be useful in His service. It begins with God and it ends with God. Plus, God is in all the in-betweens. Like a petulant child, our nature is to strive to take credit for things we did not do. Yet, despite what our sin might justify, all is a work of God and if we look closely enough, we will see it even here in this verse.

Paul begins by offering grace to God. Paul commonly uses the term χάρις (charis) not only in its technical manner, speaking of the grace of God, but also as a kind of greeting. It is a way of his giving thanks for the goodness he has experienced in and from God. And so, in this context, Paul is lifting up his thanksgiving to God. Why is he doing so? It is because God has given him strength in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

And thus, God strengthened Paul and put him to good use. The word ἠγέομαι (egeomai), translated here as “counted,” speaks in terms of accounting. This is put in such and such a column to balance the numbers, for instance. It is essentially the result of reasoning through a question and then registering the result in a more public manner. It is a term that we sometimes translate as “imputed.” God has credited Paul with the right to be called a servant of God. Again, this is God’s doing, for God has ordered Paul’s life to make him faithful. This is not a matter of Paul earning a wage or a title (as God has done the labor), but Paul is speaking of the privilege he has been given in the service of the King.