Tuesday, September 8, 2026
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
Historical Context
This letter, bearing Paul’s name, was written to Timothy, the younger co-worker left in charge of the church at Ephesus while Paul went on to Macedonia. Whether Paul wrote it himself is disputed, but it carried his authority either way. Timothy’s task was to hold the congregation steady, because teachers inside the church were pushing a different message, full of myths, long genealogies, and their own take on the law. One reading is that it narrowed a message meant for everyone, cutting out people who were not Jewish.
The city around them pulled in another direction. Ephesus sat under ordinary Roman rule in the province of Asia. Of all the cities in that region, it was the easiest to reach, by land or by sea, and the busiest for trade. Much of its wealth and civic pride rested on the temple of Artemis, the city’s goddess, which also served as the region’s treasury. That religious world took for granted many gods, many saviors, and more than one way to reach them.
Paul had just told the church to pray for everyone, including those in power, because God wanted every kind of person saved. The reason he gave was that there is one God and one go-between, the same for everybody. That was the setting into which these words entered: a city full of gods and mediators, with teachers inside narrowing who belonged.
Reflection
There is one God, and exactly one person stands between you and him: Jesus, a man. Just the one, doing that job alone. That is the whole claim here, so you do not need to find another path to God or work your way to him through anyone else.
You do not need a better connection, a longer record of good behavior, or an introduction from someone more spiritual than you. Christ already stands between you and God, and he holds that place for everyone who comes through him. No one gets there faster because of who they are, and no one is kept back because of who they are not.
If you have been treating access to God as something you still have to qualify for, let that go. You already have your one go-between. Go to God through him today, the same way anyone else would.