The Plan of Salvation in the Letters to Timothy and Titus

John Percival rethinks 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus by reading each letter on its own terms. Using a narrative “plan of salvation,” the author reveals their distinct voices, purposes, and theology – and offers a fresh, accessible perspective on often-overlooked New Testament texts.

The New Testament letters to Timothy and Titus (LTT) are often lumped together as “The Pastoral Epistles.” While there are understandable reasons for this approach, it has meant that the distinctive contribution of each of the three letters has not been sufficiently considered. Furthermore, narrative approaches to the Pauline letters have led to fruitful explorations of their theology, especially in discussions about salvation-historical and apocalyptic perspectives, but these approaches have not been applied to the LTT, at least in part due to their marginal status in scholarly discussion. Together, these gaps have impoverished our understanding of the theology and purpose of the LTT.
John Percival therefore applies a narrative approach to examine the salvation-historical outlook of each letter. Adopting minimal assumptions about authorship, he reviews each letter in turn, describing the components of a narrative “plan of salvation.” He examines the relationship between the elements of the plan to shed light on the narrative world, theology and, especially, the rhetorical purpose of the letter. Despite their brevity, the three letters display clear differences in narrative data. Percival identifies areas where the letters have been misrepresented or misunderstood in scholarly literature, arriving at a clearer understanding of each letter’s distinctive theological construction and use of the plan of salvation.

Chapter 1: Introduction
1 The Plan of Salvation?
2 The (Implied) Author and Recipients
2.1 An Author-Agnostic Approach to the Letters
2.2 Timothy and Titus as the Implied Recipients
2.3 Conclusion
3 "The Pastoral Epistles": A Loaded Label
4 Narrative Approaches to the Pauline Letters
5 Salvation-Historical Approaches to the Pauline Letters
5.1 A Single Coherent Story?
5.2 Significance of History before Christ
5.3 Future
5.4 Conclusion
6 Outline of Argument
Chapter 2: The Plan of Salvation in 1Tim
1 Introduction
1.1 Aim
1.2 Setting of 1Tim
1.3 Purpose of 1Tim
1.4 Conclusion
2 Before Christ
2.1 The Scriptures (4:13; 5:18)
2.2 Creation
2.3 The Fall
2.4 The Time of Israel
2.5 Conclusion
3 The Christ Event
3.1 Fulfilment of Scriptures (2:5, 15a)
3.2 Christ Jesus Came into the World (1:15)
3.3 The Life of Jesus (6:3-8, 13)
3.4 The Death of Jesus (2:6)
3.5 The Mystery (3:16)
3.6 Conclusion
4 The Present Age
4.1 Paul's Role in God's Plan (1:1, 11-17; 2:6-7)
4.2 Timothy and the Church's Mission (2:1-3:16)
4.3 Apostasy in the Last Times (4:1-2)
4.4 Conclusion
5 The Eschatological End
5.1 The Appearing of Christ (6:14-15)
5.2 Judgment and Salvation
5.3 Eternal Life, in the Coming Age (4:8; 6:19)
5.4 Conclusion
6 Conclusion
6.1 Narrative Elements
6.2 Narrative Substructure
6.3 Rhetorical Significance
Chapter 3: The Plan of Salvation in 2Tim
1 Introduction
1.1 Aim
1.2 Setting of 2Tim
1.3 Purpose and Genre of 2Tim
1.4 Conclusion
2 Before Christ
2.1 Prior to Creation
2.2 From Creation to Christ
3 The Christ Event
3.1 Revelation of Prior Grace (1:9-10)
3.2 Death, Resurrection and Reign (2:8, 11-12)
3.3 Conclusion
4 The Present Age
4.1 The Last Days and False Teaching (2:14-26; 3:1-13; 4:3-4)
4.2 Paul's Role in God's Plan (1:11-12; 4:6-8)
4.3 The Church and Ministry (2:19-21)
4.4 Conclusion
5 The Eschatological End
5.1 The Heavenly Kingdom (4:18)
5.2 The Second Coming as Epiphany (4:1, 8)
5.3 The Timing of the Resurrection (2:17b-18)
5.4 The Day of Judgment (1:12, 18; 2:10-12; 4:1, 8, 14)
5.5 The Ultimate Destiny: An Immortal Life of Reigning (1:10; 2:10-12)
5.6 Conclusion
6 Conclusion
6.1 Narrative Elements
6.2 Narrative Substructure
6.3 Rhetorical Significance
Chapter 4: The Plan of Salvation in Titus
1 Introduction
1.1 Aim
1.2 Setting of Titus
1.3 Purpose and Genre of Titus
2 Before Christ: Prior to Creation
2.1 The Character of God (1:2-4; 2:10, 13; 3:4-8)
2.2 The Divine Promise (1:2)
2.3 Election (1:1)
2.4 Conclusion
3 The Christ Event
3.1 Appearance of God's Qualities (2:11; 3:4)
3.2 Self-giving for Redemption and Purification (2:14)
3.3 The Out-Pouring of the Spirit (3:5b-6)
3.4 Conclusion
4 The Present Age
4.1 Paul's Role as Apostolic Preacher (1:3)
4.2 The Present Age: The Church in the World
4.3 Conclusion
5 The Eschatological End
5.1 Return as Epiphany (2:13)
5.2 Eternal Life (1:2; 3:7)
5.3 Conclusion
6 Conclusion
6.1 Narrative Elements
6.2 Narrative Substructure
6.3 Rhetorical Significance
Chapter 5: Conclusion
1 Summary
1.1 Narrative Elements
1.2 Narrative Substructure
1.3 Rhetorical significance
2 Research Implications
2.1 The Plan of Salvation
2.2 Familiarity with Scripture
2.3 Identity Formation
2.4 Christology and Soteriology
2.5 Eschatology
3 Hermeneutical Reflections
4 Future Study

• By (author) John Percival