1 Corinthians 4:17

For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church.

I sent. In letter writing the Greeks sometimes used the past tense to describe present action, because the action, when the letter would be read by the recipient, would be in the past. According to ch. 16:10 Timothy was probably on his way but had not yet arrived, nor apparently was he expected to arrive ahead of the letter. The letter was doubtless sent in order to advise the church to welcome the apostle’s representative fittingly, and to give heed to his counsel and instruction as though it came from Paul himself.

Timotheus. Or, “Timothy” (see Acts 16:1; 19:22; Phil. 2:19; 1 Thess. 3:2; 1 Tim. 1:2). Timothy was a trusted associate upon whom Paul relied in his work of caring for the churches that he had established.

My beloved son. Literally, “my beloved child.” Paul saw in the young man Timothy one who could be developed into a useful worker for God, so he chose him to be one of his traveling companions and helpers (see Acts 16:1-4; 1 Tim. 1:2; AA 184, 185, 202, 203; GW 440). The apostle had addressed the Corinthians as “sons,” literally, “children” (1 Cor. 4:14); therefore it was quite appropriate to send one to represent him who had been begotten in Christ through the agency of his preaching, even as they. As a close companion of the apostle in his journeys and his evangelistic work, Timothy was well qualified to review Paul’s teachings and call to their minds his manner of life.

In every church. The message of Paul was the same wherever he preached. He had not taught the Corinthians anything different from what he had taught the Ephesians or the Beroeans. His public preaching and his personal conduct were the same everywhere. He desired the church at Corinth to be in harmony with all the other churches. Christ prayed for unity among His followers (see John 17:21-23), and doctrinal unanimity contributes to such unity (see Rom. 15:5, 6; 1 Cor. 1:10; Eph. 4:3-6; Phil. 2:2; IT 210).