Paul's second sin was that of being a persecutor of the church. We are to pray for peace for the spread of the Good News and for the daily life of the church. How will this happen? We are to pray that actual and potential persecutors will not harm the believers in Christ as Paul had done. Furthermore we are to pray for their salvation. Even Paul, himself terrible persecutor, had given his life to Christ.
Are these verses a string of pearls? A series of unrelated thoughts lumped together in Paul's letter to Timothy? Some have said that!
These are not unrelated ideas. They follow the outline for Section Two hinted at in Paul's naming of three sins he was guilty of.
In 1 Timothy 1:18-3:16 Paul systematically works his way through his three sins. The second was that of being a persecutor. He writes about potentially problematic persecutors in 2:1-7. His solution? Pray for peace and even more so pray for the salvation of potential and actual persecutors that they may be saved.
What grace and love is evidenced by Paul. We can do the same. And we can pray as he directed in 2:1.
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