What does 1 Timothy 6:15 mean?
The "appearing" of Jesus which Paul mentioned in the previous verse is something Jesus will "display at the proper time." Paul's use of "proper time" occurs elsewhere in his writing (1 Timothy 2:6; Titus 1:3) and may also allude to Old Testament verses such as Ecclesiastes 8:5 and 10:17.Paul then begins a second doxology—a short poetic praise of God. The first of these, in 1 Timothy 1:17, shows a similar pattern:
| 1 Timothy 1:17 | 1 Timothy 6:15–16 |
| "To the King of the ages, | "the King of kings and Lord of lords, |
| immortal, | who alone has immortality, |
| invisible, | who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. |
| the only God, be honor and glory | To him be honor |
| forever and ever. | and eternal dominion. |
| Amen." | Amen." |
Each doxology is also in a chiastic—meaning "X-shaped"—structure. A chiastic structure includes parallel ideas with the central idea in the middle. The ideas of the chiastic structure are arranged as ABCBA, and so forth.
In this verse, Jesus is called the "blessed and only Sovereign." The term sovereign is not frequently used in the New Testament, but was mentioned of God in Acts 4:24 and Revelation 6:10. This title shows Christ's equality with God the Father.
