1 Timothy
I would like to start a series of teaching on the Letters from Paul and after much thought and prayer I felt that I was being drawn to start with First Timothy. Timothy was born in Lystra a city located in Galatia. It is believed that Timothy meant Paul during Paul’s first missionary while he was he ministering in the town of Lystra. After Paul led Timothy to Christ Timothy not only became Paul’s disciple but one of his closest friends and a fellow laborer in the service of Christ. He accompanied Paul on many of his journeys and even spent time with him during his first incarceration in Rome. After Paul was released Timothy accompanied him while he revisited some of the cities he had previously ministered to including Ephesus. Paul left Timothy there to deal with some problems with the church there that had arisen and the epistle was written to him while he was there.
We will be reading from 1 Timothy verses 1 through 10.
1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, 2 To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, 4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. 5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions. Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine,
Read verses 1-2. 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, 2 To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
The only other person besides Timothy that Paul used the greeting true son in the faith was to Titus. Incidentally the Greek word for son Hyios (heloss) would be more accurately translated as child instead of son. Paul saw his role as spiritual father to Timothy, whom Paul considered him as his most cherished pupil and protégé as demonstrated in 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.”
Read verses 3 -11. 3 As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, 4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. 5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions. Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, 11 in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.
In verses 3 through 6 Paul commands the church to accept no Doctrine but those found in the scriptures and must especially avoid speculative concerns that cause confusion. Paul issued virtually the same warning in Romans 16:17 “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.” And a similar warning was issued by John in 2 John 1:7 “For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.”
Paul went on to say that doctrine purity and scriptural integrity are essential, but may not be enough. As Christians, we must show unfailing allegiance and obedience to God’s truth. We all must remember that a sincere faith is a substantive faith unilaterally characterized by conformity to Christ and his commandment to love.
Paul states that true doctrine will build people up instead of dividing them and will produce love from a true heart instead of confusion and sin from false teachings. He also warns against idle talk such as gossip, and people who use the gospel for self-serving purposes.
In verses 7 and 8 Paul warns to be wary of self-appointed misguided leaders who claim to understand the law yet misuse it and force the righteous to abide by their interpretation of the law. Paul stressed that the law was good when it is used as a moral compass for the believer or also to show a sinner the need for his repentance.
Turn to Galatians 3:19-25. 19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. 20 Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. 21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,
While the Pharisees taught that the law was the way to gain God’s favor Paul disputed their teachings rightly pointing out that the law was there to show us our weakness, puts our sinful nature on display and prove to us our need for Jesus since the law provides a straight edge for us to see just how crooked we are.
Read Timothy 1:12-17. 12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. 17 To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
Paul first thanks Jesus Christ for his grace in forgiving him and counting Paul as one of his faithful followers. Paul is therefore giving all of us hope for if someone such as himself can be redeemed the rest of us can also. Paul next admits he was blasphemer, a persecutor and an insolent man but he was shown mercy. By admitting what he had done Paul showed that there was no sin beyond the scope of God’s mercy and forgiveness. Lastly but most importantly Paul reminds us that the reason that Jesus came into the world was to save sinners and offering them a chance for everlasting life.
Read Timothy 1:18 -20 18 This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 19 holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, 20 among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.
The final verses of this chapter are a call to arms and a warning about false teachers. In the first part of these verse Paul calls Timothy and by extension us into God’s service to fight the enemies of Jesus and the Gospel.
Read 2 Corinthians 10: 3-5. 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
The warfare that is describe here is spiritual warfare and doesn’t use traditional weapons. The weapons we use is the Truth and the Word of God. Our greatest ally in this battle will be the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures and our enemy will be those who use lies and deceit spread from false teachers and satanic forces. Truth be told we are sure to be victorious how can we lose when we have the Creator on our side?
Lastly we have examples of false teachers though little information is Given about Hymenaeus and Alexander it would seem they caused harm to the church by their blaspheme causing Paul to Deliver them to Satan. The term delivering them to Satan meant that they were excommunicated from the fellowship of the church. Paul would have only taken this drastic step in order to preserve the purity of the church.
Comments
Post a Comment