1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,2 To Timothy my true son in the faith:
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Timothy Charged to Oppose False Teachers
3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer 4 or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith. 5 The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. 7 They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.
8 We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. 9 We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine 11 that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.
The Lord’s Grace to Paul
12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. 13 Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. 14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
The Charge to Timothy Renewed
18 Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, 19 holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith. 20 Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.
These letters of Paul to Timothy are wonderful in their inspiration, in their encouragement, in their spiritual food and in the example they show of a man of God's passion for his God,God's truth and the love that he has for a younger man who he wants the very best for,which is anything but a comfortable life.
ReplyDeletePaul knew who he was:he was an apostle of Christ Jesus.He was not only called and commissioned but also commanded to this office.Hence Paul declared at a different time:'woe to me if I do not preach the gospel',such was the burden laid upon him to carry and discharge such a ministry.
There is also encouragement here for those who may not have natural sons or daughters after the flesh. Paul was the same yet he could call Timothy 'my true son in the faith.' It is a great blessing to have a natural son but for him to be also 'a son in the faith' is more than a double blessing.
We haven't even finished the second verse and Paul writes his blessing to Timothy :'Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord'.What a blessing we should pronounce on others especially those who belong to the household of faith.
Peace, Grace and Mercy from God the Father and Christ the Son be yours today and forever.Amen.
1 Timothy. 1:12-17. The apostle Paul and the gospel.
ReplyDeleteTurning away from the false teachers and their misuse of the law, Paul now writes about himself and the gospel which has been entrusted to him. He makes an extremely personal statement. He retells the story of his conversion and commissioning, sandwiching it between two paeans of praise. ‘I thank Christ Jesus’, he begins (12), and ends: ‘Now to the king of the ages be glory and honour’ (17). His whole life is permeated with thanksgiving, not only for his salvation but also for the privilege of having been made an apostle.
In particular Paul mentions three related blessings. First, *I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength...* (12a). It is striking that he refers to the inner strength Christ has given him, even before he specifies the ministry for which he needed to be strengthened. The appointment would have been inconceivable without the equipment. Secondly, *I thank Christ...that he considered me faithful* (12b). This cannot mean that Jesus Christ trusted him because he perceived him to be inherently trustworthy; his fitness or faithfulness was due rather to the inner strength he had been promised. Thirdly, *I thank Christ...for appointing me to his service* 12c). *diakonia* is a generic word, and there are many forms which Christian service or ministry takes. But Paul is clearly referring to his commissioning as apostle to the Gentiles.
He now gives further substance to his thanksgiving by reminding Timothy what he had been, how he received mercy, and why God had had mercy on him.
ReplyDeleteFirst, he uses three words to describe what he had been: *I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man* (13a). His ‘blasphemy’ was that he spoke evil of Jesus Christ; he also ‘tried to force them [sc. his disciples] to blaspheme’ (Acts 26:9,11). His persecution of the church was pursued ‘intensely’, for he ‘tried to destroy it’ (Gal.1:13), and in persecuting it he did not realize that he was persecuting Christ (Acts 9:4). Then behind both the blasphemy and the persecution there was *a violent man (hybristes)*, *hybris* being a mixture of arrogance and insolence, which finds satisfaction in insulting and humiliating other people. Perhaps the apostle was intending to portray an ascending scale of evil from words (of blasphemy) through deeds (of persecution) to thoughts (of deep-seated hostility).
Secondly, Paul describes how he received mercy. Humanly speaking, there was no hope for someone as malicious and aggressive as he was. But he was not beyond the mercy of God. Twice he uses the same verb *I was shown mercy* (13b, 16a), or literally, as Thomas Goodwin the Puritan put it, ‘I was bemercied’. To ‘mercy’ Paul now adds ‘grace’, having already bracketed them in his opening greeting (1:2). *The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus* (14). That is, grace ‘overflowed’ (NRSV) like a river in spate, which cannot be contained, but bursts its banks and carries everything before it, sweeping irresistibly on. What the river of grace brought with it, however, was not devastation but blessing, in particular the ‘faith’ and the ‘love’ to which Paul has already assigned a primacy (4, 5). ‘The Nile overflows; the crops abound. Grace overflowed, and faith and love sprang up’. Grace flooded with faith a heart previously filled with unbelief, and flooded with love a heart previously polluted with hatred. It was, in the words of Bunyan’s autobiography, *Grace abounding to the Chief of Sinners*; he borrowed both parts of his title from verse 14 and 15.
No wonder Paul goes on to quote the first of the five ‘trustworthy sayings’ which occur in the Pastorals (The others are 3:1; 4:9; 2 Tim.2:11 and Tit. 3:8). On each occasion the saying is pithy, almost proverbial, is perhaps a familiar quotation from an early hymn or creed, and is given by Paul his own apostolic endorsement. Indeed, since he constantly uses *pistos* (‘trustworthy’) of God, he is declaring the aphorism is ‘a faithful presentation of God’s message’.
1 Timothy 1:18-20
ReplyDeleteThe ministry is a warfare against sin and Satan; carried on under the Lord Jesus, who is the Captain of our salvation. The good hopes others have had of us, should stir us up to duty. And let us be upright in our conduct in all things. The design of the highest censures in the primitive church, was, to prevent further sin, and to reclaim the sinner. May all who are tempted to put away a good conscience, and to abuse the gospel, remember that this is the way to make shipwreck of faith also
3-4
ReplyDeletestay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer 4 or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies'.
The danger of false teachers will always be with the church-at least on earth.
What false teaching do you see around today that would either deny or undermine the apostolic teaching?
OR,perhaps you believe that we should not oppose false teaching as that would be judging,( judge not lest ye be judged.) and imply that we are right and they are wrong.
When is it right to try and correct someone and when is it right to let them be?