1 Timothy 1

The two letters of the apostle Paul to his young associate Timothy together with his letter to Titus provide us with the inspired instruction of this important ambassador of Jesus Christ to men who are working for the further establishment of the Lord's people. They give us insight into the challenges of the early church and provide us with many important revelations of the Lord's plan for the ways of His kingdom in all ages. They are words of an apostle to men who were to receive and follow his instructions as the direction of God for His assembly. We need to receive them in the same way.

Timothy is living in the important city of Ephesus, working with the Lord's church in that region. Paul indicates that he is aware of a significant pastoral issue in this church. Certain people in the church have a tendency to become distracted in their teaching with myths that only yield useless speculations. They need to return to the core doctrines of the faith that lead people into an appropriate stewardship of the good gifts that the Lord has given them.

The true faith that has been given to us by God has an aim of producing the blessings of love flowing forth in the lives of those who have experienced true forgiveness. The facts of Christ, His obedience, His death, and His resurrection; these things do something within our souls. They work a new purity of heart within us, our consciences are healed, and our will is enlivened with a new way of faith in our Redeemer who has conquered our guilt.

This is what people need to be taught, but teachers can easily swerve away from these kind of profitable topics. They may wish to seem intelligent or more relevant. They get into “deep” discussions of matters that are really fruitless and empty, but which serve the purpose of making them feel like great experts in the Scriptures.

It was particularly important as the message of Christ went forward into the Gentile world that teachers resist the temptation to major in Old Covenant ceremonies and laws that were not really a part of the essence of New Covenant obedience. When we find ourselves pontificating about things that we do not really understand, or instructing others in ways of obedience that we ourselves do not live up to, we should take a break and consider whether we might somehow be getting off track.

One of the confusing traps here is that people may think that they are still on course because they are so sure that the point that they are making is based on the Bible. They have something to teach from the Law or from the historical books of the Old Testament, and the point being made may even be true, and yet it is somehow out of place. It is not enough for us to use the Bible, we must use it rightly, teaching biblical doctrine with a biblical sense of proportion.

Paul contends that the law still has its purpose, to convict the ungodly concerning sin. It can be dangerous when it is used by those who are in Christ as a source of a better way of righteousness, or as an advantage over those who may be less aware of the Scriptures. The law should teach us of our guilt before God, and our need for the only Redeemer. When we have found the perfection of that one Redeemer, we should not think that our progress in obedience will come through the ways of the Law, many of which have come to their completion in Christ. Our growth as followers of Christ will come by faith that expresses itself in love. The gospel that saves us will be the same message by which we grow in the fullest obedience.

The knowledge of the Law does not save. Paul knows this story very well. He finds his life in Christ by mercy and grace, not through the Law. As a man who was a persecutor of the church, though extremely knowledgeable concerning the Law, he has become a great example of what God is powerful to do by His grace. The patience of God with this enemy of the church has inspired many to see the depth of the love of God for those who will draw near to Him in Christ.

Timothy must be inspired by this ministerial example, and so should we. All of us need to especially be inspired by the fact of Jesus. If we preach the Word as those who have been set apart for that task, we must not allow ourselves to fall in love with strange doctrinal obscurities, forgetting the saving work of the only-wise God, and falling into lives that are not in accord with a good conscience. It is our desire to love the Savior by teaching in a way that is most fully biblical, not merely justifying our own unusual thoughts with strange biblical proof-texts, but honoring the King of glory more fully by accurately proclaiming the fullness of His Word of grace.