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Today we begin a new study of First Timothy. This first letter to Timothy was written by the Apostle Paul around 63 A.D in between Paul's two imprisonments. In this book, we will study such subjects as: false teaching in the church and how that error is to be confronted, the proper pattern for church leadership, the importance of sound theology and the importance of verse by verse teaching of the scriptures.
In v.1-2, “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."
Paul begins this letter to his young disciple who was a part of the leadership team in the church at Ephesus, by reminding him that the Lord Jesus is both God and Savior. This is crucial for us to understand on a daily basis. If we are going to live the life the Lord Jesus died to give us, we must operate out of this understanding. In order for the Lord Jesus to be our Savior, He has to be God and vice versa. These two work hand in hand.
In addition, the Apostle Paul reminds Timothy that he, Paul, was an apostle by the command of God. This word for "command" means Paul was sent according to the "orders" of God. Paul was under orders from the sovereign of the universe. Paul lived following the leading of God through His Spirit and His word on a daily basis. For Paul, life was an adventure with the Lord Jesus daily. This can be the case for you and me, assuming that we are both "born again" of the Spirit of God. And, God's greatest navigational tools in the lives of His children is the word of God in tandem with the Holy Spirit of God.
Notice also, in v.1, the Apostle Paul refers to the Lord Jesus Christ as the believer's hope. Everyone on planet earth is in desperate desire and need of hope. This hope is the Lord Jesus Himself. This hope is guaranteed by the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the dead, and it is the firm expectation of the believer for salvation from sin and death. Christianity is a religion of personal pronouns. Ours is not a belief in some
distant deity to be appeased, ours is a faith that involves personal relationship and intimacy with God Himself. You and I do not have to be defined and ruled by sin because of this guaranteed expectation which provides for us this trusted foundation of recognizing truth and walking in it.
According to v.2, the Apostle Paul is writing this letter to Timothy. Along with Titus,Timothy tackled some of the toughest assignments in the churches that Paul had seen God form during his missionary journeys. Timothy was brought up in a Christian home and had been led to faith in Christ by Paul himself. This explains why Paul called Timothy “my true son in the faith.”
Timothy's mother was Jewish and his father was Greek. This presented some difficulties for Timothy while growing up. But, as is illustrated in Timothy's life, our difficulties can be blessings if we seek the One who masters at taking the bad and bringing good out of it for us.
According to Acts 16:1–5, Timothy was so devoted to Christ that his local church leaders recommended him to Paul, and Paul added him to his “church plant team." Yet, in spite of his calling, and his close association with Paul, and his spiritual gifts, Timothy was easily discouraged. How we view ourselves very often determines the path which we follow. It is imperative for the believer in Christ to learn to view himself through the lens of Christ.
In v.3-4 we read, "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."
Timothy was sent to Ephesus to oppose and correct false teaching that was infiltrating the church. He was to oppose the wrong concepts being taught and to point out the myths and the genealogies that these people were propagating.
Ephesus was a flag-ship church, sort of leading all the other churches of Asia Minor, and it was important to keep it corrected. But it must have been that somewhere along the line there was some questioning about whether God was really Savior, because it’s repeated by Paul in this letter several times.
The enemy always works in the church in whatever way the church allows him. If he cannot corrupt the theology, he will bring routine, apathy and numbness of heart toward God. The church at Ephesus was a growing and exciting church in its beginnings. It was the church to which Paul gave three years of his life to lay the foundations. In the process of moving from the ministry of Paul to the time of Timothy, in those very few years, maybe ten or twelve years, the church had already reached a place where heresy was creeping in.
The false teaching was founded in the idea that their value was measured by their ancestry, who they were, where they came from, their family ties, and their inherited honors. Giving Timothy's family background, this was used to undermine him as a leader. We all like to take particular pride in descending from some famous person. This is what was being introduced into the congregation at Ephesus. This was, in a sense, class warfare or even racism.
God's truth is how He releases us from the bondage of evil of various forms. This is the nature of the gospel which is so powerful and so radical that it is always under subtle attack both from without and within. That is why it is so necessary to ensure that the teaching is accurate and true and biblical, because, when it is, it delivers people, it frees people, it changes families and societies. Our world desperately needs men and women who have learned how to be free in Christ Jesus, to be what God has intended us to be. This is what a study of 1 Timothy will do for us.
