1 Timothy Study #1

“Laws for the Lawless”

1 Timothy 1:1-11

Study #1 in 1 Timothy Series 

INTRODUCTION:

After both of my parents died the job fell to me to be the executor of their estate. Several years earlier my dad had asked me if I would be willing to handle that responsibility for them and of course I agreed. However, until the time came, and the mantle fell upon me I had no idea how emotionally difficult the job would turn out to be.

One day, while sifting through the minutia of their lives I found an old shoe box in the back of a cupboard. It was filled with letters that my parents had written to one another back in the 1930s and 40s when they were very young. It is a strange sensation to read those faded handwritten words and try to imagine the circumstances under which they were penned. Life back then was very different than the life I have known, and my parents were different people, not fully formed, not yet Christians, and certainly not the wise, mature people that they became. But still in all, I cherish those letters. They are personal, and funny, and endearing, yet sometimes enigmatic because I don’t know what they were going through at the time.

During the approximately 33 years between his conversion (AD 34) and his martyrdom (AD 67) the Apostle Paul wrote a lot of letters as well. Most of the 13 Pauline Epistles that God has preserved for us in His Word are letters to churches, to groups of Christians scattered throughout Greece, Macedonia, Italy, and Asia Minor. However, four of the thirteen letters were written to specific individuals: 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. It is to these 4 letters that we now turn our attention.

The letters to Timothy and Titus are usually categorized as “The Pastoral Epistles.” The letter to Philemon, on the other hand, is usually included with “The Prison Epistles.” However, for our purposes we are grouping them together because of their personal nature, having been written to individuals rather than to groups of people.

These four little NT letters, although small and sometimes neglected, are still important books for the Church of our day because they deal, at least in part, with the problems of church administration. I can think of at least seven (7) good reasons why we should study these letters:

1. Because they shed practical light on the problem of how a local church should operate.
2. Because they stress sound doctrine.
3. Because they call us to consecrated living.
4. Because they answer the question, “Are religious creeds of any value?”
5. Because they give added details concerning the last years of the apostle Paul’s life.
6. Because they provide us with valuable information about the condition of the Early Church in the third quarter of the 1^st Century AD.
7. Because through these little letters God still speaks to us today.

TRANSITION:

Timothy was the pastor in charge of the church at Ephesus. However, false teaching had begun to creep into that church. Paul wrote to Timothy to warn him of these errors and to encourage him to stand firm against them, and against those who were promoting them. Furthermore, Paul wanted Timothy to see the importance of the application of the Christian message to the personal life of a disciple. Timothy may have been a bit reticent to take a stand for the Gospel and in this Paul encouraged him strongly. In addition, Paul instructed him concerning matters of church life and worship. In 1 Timothy we have a small, yet powerful package. Divided into 6 chapters, with only 113 verses, Paul gives us a lot of meat to chew on.

NOTES on the Text:

Verses 1-2: Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope, ² to Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 

• “An apostle” Literally a “sent one.” Paul was asserting his authority as an ambassador sent by Christ.
• “…according to the commandment” This word refers to a royal order, given by a King.  He is referring to the fact that God sovereignly commissioned him. He states this fact in a powerful way in Gal. 1:1, “Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead).”
• In fact, in both Galatians and 1 Timothy Paul says that his authority came from two sources: from “God, our Savior” and from “Christ Jesus, our hope.” This might take you by surprise—saying that God is our Savior. We usually refer to Jesus as our Savior. But remember this, Jesus came to do the will of His Father. The Scriptures tell us that the Father was the Architect of the plan of salvation (cf. Luke 1:47; Titus 1:3; 2:10; 3:4). Paul speaks of Christ as “our hope” because He is the reason that we can look expectantly toward spending eternal life in Heaven.
• “…to Timothy, my true child in the faith.” Timothy was the young disciple from Lystra who travelled with Paul during his 2^nd and 3^rd Missionary Journeys. This title, “true child” is a legal expression referring to a legitimate child who possesses all the rights and privileges of membership in the family. Paul is saying to Timothy that he accepts him unreservedly. 
• “Grace, mercy, and peace” All three are gifts from God. Normally in his letters Paul just uses “grace and peace” in his greetings. Only here in the Pastoral Epistles does he add the word, “mercy.”
• Notice that there are three biblical words that are very closely related; yet each is distinct.
• “Justice” = God gives me the punishment that I deserve, i.e., my “just deserts.”
• “Mercy” = God does not give me all the punishment that I deserve to receive.
• “Grace” = God gives me gracious gifts that I do not deserve at all.

Verses 3-4: As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, ⁴ nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith.   

• “…that you may instruct certain men…” This word “instruct” is a strong military term meaning to drill it into the troops until it becomes rote, muscle-memory. That requires constant repetition. Paul tells Timothy that he cannot afford to let up on this because it is vitally important.
• Specifically, Timothy is to instruct these men not to teach certain things or to get caught up in unproductive arguments. But what things specifically? Paul mentions four (4) things in verses 3-4 and two (2) more down in verses 6-7.

1.    “Strange doctrines” – Paul is not talking about UFOs or zombies or flat earth theories but about doctrines that are not part of the Christian faith that has been handed down to us. By “strange” he means foreign to sound doctrine.

2.    “Myths” (KJV, “fables”) - This is the same word used in Titus 1:14 in connection with Jewish fables.

3.    “Endless genealogies” – Paul is not talking about the current Family Tree hobby that is so popular with amateur family historians. Rather, the errors that Paul is instructing Timothy about involved the constant and unrestrained wrangling and speculation about genealogies and allegorical interpretations of the Scriptures like those found in all the rabbinical literature. Moreover, in Ephesus this was probably combined with Gnostic speculations as well.

4.    “Mere speculation” – It is fine to ask questions and even to discuss the things we are not sure of in the Scriptures, but it is better to spend our time learning and discussing the things we do know, and finding practical ways to live them out, instead of having stupid and unfruitful arguments about things like, “Can God make a rock so big that even He cannot lift it?” or “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?”

• “…rather than furthering God’s provision which is by faith.” As Christians we dip into the blessings that God has promised and provided not by endlessly speculating on the things that God has not told us, but by accepting by faith and obeying the things that He has told us. The Christian life is about walking by faith, not by sight.

Verse 5: But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 

• “…the goal of our instruction is love” God is love, and love should permeate our lives and exude from every aspect of our ministry. One of the most profound comments made regarding the Early Church came from the lips of a man named Aristides, sent by Emperor Hadrian to spy out those strange creatures known as “Christians.” Having seen them in action, Aristides returned with a mixed report. But his immortal words to the emperor have echoed down through history: “Behold! How they love one another.” 
• Jesus prayed that His disciples would have this kind of love. In John 17:20-21 Jesus said this to His Father: “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; ²¹ that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.” But it is not enough that we love one another—we also must love the world, the way God loves the world, and we must love sinners the way God loves sinners. Only then will the world really begin to believe our report.
• Notice that this love comes from three (3) sources:

1.    Love from a pure heart = an outward focused love, that has an “others first” priority

2.    Love from a good conscience = an inward element, that sees others as deserving of the same grace we have received

3.    Love from a sincere faith = an upward look, remembering that God is the source of grace, mercy, and peace (cf. v. 2)

• N.B. without a “pure heart,” a “good conscience,” and a “sincere faith” we will never, on our own, be able to produce genuine agape love. Never! 

Verses 6-7: For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, ⁷ wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions. 

• Paul does not name names here, but I have no doubt that both he and Timothy knew exactly to whom he was referring. Apparently, there were some hard-headed professing Christians in the Ephesian church who were stirring up trouble and leading other people astray.
• Notice here we have the last two “BEWARE OF” warnings. The other four were up in verses 3-4.
• Beware of those who have turned aside to “fruitless discussion,” meaning theological arguments that produce no light, just heat and smoke and a bad smell. KJV says, “idle talk.” The word he uses here means “empty chatter.” Gossip, speculation, and destructive criticism are not spiritual gifts and should never come from the mouths of Christians.
• And beware of those who make “confident assertions” concerning things about which they know little or nothing. You see, just saying something in a loud and forceful manner does not make it true. Truth is what we are after!
• Paul points out that there are lots of people who are drawn to the ministry, like flies to a carcass, because they get a thrill out of people looking up to them as authorities. He says they “want to be teachers of the Law (i.e., the Scriptures) even though they do not understand it or even what they are saying about it. In other words, they are clueless, yet that does not stop them from trying to pretend that they know what they are talking about. Paul makes it clear that Timothy needs to deal with these kinds of people when they come into the church and begin making trouble. Loveless instruction impelled by impure hearts and motives always leads to legalism. Remember: the law is good, but legalism is always bad! 

Verse 8a: But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, ⁹ realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious… 

• This is an interesting statement. “The Law is good, if we use it lawfully” (i.e., justly, correctly, judiciously the way God intended). For you see, the Law can also be used as a hammer to crush people. Hitler used the law and the legal system in Germany to accomplish all his goals. In fact, everything he did was perfectly legal, but it was still immoral and ghastly and sinful. The same is true for the Roe v. Wade ruling on Jan. 22, 1973, that legalized abortion in the United States. It resulted in the legal murder of over 63 million babies before the law was repealed in June 2022.
• “Law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious…” A truly righteous person, guided by God’s revealed Word and led by His Holy Spirit will automatically do the right, moral, and honorable thing, motivated by faith, love and kindness. Law is the fallback for those who do not know God and who do not govern their lives by His Word. Paul tells us that the proper function of the law is to make sinners aware of their sinfulness. In other words, the wicked need laws. The unrighteous require a moral compass with severe consequences to keep the fabric of our society from unravelling completely. Without law we would be left with anarchy and chaos.

Verses 8b-11: …for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers ¹⁰ and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, ¹¹ according to the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted. 

• Paul continues with his sample list of various kinds of unrighteous people. He has already mentioned the “lawless” [= without law] and the “rebellious” [= disobedient, insubordinate].  Now he continues his horrific list with more examples of kinds of wickedness:
• “Ungodly” [literally, “a-theists,” without God]
• “Sinners” [includes sins of all kinds, a general word]
• “Unholy” [having no piety, irreligious, totally polluted inside and out]
• “Profane” [people who treat the holy things of God with contempt, mockery, and scorn]
• “Parent-killers” [a crime so heinous that there was not even a Roman law against it because no one thought it possible]
• “Murderers” [manslayers, general term for deliberate murderers]
• “Immoral” [fornicators in general]
• “Homosexuals” [sodomites/male prostitutes – cf. 1 Cor. 6:9]
• “Kidnappers” [slave-traders? sex-traffickers?]
• “Liars” [a general term for all who twist, hide, or misrepresent the truth]
• “Perjurers” [promise-breakers/vow-breakers]
• Here is where we discover that Paul is not supplying us with an comprehensive list of all the things that God hates. No, this is just a sample list, and we could add to it.  “…and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching” Paul is not singling these things out as the worst of the worst. They are just examples that come quickly to mind, but we could add things like… gossips, church-wreckers, pornographers, child-molesters, wife-beaters, forgers, embezzlers, human-traffickers, etc. His point is that all these things are “contrary to sound [i.e., healthy, life-giving] teaching.” 
• And Paul explains what he means by “sound teaching” in verse 11: “…according to the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.” Paul says that the standard for “sound teaching” is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, given to us by God Himself. You see God’s Word is the plumb line, the straightedge that we use to test every teaching, every theory, every questionable assertion, and every kind of conduct. We measure everything against God’s Word and the Gospel. 

CONCLUSION:

Look again at the last words of verse 11: “…the Gospel…with which I have been entrusted.” In our next study we will look more closely at this word but for now just recognize that Paul sees the Gospel as a priceless treasure that has been carefully placed into his hands by Almighty God for a divine purpose. 

But was Paul the only one entrusted with this Gospel? NO! You and I have been given the same commission, to tell the Good News, to share the Gospel, to make disciples. The Gospel is not a treasure to be hoarded and hidden, but to be shared. And make no mistake, we Christians will be judged as stewards on how well we have invested what has been entrusted to us. As farmers we will be measured on how faithfully we have planted the seed and watered. As soldiers we will be evaluated on our courage under fire, or our cowardice. I, for one, do not want to stand someday before my Lord shamefaced. How about you? “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”