1 Timothy 1
Questions answered from 1 Timothy 1
Chuck Smith on 1 Timothy 1
Verse by verse, the C2000, 1979 to 1985 and C3000, 1985 to 1999 series. Permission granted by The Word For Today.
C2000 · 1979 to 1985
Chapter introduction
First Timothy.
Verse 1
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour (1:1),
And the Greek word is "the royal commandment" of God; it's a word that is used when a king had made a decree. It is interesting that Paul so often introduces himself as an apostle by the will of God. But here he declares he is an apostle by the commandment of God.
The word apostle is one who has been sent out; idea of an emissary or an ambassador. And that's exactly what Paul saw himself, as an ambassador of Jesus Christ, one whom the Lord had sent out to represent him in an alien country. We're in a world that's alien to God, but we are God's representatives here. We are here to represent God on this alien planet. And so "Paul," one who has been sent out by the royal decree, "by the commandment of God our Saviour."
Now there is quite a bit of Old Testament root in the idea of God our salvation. David mentions it in the psalms. Moses mentions it in Deuteronomy. Mary in the magnificat, "My soul that magnify the Lord, my spirit doth rejoice in God our Saviour" (Luke 1:46-47). And so here is the first time that Paul uses the phrase or the term, "God our Saviour."
and Lord Jesus Christ, our hope (1:1);
God our Saviour, Jesus Christ, our hope.
Verse 2
Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord (1:2).
Timothy lived in Lystra, a city that Paul visited in his first missionary journey. It is thought that Paul perhaps stayed in the house of Timothy on his first missionary journey. He knew his mother and grandmother. He knew how they had instructed Timothy in the word. He mentions Eunice and Lois. Timothy was just a very young boy in Paul's first journey to Lystra, but evidently at that time made a commitment of his life to Jesus Christ and always held Paul as sort of a hero. Fascinated by this man, he looked up to him.
On Paul's second missionary journey, though Timothy was still very young, probably in his mid-teens, he at this time became a companion of Paul and journeyed with him in his missionary endeavors. And so he is listed in many of Paul's writings. He was sent by Paul to Thessalonica to discover the welfare of the church. He had visited many of these churches with Paul, was familiar with the people; Paul sent him to Philippi with a letter to the Philippians and he said that he had no one who was like-minded as he was as Timothy. I mean, Timothy was just joined with Paul in heart and in spirit, in calling, in vision.
And so now Paul is writing to him and he addresses him as his son in the faith. "My own son in the faith." And so there was this special relationship that existed between Paul and Timothy, like that of a father and son. And I believe that Paul saw in Timothy a tremendous potential for one to carry on the ministry once Paul was taken, and so he poured his life into Timothy; he discipled Timothy. And this is one of the two letters that he wrote to Timothy of instruction, as a father to his son. So, "Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace."
Now in most of Paul's epistles, he says, "Grace and peace." Two epistles he adds "mercy", this one to Timothy and also his epistle to Titus, there is the addition of "mercy". There is a difference between grace and mercy; mercy is not getting what's coming to us. God is merciful. The Bible says, "As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high is God's mercy towards those that fear him" (Psalm 103:11). God is very merciful. And though we deserve the judgment of God, God is merciful.
And though I have no, I have no argument that Hollywood and that area of Los Angeles doesn't deserve the judgment, I believe it does deserve the judgment of God, but God is merciful. I think that God would be totally just in wiping out San Francisco, Hollywood, and a lot of these areas, but God is merciful. We don't get what we deserve. And of course, if I got what I deserved, God would wipe me out, too. So who am I to talk about San Francisco or Hollywood? God is merciful. He does not reward us according to our iniquities.
Grace is a positive characteristic of God. Mercy is sort of a negative characteristic, in that you don't get what's coming to you. Grace is a positive characteristic; that is, getting what you don't deserve. I don't deserve all of the goodness of God. I don't deserve all of the blessings of God. I don't deserve all that God has done for me. But that's grace, God doing for me what I don't deserve; what I couldn't earn. What I don't and haven't merited. God just pouring out upon me the richness of His love and His goodness and His blessings; that's grace, and realizing that grace of God towards me, my spirit rests. And thus, I have the peace. So "Grace, mercy, and peace".
Verse 3
As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that you might charge some that they teach no other doctrine (1:3),
So Paul was called of God to come over to Macedonia. Timothy was with him but Paul felt a necessity to send him back to Ephesus to instruct the church there, and though he was a young man, Paul encouraged him, "Don't let anybody despise your youth; be an example unto the believer" (I Timothy 4:12).
Verses 4–5
And so I sent you back to Ephesus that you might charge those that they not teach any other doctrine,
Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which only create questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith. Now the end of the commandment (1:4-5)
Verse 5
Or the effect, the sum total of the commandments of God,
is love out of a pure heart (1:5),
A lawyer one day asked Jesus, "What is the greatest commandment?" He said, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind, strength" (Matthew 22:37). So that's what Paul is saying. Really the summation of the commandments is loving out of a pure heart. That's what it's all about. If I'm really following the commandments, that will be the effect, this loving out of a pure heart. How God does want us to just have this deep love for one another. That's what, that's the, if you want to sum up all of the commandments, it's summed up in that; loving, loving God and loving one another. That's what it's all about. That's what God desires of us.
Loving with a pure heart,
a good conscience, and faith unfeigned (1:5):
Or a true faith, a good conscience. Love. What great characteristics to possess; loving from a pure heart, just a good conscience. Paul said I have a conscience void of offence towards God. And then faith that is true, unfeigned. Now some have turned away from this, Paul said.
Verses 6–7
And they've turned aside to vain jangling; Desiring to be teachers of the law; but they don't understand what they are saying, nor the things that they affirm (1:6-7).
Now Paul is warning against endless genealogies, questions that only create confusion or disputes. There's --there are honest questions and there are dishonest questions. There are some people who ask questions only because they want an argument; they don't want to know the truth. They have a position that they want to espouse, so they want to get you embroiled in an argument. And so they will ask a question, not really seeking an answer but seeking an argument. They want you to state your position so that they can then begin to attack your position; that I call a dishonest question. An honest question is the man who asks, desiring to know the answer. Now I personally do not have any time for dishonest questions. And I'll tell you, I got the gift of discernment when it comes to questions.
Of course, I know that certain groups have certain questions. And when someone comes up and they have the stock questions that they ask, I know exactly where they're coming from. And sometimes I treat them rather abruptly and people standing around said, "Oh, that poor brother wanted to know." I said he didn't want to know anything; he wanted to argue. I don't want to argue scripture. I don't think that anything is gained from arguing scripture, trading verses.
And so Paul is saying avoid these things. Tell the people to avoid these fables, endless genealogies, questions that are designed. That isn't why --that isn't where it's at. Our purpose should be to build up one another, not to cut at one another, tear down one another, challenge one another; but the true purpose is to build up one another. And these people, he said, they desire to be teachers and they speak with great authority, but they don't know what they're talking about. A lot of times when you don't know what you're talking about, it's important that you speak with authority.
I read of a minister who had his sermon all outlined, but then he had little notes of gestures that should be used at particular points in the sermon. And so at this particular point it says, Extend your arm outward, opening up your palm, you know, to the people, and so these vivid-type gestures. And he had all of his notes all the way down, how he was to gesture, where he was to look, when he was to smile and so forth, and the whole thing was all programmed out for him. Well, they do that. But down on the page it said, At this point yell like everything, because it's a weak point. And sometimes, you know, when our point is weak we got to yell it; we got to speak with authority.
But he said they really desire to be teachers but they don't know what they're talking about, they don't know the things that they are affirming to be so. These people were again trying to bring the people back under the law.
Verse 8
And so Paul said,
We know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully (1:8);
Don't have any argument with the law.
Verse 9
But then Paul comes in and he said,
But we know this, the law was not made for a righteous man (1:9),
An interesting point. You see, a righteous man does not need any law. A man who lives by good principles doesn't need laws; you don't have to tell that man what he should do and shouldn't do. He does them because he is a righteous man; he is a principled man. The law is for unprincipled people, and there are a lot of those in the world. And thus we need laws to keep them in check.
In Romans, Paul said the law is not a terror to a good person. It's only a terror to the evil person (Romans 13:3). You shouldn't be terrified when you see a policeman unless you're a bank robber or something. You see, if you're guilty of violating the law, then the law becomes something that you're frightened of, something that you dislike. But if you're an honest, upright principled citizen, you appreciate the law. You appreciate those who are enforcing the law because they're making it possible for you to live in this area. And if it weren't for the law and those who are enforcing the law, we would be living in an intolerable condition because there are those out there who need that kind of a bridle.
So you want to be taught the law, you want the law. Paul says, All this, I'll tell you who the law is for; it's not for righteous people. They don't need to be taught the law. They don't need to be put under the law.
Verses 9–10
but [the law is] for the lawless, the disobedient, the ungodly, the sinner, for unholy and profane people, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind [or for the homosexuals], for the menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be anything that is contrary to sound doctrine (1:9-10);
Those are the people who the law is for. So you want us to teach the law. Well, what problem do you have, brother? You see, the law isn't for righteous people. We don't have to be rehearsing the law if we live by righteous principles.
Verse 11
According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust (1:11).
Now Paul says rather than teaching and preaching the law, we are teaching and preaching the glorious gospel, the good news of God. The law is bad news for the people to whom it was sent because it is a restricting thing, a condemning thing; the lawless. But rather than preaching the law, we preach the "glorious good news, the gospel of the blessed God," which, Paul said, "was committed to my trust."
Verse 12
And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has enabled me, and counted me faithful, putting me in the ministry (1:12);
Now Paul says of the ministry that he was enabled by the Lord. God isn't really looking for ability, though so often when we are looking for someone to fill a position within the church or whatever, we get out the resumes and we look for the graduated Magna cum Laude and we're looking for the most talented individual. God doesn't. God looks for the most available individual and then He enables him to do the work that He would have done. And quite often, the choices of God are shocking to us. You know, it's sort of an interesting thing; he says God counted him faithful, put him in the ministry. And of course, a steward is required that he be faithful. So God's looking for someone who's available, someone who'd be faithful.
Years ago when we started Calvary Chapel, just eighteen and a-half years ago, from the very beginning it seems that God began to bless this group of people that had gathered together. It was definitely something that was ordained of God and born of the Spirit and born of prayer, and we began to have just an immediate move of God and God began to add people almost immediately. Of course, we started with about twenty-five the first Sunday. And before long we were running fifty. And within a year or so, we were running a hundred. And there were a lot of other small churches in Costa Mesa at that time, and they began to observe what God was doing at Calvary Chapel. And some of the ministers at that time publicly said to their congregations, "If God can do it for Chuck Smith He can do it for us." I liked that. I understood why it is that God chose me to encourage others. For if God can do it for me, He can do it for anybody. And He used that to encourage a lot of the pastors at that time.
So Paul the apostle said that the Lord enabled me. He counted me faithful, He put me in the ministry. I'm thankful for this. He committed to my trust the glorious gospel of the blessed God.
Verse 13
He said,
For before I was a blasphemer (1:13),
That he was; that is, he was a blasphemer against the church and against Jesus Christ.
I was a persecutor (1:13),
He stood by while Stephen was stoned, consenting to Stephen's death, encouraging those that were throwing the stones by holding their coats. And then he went down to Damascus from Jerusalem with letters authorizing him to imprison those who were believing in Jesus Christ. And on his way to Damascus, as he was breathing out murders and threats against the church is when the Lord got hold of his life. But "before I was a blasphemer, I was a persecutor,"
Verses 13–14
I was injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus (1:13-14).
So Paul talks about his own ministry, his call into the ministry. An unlikely a candidate as you could ever hope to find. In fact, I thought that it would be very interesting if Paul the apostle were to have a resume written of him and sent to some of the churches that are seeking new pastors. I'm sure that the pulpit committee in reading his resume would say, "Hey, don't even bother finishing. We don't want that fellow." I've been thrown in prison several times. I've been beaten. I've been stoned. I've created riots. I have poor eyesight. I'm not much of a speaker. And yet God enabled him, called him, used him. Paul speaks of having received mercy. But then also, he received the grace of our Lord, exceeding abundant grace. Oh how glorious!
Verse 15
Now this is a faithful saying (1:15),
Now he talked about the glorious gospel that was entrusted to him and this is the gospel.
This is the faithful saying,
It's worthy of all acceptation (1:15),
It's a true saying. It's worthy that every man should accept it. What is that true and faithful saying that everyone should accept? This:
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1:15);
That's the gospel. That's the good news. "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." First of all, all men are sinners. Therefore, He came to save all men. "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Because all men are sinners, all then were dead in their trespasses and sins.
Paul, in writing to the church in Ephesus said, "And you who were dead in your trespasses and sins: where in times past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, that even now is working in the children of disobedience: among whom you all of you one time lived" (Ephesians 2:1-3). No exception; we were all sinners. We were all alienated from God as the result of our sin. Our lives were wasted, useless, lost. The glorious Gospel: Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Jesus said I've come "to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). And so this glorious Gospel entrusted to Paul is just so simple, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."
Jesus said to Nicodemus, "I did not come into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through me might be saved. And he who believes in me is not condemned: but he who doesn't believe in me is condemned already, because he hasn't believed in the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, but the men will not come to the light because their deeds are evil and the light makes manifest" (John 3:17-19).
Jesus does not stand as your accuser. He stands there as your Savior. Jesus did not make accusations against the sinner. He only gave invitations, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). If you're a sinner, you don't need to fear Jesus. He's reaching out His arms to you. He's saying to you, Come unto me, I will give you peace. I will give you rest. I will give you hope. I will give you life. I came to save you.
You see, so many times we see Jesus in the opposite posture. We see Him there condemning us, pointing the finger. Oh, I don't want to be around Him. I feel so guilty, you know. I've done so many awful things, you know, and I see Jesus as a Judge and as One condemning me; but not so. He said, I didn't come to condemn.
The woman taken in the very act of adultery brought to Jesus; and they said, "Our law says we're to stone her. What do You say?" Jesus said, "Well, I say whoever among you hasn't committed a sin, let him throw the first stone." Then as He wrote on the ground, and I am certain, though the Bible doesn't say it, He began to write on the ground with His finger there on the dirt, I believe He began to write and enumerate the sins that these people were guilty of. Probably putting their name. Levi, you know, I'd start writing out his sin. And Levi says, Oh, I think I better go, my wife's you know expecting me home. And so one by one He wrote their names, began to write their sins. And one by one they began to leave from the oldest to the youngest until there was nobody left. And Jesus stood up and He looked up at the woman, He said, "What happened to your accusers?" And she said, "Well, Lord, I guess I don't have any." He said, "I don't condemn you, either. Go your way, sin no more" (John 8:2-11).
Oh what good news. Jesus came into the world to save sinners, not to condemn them. We didn't need that; we were already condemned. What we did need was a Savior. When I am in need, when I am down, when I am out, I don't need someone to come and tell me how horrible a person I am and how awful I am. I need someone that will take me by the hand and lift me out, someone that will help me. And that's exactly what --Jesus doesn't come along to chastise you and to castigate you for all the evil that you've done; he's come along to take you by the hand and lift you. This is the Gospel. This is the good news. "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."
And Paul added,
of whom I am chief (1:15).
Now I'm certain that he could get an argument on that point. But again, Paul did have a lot of indictments against him, as far as Jesus Christ was concerned. For he was a blasphemer of Jesus Christ, he was a persecutor of the church, he had injured many who had called upon the name of the Lord.
Verse 16
But he said,
Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to everlasting life (1:16).
In other words, the Lord chose the most unlikely candidate and saved him. I mean, if you were living in those days and you saw this young, zealous Paul. And you saw how he hated the church and hated Christianity, hated all of the Christians. And if you heard him, as he would blaspheme the Christians and just, you know, he was just so filled with venom and all against Christianity and those that were calling on the name of Jesus. You'd say, man, that is the last person in the world that will ever be saved. I mean, there's no hope for that guy, you know. And so Paul says, God chose me to show how longsuffering and merciful He is in order that anybody else after me might be encouraged.
Hey, God is willing to reach to the lowest. Jesus Christ will forgive the worst and it should be an encouragement. God set the pattern by reaching down to the bottom and lifting me out and making me His representative, His apostle, His ambassador. So Paul marveled, constantly marveled that God should call him to minister the truth of Jesus Christ, after how he had attempted to destroy this very truth that he was now proclaiming.
Verse 17
Now unto the King eternal (1:17),
Now Paul when he's thinking about this he's just carried off into ecstasy and so he has to throw in this little benediction. Paul does this every once in a while, he just gets so excited he has just to throw in a little bit of praise-kind-of-a-thing, you know. And I love it. I --it happens to me. I get so excited with the goodness of God and the grace of God and the blessing of God, I just every once in a while, I have to throw in a little, "Oh, praise God," you know and little benediction-kind-of-a-thing. So, "now unto the King eternal,"
immortal, invisible, to the only wise God, be glory and honour for ever and ever. Amen (1:17).
So beautiful, little benediction here. "The King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen." We are told to give glory unto God. Glory and honour and power ascribe unto our God.
Verses 18–20
This charge [Paul said] I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that you by them might war a good warfare; holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme (1:18-20).
So now Paul is charging Timothy and charging him "according to the prophecies, which went before on thee." Now, many times it would seem in the early church they were directed in their ministry by prophecies, by the word of prophecy.
In the book of Acts chapter thirteen, "Now the Holy Spirit said, Separate unto me Paul and Barnabas for the ministry wherein I have called them. And so they fasted and prayed, laid hands on them, and the Spirit sent them forth" (Acts 13:2-3). But how did the Spirit speak saying, "Separate unto me Paul and Barnabas?" Here they were gathered together praying, no doubt talking about the need of getting the Gospel into the world that had not heard, and the Spirit said, "Separate to me Paul and Barnabas for the ministry wherein I've called them." How did He say that? I believe that it was spoken through the word of prophecy. Someone in the group was anointed by the Spirit and prophetically declared this. And thus the Holy Spirit through prophecy said, "Separate unto me Paul and Barnabas". And the gift of prophecy was used this way in the early church.
When Paul was in Caesarea on his way back to Jerusalem, staying at the house of Philip; Agabus, a certain prophet in the church of Jerusalem came down and took Paul's girdle and tied himself up with it. And said, "So is the person who owns this girdle to be tied when he gets to Jerusalem" (Acts 21:11). He prophesied of what was going to take place when Paul got to Jerusalem. They were directed.
And so Paul in another place in writing to Timothy said, "Now stir up the gifts that are in you, that were given unto you by the laying on of hands and by prophecy" (I Timothy 4:14). So oftentimes when they would lay hands upon people and pray for them, there would be prophecies that would come forth, in which the Lord would often show the person the direction of their ministry.
Now this is not something that is limited to the New Testament. As I said, I have not seen a vision or had a dream that I felt was spiritually significant. I have had prophecies that were directed to me concerning my ministry when hands were laid upon me and we were in prayer together. And this is a practice of the early church, and it is something that is valid today.
Years ago when I came to a very discouraging point in my ministry, having been in the ministry for almost seventeen years, not really seeing any effective results, discouraged really to the point of leaving the ministry because of the ineffectiveness of my ministry; we were in prayer together and a group of friends waiting upon the Lord. We put a chair out in the middle and we began to pray for people. And finally I sat in the chair and they prayed for me, and prophecy, the word of prophecy came. And God began to tell of the ministry that He was going to give to me and of the way that the church would be blessed and the way the church would grow. It seemed at that time like it was so totally unlikely. That time the Lord actually said that He was going to give me a new name, which meant "shepherd", because He was going to make me the shepherd of many flock.
Before I came down here, a group of people were in prayer, as to whether or not I should come down. They had asked me to come down and to take over here at Calvary Chapel and they were in prayer in regards to it. And the Lord spoke to them through prophecy and said that I was going to be coming down, that the Lord was going to bless the church abundantly. That we were going to --the church would be outgrowing that facility. We would be moving to a new facility on the bluff overlooking the bay, and that God would continue to bless until the church would be known around the world. There would be a national radio ministry, and God laid out so many things that have since come to pass through the word of prophecy.
So Paul is talking to Timothy about that experience he had, when hands were laid upon him by the presbytery, and the word of prophecy was given. And gifts were given unto Timothy, and the calling of God upon his life for the ministry that he was to fulfill. So I "charge and commit unto you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies that went before on thee." Remember those prophecies that were given. "That you by them might war a good warfare." Hang in there, Timothy. "Holding the faith, and a good conscience; now some have put away the faith and they've become shipwrecked:" And a couple of them he names, "Hymenaeus and Alexander;" and he said, "I've turned them over to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme."
Now just what he means by that, I don't know, except Satan does desire to destroy us. And you remember when the sons of God were presenting themselves to God and Satan also came with them, and God said to Satan, Hey, where have you been? And he said, Oh, I've been going to and fro throughout the earth, up and down in it. And God said, Well, have you considered my servant Job? Good man. And he said, Oh yeah, but you've put a hedge around that guy. I can't get to him. So in turning them over to Satan, it could be that they are no longer protected by the hedge that God puts around his children. And I'll tell you, if you're not protected by God against Satan, you're just an open mark and I, I really --my heart goes out to you.
I thank God for that protection that He places around us, His children. That hedge. And perhaps Paul just said, Lord, take away the hedge. They want to dabble with it, let them get burned so that they'll learn not to dabble.
C3000 · 1985 to 1999
Chapter introduction
First Timothy, a pastoral epistle.
Just exactly when 1 Timothy was written, we are not certain. But the occasion is that Paul has gone on from Ephesus. He has left Timothy in Ephesus for a short time to sort of keep the helm steady and to really establish a straight course for the teaching of doctrine. There are those in Ephesus that are getting into some weird ideas and concepts and are trying to sort of promote them within the church. And so Paul, realizing that the church needed to be sort of stabilized in a doctrinal way, left Timothy there for a while. Whether or not this is when Paul first left Ephesus or if Paul after his imprisonment in Rome—there are certain traditions in the early church that Paul, after his imprisonment in Rome, was released and he went back to Ephesus for a while, that we don’t know for sure. But at any rate, Timothy is there in Ephesus. Paul had left him there in order to establish the saints.
So he begins, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, Here Paul deviates just a little bit from his usual opening. It’s usually, Paul, an apostle by the will of God. But this makes it a little more, a little stronger, actually—Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God. You may be, it may be that God wills that you be something, but you sort of hedge on it. Yes, I know it’s God's will, but…. Paul is saying, this is the commandment of God. And the commandment seems to be a little more forceful, a little stronger, that just by the will of God.
An apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour. Sometimes I think that people get a false concept of God. They think of Jesus as sort of pleading with the Father not to strike us dead, not to cast us out, that somehow God is very austere and just ready to bring down the gavel. And Jesus is there persuading God to love us. That’s not a true picture. Our salvation was initiated by God. It was God who so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. It was God's desire to save us. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. He sent Jesus Christ so that He could have a righteous basis to forgive your sins. He allowed His Son to take your sin!
Paul said, I’m not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the power of God unto salvation. God loves you and provided the means whereby you could be saved from your sins in order that you might enjoy His presence forever, living with Him, abiding with Him, eternally! So God is the One that initiated your salvation. And Paul, here, declares God our Saviour.
and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope; So he is an apostle by the commandment of God our Saviour and the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is our hope.
Peter said, thank God we have a living Hope by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. He is our hope!
I’ll tell you what. I was listening to a tape even on the way to church tonight. It was James Dobson giving his assessment of the condition of our government. As he spoke about the conditions, of which he, of course, is very knowledgeable. The things that are going on in Washington D.C., I’ll tell you what. It is depressing. I don’t see much hope. He doesn’t see much hope. I’ve never heard Jim so sort of, get in a mood that it’s sort of over. It’s gone.
But thank God, we have a hope in Jesus Christ! You know, and when the outlook gets dark and bleak, it’s time for the uplook. Jesus said when you see these things begin to pass, look up! Lift up your head for your redemption draws nigh. The Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope!
Verse 2
Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith:
Timothy was from Lystra. Paul probably met him on his first missionary journey. And Timothy, no doubt, was aware of Paul being stoned in Lystra and being dragged out of the city. Paul knew Timothy’s family. He was acquainted with his mother and his grandmother. And Timothy became like a son to Paul. He was a spiritual son, his son in the faith. It could be that seeing Paul’s courage in the face of the opposition in giving of himself for the gospel, it could be that it impressed this young man. Paul said that he didn’t have anyone who was as likeminded as he was as far as the work of the ministry was concerned.
You know, when God calls you into the ministry, God often gives you just a special calling, a special burden. There are many times others, who sort of follow you in the ministry, but somehow, they don’t catch the same vision, the same burden. And sometimes they sort of get lifted up and don’t see the position of the servant. And they begin to get fancy cars and homes and so forth. This troubles me.
But then there are those who catch the vision. Those that seem to have a like-mindedness to you. Those that don’t get caught up in the material things, but are more interested in just serving the people and seeing their Spiritual growth. So was Timothy. I have no one, Paul said, who is likeminded as I am, more than Timothy. He caught Paul’s vision. My own son in the faith.
Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. Now even as the opening, saying an apostle by the commandment of God, here again, Paul deviates from his general salutation. Generally, Paul just says grace and peace. But it is interesting and I really don’t know if there is a reason for it, but in the pastoral epistles, both 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus, in the pastoral epistles, when he is writing to the pastors, he adds mercy! Maybe they need it more than others. So Paul also inserts in this, mercy, as he does in the second letter and in his letter to Titus. It’s in only in those three letters. In all of the other letters, it’s just grace and peace. But in these letters, he includes mercy from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
Verse 3
As I besought(begged) thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia,
Now we do know that when Paul was in Ephesus, he was there for a period of time. Then he went to Macedonia and to Corinth to collect an offering for the church in Jerusalem that was suffering real hardship, real financial hardship, and so it could be that it was at that time that Paul was referring to. Timothy is in Ephesus and Paul is writing back to him, and saying, I begged you to abide there in Ephesus when I went into Macedonia,
that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, Now when Paul was returning from Macedonia and Achaia, going back to Jerusalem, he stopped near Ephesus at Miletus, which was the coastal city right near Ephesus, and he called the elders to come over to the coast to meet him because he wasn’t able to spend the time to come into Ephesus and go back out to the coast to get the ship to continue. So when the elders met Paul, Paul was warning them that there would come teachers, false teachers, who would not spare the flock. There will even rise up from among you those who would turn you away from the truth whose god is their bellies.
So Paul warned them. And so there was, no doubt, this undercurrent in Ephesus, this penchant toward false doctrine. Those that were trying to promote and draw people away to themselves by giving some weird kind of an angle on doctrinal issues. So Paul is saying, I left you there to steer a clear course for them, that you might charge some of them that they don’t teach other doctrines.
Verse 4
Neither give heed to fables
Stories that people begin to make up. Stories of marvelous, miraculous, things that are happening.
There was a fellow twenty years back from Indonesia, who was making all kinds of exciting claims of what God doing in Indonesia, turning water into wine at communion, people being raised from the dead. And he was going all across the United States. People were all excited over these great stories of what God was doing. But they were fables! But it got him an audience. But there are those that will, you know, give you fables. They are exciting to hear, oh my, isn’t that glorious? But they are only fables. So don’t give heed to fables.
and endless genealogies, which minister questions, Now, you know there are a lot of things that people are teaching that create more questions than they do answers. I thought I knew it until he spoke on it. Now I don’t know what I know, you know. You end up with more questions than answers.
So Paul is warning them away from those issues, that only raise questions, rather than provide real answers.
They raise questions rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do. Building up people in their faith. And the word, edify, means to build up and to encourage people in their faith.
Verse 5
Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:
Now the end of the commandment or the bottom line is this! This is the most important thing. This is the bottom line. It’s love out of a pure heart and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned--pure faith, not some homey faith, pure faith. That’s the bottom line! It’s having love out of a pure heart, loving one another.
Verse 6
And Paul said,
From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling;
It is interesting the mail that I get, where people are asking questions on certain kinds of nit-picking issues. Just a while back, I received a letter from some fellow, who wanted to know if Jesus was a Jew. And I could tell by the letter that the fellow had a position that he was wanting to get into an argument over. And so I didn’t answer the letter. So, he sent a second letter. You know, people are manipulators, you know, I thought at least my pastor would answer. Manipulation. And after the third letter, I did answer him and gave him passages of Scriptures. Oh, that’s all he needed! I got then a book, almost, an epistle from him. The door has been opened for him to now, you know, to dump his theory.
Vain jangling, there is no profit or value to it. And Paul is telling Timothy to avoid these kinds of things.
I can almost smell the paper and tell that the question that they are asking is not an honest question. There are honest questions and there are dishonest questions. With an honest question, the person is really, honestly, seeking an answer. A dishonest question is asked to open an argument. They don’t want an answer. They want an argument. So I’m very leery of getting into these disputes over these things, which have no real issue as far as the bottom line—love out of a pure heart and faith unfeigned! It’s so easy to get caught up. I mean I could be writing this guy still. I didn’t answer the last letter. You know, when I answered, I said, you know, I’m not wanting to argue. This is it. You’re not going to hear from me again. This is my position. Boy, and he sent back, now, what about I said. I don’t care what you said—vain jangling. And that happens all the time.
So, Paul encourages Timothy to not give heed to it, not to get involved in it. It doesn’t really edify and draw you close to God.
Verse 7
Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.
For they desire to be teachers of the law; but they don’t even understand what they say, nor the things that they affirm to be true. They don’t understand the law. They want to teach the law. They want to put people under the law.
Verse 8
But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully;
Now, the purpose of the law was not to make you righteous! It wasn’t to give you a set of rules that if you will keep these, then you will be righteous before God. That’s not the purpose of the law, although that’s the way many people teach the law. God's standard for righteousness. If you want to be righteous before God, these are the things that you must do and you must not do.
But that isn’t using the law, lawfully. The purpose of the law was to make the whole world guilty before God, not righteous before God! But guilty before God, causing all of us to realize that I am guilty. I have broken the law of God. I’m guilty, so that I do not try to exonerate myself by righteous deeds or by now keeping the law. But realizing that I am guilty. All I can plead is, God, I’m guilty! Please forgive me!
The law, Paul said to the Galatians, was a schoolmaster. It was intended by God to drive you to Jesus Christ, realizing that you can’t keep it. Realizing that you are a sinner! You are guilty before God. It drives you to the provision that God has made for guilty people and that’s the death of His Son on the cross for our sin.
So the law is good if you use it lawfully, but if you use it as a measure by which I can become accepted by God, if I will do these things and not do these other things. By the works of the law, shall no flesh be justified, Paul said. And he also declared if you are seeking to be righteous by the law, then Christ died in vain!
So the law is good if people use it lawfully, but they weren’t using it lawfully. They were trying to put the people under the law. They said you’ve got to keep this in order to be righteous before God! And Paul was coming out against that teaching, that was actually be developed there in Ephesus. And so Paul in talking about the law as those that were, you know, saying, we are under the law. We need to be under the law and all.
Verse 9
But Paul really sort of lays them low. He said,
Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man,
God didn’t give the law for the righteous man. Who are the righteous men? Those who have come to a faith in Jesus Christ. And those who have come to a faith in Jesus Christ, God accounts them righteous. I am not righteous because of what I do, I am righteous because of what Jesus has done for me! And I am trusting and relying in Him! And God accounts my faith in Jesus for righteousness. Thus my righteousness is complete! It is the righteousness of Christ that God has imputed to me as a result of my faith in Jesus Christ.
Paul, the apostle, testified of his former experiences, prior to coming to Jesus Christ. He was a Hebrew, of the tribe of Benjamin, circumcised the eighth day, a Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting the church. Concerning the righteousness, which is of the law, he said, I was blameless! But those things which were once important to me and gain to me, I counted these as, these are on the plus side, he said, I counted loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, for whom I suffered the loss of all things. But I count them as refuse because I want to know Him and be found in Him. Not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but the righteousness, which is of Christ through faith!
You see, God made it that way so that none of us would boast. Nor none of us could boast in the things that we had done or were doing for God. There is no place for boasting because Jesus is our righteousness. And it is by faith in Him. So all I can do is glory in Jesus Christ for what He has done for me! For what I could not do for myself, that is have a righteous standing before God, He has done for me! And as I am in Him and as I put my trust and faith in Him, God accounts me righteous!
So the law isn’t for righteous people, but for the lawless Here these guys want to be under the law all the time. Okay.
Well here is what the law is for! and disobedient,. for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, (murderers, period)
Verse 10
For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind (sexual perverts), for menstealers (kidnappers), for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;
So these guys, you know, say well, we are under the law. We want to be under the law. Well, these are kind of people they are. I mean Paul really puts them down.
Verse 11
According to the glorious gospel
(this is in contrast), the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust. It wouldn’t be good news to say that you have to keep these things in order to be righteous before God, because you can’t keep them. The good news is that God forgives us and that by our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, God accounts us righteous! That’s the glorious gospel to which God committed unto Paul!
Verse 12
And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful (or worthy), putting me into the ministry;
I thank the Lord that he counted me faithful, putting me in the ministry. And He has enabled me! Now this is something that you find is always true! Whatever God calls you to do, He never calls you to do anything but what He will not enable you also to do it! God's commands are God's enablings! And many times the Lord asks us to do things that are impossible. And at that point I have to make a decision, do I try to obey or do I just beg off, declaring my weakness and my inability?
When Jesus came into the synagogue of Capernaum on the Sabbath day, there was a man there with a withered hand. They were all looking to Jesus to see what He would do. He said to the man, stand up! And the man stood up. And then He is said, is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good or to do evil? To heal or to kill? Turning to the man with the withered hand, He said, stretch forth your hand.
Now the man could have said, oh, I would love to! Oh, you don’t know how, oh, how I would love to be able to use that hand again. But after my stroke, I just, you know, I can’t do it! You know, you don’t know how—I just can’t do it. And he could have argued out of his weakness and his inability or he could will to obey the commandment of Jesus, though it’s impossible. Jesus gave him an impossible command, stretch forth your hand. Impossible. But yet, he willed to obey. And in as much as he willed to obey, the Lord enabled him to do that which was impossible!
Now many times the Lord calls us to do things and we end up telling Him why we can’t. We give Him all the excuses and reasons why that’s an impossibility. I’ve tried, you know. I just can’t. And there’s just no way. We, you know, are arguing with the Lord, rather than willing to obey the command. He enabled me, Paul said, counting me faithful. He put me in the ministry that I be an enabling of the Lord.
Verse 13
Who was before a blasphemer,
For before I was a blasphemer. He was blaspheming Jesus Christ.
and a persecutor, I was a persecutor. He was persecuting the church of Jesus Christ.
and injurious He inflicted injury on those who were Christians:
but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. I was ignorant of what I was doing. That to me is an interesting statement, because you remember, and no doubt Paul, was somehow associated even with the death of Christ, because he was on the counsel. It would be hard to imagine that Paul was not there when the counsel was called to deal with Jesus.
He was on the counsel just a few months later when they were dealing with Stephen, as he voted to put Stephen to death and actually held the coats of those who were stoning Stephen. But with both the death of Jesus and the death of Stephen, but especially with the death of Jesus, when they were nailing Him to the cross, what was His prayer? Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. They are ignorant of what they are doing.
Now here Paul declares that he was opposed to Christ, but he said, I did it in ignorance. He was one of those that Jesus was praying for, when they were nailing Jesus to the cross, He was praying for Paul, guilty of ignorance in putting to death the Son of God.
And as they were stoning Stephen, he said Father, don’t lay this sin to their account. Again, the idea is, they don’t understand what they are doing, Lord. So, Paul said, I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
Verse 14
And the grace (notice the mercy in the previous verse, and now the grace) of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
The exceeding, abundant, of the grace of God, the love of God, abundant, of the grace of God, the love of God, that was in Christ Jesus!
Verse 15
This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners;
This is a faithful saying. It’s worthy of everyone accepting it. Christ Jesus or the Messiah, Jesus, came into the world to save sinners. He declared that. The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. The Messiah, Jesus, came into the world to save sinners.
To Nicodemus, Jesus said, God did not send Me into this world to condemn the world, but that through Me the world might be saved. And He that believeth in Me is not condemned! But He that believes not in Me is condemned already, seeing he doesn’t believe in the only begotten Son of God. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
of whom I am chief. And Paul adds, of whom I am chief, referring back to the things that he did in his endeavor to destroy the church, forcing people to blaspheme Jesus, persecuting them, breathing out murders, murderous words and thoughts against the church. So the chiefest of sinners, of whom I am chief.
Verse 16
Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy,
God showed mercy to the chiefest of sinners so that no one would feel that they were out of the reach of God's love and grace, no matter how much you have fought against Jesus Christ, no matter how much you may have sought to destroy people’s faith in Jesus Christ, you’re not outside of God's grace and love. God saved Paul in order that others might have hope.
I obtained mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern (that there might be a pattern, an example) to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. We had a fellow that was here at the church for a time, who became upset. He left the church. He became a part of a group that is known as the Fundamentals Anonymous. He deliberately and actively began to destroy or seek to destroy people’s faith in Jesus Christ. Now I’ve written this fellow off. You know, I would say that’s impardonable, a man who once professed the faith in Jesus, sought to be in the ministry and now doing his best to destroy people’s faith in Jesus.
But Paul said, the Lord saved me! He showed His longsuffering. I was a persecutor. I was a blasphemer. Paul was endeavoring to destroy people’s faith in Jesus. Yet the Lord reached out. He wasn’t beyond the Lord’s reach. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom Paul said, I am the chief, in order—I received the mercy—in order that in me first, Jesus might show, just how longsuffering He is! Just how far out He is willing to reach, that it might be a pattern to them that should hereafter believe in Him to life everlasting.
Verse 17
And Paul is now thinking of what the Lord has done. Oh, the mercy of God and the grace of God to me! I mean this just then, sort of leads him into sort of a rhapsody of
Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God,
And who is the King, eternal, immortal, invisible? It’s Jesus Christ! He is the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords!
But Paul calls Him the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. It’s just a glorious sort of doxology that just springs forth as Paul thinks of what God has done for him! The chief of sinners, but God in His love reached out and drew him in and forgave him. He cleansed him. He put him in the ministry! Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory both now and forever! Oh, yes!
Verse 18
So Paul goes on to say,
This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare;
Now in the fourth chapter of this letter, verse fourteen, if you’re turning there, Paul said, stir up the gift that is in thee, that was given unto thee by the laying on of the hands of the presbytery and the word of prophecy.
In Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he makes reference also to the prophecy that went before thee. Wherefore in verse six of chapter one in second Timothy, I put thee in remembrance that you stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.
The elders laid hands on Timothy. Paul laid hands on Timothy and prayed for his ministry. And as they prayed, the word of prophecy came forth, sort of setting out the ministry that the Lord would have for Timothy. God gave him gifts in order to fulfill that ministry. But it seemed like Timothy was maybe just sort of cruising. So Paul said, stir up the gifts that are in thee! Start using them again, those that were given unto you when the elders laid hands on you and there was prophecy over you.
In the early days of Calvary Chapel, when there were just a few of us, we oftentimes had sessions, where we prayed one for another in our church there. Actually, after the Sunday evening study we could take questions from people. We would spend an hour or so answering questions after the Sunday evening service. When you are real small, you can do those kinds of things. And we would have a person sit in a chair and we would pray for them and quite often prophecy was given. Many times with the prophecy there were things that the Lord was guiding and directing and this kind of ministry was being exercised there in the early days of Calvary Chapel. And so it was with Timothy. The elders laid hands on him. He received the gifts of the Spirit. There was prophecy that accompanied it.
Verse 19
And so now Paul is saying, I charge you, my son Timothy, according to the prophecies that went before you, that you by them, might war a good warfare,
Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:
Hold on to the faith! Some have turned away. They’ve become shipwrecked. And that’s tragic! Paul will later talk about demons, having forsaken him, become sort of shipwrecked. It’s always sad.
Verse 20
And you of course, you should never name people because that’s not Scriptural. That’s not right to name the false prophets or those guys that are doing all these weird things. You should be kind and you don’t want to create division. But Paul didn’t know that! So Paul said,
Of whom is Hymenaeus (Just by his name, you know the guy has got to be bad.) and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.
I’ve turned them over to Satan. Now, Paul was no doubt, exercising a position as an apostle of Jesus Christ. And as an apostle, I suppose he had that power to turn a person over to Satan. Hymenaeus, in the second letter to Timothy, we will discover that Hymenaeus was teaching that the resurrection had already taken place.
Now the Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that—that the resurrection has already place. That Jesus has come and established the millennial reign and the resurrection has taken place. That’s the teaching that Hymenaeus was guilty of.
With Alexander, he had stood up against Paul and had given Paul a lot of trouble. Paul will mention Alexander also in the second letter and mention the trouble that Alexander gave him.
Now in the Book of Acts, when Paul was there in Ephesus ministering, and Demetrius, the silversmith gathered together the men of his trade. He said, we’ve got a bad situation. We’ve got to do something about it. Our business is being threatened, because you know, we make these little silver necklaces and silver idols of Diana, our goddess. And Paul is telling the people that Diana isn’t a goddess. And business is down. We’ve got to do something about this fellow. So they began to create a stir, yelling and sort of mob-kind of rioting. They went into the great amphitheater there in Ephesus, which will hold about fifteen to twenty thousand people. And the people didn’t know what they were yelling about or doing, but they all followed as they gathered into the great amphitheater. And we read that Alexander was grabbed because the people recognized him as a Jew. They dragged him into the amphitheater. So Alexander beckoned and he was wanting to speak to the people. But they just began to chant, “great is Diana the Ephesian”. This chant went on for two hours. Whether or not this is the same Alexander, we don’t know.
But it was in Ephesus and this Alexander that he speaks of here was in Ephesus and Paul identifies him as Alexander the goldsmith in his second letter to Timothy and just speaks of the heartache and the problems that Alexander gave him. It could be the same Alexander.
There are those that are in the church that can get upset and begin to sew dissension within the church and become a real burden to the pastor.
Now, thank God, and I don’t know how, we’ve pretty much escaped this here. It’s glorious! God has been good! We rejoice in what God has done and in what God is doing. And we look forward to what God is going to do as we continue to study the Word, to show ourselves approved unto God, rightly dividing the Word of truth.
Father, we thank You for Your Word and the privilege that we have of going through and studying. Lord, may the Holy Spirit continue to instruct our hearts in the truth. Keep us on the straight course. Keep us in solid doctrine. May we not deviate from the truth. Lord, our hearts are hungry to know You, to know Your Word. Teach us, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.