1 Timothy Commentary

1 Timothy Commentary

1 Timothy 1:1
The Apostle Paul makes the point that He is an apostle by the "commandment of God" (NKJV). Paul faced many adversaries in his evangelistic ministry. A formidable and frequent foe was a group known as "the circumcision" (Gal. 2:12, 5:11-12; Titus 1:10; inferred in 2 Cor. 11-12 NKJV). They not only tried to force Christians to come back under the Law of Moses but also tried to discredit the Apostle Paul's ministry. They claimed he was not really one of the "super" Apostles such as Peter or James. It is notable that Paul, looking strictly at the Biblical record, performed more miracles and reached more people for Jesus Christ than any of the other apostles. His evangelistic ministry reached thousands. His inspired writing of Scripture has been a witness to people around the world for nearly two thousand years. In writing to Timothy, Paul is reminding young Timothy of that it was God who had called him out as an apostle (1 Tim. 1:1). This gave him full authority and the weight of God's revelation through the Holy Spirit for what he shared with Timothy. This also confirms the relevance and importance of the pastoral epistles for Christians today.
1 Timothy 1:2
In the Apostle Paul's letters to churches and church leaders he provides a salutation of "grace and peace" to the brethren at these churches. (Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3; 2 Cor. 1:2; Gal. 1:3; Eph. 1:2; Phil. 1:2; Col 1:2; 1 Thes. 1:1; 2 Thes. 1:2; Phile. 1:3) In the pastoral epistles, however, Paul adds to this greeting, "grace, mercy, and peace" (1 Tim. 1:2, 2 Tim. 1:2, and Titus 1:4 {KJV/NKJV only}). Christian workers have a tremendous responsibility to minister the truth in love to all of God's children. The adversary, Satan and his demons, are constantly at work trying to disrupt and destroy this ministry. So Paul's plea is that the Christian worker be granted special mercy as he undertakes this work. Paul notes in 2 Cor. 4:1 that it is through God's mercy he has been granted a place in the ministry at all. The Christian worker relies heavily upon God's mercy.
Note that Titus 1:4 in the NIV does not contain "mercy" in Paul's salutation. This is an apparent difference in manuscript families between the KJV/NKJV and the NIV/NASB versions. Additionally, the Apostle John writes to a church in 2 John using the same greeting that Paul uses to Timothy and Titus, "Grace, mercy, and peace" (2 John 1:3, KJV/NIV). It does not appear to be a greeting confined only to Christian workers but rather a standard greeting used by the Apostles -- sometimes with "mercy" and sometimes without.

1 Timothy 1:3
Relationship Between Paul and Timothy: Paul and Timothy shared a close friendship which they built through ministry experiences over many years. The Apostle considered him first an equal in his ministry using such terms as "my fellow worker" (Rom. 16:21; 1 Thes. 3:2 NKJV), "our brother" (2 Cor. 1:1; Col. 1:1; 1 Thes. 3:2; Phile. 1:1; Heb. 13:23 NKJV), and "Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus" (Phil. 1:1 NKJV). Young Timothy's faith had been tested on the missionary field with Paul, who commended him to the church at Philippi saying, "you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel" (Phil. 2:22 NKJV).
This last reference from Philippians points also to the intimate relationship enjoyed by these two brothers in Christ. They bonded together through many mountaintop experiences and in the gutter of persecution. As Paul mentored young Timothy, their relationship developed as would a father with his son. He refers to Timothy in this regard as "my true child in the faith" (1 Tim. 1:2 NKJV), "my son" (1 Tim. 1:18 NKJV), and "my beloved son" (2 Tim. 1:2 NKJV).
Paul could rightly be called the spiritual father of Timothy. Paul took him from a home where Timothy's mother and grandmother raised him to love the LORD (Acts 16:1-3; 2 Tim. 1:5). Though it appears he was already a believer at the time -- since the brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of Timothy (Acts 16:2) -- it was Paul who realized Timothy's gift as a preacher (2 Tim. 1:6). He helped Timothy reach his full potential in Christ and then sent him off on his own ministry at Ephesus (1 Tim. 1:3).
Paul's Command to Timothy: In 1 Tim. 1:3, Paul commanded Timothy to instruct certain teachers in the church to stop teaching strange doctrines. Rather than promote love, purity, clean conscience, and a sincere faith (1 Tim. 1:5), these men were going astray of God's truth by promoting controversy over myths and genealogies (1 Tim. 1:4). Paul said they were speaking in ignorance about these things. (1 Tim. 1:6) Timothy's job was to corral these people who, in all probability, were not called by God to be teachers (1 Tim. 1:7). They were to learn sound doctrine from Timothy, whom the Apostle Paul himself had discipled.
Paul's first charge to Timothy starts in 1 Timothy 1:3-7. He writes to Timothy, "As I urged you...remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine" (1 Tim. 1:3, NKJV). He digresses briefly in 8-17 to discuss the relationship of the Law and the gospel of Jesus Christ to which he was called as a minister. Then he continues this charge in verses 18-20 where he affirms, "this charge I commit to you, son Timothy..." (1 Tim. 1:18, NKJV). This is the end of the first charge to Timothy. Starting in chapter two and following, Paul goes on to instruct Timothy in various ways this charge is to be carried out in the church.
1 Timothy 1:7
In the first chapter of 1 Timothy, Paul makes a very urgent and serious command to Timothy concerning false teaching that had entered the church. He writes of some "having strayed" (1 Tim. 1:6 NKJV) from the sound doctrine found in Scripture. One of the false teachings which had surfaced in the church at Ephesus concerned the place of the law in the Christian faith. Those teachers who had strayed desired to be teachers of the law but did not understand what they were so confidently teaching (1 Tim. 1:7). At this point, the Apostle Paul makes several pertinent points concerning the law:

The Law was not given to the Gentiles (Rom. 2:14; 9:4).

The Law was given to define sin (Gal. 3:19).

The Law was given until the Seed (Messiah) came (Gal. 3:16) -- the end of the Law occurred when the veil in the Temple was torn (Matt. 27:51).

The purpose of the Law was to lead us to Christ -- it was a schoolmaster (Gal. 3:23).

Trying to live under the Law to attain salvation brings a curse (Gal. 3:10).

The Law never invalidated salvation by grace (Gal. 3:17) -- the Law was given 400 years after the promise to Abraham.

1 Timothy 1:12
As Paul stated in 1 Tim. 1:12, he was put into the ministry by our LORD. Paul reminds his readers frequently that he was put into the ministry by the will of God. (1 Tim. 1:1,12; 2 Tim. 1:1,9; Eph. 1:1; and many more) In each individual, the LORD will move that person along the path He chooses (Prov. 16:9). It must begin and end with prayer for that is where God touches the heart of the potential Christian minister. Study and meditation on God's word is also important -- so is obedience to the word. The counsel of pastors and other Christian workers that know you is extremely important. We are warned in 1 Timothy concerning laying on hands (or commissioning) someone to the ministry before that person is ready (1 Tim. 5:22). In the end, the individual must be convicted by the Holy Spirit and convinced of His call. For when the going gets tough, that may be the only thing left on which the Christian minister can retain his calling to the ministry. A friend cannot call you, and not even another pastor can call you. God must call you.

1 Timothy 1:17
Appropriate ending to chapter one: In the English translations of the Bible, the first chapter of 1 Timothy ends at verse 20. This is a purely arbitrary division of the word since in the original language, Greek, there were no chapter and verse divisions. Some people makes a point that one must rightly divide the word of truth based on 2 Tim. 2:15 -- and so we must divide the chapters at the proper point. Verse 17 is cited as a better place to end chapter one. Paul's thought then flows directly to the charge given to Timothy.
While this break may make the chapter divisions smoother, it seems to be a frivolous line of argumentation. Should we throw out all the English translations and reset the chapter/verse divisions around the world to a different specification? If not, then why press the issue? The use of 2 Timothy 2:15 as a proof text is ironic: "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (NKJV). Paul is exhorting us as Christian workers to be students of God's word. We are to handle God's word with care and accuracy. The NIV translates this last phrase "correctly handling the word of truth." This is much clearer since it uses a more up-to-date English phrase to make the same point. The chapter/verse divisions are arbitrary and of only minor importance in understanding God's word.

1 Timothy 1:18-19
The first step in waging a good war (that is a spiritual war ignited by the gospel of Jesus Christ) is to fight, as he said to young Timothy: "...wage the good warfare" (1 Tim. 1:18, NKJV). It is imperative in a war that one decide to fight -- otherwise, defeat is a certainty.
Paul gives Timothy another word of wisdom concerning the good fight of the gospel. Paul says, "have faith" (1 Tim. 1:19, NKJV). One must have a personal faith in the LORD Jesus Christ. I rather think that one must continue to pray for more faith to handle the multitude of challenges that face the Christian minister. Moreover, one must hold firmly to the great truths of the faith. Many will try to undermine the truth of Jesus Christ. This is all part of the battle.
Waging a good war requires a decision of the will to fight and a personal, growing faith. Paul also explains that good warfare requires "a good conscience" (1 Tim. 1:19, NKJV). One may have a good conscience only when walking in the Spirit of God. When one knows the truth and walks in it, one has a clean conscience. When one rejects the truth of God and turns to his own way, he causes a big problem in his conscience. Knowing the truth and not walking in it is a sin. So disobedience to God's truth pricks the conscience to the point that a decision must be made: repent and turn to God or sear the conscience. Continuing to sin is a quick way to shipwreck one's faith, making him or her ineffective in God's kingdom. Living this way habitually gives proof that one has never been born of God. (1 John 3:6,9) Paul's point here is to keep your conscience clean in Christian ministry through obedience to God's truth.

1 Timothy 2:1-4
In 1 Timothy 2:1-4, the Apostle Paul exhorts us to pray for all people. The command is clear, direct, universal, and unconditional. The reason for this is two-fold:

That the people of God may lead a quiet and peaceable life (1 Tim. 2:2).

That all people might have the opportunity to be saved according to God's desire (1 Tim. 2:4). This does not mean that all will be saved since each person has been given a will to choose or reject God. Some choose to believe in God's grace through Jesus Christ and some, unfortunately, choose not to believe.

Prayer is a general word for communication and communion with God. It is used throughout Scripture for those who call on God -- seeking His presence, His provision, or His protection. Prayer is communicating a need to God. It is praising and thanking God. It is pouring out one's heart to the One who created it. It is seeking God's wisdom and involvement in all of life or in a specific situation.
Supplication is a more specific type of prayer in which a request is made to God about a specific spiritual need in one's life (Lea,Griffin. The New American Commentary: 1,2 Timothy, Titus. Broadman Press: Nashville, Tennessee. Copyright 1992. p. 87.). It indicates that one is asking of God what one cannot do alone. So supplication is made to one greater than the one who is asking. Prayer is general and comprehensive. Supplication is narrow and specific.

1 Timothy 2:9-10
Dress code for men and women: Paul's writing in 1 Timothy 2:9-10 concerns dress codes. He states that women should dress feminine and men should dress masculine. There should be a distinction in dress between the two sexes since God designed distinctions between them. Women should be careful not to dress in gaudy or seductive outfits for this would tempt men to lust. Women should dress modestly. In a spiritual sense, the important garment for women to wear is good works stemming from a sincere faith. The same instruction is true for men as well. One might argue, though, that women tend not to suffer from the same struggles with visually-oriented sexual temptation that most men experience. This is most likely why Paul does not repeat the command for men. Nevertheless, the things said of women could certainly be applied to men as well.

1 Timothy 2:11-12
Women have a valid place in church ministry. There are many roles which women can and do perform to build up the body of Christ and reach out to the lost world. This must be first understood and affirmed prior to interpreting these two verses (1 Tim. 2:11-12). Paul is explaining that there is one area in which women are not permitted to minister. Women are not permitted to exercise authority over men nor to teach men in the church. The verb tense indicates that the women is not to be in a continual state of exercising authority over men or teaching men. Paul is addressing the ministerial position rather than an occasional or emergency situation.
Submission to authority is a big problem today for people of both sexes. Women, in particular, have been raised in a culture which promotes total freedom and equality for women in all things. In the church, this movement has led to contradictory interpretations of this particular passage. The liberal woman's theology says that this was a specific situation in the Ephesian church that no longer applies today. Yet, Paul bases this teaching on the creation order itself in verse 13 and the fact of the woman's deception -- not the man -- in verse 14. The man was given the leadership role in the family and in the church. This in no way implies the inferiority of the woman -- both male and female are made in the image of God Himself. (Gen. 1:27) It does point to God's orderly design of His creation. That this teaching was based on what God designed in the original creation clearly says that this was not a local issue for the Ephesian church.
Women are permitted to teach other women, youth, and children. Many faithful women have proven themselves in this role throughout the history of the church. The ministry of women is vital to the church. Yet it must be done in the context of God's design for ministry. A woman who continues to knowingly defy the authority of the man in the church, in spite of Biblical doctrine to the contrary, demonstrates this part of her life has not been surrendered to the LORD Jesus Christ. It may indicate an even deeper rebellion against God which is what got Eve into trouble in the first place.

1 Timothy 2:15
This is a troubling verse because of its ambiguity. Read in a wooden, literal sense it seems to imply that a woman will be saved if she bears children. Obviously, this contradicts the two hundred passages of Scripture in the New Testament alone which affirm salvation by faith alone. Whenever a verse like this appears, it behooves the reader to keep the context of this verse clearly in focus. Paul is writing about the issue of women and their submission to authority in the church. In 1 Tim. 2:11-14, Paul states that women are not to continually teach or have authority over men in the church. His basis for this doctrine is creation order (v. 13) and the woman's deception in the fall (v. 14). He states emphatically that the woman, not the man, was totally deceived by Satan. This immediately precedes verse 15.
If verse 15 were not included in the text, one could easily get the idea that women are inferior to men or worse -- that women are beyond hope. Paul uses verse 15 to encourage women that they will be saved also in their God-ordained role as women and their valid ministry roles in the church. Paul's use of "childbearing" (NKJV) is a figure of speech called a synecdoche: a word referring to a part to represent a whole (Lea,Griffin. The New American Commentary: 1,2 Timothy, Titus. Broadman Press: Nashville, Tennessee. Copyright 1992. p. 102.).    The whole in this case is the God-ordained role of women in the world, childbearing being a part of that role. Paul specifies that they continue in faith, love, holiness, and self-control. This last word, self-control, ties Paul's thought in verse 15 back to the context of 1 Tim. 2:11-15: the submission of women to men in roles of authority. A godly woman will continue in faith, love, holiness, and self-control -- as will a godly man. The clever shift from singular ("she will be saved") to the plural ("if they continue in faith...") points to his affirmation that all women, not just Eve, have this hope.

1 Timothy 3:1
The "bishop" (NKJV) (from the Greek word "episkopos") is an office within the church of Jesus Christ. It is an office which people may variously refer to as "pastor" or "minister" or "priest." Bishop first appears in Acts 1:20 referring to the eleven Apostles who led the early church.   While Peter was the lead speaker, it seems that the apostles all had key leadership roles as bishops in the early church. By the time Paul has founded the church at Ephesus, this office has expanded to include others beyond the original Apostles. Paul speaks to a group of bishops -- here the same Greek word "episkopos" is translated "overseer" -- exhorting them to "...shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood" (Acts 20:28, NKJV). Clearly, the bishop is an office of leadership in the local church, much as a shepherd would lead a group of sheep. The bishop is called to this task by the Holy Spirit (Acts 20:28) and appointed by other bishops. (Acts 6:6; Titus 1:5) A distinction is also made between those who are bishops and those who are deacons. (Acts 6:1-6; Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:1-13)
The bishop is a good work to be desired (1 Tim. 3:1). One who is a bishop is in a position of spiritual authority over the members of the local church to which he is assigned. His role is to shepherd the flock (Acts 20:28) -- leading and feeding the saints of God. The chief overseer is our LORD Jesus Christ who leads us like a shepherd (1 Pet. 2:25). The saints are likened to sheep who, having gone astray, are led back to the fold by the wise and loving shepherd and overseer. So the office of overseer has the responsibility of leading the flock to trust in and continue abiding in the LORD Jesus Christ, our Chief Shepherd. This defines accountability for the bishop directly to the LORD Jesus Christ.
Teaching and prayer are two primary responsibilities of the bishop (Acts 6:4). The bishop is able to teach the saints (1 Tim. 3:2), exhort and convict them with sound doctrine (Titus 1:9). The bishop is to be on guard for himself and the flock.   Those who speak false doctrine will surely rise up to spread their lies within the church. The overseer has the primary responsibility to guard against this (Acts 20:29-31). The bishops are with the saints; they work in and abide with the flock entrusted to them by God (Phil. 1:1).

1 Timothy 3:1-7
Not everyone is qualified to be a bishop. 1 Tim 3:1-7 along with Titus 1:5-9 provides a list of key character traits and skills required for this office. The implication is that one of noble character inside will behave in like manner in the office of bishop. Qualifications for the office of bishop include the following characteristics as a general course of life (1 Tim. 3:1-7):

Character must be above reproach, obvious to all (1 Tim. 3:2).

Lawfully married (in terms of Biblical requirements) to one woman (1 Tim. 3:2).

Exercises self-control (1 Tim. 3:2).

Good behavior (thought of as a good person) (1 Tim. 3:2).

Abstains from alcoholic beverages (1 Tim. 3:3) as contrasted with the deacon who is not given to "much wine" (1 Tim. 3:8)-- a warning against drunkenness.

Not a violent person, not strongly reactive to bad circumstances or personal attacks (1 Tim. 3:3).

Ministering for the LORD not for money (1 Tim. 3:3).

A gentle-man, a soft touch with people (1 Tim. 3:3).

Uncontentious with others (1 Tim. 3:3).

Content with what he has, does not covet what others have (1 Tim. 3:3).

A good husband and father with obedient children (1 Tim. 3:4).

Not a recent convert to Christianity lest he get become prideful of his position (1 Tim. 3:6).

Character and conduct which outsiders generally acknowledge as good (1 Tim. 3:7).

Qualifications for a bishop's character in Titus 1:7-9 mirror those in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 with the following additions:

Not self-willed but one who continually seeks God's will in all of life's decisions. (Titus 1:7).

One who loves what is good. (Titus 1:8)

Just in his dealings with himself and others (Titus 1:8).

Holy because God is holy (Titus 1:8).

Holding firmly to the word of God which he has been taught (Titus 1:9).

Key skills for the bishop included in the list from 1 Tim. 3:1-7:

A good teacher of God's eternal truth (1 Tim. 3:2).

A clear thinker (1 Tim. 3:2).

Exercises hospitality toward others (1 Tim. 3:2).

Manages the household well (1 Tim. 3:4-5).

Additional skills are noted in Titus 1:5-9:

A steward of God, His representative to care for God's flock and Holy Scripture entrusted to the bishop (Titus 1:7).

One who can contend successfully with those who contradict sound doctrine (Titus 1:9).

The same word for bishop is also translated "visitation" in Luke 19:44 where it refers to the 1st coming of Christ, and in 1 Pet. 2:12 to the 2nd coming of Christ. This would imply that part of the bishop's role is to be a visitor of people in need since Christ visited us in our time of need.
See also the message entitled The Pastor: Qualified for Conflict

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Copyright 6/20/2001, Randy Lariscy.