seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
1 Timothy 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,
2 To Timothy my true son in the faith:
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer 4 or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith. 5 The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. 7 They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.
8 We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. 9 We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine 11 that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.
12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. 13 Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. 14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
18 Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, 19 holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith. 20 Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.
I don't think I've ever studied Timothy as a stand alone. I've read parts of it.... verses that fit someone's agenda or story... but I don't think I've ever just studied Timothy.
This is from the easy English site.
Timothy was the son of a Gentile father and a Jewish mother. His mother, Eunice, and grandmother, Lois, both believed the gospel of Christ (2 Timothy 1:5). They and Timothy probably became Christians when Paul first went to the town called Lystra (Acts 14). All the Christians in Lystra and in the church in the town called Iconium spoke well about Timothy.
When Paul came the second time to Lystra, he asked Timothy to join his team (Acts 16:1-3). Timothy became a close friend and helper of Paul. He went with Paul as he travelled to many places. Paul spoke about him as his own son in the faith.
Now he was the leader of the church in Ephesus. Paul writes this letter to him to encourage him in the task of leading that church. He gives Timothy a lot of advice both for the Christians in the church and for himself.
There were some problems there, with some people who were teaching wrong things. Paul told Timothy to sort out that problem . He must stop these people from doing it.
Paul tells Timothy how to select the elders and deacons. He writes about the roles of men and women. He speaks about the care of widows. He tells Timothy how slaves ought to serve. He speaks to the rich persons. And he warns them about the dangers that come with wealth. He tells Timothy how he should take care of himself. And he tells him how to be a good leader.
There were people in Ephesus who taught different things. What they said did not agree with the truth. They confused the Christians with their strange ideas.
Timothy should be in control of this church. By nature, he is a shy and quiet man. So, Paul tells him to exercise that control. He must not let the false teachers continue to teach. He must order them to stop.
The trouble with the false teachers was not that they were teaching against the truth. They told stories that had nothing to do with the truth. They taught as fact theories that came from these stories. They argued about claims based on who their ancestors were. They made long lists of their ancestors to prove that they were important. Such stories and claims create a lot of talking but no good results. They are of no use and are just a waste of time. They cause arguments that have no purpose. They do nothing for the work of God. They are a problem rather than a help to those who serve the Lord.
Some people at Ephesus had turned away from the truth of God’s word. They had followed their own ideas. And so, they did not do what the Bible teaches. They failed to have that love which comes from a clean heart, a good conscience and real faith. They talked a lot, but said nothing of real value. Their teaching was just vain words that were of no use at all.
These false teachers had wanted to be teachers of the law. The law here means the laws that God gave to Moses. They are in the first five books of the Old Testament. The teacher was very important in those days. They wanted to be important and they wanted the Christians to respect them. But they did not know what the law said. They did not understand the principles of the law that they claimed to teach. What they taught with such confidence was in error. What they said was not correct and it produced no good results.
The problem was not that there was anything wrong with the law. The law itself is good because God gave it. The problem was with the false teachers who used it wrongly. They were using it to support their own ideas. The use of the law must be for its proper purpose. This purpose is to teach people how they should live. It shows them where they have gone wrong.
The purpose of all law is to show us when we do wrong things. So law is not for good persons but for those who are bad. We need the law to give us the rules of behaviour by which we must live. By the law, the judge decides whether a person is good or bad. The law gives the rules for punishing those whom it finds to be guilty.
As a warning, Paul names two men who have done bad things. They had ruined their faith. These are Hymenaeus and Alexander. Hymenaeus had become a false teacher (2 Timothy 2:17). Alexander could be the man who made things from copper in Ephesus. If so, he caused Paul a lot of trouble (2 Timothy 4:14).
Both of these men had spoken against the Lord and against the truth of the gospel. Paul handed these two men to Satan. This was an act of discipline for a person who would not repent of sin. Paul and the leaders put them out of the church.
I think bible-studys.org got more to the problem Paul was writing to Timothy about.“Myths and endless genealogies”: Legends and fanciful stories manufactured from elements of Judaism (verse 7; Titus 1:14), which probably dealt with allegorical or fictitious interpretations of Old Testament genealogical lists. In reality, they were “doctrines of demons”, posing as God’s truth.
The Jews were very aware of genealogies and he could be speaking of this. The fables, spoken of here, came directly from the Talmud. The Talmud was in heavy use at this time, and much of it was fables.
We discussed (in 1 Corinthians), how some of the teaching in the Talmud had been quoted by Paul. Paul, as many of the other Jewish converts, had studied the Talmud right along with the Bible, and even though it was not the Bible, they had picked up customs from the Talmud that they were practicing in the church.
The "Talmud" was a commentary similar to the book of Josephus in our day. The customs of the Talmud were man-made laws. They were not divine in nature. The Jews were interested in being able to trace their ancestry back to Abraham in the flesh. That is what the genealogy is all about. All of these things cause trouble in the church.
If everyone lived a righteous life, there would be no need for laws. The law is actually given to protect the righteous from the ungodly. The law, known as the Law of Moses, is possibly spoken of here.
I'm not sure where this is going. Like I said... I don't think I studied Timothy before. I used his age to get my Sunday School children interested in the Bible. The fact that he was just 12 or 13 years old when he started working in the church made him a believable character to the children in my Sunday School Class.
Apparently there were some Jews in Ephesus who were trying to use their long pure bloodline to get control of the church. Timothy's bloodline wasn't all that pure... His dad was a Gentile. Put that on top of his age.... and Timothy was at a real disadvantage. Just like the Pharisees and Sadducees back in the days of Jesus.... apparently the purebloods were trying to law up the church. Those people who could trace their bloodlines back to Abraham were probably bragging about being the "original chosen ones" and all the others in the church should fall in line.
Paul told Timothy to call them out. Paul told Timothy that no one could be as big a sinner as Paul. Paul held the coats for the men who beat the Disciple Stephen to death... and Paul carried that guilt even though he had been forgiven by Jesus at the Cross before Paul even committed the horrible act. Paul told Timothy he could do it. Paul is encouraging a teenager to take control of the church and make sure it stays in the Gospel.
In the church today... there are a lot of people who can trace their family's support of the church going back for several generations. These people are important... generally deacons and elders of the church. Generally, they grew up in the church and they are called on to teach because of their family background. HOWEVER.... as I've said before.... membership in a church.... just as with baptism.... does not mean that a person is a Christian.
When a person becomes a Christian.... that means they are following Christ. A Christian believes that God loved the World so much that He sent His only Begotten Son to earth. A Christian believes that Jesus was innocent. He never hurt anyone. He was crucified, dead, and buried in a borrowed tomb. On the third day... Christians believe.... He rose from the dead and after visiting with His disciples.... He ascended into Heaven... and now .... He sits beside God... Christians believe that Jesus is coming back.... He said He was... and He never lied... So Christians believe He is coming back.
Now... I'm pretty sure the Jewish people in the church were pointing out all the horrible deeds of the members of the church. I'm pretty sure those Jewish people were saying the church needed rules for people to live by so that they would not revert to old sins or get lost in new ones. After all.... humans had turned 10 Commandments into hundreds of laws, rules, regulations, policies and procedures in an effort to get control of every minute part of life. They felt "chosen" to do so.
There are people in the church today... who go to church because they have been doing it all their lives. It's as normal, to them, as setting the alarm clock before they go to bed at night. It's a habit.... like stopping at the same coffee shop on the way in to work in the morning. It's good for business. Christians will support the business of fellow Christians. There are people in the church today... who are filling the shoes of deacon or elder, teacher or mentor, treasurer, usher and greeter.... who have been going to church every Sunday and Wednesday for their whole life.... but they never accepted Jesus as their personal Savior.... and now they can't do it because.... hey how would it look for the deacon to go forward during the call...... how would it look after all those shared communions to admit... they never quite got around to becoming a Christian.
Think about it.... those same people.... from those good "Christian" families.... who have been attending since forever... never missing a day.... "chosen" by the church members to lead the church..... who have memorized every significant scripture so they can visit the members and console them in the manner they are accustomed.... but they never quite got around to accepting Christ.
So being from a long line of "good" people..... posing as Christians.... only have the words on the page.... they don't have the "Spirit" that tells them what those words really mean. They may be good people... chosen to be the deacons, elders, teachers and mentors of the church... but unless they have asked Jesus Christ to be their personal savior... they are not "chosen" no matter who their great great great great great granddaddy was.
When God was sculpting us... and counting the number of hairs that would go on our heads.... He knew who would accept Jesus and who will flounder around, never getting around to it. Those who are going to accept Jesus..... are the ones.... they are the "chosen".... they are "chosen" to be the adopted children of the One True Living God. They are chosen to be the brothers and sisters of our Big Brother.... Jesus the Christ......
I am happy to be "chosen".
:coffee"