1 Timothy 1

Bible study with Terry Gray

The pastoral letters were personal. They were written later in Paul's life.That is, these are letters of a seasoned apostle!


PAUL LEFT TIMOTHY IN CHARGE OF EPHESUS

1 Timothy 1:1-2
Paul wrote this to Timothy to discuss the church of Ephesus, one of the churches Paul planted there. Timothy was left there to continue the work while Paul was called away.


PAUL TOLD TIMOTHY TO STAND STRONG AGAINST FALSE TEACHINGS

1 Timothy 1:3-7
Some leaders in the church of Ephesus started teaching a different doctrine than God's Word. Paul told Timothy to stand and teach sound doctrine. He is to stop the teaching of false doctrines and kick out those who refuse to stop teaching false doctrines.

This may sound harsh and not welcoming. However, this is what shepherds do: They guide the sheep. They protect the sheep. They keep the wolves away from the sheep.

It is not in God's heart to see anyone perish (2 Peter 3:9). His arms are open to any who is willing to receive Him. However, to those whose sole purpose is to deceive and manipulate, those whose heart holds the same desires as Satan, they will share the same fate as Satan: Thrown into the Lake of Fire.

Back to kicking false doctrines out, why is that important? How can it not be? What do we tell little kids? Never talk to strangers. Scream if someone tries to take you away. It's the same idea here. False doctrines pull God's children toward Satan. How can God's shepherds not do anything about it? How would God's shepherds be doing their jobs if they just allowed the wolves to roam free, picking and choosing which sheep they want to attack next?

The text here is talking about protecting the sheep against the wolves. Wolves aren't Christians who are misled or misunderstood some things. Wolves are people who come with a deceptive heart wanting nothing to do with God but everything to do with manipulating people for their own purposes. Paul is telling Timothy to protect the flock against such cunning wolves.

Why did Timothy need such encouragement from Paul? From the text, we get the vibe that Timothy was a timid person. He didn't like confrontation. It even sounded like he was ready to bail and shrug his responsibilities as a pastor there when Paul left for Macedonia (1 Timothy 1:3). Hence, Paul wrote this letter to encourage Timothy to stand firm. Protect the flock. Fight the wolves. Defend God's Word and correct all false teachings. 


4 TYPES OF FALSE DOCTRINES

1. Fables/Myths/Legends/Mystics
Aka, stories. Fanciful stories. Such as, exaggerated out of body experiences, visions, visits from angels, etc.

First, let me be clear. I am NOT saying truly inspired experience from God is a false doctrine. Here is what I believe about these experiences: THEY ARE PERSONAL. This is something between you and God. Others may be inspired and motivated through your experiences, but only YOU know the deep end of the experience. That is the special bond between you and God.

I am also NOT saying I know what are TRUE versus what are FALSE God-inspired experiences. The only experiences I can know for certain are the ones I experience personally with God. Hence, there is no way I would ever look at another person sharing her experience and doubt.

So, what am I saying?

As always, it's about the heart. It is between you and God. That's it. We will all have to stand in front of God and give an account. So, who am I to judge? I am responsible for me. You are responsible for you. And that is that.

Alright. Having settled that, what is Paul talking about here? Again, like the wolves, there are people who make up stories to fulfill their own selfish needs. They manipulate people. They use people. They are not in it for God. They are in it for themselves. (Again, I don't know who these people are. God knows. I'm not judging. I am just saying there are wolves are there. That is just a fact.)

So here, we are not talking about genuine visions and experiences from God. We are talking about those made up by man to deceive others -- and we need to DISCERN.

Go to the Bible.

Everything from God, it is not stated just once. Every Scripture can be backed up by at least one other Scripture. If someone claims to have a vision about something, measure it up against the Scripture. Where else does it say the same thing? If you are wondering, well, what about those who claim they have visions about the future? John was given the vision of the end of days and documented what he saw in the Book of Revelation in the 1st century. These visions are supported by visions of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, etc. and have not yet been fulfilled. If there are people claiming they have visions of the future, then those visions should be supported by the visions of these prophets.

What about those who come claiming they have visions of the past? Again, these visions need to be supported by God's Word. Book of Mormon? Read it. It contradicts the Bible. What does this tell you? One of those books is wrong. I will stick with the Bible, thank you very much.

God's prophets have been receiving visions since the beginning. It would not surprise me if someone told me they received a vision. However, I'm not just going to believe him. I'm going to go to my trusty Word of God and test what is true (Acts 17:11). We should be open to genuine visions and experiences from God. But we should not just believe. We need to discern.

2. Endless Genealogies
Gnostics and Jewish religious teachers back in Biblical days were very much into genealogies. Today, the best example is the Mormons. Mormons believe they can baptize the dead (which is not Biblical) and are thus very into tracing ancestry. There are also other cults that are superstitious and believe that curses carry through generations. For example, we may have cancer or some serious disease because of what our great-great-great-grandfather did hundreds of years ago. Buddhism and many Asian cultural practices venerate ancestors. There is nothing wrong with remembering our roots and respecting our ancestors. However, to pray to them, to bow to them, to ask them for blessings? That's idol worship.

3. Idle Talk. Meaningless Babel. Nonsensical Speech.
There were those who wanted to sensationalize their teachings and went as far out as making up mystical nonsensical teachings. Again, they are not doing this for God. They are doing this to fulfill their own selfish vanity, to influence and manipulate people to follow them. Their teachings don't make any sense, and they certainly do not match up with anything in the Bible. When asked for an elaboration, they can never give you a straight answer. You leave more confused than enlightened and wonder if they may be just as confused as you are. "Be mystified," is their general response.

Well, God doesn't talk like that. God means what He says and says what He means. If we do not understand a certain passage, we can usually gain understanding by referring to another passage in the Bible. God explains Himself. This is the reason why the more we study the Bible, the more we are able to comprehend the completeness of the Word of God.

Idle talk also includes wild and vain speculations about the Scripture. This discussion can often get a bit muddy, so I won't go deep into it here. However, the gist of the idea is, when the plain sense of the Bible makes sense, then plain sense it is. There is no need to reach for allegorical interpretations or throw everything God says to symbolism. If we go down that road, then when does God say what He means and when is He symbolizing? Don't assume. Don't second guess. Just read the text. If it makes sense, then that is the sense. When God is symbolizing, it is pretty clear. When God is using metaphors, He is very clear. No one would think I actually want to eat a horse when I make the comment, "I'm so hungry I can eat a horse." Why would anyone think God does then? Obviously, this is an exaggerated example, but I hope it gets the point across.

4. Distortion of the Law
Early Jewish Christians were confused about Gentiles. Some thought that in order for Gentiles to be saved, they have to first become a Jew. They have to follow the Law before they can be saved. And so, they would force the Gentiles to be circumcised and follow through with numerous Jewish traditions before they would welcome them in their church. 

Today, there are churches that make similar requests. They have rules about what we can eat or what we can wear or how much we must tithe or when must we be baptized. The list goes on and on.

Bottom line: legalism is not Biblical. Peter address this issue eloquently in Acts 9: Through Jesus, we are all no longer under the Law.

1 Timothy 1:8-11
The Law is not all bad. Paul says that the Law is good as long as we use it lawfully. In order to do that, we must first understand the purpose of the Law.

The Law was presented to convict us, the sinners, that beyond a shadow of the doubt, WE ARE SINNER. Period. That is the ONLY thing the Law is good for: To prove to us that we are sinner. That is it. The Law does not save! So, why would we be foolish enough to think we can work our way into salvation? Why would we think if we eat certain foods or dress a certain way or do a certain whatever that we would somehow be saved? What does it really matter? Circumcision of the HEART (Romans 2:17-29)!

The Law brings us to Christ so that we may be justified by faith (Galatians 3)!

This is how salvation works: Look at the Law and see that we are sinners. Look at the Law and understand how imperfect we are, how impossible it is for us to live up to God's standards. Look at the Law and realize we need a savior.

Using the Law lawfully then is to use it to show people that we are all sinners (Romans 3:23) who need a savior.

Teaching that the Law saves or forcing people to live under the Law is a false doctrine because neither uses the Law lawfully. Further, such legalism takes away the seriousness of sin (as if we can work ourselves into salvation) and denies the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.


GOD'S DOCTRINE UNITES
FALSE DOCTRINES DIVIDE
All false doctrines cause disputed rather than edification! They promotes disunity, bickering, evilness of the spirit. God's doctrine builds people up. God's doctrine builds love!

Leaders in the church are to understand and teach sound doctrine so that the body of Christ is edified and unified in Christ, so that they will not be like little children easily swayed by any doctrine (true or false) and who fall prey to trickery of men (Ephesians 4:14).



PAUL'S TESTIMONY (1 Timothy 4:12-17)

The Gospel is the one true sound doctrine that saves. It saved Paul and changed him from a grave sinner to a formidable warrior for Christ.

Paul was saved, even though he heavily persecuted early Jewish Christians (1 Timothy 4:13)
Paul did a lot of horrible things to Christians before he was saved. The only thing that he had going for him was his ignorance.

Paul's zeal for God was sincere and real. He was brought up as a Pharisee and taught by the best Jewish teachers. When early Christians proclaimed a Messiah different than what he was taught, he persecuted them not because of a hardened heart. He honestly thought they were a threat to God! He was sincere in his love for God, though he was sincerely wrong.

Paul never forgot his Sin (1 Timothy 1:15)
Even 30 years after Paul had been a model Christian, he still considered himself as the chief of sinners, saying, "I am" instead of "I was." Paul never forgot his Sin! Paul never got over it!

When we compare ourselves to Jesus, we will never be perfect. We may do better if we compare against other Christians, but that's not the point. A healthy dose of remembering is good. (Stress on "healthy!" We must learn to let go of our past sins, if we have sincerely gone before God and reconcile it all with Him. However, if we learn nothing from it and continue to sin, then how sincere was our reconciliation?)

God transformed Paul to an amazing man of God (1 Timothy 1:16)
Look at the amazing transformation of Paul! Unsaved Paul became saved Paul who then became the apostle Paul! 

Before Paul was saved, he was an arrogant man. And now, look what God has done to Paul. God turned Paul from the ultimate sinner (Acts 9) to an incredible saint, the greatest enemy to the greatest disciple. Paul lived giving credit to God. Since given his new life, Paul's life became all about God. "Paul" means "little," and when God showed his the Way, Paul saw himself as little. Paul gave his life over to God and allowed God to use him FULLY.

Paul knew his life was going to be an example for many. He would be a pattern of things to come. He was a prototype. If God can save and use Paul, He can save and use anyone. Paul is an extreme example of what God can do. What changed Paul? The Gospel. If you think you don't deserve being saved, Look at Paul. If you don't think you can serve God. Look at Paul.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11
"Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."


PAUL ENCOURAGES TIMOTHY (1 Timothy 1:18-20)
Paul reminds Timothy to remember the prophecies fulfilled, To stand for the Word.

Paul handed Hymenaeus and Alexander over to Satan. This sounds very harsh. However, Paul simply excommunicated them from the church. When someone is excommunicated, he is left in the land of Satan.

Why did Paul excommunicate them? One, they were wolves clothed in sheep skin, and Paul needed to protect his sheep. Two, they needed to learn the seriousness of blaspheme. Some can learn through peaceful teaching, but these two couldn't. They caused so much havoc in the church (which is why they were wolves) that they had to learn the hard way: Be without God and learn the ways of Satan aren't nearly as glorious as they seem.

We should strive to be a Paul and be inspired by Paul's command to Timothy.

As Pastor Terry Gray said, "We should all have a Paul and a Timothy in our lives": Paul, because he is a great mentor, and Timothy, as someone we continue to encourage to grow in Christ.