Tom Lowe
8-21-2020
OUTLINE OF 1 Timothy
Opening Greetings, 1:1-2
Instruction Concerning Doctrine, 1:3-20
Paul’s Warning Against False Doctrines, 1:3-11
Paul’s Testimony Concerning the Grace of God, 1:12-17
Paul’s Charge to Timothy, 1:18-20
III. Instruction Concerning Worship, 2:1-15
A. Prayer in the Church, 2:1-8
B. Women in the Church, 2:9-15
IV. Instruction Concerning Leaders, 3:1-16
A. Bishops, 3:1-7
B. Deacons, 3:8-16
V. Instruction Concerning Dangers, 4:1-16
A. Description of the Dangers, 4:1-5
B. Defenses Against the Dangers, 4:6-16
VI. Instruction Concerning Various Duties, 5:1-6:21
A. Toward those Older and Younger, 5:1-2
B. Toward Widows, 5:3-16
C. Toward Elders, 5:17-25
D. Toward Masters and Slaves, 6:1-2
E. Toward False Teachers, 6:3-5
F. Toward Money and Godliness, 6:6-19
G. Toward One’s Trust, 6:20-21
Introduction to 1 Timothy
First Timothy is one of the most important books in the New Testament, both doctrinally and practically. It deals with the most important aspects of our faith: salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ; the importance of prayer; the qualifications to be a leader in the church; and the centrality of Jesus. The book also deals with important practical issues: true versus false teaching; spiritually disciplining one’s life; rebuking and counseling people; the church’s responsibility to the poor and needy; issues involving church elders; and the gospel and money. This volume has a detailed outline of, and commentary on, the book of 1 Timothy.
1 TIMOTHY
Lesson 1
Title: Opening Greetings, verses 1:1-2
1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;
Commentary
Paul,
Jesus launched the church based on 12 disciples/12 apostles. They symbolized that he was founding a new, spiritual Israel. Jesus’ selection of 12 disciples/12 apostles (Matt 10:1-2; Mark 3:13-19; Luke 6:12-26) is symbolic of the 12 tribes of Israel. In fact, on the twelve gates of New Jerusalem are written “the names of the twelve tribes of Israel” (Rev 21:12), and on twelve foundation stones of New Jerusalem are “the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb” (Rev 21:14). The apostles themselves recognized the significance of the “12.” In Acts 1:12-26 they concluded that it was necessary to fill Judas Iscariot’s position as apostle. Although Paul was an apostle (Rom 1:1; 1 Cor 1:1; 9:1), the NT (and Paul himself) recognizes a distinction between the apostleship of Paul and “the Twelve” (see Acts 6:2; 1 Cor 15:5, 8). This may have to do with the fact that Paul’s ministry primarily was to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15; 13:46; 18:6; Rom 11:13; Gal 1:16; 2:7), whereas Peter, the evident leader and spokesman of the Twelve, primarily was an apostle to Jews (see Gal 2:7-8). The NT recognizes two basic types of apostles: (A) foundational apostles; and (B) church commissioned apostles. “Foundational” apostles were those apostles who were companions of Jesus, witnesses to the resurrection, and were specifically called to be apostles and witnesses by Jesus (see Matt 10:1-5; Mark 6:7, 30; Luke 6:13; John 15:27; Acts 1:21-22). They were able to attest to their special status by performing signs (see Matt 10:1-8; Mark 6:7; Acts 2:43; 2 Cor 12:12). Foundational apostles were the leaders of the early church and the “foundation” of the church itself (Eph 2:19-20). 8 foundational apostles have not existed since the original apostles died (only one foundation can be laid for a building). “Church-commissioned” apostles are those men and women who have been delegated by a church to go out and preach the gospel, plant new churches, and build up the church (see Acts 13:1-3; 14:14; Rom 16:7; 1 Cor 9:5-6; 12:28; 1 Thess 1:1; 2:6). Both types of apostle are united in a man like Paul (see Acts 9:1-16; 13:1-3; 1 Cor 9:1; 15:6-10; Gal 1:11-17; 1 Tim 2:7). Church-commissioned apostles can have no greater authority than being commissioned by the church.
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
His name was well known to Timothy, and very dear to him; and so was his office as an apostle, and which he mentions, not so much for Timothy's sake, but for the sake of others, so that what he delivers in this epistle might come with its proper weight and authority, and be observed due to his office, as well as his name; “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God“ (Romans 1:1). How he came into this office is explained next; he did not promote himself, nor was he called to it by men. Paul is writing in his role as, and with the full authority of, an apostle of Christ Jesus. Even though Timothy knew that Paul was an apostle, Paul mentions that fact to emphasize the role in which he is writing and to stress the authority of what he is saying. That makes his words and teaching equivalent to the teaching of Jesus Christ himself (see 1 Tim 6:3). Since this letter was read in the churches (and is still being read today), we need to remember what Paul is still saying to us as Christ’s apostle. Christ Jesus, who is our HOPE: Paul said in 1 Cor 15:19, “If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most to be pitied.” However, Paul recognized that this world and this life are not all that there is. Instead, there is eternity: there will be a new earth, and eternal life (which begins now) for people who have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The resurrection of Jesus is the “first fruits” and guarantee that those who are Christ’s will be raised and will experience eternal life on the new earth (1 Cor 15:20-23).
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God
The selection of Paul by God and the decree (command) of God, (God the Father) by which he was separated to this office (apostle), even from eternity, and is the same with the counsel or will of God (Ephesians 1:1);?or it may refer to the order given by the Holy Ghost to the church; to set apart him and Barnabas, to the work of the ministry?(Acts 13:2),?though this commandment is called the commandment of God by whom is meant God the Father; and this nature of his is mentioned, to show that the mission the apostle was sent on as such, and in which the discharge of his office greatly lay, was the affair of salvation, to publish and declare that to the sons of men; and also to show the concern which God the Father has in that work: he decided upon it, and appointed his people to it, and determined to save them by his Son, whom he set upon to be his salvation; he drew the proposal for it by his infinite wisdom, and sent his Son into the world to execute it; and he sends his ministers to publish the Gospel of it, and his Spirit to reveal and apply it to the hearts of his chosen ones; and keeps them by his power unto it, and will at last put them into the full possession of it; so that this character well suits with him, to whom it is also given (Titus 3:4),?as well as with his Son Jesus Christ, to whom it is more commonly ascribed, and from whom he is here distinguished.
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour,
By our “Saviour” is meant God the Father; his character is mentioned, to show that the mission the apostle was sent on, and in which the discharge of his office was greatly engaged, was the affair of salvation, to publish and declare that to the sons of men; and also to show the concern which God the Father has for humankind: he settled upon it, and appointed his people to it, and determined upon saving them by his Son, whom he planned upon to be his salvation. He drew up the scheme for it by his infinite wisdom, and sent his Son into the world to execute it; and he sends his ministers to publish the Gospel of it, and his Spirit to reveal and apply it to the hearts of his chosen ones; and keeps them involved by his power, and will at last put them into the full possession of it; so that this character well suits him, to whom it is also given (Titus 3:4),?as well as with his Son Jesus Christ, to whom it is more commonly ascribed, and from whom he is here distinguished.
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;
who is both the author, and the GROUND and FOUNDATION of the grace of hope of salvation, and eternal life; not earthly pleasures, nor any external thing whatever; not birth privileges, carnal lineage, religious education, morality and civility, obedience to the law of Moses, moral or ceremonial; nor a profession of Christ, nor a bare subjection to his ordinances, but he himself: and there is good ground to hope for pardon through his blood, which was shed for it; and for justification by his righteousness, which is freely wrought out, and freely imputed; and for salvation by him, since it is in him, and in no other, and is completely effected by him, and that for the worst of sinners, and is wholly of free grace, and which everyone that believes in him shall enjoy; and so for ETERNAL LIFE, which hope is conversant with; and good reason there is for it in Christ, seeing it is in him, and in his gift; what his grace gives a meekness for, and his righteousness a title to; and which he is possessed of in the name of his people, prepares for them, and will introduce them into. The Complutensian edition reads, "OF THE FATHER, AND OUR SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST"; and so, the Ethiopic version, "of God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ".
Without Jesus, the world was hopeless; the expectation of being saved can only come to humankind by his Gospel. He is called our hope, as he is called our life, our peace, our righteousness, etc., because from him hope, life, peace, righteousness, and all other blessings proceed.
2. To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
To Timothy, my true child in the faith:
Paul first met Timothy in the city of Lystra, at the beginning of his second missionary journey (Acts 16:1-2). That occurred shortly after the important council at Jerusalem. The council had occurred in the year AD 49. Thus, Paul met Timothy in about the year AD 50. First Timothy was written about AD 62-63. Timothy was already a believer when he met Paul (Acts 16:1-2; 2 Tim 1:1-5; 3:14-15). After that, Paul took Timothy with him. Thereafter, Timothy travelled and worked closely with Paul throughout Greece, the Roman province of Asia (modern Turkey), and Rome itself (see Acts 16:3-12; 17:10-15; 19:21-22; 20:4; Phil 1:1; 2:19; Col 1:1; Phlm 1:1; 1 Thess 3:1-2; 2 Tim 4:13). Timothy appears to have been Paul’s closest companion. He worked with Paul until the time of Paul’s death in about AD 66 (see 2 Tim 4:13). Timothy is mentioned more often than any of the other people whom Paul mentored.
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
The salutation which Paul gives to his own son in the faith is an exquisite example of what a Christian greeting should be. It is no idle compliment, but an earnest prayer.
The manifestation of divine love desired on Timothy’s behalf is threefold, consisting of “grace, mercy, and peace,” for the sympathetic mind of Paul analyzed and displayed it, much as a prism will catch a ray of sunshine, and reveal more clearly the wonderful beauty that is latent in it.
Grace is the free favor of God, pouring itself forth upon the soul which is yearning for it, and filling it with gladness and praise. So that a prayer for God’s “grace” to be with us is really a prayer that our sins and doubts may be dispersed; for as with nature’s sunlight, it is not any alteration in the sun, but a change in the earth’s atmosphere, or in the earth’s attitude towards the sun, that brings brightness in the place of gloom, daylight instead of darkness.
The association of the idea of mercy with grace is striking and is peculiar to these Epistles to Timothy and to the Second Epistle of John. But it was characteristic of Paul, who was profoundly conscious of his own need of “mercy,” to pray for it on behalf of his comrade, who was engaged in similar work. It is not to the erring Galatians nor to the backsliding Corinthians, but to this honored servant of the Christian Church, that he prays for God’s “mercy” to be evermore expanded; for from his own experience he knew how much that mercy is needed by those who are sensible that their character comes far short of their ideal, and that their work for Christ is marred by their faults and foolishness. We may occupy the highest position in the Church, yet instead of being thereby exalted above the need for mercy, we must the more humbly cast ourselves upon it. Nothing but the realization of the Divine patience will encourage us to continue in spiritual service, which is awful in its responsibilities, and likely to be poorly done by us through our sinfulness and ignorance. The noblest saint falls back in life and death on Divine mercy as his one and only hope.
Peace flows from the “grace” and “mercy” of God. It is a sense of reconciliation with Him--of rest in Him, which will give calmness during hours of trouble and peril and will spread a sacred and happy influence over those around us. As the commentator says, “Peace is the proper result of the Christian temper. It is the great kindness which our religion doth us, that it brings us to a settledness of mind and a consistency within ourselves.”
The source of these blessings is pointed out in the assurance that they flow from “God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.”
If God is our Father we may surely expect such blessings, for they are just what in our lower sphere we fathers (whose fatherhood is but a broken reflection of His) would gladly give our children. We are not happy unless they are living in our “favor”; we are eager to show them “mercy” directly and whenever they come to us in penitential grief; and if there is one blessing we desire for them above all others, it is that their minds may be at “peace.”
But grace, mercy, and peace, can only come to us through Jesus Christ our Lord, because we are undeserving and sinful.
Paul usually begins his epistles with the greeting “grace and peace.” Only in 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy does he add the term “mercy” to his greeting. “Grace” essentially means “undeserved favor” (i.e., receiving a good gift that you have not earned and do not deserve). “Mercy” normally conveys the idea of having compassion on the unfortunate and needy. One commentator distinguished the ideas of “mercy” and “grace” this way: “[Mercy] always deals with what we see of pain, misery and distress, these results of sin, and [grace] always deals with the sin and guilt itself. The one extends relief, the other pardon; the one cures, heals, helps, the other cleanses and reinstates.” Since in this context mercy is used along with grace, you can look at mercy as not receiving the bad consequences (i.e., God’s wrath, eternal death, and hell) that you have earned and that you do deserve. “Peace” is the wonderful thing we need: within ourselves; among people; and with God. Only Jesus gives us that peace. The peace that He gives us “passes all understanding” (Phil 4:6-7) because the peace that comes from Jesus “is not the peace the world gives” (John 14:27). The reason is that He unites us to Himself, changes us on the inside, and provides us with the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17, 26), so that we will become like Him (Rom 8:29). He therefore gives us the ability to face any difficulty, whether internal or external, with peace, knowing that we are approved by the Father, in Christ, and are secure in His hand (Rom 8:28-39).
The use of “grace, mercy, and peace” together summarize the tragedy of humanity’s condition and God’s solution to our plight. The Bible views all people as having been one with Adam (“in Adam”), with Adam acting as our head or representative (see Rom 5:12-19; 1 Cor 15:21-22; Heb 7:9-10). Mankind’s problem is that, as a result of Adam’s sin, the entire human race receives universal “legal” guilt and moral corruption (Ps 51:5; Jer 17:9; Rom 3:9; 7:14-25), which leads to universal individual sin (Rom 3:10-18, 23), and thereby to universal individual guilt. The exact mechanism of how and why Adam’s posterity has been found guilty and radically corrupted as a result of Adam’s sin is a matter of debate. But the result for all people is that on our own, without Christ, we are “dead in our trespasses and sins” (Eph 2:1). This means that there is a radical depravity or corruption about every person (also called the power of indwelling sin [see Rom 7:14- 23]), which affects everything about us, including how we think, reason, speak, act, feel, and relate to people and to God. The result of this corruption is that, apart from Christ’s intervention, all people are: unwilling and unable to come to Christ and believe in him (John 6:44, 65; Eph 2:8-9); unwilling and unable even to see the kingdom of God (John 3:3, 5); unwilling and unable to submit to God’s law and obey him (Rom 8:6-8); unwilling and unable to understand spiritual truth about God (1 Cor 2:14); unwilling and unable to please God (Heb 11:6); enslaved by sin, the world, the flesh, and the devil (Rom 6:17; Eph 2:1-3); devoid of true spiritual life (Eph 2:1; Col 2:13); and are subject to God’s wrath and judgment (Rom 6:16-17; Eph 2:1-3). Thus, people do not have peace within themselves (they know what they should do but, because of the power of indwelling sin, they do not do it). The result is that there is not peace between different peoples (families, clans, tribes, and nations), and there is not peace between people and God.
Humanity’s attempt to solve this problem is through works-based religions. Although there are lots of religions in the world (Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, traditional African religion, etc.) at their core all such religions have the same basis: one must perform certain “works” (e.g., do enough good deeds, make sacrifices, deny oneself certain things, pray five times per day) in order to try to “bridge the gap” between a holy God and sinful man and thereby be accepted by God and achieve life, heaven, or nirvana. All such religions are doomed to failure because they do not have a correct understanding of mankind’s true condition. Humanity’s problem is within us—there is something radically wrong with our “heart”—and we CANNOT change our heart on our own. No number of “external” acts (e.g., good deeds, sacrifices, denials of things, prayers) can change our sinful inner nature (see Col 2:20-23). The Bible alone accurately understands that, on our own, we have “no hope and [are] without God in the world” (Eph 2:12).
Christianity is unlike any other religion in the world. Christianity alone recognizes that humanity on its own cannot bridge the gap between itself and God. Only God can do what we cannot do—give us a new heart. He did this through the person and work of Jesus Christ. Christ was unique in all of history: God became a man in the person of Jesus Christ; Christ was both fully God and fully man at the same time. He alone was without sin. Therefore, he alone had the ability to be a perfect sacrifice for our sin. Christ sacrificed himself for us while we were his enemies (Rom 5:8-10). On the cross he took our sins, guilt, and the punishment we deserve onto himself. On the other hand, his obedience and righteousness are imputed to us by our faith in him. In other words, he takes all the bad in us, and gives us credit for all the good in him. Jesus was the “second Adam”: just as the first Adam imparted sin to mankind, so Christ imparts forgiveness and life to those who are “in Christ” (Rom 3:21-26; 5:6-21; Col 2:13-14). The resurrection of Christ demonstrates that the Father accepted Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf (John 1:29, 36; 1 Cor 15:20-23, 42-49, 56-57; Heb 9:11-10:18; Rev 5:6-8). Thus, Christianity, unlike every other religion in the world, is not about what we do for God, or do to try to reach God but is about what God has done for us in Christ. We can only be saved by the gift of God’s grace through faith in Christ (Eph 1:3-14; 2:8-9). God then takes our “hearts of stone” and gives us new “hearts of flesh” (Ezek 36:26; 2 Cor 3:2-3; 5:17). He gives us the Holy Spirit who comes to live inside of us (John 14:16-17; Rom 8:14-15; 1 Cor 3:16; 6:19; 2 Cor 6:16), and enable us to live a new life in conformity to his will (Ezek 36:27; Eph 2:10). Through Christ’s grace and mercy, we have peace with God, with other people, and peace within ourselves (see John 14:26-27; 16:33; Eph 2:14; Phil 4:7; Col 3:15).
In the relation of St. Paul to Timothy we have one of those beautiful friendships between an older and a younger man which are commonly so helpful to both. It is in such cases, rather than where the friends are equals in age, that each can be the real complement of the other. Each by his abundance can supply the other’s want, while men of equal age would have common wants and common provisions. In this respect the friendship between St. Paul and Timothy reminds us of that between St. Peter and St. John. In each ease the friend who took the lead was much older than the other; and (what is less in harmony with ordinary experience) in each case it was the older friend who had the impulse and the enthusiasm, the younger who had the reflectiveness and the reserve. These latter qualities are less marked in St. Timothy than in St. John, but nevertheless they are there, and they are among the leading traits of his character. St. Paul leans on him while he guides him and relies upon his thoughtfulness and?circumspection in cases requiring firmness, delicacy, and tact. Of the affection with which he regarded Timothy we have evidence in the whole tone of the two letters to him. In the sphere of faith Timothy is his “own true child” (not merely adopted, still less illegitimate), and his “beloved child.”
It is grace that gives the lowly man his humility, the loving man his kindly affections, the benevolent man his charity, the zealous man his enthusiasm, the young Christian his spiritual strength, the old Christian his experience, the suffering Christian his patience, and the dying Christian his support. Thus the first practical inquiry, that enables us to ascertain our own state before God, is, Have we realized the truth, not as a mere point in theology, but as a point in personal feeling, that “in me, that is, in my flesh,” in my natural character or capacity, “dwelleth no good thing” that without Christ we are nothing, can do nothing?
There is, furthermore, the mercy that develops the counsel of redemption. As grace is something that is given as a gratuity, that is neither merited, nor purchased, nor obtainable by other means, nor deserved, nor even desired, so mercy involves an utter failing - not merely a repudiation, but a disqualifying clause. Grace might apply to an order of beings to which mercy was not applicable. Mercy, then, involves a judgment earned, but pardon granted, where the punishment was not only merited but provoked and challenged! Hence it is described by the terms, “the longsuffering of God,” “the forbearance of God.” And yet the word mercy still implies a victim. If no penalty of an earthly law, for instance, were ever inflicted upon any man, as was the case with some of our own laws till of late years, the suspension of such a law would be no mercy to any man, it would be practically disannulled, and the idea of mercy under such a statute would merge into repeal. It is when some men suffer the penalty from which others are exempted by the intervention of the sovereign, that mercy is said to be shown to those who are exempted. When a criminal sees another man suffering the death to which his guilt had condemned himself, he understands then the privilege of mercy. It is likewise with the sinner. Mercy is the great expansion of the love of God. It is not?the exercise of a Divine attribute, which, like His power or wisdom, cost the Father nothing. “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that all who believe in Him should not perish.” This was the Father’s sacrifice, of?which Abraham’s was the example, just as Isaac’s self-submission was a type of the Son’s. An act of mercy costs earthly princes nothing beyond the word pardon; it cost the King of kings the sacrifice of His Son, “whom He had appointed Heir of all things.” Who would wonder, then, at the magnificent things which are said in Scripture about the mercy of God? Mercy gave birth to the “Man of sorrows”; mercy clothed the Heir of heaven in coarse Galilean raiment, as a poor man among the poor; mercy made Him toil, and hunger, and thirst, and travail, and suffer, and die; mercy rose with Him from the grave; mercy speaks by Him from the seat of intercession, and promises to come again in glory, to gather His elect, and to establish His kingdom. Mercy is the main element, the uniform ingredient, in every act of grace, It was mercy that fixed our own native lot in a land of light, and Christian ordinances, and social privileges, instead of among howling savages, with minds as dark and bare as their disfigured bodies; it was mercy that provided some of us with the goodly heritage of pious parents, however little we may have profited by their example and prayers; it was mercy, if our hearts were reached at last, if we turned to “flee from the wrath to come, and to lay hold upon eternal life.” It is mercy still, O Lord, that we are living this day to praise Thee, that health, reason, strength, apprehension, and multiplied opportunities, and means of grace, and channels of good works by which we shall glorify Thee, and benefit ourselves and others, are yet spared to us. It is mercy, in short, that meets us in the hour of sorrow, and whispers consolation. Hence the next practical test of our condition in the sight of God is--Have we felt our need of mercy? Have we realized our lost, wretched, forlorn condition without a Mediator?
The external incidents of life no longer break the calm of the full assurance of faith, or hope, or understanding, in?the life of the believer; but “when a man’s ways please the Lord, He maketh his enemies to be at peace with him.” “The God of peace beats down Satan under your feet shortly.” The Son of peace is an abiding and delightful guest in your dwellings; your vision of peace is not like Jerusalem’s, hidden from your eyes, but fixes a distinct, lofty, lovely impression upon your minds--like an horizon that seems to fence in and shield us with the clouds of heaven, yet opens heaven itself to the far-seeing gaze of faith. The world in its own way is seeking for this peace; amid all its pleasures and cunning variations of pleasure and amusement it is seeking, over the wreck of every present enjoyment, the peace which it hopes to find in the future. It is seeking it where the poor dejected Elisha sought his master--in the wilderness, instead of looking up to heaven where he was gone. And hence the search is vain; men do not find it.
