Paul, the aged and experienced apostle, writes to the young pastor Timothy who is facing a heavy burden of responsibility in the church at Ephesus. The task is challenging: false doctrine must be erased, public worship safeguarded, and mature leadership developed.
In addition to the conduct of the church, Paul talks pointedly about the conduct of the minister. Timothy must be on his guard lest his youthfulness become a liability, rather than an asset, to the gospel. He must be careful to avoid false teachers and greedy motives, pursuing instead righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and the gentleness that befits a man of God.
Who Wrote 1 Timothy?
Since the early nineteenth century, the Pastoral Epistles have been attacked more than any other Pauline epistles on the issue of authenticity. The similarity of these epistles requires that they be treated as a unit in terms of authorship because they stand or fall together.
The external evidence solidly supports the conservative position that Paul wrote the letters to Timothy and Titus. Postapostolic church fathers allude to them as Paul’s writing, as well as other early church fathers.
Suggestions of an author other than Paul are supported entirely based on internal evidence. Even though these letters claim to be written by Paul (1 Tim. 1:1), critics assert that they are “pious forgeries” that appeared in the second century.
There are several problems with this:
- Pseudonymous writing was unacceptable to Paul and to the early church, which was very sensitive to the problem of forgeries.
- The adjective pious should deceive no one: a forgery was as deliberately deceptive then as it is now.
- The many personal facts and names that appear in the Pastoral epistles would have been avoided by a forger who would have taken refuge in vagueness. Nor would a forger have used expressions like those in 1:13-15 if he had been an admirer of Paul. The doctrinal teaching and autobiographical details fit very well with Paul.
- What purpose or advantage would these epistles serve as forgeries written years later? There are too many personal elements, and the doctrinal refutations do not refer to second-century Gnosticism.
- The style and content of the postapostolic writings or apocryphal books differ greatly with these three letters.
The Christ of 1 Timothy
Christ is the “one Mediator between God and men” (1 Tim. 2:5), and “God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory” (3:16).
He is the source of spiritual strength, faith, and love (1:12-14). He “came into the world to save sinners” (1:15) and “gave Himself a ransom for all” (2:6) as “the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe” (4:10).
The Keys of 1 Timothy
Key Theme: Leadership Manual for Church Organization.
The theme of this epistle is Timothy’s organization and oversight of the Asian churches as a faithfl minister of God. Paul writes this letter as a reference manual for leadership so that Timothy will have effective guidance for his work during Paul’s absence in Macedonia. Paul wants to encourage and exhort his younger assistant to become an example to others.
Key Verse: 1 Timothy 3:15-16, 6:11-12
“but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. 16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness:
God was manifested in the flesh,
Justified in the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Preached among the Gentiles,
Believed on in the world,
Received up in glory.”
1 Timothy 3:15-16
“But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”
1 Timothy 6:11-12
Key Chapter: 1 Timothy 3
Listed in chapter 3 are the qualifications for the leaders of God’s church, elders and deacons. Notably absent are qualities of worldly success or position. Instead, Paul enumerates character qualities demonstrating that true leadership emanates from our walk with God rather than from achievements or vocational success.
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