1 Timothy 1

1 Paul, apostle of Jesus Christ, ^[a] according to [the] command of God our Saviour, and of Christ Jesus our hope,

2 to Timotheus, [my] true child in faith: grace, mercy, peace, from God our ^[b] Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

3 Even as I begged thee to remain in Ephesus, [when I was] going to Macedonia, that thou mightest enjoin some not to teach other doctrines,

4 nor to turn their minds to fables and interminable genealogies, which ^[c] bring questionings rather than [further] God's dispensation, ^[d] which [is] in faith.

5 But the end of what is enjoined ^[e] is love out of a pure heart and a good conscience and unfeigned faith; ^[f]

6 which [things] some having missed, ^[g] have turned aside to vain discourse,

7 desiring to be law-teachers, not understanding either what they say or concerning what they [so] strenuously affirm.

8 Now we know that the law [is] good if any one uses it lawfully,

9 knowing this, that law has not its application ^[h] to a righteous person, but to [the] lawless and insubordinate, to [the] impious and sinful, to [the] unholy and profane, to smiters of fathers and smiters of mothers; to murderers,

10 fornicators, sodomites, kidnappers, liars, perjurers; and if any other thing is opposed to sound teaching,

11 according to the glad tidings of the glory of the blessed God, with which *I* have been entrusted.

12 [And] I thank ^[i] Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me power, that he has counted me faithful, appointing to ministry him ^[j]

13 who before was a blasphemer and persecutor, and an insolent overbearing [man]: but mercy was shewn me because I did it ignorantly, in unbelief.

14 But the grace of our Lord surpassingly over-abounded with faith and love, which [is] in Christ Jesus.

15 Faithful [is] the word, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom *I* am [the] first.

16 But for this reason mercy was shewn me, that in me, [the] first, Jesus Christ might display the whole long-suffering, for a delineation of ^[k] those about to believe on him to life eternal.

17 Now to the King of the ages, [the] incorruptible, invisible, only God, honour and glory to the ages of ages. Amen.

18 This charge, ^[l] [my] child Timotheus, I commit to thee, according to the prophecies as to thee preceding, in order that ^[m] thou mightest war by them the good warfare,

19 maintaining faith ^[n] and a good conscience; which [last] some, having put away, have made shipwreck as to faith;

20 of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered to Satan, that they may be taught by discipline not to blaspheme.

1 Timothy 1 Commentary

Chapter 1

The design of the epistle appears to be, that Timothy having been left at Ephesus, St. Paul wrote to instruct him in the choice of proper officers in the church, as well as in the exercise of a regular ministry. Also, to caution against the influence of false teachers, who by subtle distinctions and endless disputes, corrupted the purity and simplicity of the gospel. He presses upon him constant regard to the greatest diligence, faithfulness, and zeal. These subjects occupy the first four chapters; the fifth chapter instructs respecting particular classes; in the latter part, controversies and disputes are condemned, the love of money blamed, and the rich exhorted to good works.

The apostle salutes Timothy. (1-4) The design of the law as given by Moses. (5-11) Of his own conversion and call to the apostleship. (12-17) The obligation to maintain faith and a good conscience. (18-20)

Verses 1-4 Jesus Christ is a Christian's hope; all our hopes of eternal life are built upon him; and Christ is in us the hope of glory. The apostle seems to have been the means of Timothy's conversion; who served with him in his ministry, as a dutiful son with a loving father. That which raises questions, is not for edifying; that which gives occasion for doubtful disputes, pulls down the church rather than builds it up. Godliness of heart and life can only be kept up and increased, by the exercise of faith in the truths and promises of God, through Jesus Christ.

Verses 5-11 Whatever tends to weaken love to God, or love to the brethren, tends to defeat the end of the commandment. The design of the gospel is answered, when sinners, through repentance towards God and faith in Jesus Christ, are brought to exercise Christian love. And as believers were righteous persons in God's appointed way, the law was not against them. But unless we are made righteous by faith in Christ, really repenting and forsaking sin, we are yet under the curse of the law, even according to the gospel of the blessed God, and are unfit to share the holy happiness of heaven.

Verses 12-17 The apostle knew that he would justly have perished, if the Lord had been extreme to mark what was amiss; and also if his grace and mercy had not been abundant to him when dead in sin, working faith and love to Christ in his heart. This is a faithful saying; these are true and faithful words, which may be depended on, That the Son of God came into the world, willingly and purposely to save sinners. No man, with Paul's example before him, can question the love and power of Christ to save him, if he really desires to trust in him as the Son of God, who once died on the cross, and now reigns upon the throne of glory, to save all that come to God through him. Let us then admire and praise the grace of God our Saviour; and ascribe to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, three Persons in the unity of the Godhead, the glory of all done in, by, and for us.

Verses 18-20 The ministry is a warfare against sin and Satan; carried on under the Lord Jesus, who is the Captain of our salvation. The good hopes others have had of us, should stir us up to duty. And let us be upright in our conduct in all things. The design of the highest censures in the primitive church, was, to prevent further sin, and to reclaim the sinner. May all who are tempted to put away a good conscience, and to abuse the gospel, remember that this is the way to make shipwreck of faith also.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or, according to some authorities, 'Christ Jesus.'
• [b]. Or 'the.'
• [c]. ' Not merely a relative pronoun, stating the fact, but the character. They are such as do so.
• [d]. See Note l, Col. 1.25.
• [e]. This refers to ver. 3.
• [f]. i.e. 'love out of a pure heart and (out of) a good conscience and (out of) unfeigned faith.'
• [g]. As ch. 6.21.
• [h]. A technical word for the enactment of a law, its being in force.
• [i]. Or 'I am thankful to him who has given me power (dunamis), Christ Jesus our Lord.'
• [j]. Or 'appointing me to ministry (diakonia), who.'
• [k]. As 'outline,' 2Tim. 1.13. It is a mistake to confine delineation to long-suffering, and so make 'of' mean 'for:' 'for those,' &c. Paul was a delineation of Christ's ways in their case, even, I doubt not, in the case of the rebellious Jews hereafter: the whole long-suffering was in Paul's case, so as to picture every case. In those who companied with Christ when alive this was not so, though the grace was really the same; but there was not the same showing forth of it.
• [l]. As 'enjoin,' vers. 3,5.
• [m]. I have left the ambiguity as in Greek. I apprehend the series of ideas in the apostle's mind is: he commits -- in order that; but he refers to the prophecies -- that by them. The 'as to thee' is more closely connected with prophecies.
• [n]. The word 'faith' embraces two ideas: doctrine, as taught of God and received; and subjectively the state of soul. If I have cast off the faith, the doctrine and the state of soul are both gone. Here 'faith' (first time) is the inward energy of grace which holds fast the truth. The two are not separated, but the state of the soul is first in the apostle's mind. In the second, they, having put away a good conscience, did not hold fast the faith, but lost it in some way thus objectively. In this second case, there is the article in Greek, which does not exclude faith in the soul, but leads the mind to the faith. In English 'the faith' would be too absolute or merely doctrinal.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 TIMOTHY

Timothy, to whom this epistle is written, was eminent for his early piety and acquaintance with the sacred Scriptures; his mother was a Jewess, and his father a Greek, which was the reason why he was not circumcised in his infancy. Mention is made in the second epistle to him of his mother Eunice, and grandmother Lois, as believers, and of his knowledge of the Scriptures from a child: this excellent person the apostle meeting with at Lystra, and having a good report of him from the brethren there, he chose him to be his companion in his travels, and to assist him in the spread of the Gospel; and knowing that it would be very disagreeable to the Jews to hear the word of God from the lips of an uncircumcised person, he took him and circumcised him, becoming all things to all, that he might gain some. This being done, he went along with him into several parts, and he made great use of him, in preaching the word, planting churches, and writing epistles; he sent him to various places with messages from him, to Corinth, Philippi, and Thessalonica; and now had left him at Ephesus, where he besought him to abide for a while; for that he was the bishop, pastor, or overseer of that church is not likely, since his residence here was not constant, and was afterwards called away from hence by the apostle, who desired his stay there, under whom, and by whose directions, he acted while there; and seeing that this church had elders, bishops, or overseers, whom the Holy Ghost had set over them, whom the apostle called to him at Miletus, and gave them some advice and instructions. The design of Timothy's continuance there was to check growing errors and heresies, and to take care of, and preserve the discipline of God's house; and to charge him with these things was the design of this epistle; in which he teaches him how to behave himself in the church of God, by taking heed to his doctrine and conversation; and gives rules relating to the qualifications of bishops and deacons, and to the care of widows, and with regard to church censures, and the becoming walk and conversation of all sorts of persons of every office, age, sex, rank, and order. This epistle is thought to be written about the year 55.

\\INTRODUCTION TO 1 TIMOTHY 1\\

In this chapter, after the inscription and salutation, the apostle having entreated Timothy to abide at Ephesus, observes, that his end was, that he might check the false teachers there, whom he describes; and then he gives an account of his apostleship, and also of his conversion, to the encouragement of sinners, and to the glory of the grace of God; and closes with an exhortation to Timothy to constancy and perseverance in his Christian warfare. The inscription and salutation are in 1Ti 1:1,2 and much in the common form; and whereas, when he went into Macedonia, he desired Timothy to continue at Ephesus, his end was, to restrain the false teachers from preaching the doctrine they did, which was contrary to the Gospel, fabulous, useless, and unedifying, 1Ti 1:3,4 for though these men set up for teachers of the law, they went off, and strayed from its general end, which was love with faith, through their ignorance of it, 1Ti 1:5-7 not but that the law itself was good, as Gospel ministers full well knew; which is said to prevent an objection against them, as laying it aside as useless; but the abuse of it is what is complained of, it being made for some persons, and not for others who are mentioned, between which, and the sound doctrine of the Gospel, there is an agreement, 1Ti 1:8-11 which leads on the apostle to observe his call to the office of a preacher of it by Christ, his qualification for it, and investiture with it, for which he gives thanks, 1Ti 1:12 And in order to illustrate the grace of God in converting him first, and then making him a minister of the word, he takes notice of his state and condition before conversion, what a vile sinner he had been, and of the abundant grace God bestowed on him in it, 1Ti 1:13,14 And that this case of his might not seem strange and incredible, he observes, that this is the sum of the Gospel, that Christ came into the world to save the chief of sinners, such an one as he was, 1Ti 1:15. And besides, the end of the Lord in his conversion was, by the pattern of longsuffering he showed in him, that others might be encouraged to believe in Christ also, 1Ti 1:16 and then for all this grace bestowed on him, he ascribes honour and glory to God, 1Ti 1:17 and renews his charge to Timothy to fight manfully against the false teachers, to which he should be the more induced by the consideration of the prophecies that went before of him, 1Ti 1:18 and to hold faith and good conscience, which had been dropped by some professors; of which instances are given in Hymenaeus and Philetus, 1Ti 1:19,20.