Greetings
Paul starts his letter to Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:1-2 wishing God's blessings to be upon him. There was a time in history when it wasn't unusual to meet someone and wish God's blessings to be upon them. Wishes of grace, mercy, and peace wouldn't have seemed out of place.
I think of today and the normal modes of communication are SMS texts or some other form of messaging on social media platforms. That's true even when meeting together in a group, sometimes. How many texts start out with God's grace, mercy, and peace be unto you. I might try that just to freak my kids completely out. They'd probably get together to check on my health. I might do it just for fun.
But would the world be a better place if we said, and really meant the type of introduction that wasn't out of place in the past to each person we meet? Or are people so jaded they'd give us a "Whatever, dude" and go on about their business.
Regardless of what we actually say, we should try to think of each time we meet to spend time with someone as an opportunity like Paul did to spread the word of God to them and lift them up in their world.
On a side note, would it feel awesome to have the leader of your denomination write you a personal letter asking for your help in guiding the church like Timothy got? The thing is, God's sending each of us a similar message every day asking for our help in making Christianity a better place that conforms closer to the image of Christ. Are you doing your part? Am I? Will you look at the ignored lead ins to Paul's epistles the same way again?
Timothy's Mission
In 1 Timothy 1:2-5, Paul reminds Timothy of the purpose he had called him to. Paul had more evangelical work to perform in Macedonia, so he had Timothy stay behind at Ephesus to try to keep the message that was being proclaimed to stay true to its Christian roots that Paul had taught. Timothy's job was to lift up love, coming from a pure heart which had nothing the Holy Spirit was poking at as a problem in their lives, living that life full of faith.
Paul's concern was that the people wouldn't have their Christian faith swerve off into fables and genealogies or anything else that would tear down the faith. Where do fables and genealogies enter into the picture?
There were several issues the church of Ephesus needed to deal with. But perhaps among the biggest was it was a place where worship of false gods was prevalent. Several Greek gods were worshiped there along with local gods. The temple to Artemis (one of the original seven wonders of the ancient world) was located there. Legendary figures were said to have founded the city.
So when Paul warned Timothy against fables and genealogies, it was a real concern. There were many legends being bandied about and stories of people descended from the Greek gods themselves, and Paul was concerned that this mythology would infect the message he had taught and preached from God.
Most Christians don't hold to mythology. But sadly, most of the world has condemned Christianity to just another mythology. We need to pray continually that God will show His power, love, and mercy with grace through us so that Christianity can break the label of mythology with which Satan is trying to tag Christianity to make it look like just another powerless religion to be ignored. God hasn't changed. We need to ask if we are to be the next Paul to stand for God.
The Jewish people also had their own fascination with their genealogies. They felt themselves special because they were children of Abraham and other famous names in Jewish history. As Christians, though, that had no place. The only relevance is whether or not we have accepted Christ as our Savior. Nothing else is of importance.
Paul may had seen Jewish factions try to force Jewish traditions on the Christian church and indeed to tear down the church altogether and was particularly worried about Ephesus. Genealogy doesn't play much of a place in the true Christian church today, and that's good.
But the Paul's warning went unheeded by the church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints. They have turned genealogies into a pillar of their belief system, primarily so they can stand in and do proxy baptisms for those who died and weren't baptized into their church. They have the false belief that such a baptism will make a difference in a person's eternal destination. Even a Christian water baptism is just a sign that the believer has accepted Christ. It won't get you into heaven any more than that of the LDS church.
His Opposition
1 Timothy 1:6-10 then recounts the problems that Paul had been facing, whether from Ephesus or from other places he'd ministered the gospel message. He said that he'd seen some Christians turn aside from the faith and had started saying things that weren't worth speaking in the first place. Evidently, these teachers were trying to take the place of the Jewish teachers of the law but in the Christian church. Unfortunately, Paul declared that they didn't understand what they were talking about nor what principles they were lifting up as something the people should adhere to.
The danger seen and faced in Ephesus is still a concern today. Even for myself, I pray that everyone reading my words here will do so with the Holy Spirit's guidance. I try to not make any mistakes, but I'm sometimes tired and errors do creep in. While they are usually typographical in nature, and I try hard to not put any errors in doctrine or subvert the word of God, I realize that I'm not any more perfect than anyone else. I also realize that like Paul, this could be read by anyone at any stage of their Christian walk, and the Holy Spirit needs to walk with every believer and every believer with the Holy Spirit to figure out what to do about what they read here or elsewhere. God does have a plan for everyone, but everyone isn't at the same stage nor able to do whatever I'm calling on the church to do. You need to weigh all words against what God wants and expects of you. It is my hope that you will always find my words to be sound doctrine.
From what is stated in the remainder of this passage, it appears that these teachers were concentrating on the law in what they taught. Paul declares that the law was never made for people who were living a righteous life, but was made to punish those who were breaking the law, and he proceeds to give a list of many examples. If we are truly listening to the Holy Spirit as we carry out our walk, we likewise shouldn't ever worry about learning the details of the law. The Holy Spirit will never ask us to go against God's will for our lives, which were the boundaries of the law.
Many times in Paul's writing he addressed the attempts to force people to adhere to the Jewish law by members of the church. They tended to be centered on what was eaten or drunk, but also touched on circumcision. Today, there are also many who have their own lists of what Christians should and should not do. Remember when the Jewish leaders were critical of Jesus for who He chose to associate with? He said He came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). What Paul taught wasn't a license to sin. But Paul did teach that we shouldn't create our own sins that were in addition to what God had already established. The Holy Spirit will let you know if what you are doing is displeasing to God if you are a Christian and trying to listen to His voice.
The Change in Paul
Paul then recounts his own history in 1 Timothy 1:11-15. Paul didn't have the best start in his Christian walk. He was out to wipe out Christianity in his early life. He stood by when Stephen was being stoned to death, and even Stephen's comments during the stoning didn't have any apparent affect on the course of Paul's life. He was heading to Damascus to wipe out the Christian infestation there when Jesus met Him in all God's glory on the road and turned Paul's life upside down. Seeing the brilliance of God for a moment that blinds your eyes and hearing God's voice from heaven will do that to you.
Some have hoped to have God talk with them as He did with some Old Testament figures or as Christ did with Paul. The Holy Spirit has largely taken over that operation in the church today, enabling God to speak with every single Christian if He so chooses. God is sovereign. Clearly, if He wishes to speak to someone like He did in the past, He can. But He laid out a plan for the New Testament, and we should operate under the assumption that that is His preferred method of communication until He declares otherwise.
For those hoping for a direct conversation with God to prove He is real, you should be careful what you pray for. If Ananias hadn't been willing to follow God's prompting and put His life at risk by ministering to Paul, Paul might have been blind for quite a while (Acts 9:1-17). It's also a lot safer to be blinded walking down the road than going down an Interstate highway at 80 mph. Just saying.
Paul was honest enough to realize that he had no standing before God before his salvation and conversion to Christianity. He had considered himself to be one of the best followers of the Jewish faith that there was. But Christ made that religion of no effect, and without choosing Christ, Paul was lost. He gave thanks to God for the mercy he was shown. He says that the mercy was there because of his ignorance and unbelief, but God's mercy is there for the asking regardless of why we were sinful. We just have to ask and try to change to be more like Christ.
Paul was hauling Christians before the Jewish leaders and persecuting them just as much as the Christians would be persecuted by the Romans. If God can forgive and use him, know that He will forgive and use you if you truly ask and follow Him. Christ came to open the way to salvation to everyone, Jew and gentile alike. God is no respecter of persons. Everyone is worthy to be saved. Christ paid the price once, for all. It's up to us to ask and seek His forgiveness through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
Christ's Mercy
1 Timothy 1:16-17 speaks of this mercy that Christ showered on everyone. For Paul, specifically, he felt that his previous life and current mission to the gentiles was laid on his shoulders by Christ. Perhaps he felt that his previous life was one that led to a life of long suffering in his work to convert the world to Christ. I don't think it works this way, although what we've done in the past may continue to influence our present long after we are called to Christ's work. Sowing and reaping hasn't stopped being real.
But Paul's desire was that he would live his life in such a way that any believer who met him, interacted with him, or only knew of him through his letters to individuals and churches would see, in him, a pattern that they could follow to be sure of their salvation. Certainly every Christian leader, but also all of us who are simply Christians need to live our lives the same way. Let people see Christ in us daily, hourly, minute by minute.
Life is never easy for any of us. Our attempts to do good deeds or to help others, or to show God's love for our friends and those who have turned against us is a challenge, and frequently is thrown back in our faces. But through it all, I hope that we will not grow weary in doing good, will keep on loving those who have trespassed against us, forgiving them always and praying for their best, regardless of the past. Like Paul, we need to live our lives to bring honor and glory to God in all we do.
God is still the King. He's still eternal, immortal, invisible, and the only wise God there is. As I post this, it's just past the season where we sing glory to god in the highest, but it needs to be on our hearts every day.
Results of Disobedience
The rest of this chapter (1 Timothy 1:18-20) both encourages Timothy to not give up the battle, but to keep fighting on for the cause of Christ regardless of the battles and skirmishes going on around him. The charge to him is also one that applies to us. We need to keep the faith. God always hears our prayers, but He knows better than we do what is ultimately best for us. Whether or not the answers to our prayers come quickly, are a no, or are delayed beyond what we think we can bear, we need to continue to have faith in Him. Even if we live well past 100, our life here on earth is but a tiny grain of sand compared to eternity. We need to live aware of that eternity and focusing less on the problems around us. We also need to try to direct the church to worrying about those who need saved instead of worrying about temporal issues that bog us down today.
In order to make heaven our home, we need to listen to our consciences after salvation. The Holy Spirit wants us to live right and not sin. He's doing His work in trying to direct our paths, but we must also do our own work.
Paul closes out this chapter with a couple of individuals who evidently didn't follow this course and at least at that point in time were a shipwreck. It would be my hope that no religious leader would turn me over to Satan as Paul did these people. And yet, there are many in this world today who are in his hands. I was praying for one person I know who was in an accident, but immediately felt a check that that person was Odin's problem. They had once been Christian, but turned away to other gods.
Rejecting God has consequences. How many prayers do we pray for those we love but who have elected to reject Christ? For them, all we can really pray is that God will save them. People in rebellion don't have any standing with God to ask for anything and God isn't obligated to act at our request. A quickly expressed "God save me" in times of peril can do great things. But the people who cry out in desperation need to follow through with committing their lives to Christ.
Don't be a Hymenaeus or Alexander as noted here.