General Information | |
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| Name | This letter is named for its recipient, Timothy, and because it is the first of two letters Paul wrote to the young pastor. |
| Author And Date | The very first word of 1 Timothy names the author of the letter: Paul. However, many scholars today deny Pauline authorship. They argue that 1 Timothy was actually written pseudepigraphically, using Paul’s name to give the letter authority. Some also argue that there are fragments of Paul used in the letter. These say that an admirer of Paul took the fragments and filled them in to compose a complete letter. These critics all point to differences in vocabulary from Paul’s “known” works. They also say the theology of 1 Timothy differs from Paul. However, it is illogical to think that Paul would have spoken the exact same way to different audiences, especially in this case where he is writing to a close personal friend. Moreover, the theological arguments Paul uses are found elsewhere, including Colossians. 1 Timothy was probably written from Macedonia, after Paul’s release from his first imprisonment, around A.D. 62. |
| Audience | Paul’s “true son in the faith,” Timothy, is the audience of the letter. However, it is not limited to Timothy, but to the whole church. |
| Message and Occasion | 1 Timothy is a letter of encouragement to Timothy to live out his faith, teach others to do the same, and to stand against false teachers and their heretical views. Timothy had stayed in Ephesus to help combat false teachers when Paul left the city for Macedonia. Perhaps Paul heard Timothy was having trouble, prompting this first letter to Timothy. |
Key Information | |
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| Key Verses | 2:3-6a “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time…” 3:1-2 “This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.” 3:8-13 “Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. But let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless. Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.” 3:15b “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.” 6:11-16 “But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. 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. I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.” |
| Key People | Timothy Timothy, Paul’s “true son in the faith,” was a faithful companion and fellow worker for the Gospel with Paul. Apparently some were questioning Timothy in Ephesus – perhaps the false teachers – and stirring up trouble for him. Paul writes to encourage Timothy in the face of this opposition. Hymenaus and Alexander We are told that these two “shipwrecked” their faith. Paul says he has given these men “to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.” (1:20) In 2 Timothy, we will learn that Hymanaeus does not end up learning anything, and actually begins to lead others astray. |
Important Theology in 1 Timothy | |
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| True Gospel | Paul urged Timothy to exhort those in Ephesus to “teach no other doctrine” than the Gospel (1:3). He also repeats the basic message of the Gospel several times, perhaps quoting an ancient hymn in 3:16 saying that “God was manifested in the flesh,” “that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” and that there is only one Mediator between men and God: Christ Jesus (2:5). |
| Christian Life | In 2:8-15 Paul gives instructions for relationships in the church and proper dress for women. He also gave instructions for masters and servants (6:1-2), and the rich (6:9-10; 17-19). |
| Ecclesiology | Paul gave Timothy (and the whole church) instructions for who was qualified to be elders (or bishops) and deacons, saying that was the purpose of his letter (3:15). These were no mere suggestions, but requirements. He advised those in the church to take care of their own widows so that the church could take care of widows without family (5:16). He also told believers to honor elders who “rule well” with just compensation (5:17-19), and not to entertain accusations against them unless there are “two or three witnesses” (5:19). |
General Outline |
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Greeting (1:1-2) |
Used by permission. ©2017 H. Wayne House, Charting the New Testament. All Rights Reserved.