Understanding Paul's Message in 1 Timothy

Paul's Acknowledgement of Mercy

So, we left off with Paul saying in chapter 1 of first Timothy:

15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

And we will wrap chapter 1 up with two short sets of passages – the first being verses 16-17 where Paul says:

1st Timothy 1.16-end
2.1-5
September 6th 2020
Meat

16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.
17 Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

So, after saying in verse 14 that he was shown mercy for his crimes, and then admitting that he is chief of sinners, Paul adds at verse 16:

16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.

In other words, the leading reason that Paul says that he was shown mercy but probably not the only reason, was “that in Paul first Christ Jesus would show forth all long-suffering for a pattern to them which should thereafter believe on him to life everlasting.”

The translation implies, due to the order of the wording, that he was first in relation to time. But it seems that what Paul is saying is that as "chief sinner" Christ showed Paul mercy first (as the chief sinner) “as a pattern of longsuffering for other sinners” who would come to believe on Him in the future to “life everlasting.”

The meaning then is Christ is forever patient and longsuffering in reaching those who are steeped in sinMissing the mark of faith and love—no punishment, just lost growth or peace. – since he could be that way with the likes of Paul who referred to himself as the ultimate sinner.

Praise to the Eternal King

Paul concludes with

17 Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

When we read the word King we often think of Jesus of Nazareth. But I would suggest that Paul is speaking of God the Father here. I suggest this because:

God is referred to as King throughout the Bible. Jesus of Nazareth became a King of Israel, and was born to be their King. However Jesus resurrected is King of all things. But God the Father better fits the description Paul gives here when he says:

17 Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Timothy's Charge and Warfare

This should have probably been the chapter break but it wasn’t and so Paul continues on at verse 18-20 and says to Timothy:

18 This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare;
19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:
20 Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.

Alright, back to verse 18, which again, I think should be the first verses of chapter 2 – but who am I? But he says

18 This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare;

This command or injunction or charge that I give unto thee, son Timothy, “according to the prophecies which went on before thee, that thou BY THEM mightiest war a good warfare.”

Now, we could read this as Paul telling Timothy to refer to the prophesies of the Old Testament – but I don’t think so. I think he is pointing Timothy to the prophecies or teachings that he, Paul, gave to the church before Timothy was involved with prophecy meaning teachings. After all, these letters to Timothy are Paul’s way of coaching Timothy as he assumes leadership over the church in that day, and last week we learned that Paul wanted him to fortify and to continue to teach what Paul had already established among them.

“That thou by them “(the prophecies or teachings) “mightest war a good warfare.” Of course the Christian life is often compared to a warfare or struggle for victory (we find this to be the case in Ephesians 6:10-17; 1st Corinthians 9:7; and 2nd Corinthians 10:4), and we will read in 2nd Timothy 2:3 and 4:7 of Paul resorting to the imagery of warfare by explaining…

How to Be a Good Soldier in Faith

To Timothy, holding faith and a good conscience is vital. Paul, in his teachings, emphasizes to Timothy the importance of adhering to what has been previously preached or prophesied, which equips him to fight a good warfare. Paul adds:

19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:

It’s imperative that you cling to faith, brother Timothy, and to a good conscience. Paul reminds him.

Last week on our streaming show, I articulated, in part, the importance of faith with good conscience (or a good heart) in the following manner, which bears repeating on the whiteboard. I call this the Seven Step Ladder, and I want to address it from the top down:

Seven Step Ladder

#7 TO LIVE WITH GOD and CHRIST
(live with in closest proximity possible)

According to scripture, they live in The New JerusalemThe spiritual reality of God's fulfilled presence with humanity—replacing Sheol after 70 A.D., which is above. They are the light of it, and those inside it have some approximation to them. So, what does that mean next for us?

#2 OBTAINING A BETTER RESURRECTION
There are different types of resurrected bodies. I maintain these bodies are the reward for the life we each choose to live. For believers, I maintain is the mansion all will receive after this life. These resurrected bodies are given to us by God and are based on the next thing.

Our Works and Faith

#3 OUR WORKS
Don’t get me wrong – all sin is forgiven all people. All go to a heavenly realm because of Christ, and all are resurrected because of him. And all who have faith enter into His kingdom. But the lives we chose to live as Christians determine the resurrected bodies we will receive from God, and they will, in my guestimation, determine our proximity to Him. Passages that support the value of works for a Christian are all over the New Testament, and we cannot get around them. But it is really important to know what those works are, and how they come about or out from us.

#4 So, WORKS DEFINED
The works are agape loveSelfless love marked by patience, mercy, and humility—central to living in spiritual liberty., which is the fruit of the Spirit. Agape love is allowing the self (and its will) to take a backseat to God and His will. God and his will are known through selflessness, patience, kindness, gentleness, longsuffering, self-control, and the like. The fruit of the Spirit (love or our works) occur when we abide in the Vine (who is Christ). Our works are NOT mandated or demanded; they come forth from our relationship with Christ. So, we see a relationship between Our Love and our connection to Christ, or what we would call our FAITH.

#5 FAITH
We abide in the vine, which is Christ, by faith. We do not abide in him by knowledge. We trust in His teachings, claims, promises, and commands. We place our faith in those things He presented as eternal truths. We grow in faith, we strengthen our faith, we live by faith, which is the primary factor of Christianity.

#6 THE WORD (BY THE SPIRIT)
And faith comes by hearing the Word. You cannot get around this nor its import in your life as a Christian. To remove it is to lessen love, which is to lessen the eternal impact of your resurrection, which is to distance yourself from God and Christ. Reading, hearing, testing, teaching, rightly dividing the Word of God by the Spirit.

#7 Begins with the HEART
We pursue and spend time in and on what we love. We serve what is most important to us. This is proven by how you spend the time of your life. You are free to do whatever you want – really. But the investments you make will reap accordingly. You, in your heart, decide what you want to pursue, what you want to feed and focus on, who and what you want to learn about, know about, and follow. God has made it so all people are free to choose and to live their lives accordingly.

Here in 1st Timothy, Paul refers to the first two rungs on the Seven-Step Ladder, “his heart” (conscience) and Faith, when he says that by maintaining what has already been taught, he would fight the good fight, (then verse 19):

19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; (and he adds) which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:

Meaning some (and he is going to name them in the next verse) have put their good conscience away from them and as a result have “shipwrecked their faith.”

Is that possible? Can people who once had or possessed faith drive it into the shoreline and shipwreck it?

To put away our conscience relative to faith speaks to them having allowed some sort of sin or ideology to enter into their lives, which lead to the shipwreck of their faith.

The Danger of Sin to Believers

That what scripture calls sin has the capacity “to shipwreck faith.” Let’s walk through some passages to see what actually occurs in the process. And what we are actually dealing with here is the erosion of the first two rungs of the latter that is on the board – and if the first two rungs are corrupt the whole thing will be corrupt.

So, let’s begin with the fact that we are talking about believers here and since this is so we must admit to what begin with what 2 Corinthians 5:17 says:

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; and all things have become new.”

The former person is dead, the new creation is in operation. We know all the expectations of his flesh dying daily, the spirit rising, the law working rightly in us as the Spirit takes the helm every so gently as it begins to reign. The presence of the spirit in believers means something important – it means we are all responsible for our walk. And so we have to be aware of what works against the Spirit which are ever-present and ready to move us back to acting in the ways of the former man or woman of the flesh.

Responsibility of Believers

James 4:17 says something interesting about this responsibility:

“Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him (subjectively) it is sin.”

No longer are we just sinning by doing wrong, James here says that we are also sinning by not doing right! Did you know that personal responsibility increases in the lives of believers? That as non-believers we were responsible for the sins we committed but as believers we are also responsible for the things we should do but don’t? So we have all that going on – saved by grace through faith, justified and sanctified once and for all by the shed blood of Christ, we are now in possession of our Christian lives, to essentially climb that seven rung ladder – often daily but of source ultimately up to the end of our lives – or not.

We are loved – whether we climb or not – and the sin for the world has been paid, but we are now, as new creatures, on that two-lane highway. And there is a clear warning for every one of us in the faith:

“Be very careful of the deceitfulness of your flesh.” The way the writer of Hebrews puts it is:

Hebrews 3:13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through (??) . . . the deceitfulness of sin.

The Effects of Sin

Hardened, beguiled, tricked by the deceitfulness of sin. That is the danger of the flesh reigning, folks. Again, the sin has been paid in full for all, by Christ – done. It’s power to alienate us from God is gone. But the effects of sin in the lives of human beings is ever present, powerful, and not one bit diminished in what it does to people – believers and not.

In these passages Paul speaks about two men specifically whose conscience toward the faith was shipwrecked. As stated the ravages of feeding the flesh can lead to such, sometimes to the point where the believer is wholly routed and hollowed out, and is unable to function as a new creation, but only as a former shell of themselves.

Romans 6:23 makes it pretty clear:
For the wages of sin is deathSeparation from God—now overcome. Physical death remains, but it no longer separates us from life with God., but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Ephesians 4:18-19 describes those owned by sin and says
They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

James 1:14-15 adds
14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Consequences of Sin

Death of what?

Look at the ladder! The progressive death of . . . everything! The first death is in the human heart which becomes hardened. This is what sin does – it hardens the heart/conscience and dismisses the import of

Faith and the Word of God

The Word of God – both in written form and human form. Without the Word – written or human – faith ultimately withers and can die, and without faith, love for God and others will die because we are not tapped into the vine of Christ. Cut that off then fruit ends, and of course the end results are eternally felt in the resurrected bodies we receive and our proximity to the Lord God Almighty himself.

Sin – the flesh, this world – is the antithesis to God and Godly love. It serves SELF. I’ve seen this in my own life and I’ve seen it in the lives of so many others, destroying their families from the effects of sin, drug abuse, and every other variant. This is why scripture says things like:

1. Colossians 3:2
   Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

2. John 8:34
   Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.

3. 1 Corinthians 2:14
   The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

The Consequences of Sin

So the end of game, once the deceitfulness of sin has consumed us, is the death of the end game. This does not mean you don’t go to heaven and go to the fictional hell religion has created of literal flames. It means something worse perhaps. It means that you will experience the hell of what could have been in Him.

This is what I think – and I could be wrong. There is the notion that we all receive what we all ultimately wanted anyway out of life and from God, and that is certainly a possibility, but I can’t help but think that those who once tasted of the light and love and freedom in Christ will ultimately regret turning like a dog to their vomit due to the deceitfulness of sin. Such will not dwell in Him and his Light but in some way outside of Him and in some semblance of shadows.

4. Galatians 6:8
   For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Worldliness and Its Dangers

And so, with all of this in mind, John the beloved says in 1st John 2:15-17:

5. 1st John 2:15-17
   Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

In Paul’s day, he tells Timothy, “some had put away their conscience concerning faith, shipwrecking it, as we have just described. (and he adds at verse 20)

6. 20 Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.

Hymenaeus is mentioned in the New Testament in 2nd Timothy 2:17 where he is connected with Philetus as a very dangerous man. According to 2nd Timothy 2:18 Hymenaeus held that the "resurrection was past already," which Paul refutes so it appears that not only were the consciences shipwrecked toward the faith, he was a teacher of false doctrine.

We do know that an Alexander is mentioned in Acts 19:33, which some have supposed to be the same as the one referred to here – but we can’t be sure. However, in 2nd Timothy 4:14, Alexander the coppersmith is mentioned as one who had done the apostle "much evil," and there is little doubt that he is the same person who is referred to here. Apparently, and in some manner that we cannot really define, these two men were guilty of blasphemy.

With the idea of blasphemy being people speaking evil of God Psalms 74:18; Isaiah 52:5; Romans 2:24; Revelation 13:1,6; and 16:9,11,21. Yeshua himself was accused of blasphemy when he claimed to be the Son of God in Matthew 26:65. And those who denied Jesus Messiahship blasphemed Jesus according to Luke 22:65 and John 10:36.

7. Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost
   Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is spoken of in Matthew 12:31-32; Mark 3:28-29 and Luke 12:10 is regarded by some as a continued and obstinate rejection of the gospel, and hence is an unpardonable sin, simply because as

Blasphemy Against the Holy Ghost

Long as a sinner remains in unbelief he voluntarily excludes himself from Godly pardon. Others regard the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost as being when someone attributes to the power of Satan the miracles that Jesus performed or those representing him. We don’t know how these men blasphemed, but only that Paul says that they were blasphemers and that: “he delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.” Of course, Satan was a seducer and accuser of men who was getting others to blasphemy, so this must mean that he delivered them to Satan (who would beat the heck out of them through some means) which would ultimately teach them not to go down that road.

This hearkens back to 1st Corinthians 5:4-5 where there was a man who was having sex with his father’s wife and Paul wanted him disciplined. We read him say:

1st Corinthian 5:4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Authority and Repentance

This is important stuff folks for a number of reasons. First, ask yourself, who does Paul say delivered these men up to Satan? In every case it was Paul, Himself, the Apostle. He did it by letter in 1st Corinthians and he apparently did it in person with these two in 1st Timothy.

Why did he do it? To get the men to repent. Why would they repent? Because when an apostle of the Lord, who had the power and authority in that age to get things done, when he would turn people over to Satan, we can believe that this was not a pleasant experience. And in the throes of that misery, the believers would change.

For what purpose would Paul do this? He tells us: “For the destruction of their flesh that the Spirit may be saved in the DAY of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is a direct reference to His second comingChrist’s return, fulfilled in 70 A.D., ending the old covenant—not the world. which Paul was an usher for over the Bride. The question I have for you today is WHO has the power to turn believers over to Satan now? Where are the Apostles that had the power and authority to do this? And where is Satan? And when is the second Coming or Day of the Lord that these missing first-hand witnesses of the Lord would turn someone over so as to ultimately be saved? Not here. None of it. Fulfilled.

Supplications and Prayers

And this brings us to chapter 2 – we’ll read the first three verses:

1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior;

So back to verse 1 – where Paul continues forward with where we left off in chapter 1, saying:

1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;

“I desire, therefore, Timothy, that first of all,” Supplications, intercessions, and giving thanks be made for all men.

Paul had just left off telling us about how two believers' faith was shipwrecked, and so here he says that his desire is that the believers would first and foremost make supplications for all men. The word means prayer requests and things like that. It’s not easily defined and seems to straddle a number of things like prayer and requests for prayer. And not only supplications: Prayer be made for all men. Intercessions be made for all men. Which many Christians interpret to be something called intercessory prayer or prayers on behalf of a person too weak in the faith or weak of soul or body to pray for themselves. And giving of thanks for all men. Expressing thanks for our blessings, for the blessings others have in their lives, for God working in all of us – Give Thanks!

I emphasized and repeated the term “for all men” because this is what Paul says, but also because of what he will say in our verses for next week. But after saying this about “all men” Paul adds at verse 2 (That prayers and supplications be made for . . . )

2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

Biblical Authority and Respect for Leaders

Authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. Listen to the advice folks – embrace it as a believer and child of God. Give supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, for all men and for… Kings. This means all rulers who have been put over us on this earth. Paul makes the argument really clear in Romans 13 when he says:

1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
5 Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
6 For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
7 Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.

Christian Conduct Toward Leaders

I am ashamed when I hear Christians ridiculing those who have been placed over them in office. They are there by the hand of God – like it or not, good or bad – for if he wanted another they would be on the throne and not the other. I see Christians bagging on Presidents Trump or Presidents Obama as nothing more than their hearts being set on this world and them refusing to hear what Paul says to believers in Romans 13.

Be a Christian as Christians are supposed to be and you have no fear of most world leaders because you pose no threat to them and their cause – whether those causes be good or evil. Why? How? Because your cause is love and faith and letting all the rest of everything go. Simple as that.

The Path to a Peaceable Life

So Paul says, “Respect those in authority over you THAT we may lead a quiet and peaceable life.” Doesn’t that make great sense? Doesn’t that lay out the approach for living the Christian plainly? And we conclude with:

3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior;

And I want to read to you why I emphasized Paul saying all men in the above verses by reading verse four which we will cover next week, speaking of God our Savior says:

4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

We will end here and pick it up next week.

Comments/Insights/Prayer