Introduction to Paul’s 1st Epistle to Timothy

Table of Contents

• General Info
• Brief Survey
• Key Verses
• Author, Date and Recipients
• Historical Background
• Timeline
• Themes, Purpose & Theology
• Interpretation Hints and Challenges
• Outline

General Info

As with other New Testament (NT) letters written by the Apostle Paul, this epistle is titled according to its recipients, or in this case recipient, namely his co-worker Timothy.  Since this was the first of two letters to Timothy, who Paul left in charge of the church at Ephesus, it is aptly titled First Timothy or 1 Timothy.  Although Timothy was certainly gifted spiritually, he was also young and relatively inexperienced.  Paul’s two letters to Timothy thus served as a basic leadership manual for the young pastor, giving Timothy instructions for leading the church and warning him of false teachers.  Paul also included many personal instructions on how to be a pious leader and a righteous godly man.

The two letters to Timothy are an essential part of the biblical and NT canon.  They are firmly constructed on, and are consistent with, the groundwork laid by the Old Testament (OT).  They are also consistent with the missions and theological teachings of the early New Testament churches.  In addition, the were clearly written by an apostle, in this case the Apostle Paul, which was an important requirement for canonization.   Although they contain some distinctive differences when compared with the other ten letters in the rest of the Pauline collection, they also contain many similarities in both content and style.  This epistle also contains many interesting connections with other NT letters, such as the book of Hebrews, the epistle of James, the two letters of Peter, the first epistle by John, and the letter from Jude.  This adds additional evidence that these letters were written in the apostolic period, and thus belong in the NT canon.

Evidence has been discovered that Paul’s letters were already being compiled as a single collection as early as the beginning of the second century, thus making Paul’s writings the first of the NT books to be both written and assembled into a collection.  Although the earliest collection excluded the pastoral letters of  1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, they were added to the collection without protest by the end of the second century, making the compilation of all thirteen letters of Paul quite common amongst the various Christian communities.  As a side note, the Book of Hebrews by comparison, was not so readily accepted due to the uncertainly of its author.

[TOC]    [Top of Page]

Brief Survey

After Paul’s initial greeting to Timothy, the Apostle gets straight to the point by instructing his co-worker to oppose the false teachers that had crept into the church so that they would not infect the other members (1:1-11).  Evidently, the false teachers were perverting the meaning and purpose of the Law of Moses (1:8-11).  Paul then recounts his own conversion and call to be an apostle (1:12-17) and then renews his charge to Timothy in regard keeping the faith (1:18-20).  In chapter 2, Paul relays instructions for worship, primarily concentrating on the role of prayer.  He then gives instruction for the proper roles of men and women in worship.

In chapter 3 and 4, the author lays out some qualifications for deacons and other church leaders (3:1-13) and gives reasons for these instructions (3:14-4:16).  In chapter 5, Paul gives instructions addressed to certain groups of people in the church such as older and younger men and women (5:1-2), poor widows (5:3-8), and widows in general (5:9-16).  He next addresses the church’s responsibility toward its leaders and gives Timothy some personal advice regarding his health (5:17-25).  In the final chapter, Paul makes some brief remarks concerning the relation between masters and slaves (6:1-5), and the advantage of godliness with contentment (6:6-10).  He then closes the letter by giving a warning to the rich about overreliance on earthly riches, and a final charge to Timothy to remain faithful in fighting the good fight (6:11-21)

[TOC]    [Top of Page]

Key Verses

As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies.  Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith.  The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.  Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk.  They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm. (1:3-7)

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.  This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.  For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people.  This has now been witnessed to at the proper time. (2:1-6)

Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task.  Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.  He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. (3:1-4).

Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.  Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory. (3:14-16).

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons...  If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed.  Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. (4:1,6-7).

Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father.  Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.  Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need.
 (5:1-3).

Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. (5:8).

If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, they are conceited and understand nothing.  They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.  But godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. (6:3-7).

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.  Fight the good fight of the faith.  Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.  In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see.  To him be honor and might forever.  Amen. (6:11-16).

[TOC]    [Top of Page]

Author, Date and Recipients

The author and recipient is identified in the first two verses: “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, to Timothy my true son in the faith...”.  Timothy, whose name means “one who honors God”, was raised by his mother Eunice and grandmother Lois, who were very devout Jewish believers (2Tim 1:5) who had taught Timothy the OT Scriptures from his childhood (2 Tim 3:15).  His father, a Greek according to Acts 16:1, probably died when Timothy was very young.  Timothy was from Lystra (Ac 16:1–3), a city in the Roman province of Galatia that is now a part of modern day Turkey.  By calling Timothy “my true son in the faith”, Paul was also identifying himself as the one who led Timothy to Christ (1:2, 18; 1 Cor 4:17) during his first missionary journey (Ac 14:6-23).  Timothy also was a disciple, helper and frequent travelling companion to Paul.  Paul chose Timothy as his co-laborer during his second missionary journey (Ac 16:1-3).  For Timothy, his loyalty to Paul turned into a lifelong commitment.  Thus, Timothy made a commitment to be Paul’s disciple, friend, and co-laborer, basically becoming his “spiritual son”, up unto the apostle’s martyrdom in Rome during the reign of Nero.

Timothy ministered with Paul in a vast number of venues, including Berea (Ac 17:14), Athens (Ac 17:15), Corinth (Ac 18:5; 2Cor 1:19), and Jerusalem (Ac 20:4).  He was with Paul in his first Roman imprisonment and was then sent to Philippi as Paul’s representative.  Paul never hesitated to send Timothy in his place despite the situation (1Cor 4:17; 16:10; Php 2:19; 1Th 3:2).  Paul wrote of Timothy to the church at Philippi, I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you.  I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare.  For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.  But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel (Php 2:19-23).  In fact, Paul actually listed Timothy’s name as a co-author in the opening verse of six of his canonized letters (2Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, 1&2 Thessalonians, and Philemon).

The authorship of Paul for the Books of 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus was accepted without question by the early Church Fathers and throughout the centuries.  In the past couple of centuries however, the usual liberal critics have ignored the testimony of the letters themselves and proposed that the letters were written by admirers of Paul before the end of the first century or near the beginning of the second century, several decades after he was martyred.  The critics claim that several historical events would have been incompatible with the text of Acts, but this would only have been true if Paul was executed during his first Roman imprisonment (~60-62 AD).  However, if Paul had been executed during this incarceration (basically house arrest), the Book of Acts would have certainly mentioned this critical fact.  Instead, we have the truth that Paul himself expected to be released soon (Php 1:19-26; 2:24; Phm 22).  The historical events in the three Pastoral Epistles were incompatible with the Book of Acts because they happened after the events within Acts which ended with Paul still under house arrest (~62 AD).  Paul was later beheaded under the Roman Emperor Nero in 66 or 67 AD.

The proposed date of late first or early second century authorship by a Pauline admirer is actually another hurdle for those rejecting Pauline authorship.  While there are similarities between the heresy mentioned in the Pastoral Epistles and that of second-century Gnosticism, there were also some important differences.  Pastor and teacher John MacArthur notes that the false teaching at the time of the Pastoral Epistles was a form of Judaistic legalism (1:7; Tit 1:10-14).  In addition, the legalists were still operating from within the church (1:3–7).  Thus, the originally accepted dates of ~60-62 AD for 1st Timothy and Titus and ~64-67 for 2nd Timothy remains accurate.

See A Brief Bio of the Apostle Paul and the Historical Background of Acts for additional info on his life and ministry.  The Historical Background of Acts is also helpful for understanding the books of 1st Timothy and Titus.

[TOC]    [Top of Page]

Historical Background

Paul’s first visit to Ephesus during his second missionary journey was a brief one.  He then left for Jerusalem, leaving Priscilla and Aquila in charge (Acts 18:19–21).  Thus he had very little opportunity for significant work on his initial visit.  During his third missionary journey, he returned to Ephesus and served a couple of years (~53-56 AD).  He was then again forced to leave when a riot broke out in the city, caused by worshippers of the pagan goddess Artemis, who had a huge temple and a large following in Ephesus and throughout the region.  The crowd was quieted by the city clerk’s warning that all the protestors could be charged with rioting by the Romans (Acts 19).  Paul then left, going back through Macedonia on his way to Jerusalem, but he intentionally made a brief stop at the costal port of Miletus on the Aegean Sea.  This was such a short distance from Ephesus that he sent for the elders of  the Ephesian church who met with him at the port.  It was an especially tearful farewell because the elders knew that they would never see Paul again (Acts 20).  Paul then traveled on to Jerusalem, where he was arrested and later transferred to Caesarea.  He was then sent to Rome, where he stayed under house arrest for approximately two years (Acts 21–28; 60–62 AD), during which he wrote the 1st Epistle to Timothy and the Epistle to Titus.

When he was released from his first Roman imprisonment (after the events of the Book of Acts, 1st Timothy and Titus were recorded), he re-embarked on his missionary journeys, possibly directed toward Spain (Rom 15:23-29), although God may have changed Paul’s travel plans after his release.  We only know that he was eventually re-arrested and imprisoned again in Rome where he wrote the 2nd Epistle to Timothy.  He knew at that point that he would not be released and was martyred during the Christian persecutions under Emperor Nero about 66 or 67 AD.

[TOC]    [Top of Page]

Timeline

(1)  These dates are either one or the other (Nisan 14 Passover falling between Thursday sundown to Friday sundown on the Jewish calendar).  The earlier date is the most popular, but there are good evidences and arguments to support either date.

~ Dates are approximated.

[TOC]    [Top of Page]

Themes, Purpose and Theology

We notice two primary purposes for Paul writing this letter to Timothy.  He first wrote to urge Timothy to resist and  confront the false teaching that had been spreading through the young Church in Ephesus (1:3–4).  He also included information that would aid Timothy in recognizing the false teachers and their methods of attempted indoctrination.  He also identified certain influential leaders of the church by name who had bought into this false teaching (1:18–20).  He also identified several types of false teaching such as dietary restrictions and asceticism (4:3), which was influenced by Judaist religious rituals and thought as related to the Jewish laws (1:7–8). The teachers also displayed a type of mysticism in their emphasis on superior knowledge (6:20–21).  There was also a measure of mystic mysticism that was a forerunner to second century Gnosticism with an emphasis on superior (arrogant) knowledge (6:20-21).

Second, Paul wrote to encourage the Ephesian Christians to conduct themselves as members of “God’s household” or family (3:15).  He longed for them to conduct themselves in such a way that would provide a contrast with the corrupt self-seeking actions of the false teachers.  He urged the church members to consistently demonstrate Christian behavior instead (4:11–16).  He also urged the members to take proper care of true widows (5:3–8), and warned against the temptation of greed and materialism (6:6–10).

The theological themes in First Timothy are a natural extension of combatting the false teachers.  Thus, although the letter is a practical letter in which Paul provides much pastoral instruction to Timothy, the instruction on dealing with false teachers necessitates countering this false teaching with true teaching.  As a result, the epistle is loaded with theologically sound doctrine.  To give a few examples, we see many critical theological truths such as the proper function and goal of the law (1:5-11), salvation by grace with Christ as the mediator (1:14–16; 2:4–6), the attributes of God (1:17), the Fall (2:13, 14), the person and mystery of Christ (3:16; 6:15-16), the believer’s calling (6:12); and the second coming of Christ (6:13-16).

[TOC]    [Top of Page]

 Interpretation Hints and Challenges

Like the book of Hebrews that explains a number of difficult issues brought up by the OT writers, the Book of 1st Timothy may lead to many questions, both ecclesiastical (church related) and practical.  Thus, due to the number and complexity of the interpretive difficulties in the Book of 1st Timothy, we've split this chapter into a separate article.  One difficulty that we’ve covered above, primarily in our “General Info” and “Themes, Purpose and Theology” chapters is several questions regarding the false teachers that had infiltrated the church.

Our separate 1st Timothy interpretive page is found at:

Solving Interpretive Challenges in the Book of First Timothy.

The remote page contains treatments for many of the difficulties found in the book, plus links to examinations of additional complex questions.

The list of questions includes:

• What was Paul’s Meaning of “Here is a Trustworthy Saying”?
• If God Desires all persons to be Saved, why will some end up in Hell?
• What was Paul’s Policy regarding the Roles of Women in Ministry?
• What instruction did Paul give that would apply to Specific Types of Church Members and Positions?
• Should Christians Avoid Earthy Monetary Gains?
• Did Paul recommend Wine Drinking for Christians?
• What were the Primary Characteristics of the False Teachers?
• Are Humans Immortal?
• Does God Dwell in Darkness or in Light?

[TOC]    [Top of Page]

Outline

[TOC]    [Top of Page]