1 Timothy

The first epistle to Timothy.

1. Warning Against False Teachers

3-4: Different doctrine? What different doctrines? "Myths and endless genealogies" could mean a lot of different things.

Paul had specific people in mind here. But clearly this sort of thing is a perennial problem. It would be nice to know more from Paul what all he meant by myths and genealogies. This could refer to shady gnostic alternate histories designed to trap you into a cult, but maybe it includes what we think of as proper academics, intellectualism, and official histories as well.

The point is, some people treat Christianity as a speculative endeavor. A basis for metaphysics and alternate interpretations of history. It does give you a lot to think about, after all. But it is not about that. It is about stewarding what God gives us with extreme faithfulness.

Being a conspiracy theorist is a lot more fun than being an accountant. But when it comes to loving people and repenting from sin, God cares a lot more about careful accounting than he does in you spinning a grand narrative where you are the hero.

5: Regardless of vast metanarratives, love and faith are all fairly clear in their fruit.

How do we know we have a good conscience and haven't ruined it?

6-7: We must be very careful not to conduct vain discussions or try to push the law on other Christians.

8: What does it mean for us to use the law lawfully if it no longer applies to us, who believe in the gospel?

9-11: Bad doctrine is that which promotes rebelliousness, intergenerational hatred, murder (we must include murderous anger) lying, fornication, homosexuality, enslavement, and so forth.

A note on enslavement -- later in chapter 6 he notes that slaves must still serve well. Christianity does not immediately free all slaves. But it does warn against kidnapping and manstealing and being in the business of trading slaves here. In our day we ought to extend that definition to people who seek to entrap the young in onerous loans and debts by which their wages for many years must be siphoned away. Whether for education or housing or medicine. That's just dispersed slavery.

Unfortunately a lot of churches seem to promote (or at least turn a blind eye) to a lot of these things.

Perjury here means an oath-breaker. Jesus taught that we must let our yes be yes and our no be no.

12-14: God graciously changed Paul's heart and allowed him to see that he had been utterly wrong to oppose Christ and Christ's people.

15: Paul admits that he is the foremost of sinners. Very rare to see a pastor admit that!

16: God takes the worst of the worst and uses them to humble the proud and display his mercy, patience, and glory. So don't write off the wicked. Love your enemies and pray for them. They could be persecuting your people and God could still transform their heart.

17: We must give glory to God for what he has done for us. If we don't do this, we wither up inside.

18: What prophecies were made about Timothy? Presumably, someone was prophesying that Timothy would be a faithful teacher of Christianity.

'The good warfare' is that which Paul has refers to later as the fight of faith; think also of his description of the armor of God in Ephesians 5 - we are fighting against cosmic powers of darkness. Or 2 Corinthians 10: it is not a fleshly war, but a divine war against the evil thoughts that control mankind.

The job of a Christian teacher is to destroy those thoughts and replace them with thoughts that obey Christ. The more we do this in our minds, the more we find a proper position in the hierarchy of the universe, which has been reorganized under Christ's throne.

19-20: What specifically did Hymenaeus and Alexander reject?

What does it mean that Paul handed them over to Satan? Perhaps it is similar to an Ananias and Saphira situation. Or we may compare with 1 Corinthians 5, where a man who commits sexual immorality should be 'handed over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.' Presumably this means excommunicating them from the church and allowing them to suffer the consequences of trespassing the Law apart from the providential grace of Christian fellowship, while still hoping that their spirit may be saved by Christ.

What counts as blaspheming here? Paul refers to himself as having been a blasphemer by having opposed Christ. Though he never violated the Law of blasphemy according to the standards of pharisees, he was still opposing God's Son. So perhaps Hymenaeus and Alexander were being pharisaical or judaizers in some way.

2. Instructions on Worship and Prayer

1: We should pray for everbody! And we should be thankful for everybody.

2: Thankful to be part of a church that prays every week for the magistrates.

Christians are not about causing chaos and anarchy.

Now, praising a peaceful and quiet life is a little funny from a pastor over whom multiple riots had taken place, been beaten and thrown in jail, and inspired a league of zealots to seek his blood... but that truly should be the goal.

Good government helps us live a quiet and dignified life.

3-4: Paul seems to suggest that praying for officials and living with dignity leads to, or at least is consistent with, a mission of saving all souls.

5-6: There is one God. Jesus was a man, God's son, who having God's fullness acts as man's representative before God and God's representative before us.

He gave up his own life, the most precious and perfect and worthy life, to ransom us and purchase us from death.

7: Huh?

8: Men should not be quarrelsome - it is immodest and not befitting. They should focus on praying and lifting their hands up to God. Anger leads to us having unclean hands - ultimately, to murder.

Everywhere I look online, I see Christian men getting into quarrels. It is shameful.

By 'every place', we assume that Paul is referring to the places that Christians congregate together. However, I don't think in the ideal that this just is what we would refer to as sanctuaries. Just as we want all people to be saved and come to a knowledge that Christ is the mediator between us and God, we should want every place on planet earth where people are to become a site of orderly, modest worship of the living God. Our bedrooms, skyscrapers, oil rigs, arctic bases, huts in the Himalayas. And off of planet earth for that matter. Airplanes and space stations included.

9: Christian women shouldn't dress trashy or to get attention. Is this just for church gatherings or for anywhere? Well, do you expect to see other Christians elsewhere?

Is braiding hair really that bad? Well, you can see in Roman statues just how wild they could get.

Still, I think today women for church on Sundays really do put too much time into their makeup and hair and jewelry. It's distracting and not good. That said, I don't want to be too harsh on them on this point since they are so much more modest than the constant vulgarity of the worldly society around them that they should, by comparison, be encouraged for being so tasteful and restrained. (We shouldn't let quibbles over cultural modesty distract us, say, from reprimanding women for more serious issues regarding their deeply unbiblical anxiousness or disrespect or power-seeking.)

Review social media. What do you see? You see Christian men getting into quarrels and Christian women posting glamorous pictures of themselves. Claiming, of course, that they are doing this appropriately and with all the right intentions.

Okay, okay. If you truly feel called by God to demand some attention. Just be very careful how you do it...

Just as it is technically sometimes good and necessary for men to get angry, sometimes it is good and necessary for women to be adorned. (Isaiah 61:10; Psalm 45:13) But neither should be the defining characteristic of how you interact with society and with other Christians - or else it's just grasping for power and attention. Grasping is not Christian behavior.

And let's not forget that while jewelry was a prize that the Israelites were right to plunder from the Egyptians (Exodus 3:22) what they did with all the jewelry was not right. (Exodus 32:4) God bestows splendor on his people as if they were his bride (Ezekiel 16:11-13) but then they begin to trust in their own beauty and whore around. (Ezekiel 16:15-22) See also Jeremiah 4:30.

11-14: Women teaching Christian doctrine is immodest. And they are too easily deceived. Men in the church are sheeplike enough and can be led astray by other bad teachers, but women are especially susceptible to bad teachers. The role of Christian teachers is to try and train Christians into maturity, so that they are not dependent on teachers but on Christ alone. There is no other mediator! Female authorities are basically incapable of helping men mature as men.

15: Does this refer just to Eve or Christian women in general? Very primordial and mysterious connection.

3. The Overseer

2-3: If your church has overseers who don't meet this characteristics... find a new church!

He must be a faithfully monogamous family man who keeps good accounting, economically and spiritually.

Church leaders should be sober-minded and self-controlled: that is, not easily perturbed in his emotions, not psychologically dependent on any medical or recreational drugs, not getting into petty arguments with people.

Respectable and hospitable: honored and good at having strangers within his home.

Men like this are extremely rare, especially if you include 'able to teach.'

And finding someone who is all these things and 'not a lover of money' is even more rare.

4-5: Most pastors do not manage their family very well. Either the finances are falling apart or their relationship with their wife and kids is not good.

6: Celebrities who recently converted to Christianity should not be given a huge platform to teach others about Christ. Just... work through scripture for a few decades first, why don't you?

What does it mean to fall into the condemnation of the devil?

7: 'Snare of the devil' is an interesting phrase here - presumably, the overseer must be well thought of by non-Christians so that he doesn't get dishonored and used as a tool to keep others from joining the church.

9: What does it mean to hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience?

Presumably, to not have doubts and to accept the invisible and spiritual nature of Christian walk without embarrassment. And the Mystery specifically is that which is described in verse 16.

And it is contrasted in 4:2 with the insincerity of liars with seared consciences. When we lie or are hypocritical or unjust, over and over across the years, we lose the ability to sense that we have done wrong. Our conscience, once a delicate nerve, becomes a senseless noodle. The signal of wrongdoing becomes room temperature instead of a searing pain.

Many people lie to themselves and others to win social approval, and so they are artful enough to win an office in the church while having a deformed conscience. Ultimately, not trustworthy.

After all, it's their job to be honing people's consciences and help the congregation become very closely attuned to Christ's sense of justice.

10: Tested how?

11-13: Serving as deacons brings you honor, something Christians should be seeking.

Confidence, con-fidelity, I would take to mean holding faith with others. As a servant in the diaconate, your faith is not just individual but something you are holding with a local body. And you want that to be as strong and great as possible.

14-15: The personal judgment of authority in real time does a lot more than words, but words are a gift to us while we wait.

16: A small confession of faith.

The mystery is the sacred and holy incarnation of Jesus. The fact that in our cursed world a man could be born perfect, with the fullness of God in him. Then, that he would send us a Spirit that gives power and vindicates the promises, and that he would ascend to glory in heaven.

When we talk about Christian belief, that is what it is being believed.

As much as I like to emphasize the here and now aspect of being loving and humble and imitating Christ, there is also a Glorious aspect to Christian faith that must not be neglected out of disbelief in the miraculous or some misguided commitment to 'science.'

We want to be given glorious resurrection as well. That is our hope.

The 'angels' here likely means the apostolic messengers, the disciples who witnesses him and spread the news of his belief. However, there is not always so sharp distinction in scripture between teachers and angelic beings.

It's a really wonderful confession too because it is short and does not overexplain much. With each council and confession over the centuries they got longer and longer and added more and more rules and ideas... a temptation to distraction...

4. Godly Living Encouraged

1: 'The Spirit expressly says' is interesting phrase. Is he referring to a specific inspired scripture verse or something that was being said aloud by inspired prophets in the church gatherings of his day?

2-5: The religious are happy to place strict rules on Christians as if it made them extra focused and holy, but such fasts do not increase your faith, hope, and love. Thankfulness and prayer does.

6: 'These things' that we are supposed to put before other Christians - the mystery of the faith, living in thankfulness, an exhortation to choose good men as leaders, what qualities make a good and modest men and women, and warnings not to fall back into extreme religious traditions that , but are instead are a punishment

7: Likely much of what we think as theology counts as irreverent, silly myths. As much as I love stories of the saints some might sadly fall into this category. It's a distraction from godliness.

What about reverent, profound myths?

Definitely, definitely so much of our pop culture counts as irreverent, silly myths. We have an absolute epidemic of young men with an encyclopedic grasp of silly mythologies, with Solomonic knowledge of Pokemon, and Star Wars, and up to their middle age gathering all their trivia they have not bothered to gather wisdom, to gather the fundamentals of godliness.

Of course, appearances can be deceiving, too. You can find the wise hidden in many places. But as a default cultural template, it is very bad.

8-10:

Godliness brings about earthly rewards, such as having a stable peaceful life, as well as eternal rewards.

God is the Savior of all people... /especially/ those who believe? What does it mean to be especially the Savior?

11-12: We need young men who can be this kind of example.

13: Very interesting. I'm not sure of many other references in the New Testament to people reading scripture in public assembly after Christ in the gospels does so. Paul takes it as essential to the Christian teacher's task.

14: Very fascinating claim. His gift was given by prophecy? (See also 1:18) As in, the council of elders prophetically discerned that he had a special gift and calling for teaching and for righteous conduct, and so gave him the gift of ministerial office? Or, as the elders laid hands on him, their prophetic power unlocked within him the spiritual gift of instruction?

15-16: Teaching scripture saves the teacher and the hearers. Perhaps we might parallel this with the claim that the woman is saved not in teaching but in childbearing.

5. Instructions for Various Groups

1-2: very important as we mature in our social media ethics.

3-8: People shouldn't mooch off the church purse if their family can and should be taking care of them.

9-11: Nuns should not be allowed to become nuns until they are 60 and have proven themselves worthy of it all the way there! I am very determined about this.

12: By faith does he mean marrying an unbeliever and abandoning Christianity, or specifically leaving the enrollment into this order of widows?

13: Going from house to house? Idlers, gossips, and busybodies?

Ladies, anybody like this in your church?

14-16: Sounds like people were already warming up to this idea that the Christians take care of widows and were testing to see if they could scoop up a little extra generosity. Shameful.

17-18: Is this about elders being paid? Or just about honor in a social way?

19-20: Correction of church authorities should happen publically, with witnesses, and fearfully.

21: Again, by elect angels, Paul seems to mean the apostles and teachers and overseers of the church.

22: The laying on of hands seems to be the ordination process.

24-25: Good and bad works have their way of working out into everyone's knowledge. It might just take years, or all the way up to Christ's judgment.

6. Warning Against the Love of Money

1-2: Christianity does not abolish the master-slave relationship or social hierarchies or differences in honor. But it does not admit to partiality or injutsice on the basis of differences in honor, and it strives against enslavement and seeks to dissolve the debts that lead to slavery.

You still must serve and serve well.

3: Good teaching agrees with what Christ said, as we have recorded in the gospels, and in the model of godly men who have attained a likemindedness with him and offer us a simple way to perceive Christlike character clearly in front of our eyes. If a teacher does not have that...

4-5: ... he acts like many of the people you see arguing on the internet, Christian or otherwise.

Don't quarrel about words!

You are forbidden from doing this, and also wanting to teach. Of course, you can have honest disagreements over what words mean. To what end? More godliness, or more controversy and denunciations? It'll be the latter if you are insecure and controlling and seeking to gain fro yourself.

This is remarkable to us because many of us believe teaching is about defining ideas and laying down elaborate schematics of doctrine. All well and good. But defining, naturally, turns to proving other people wrong, and me right.

People drum up controversy in order to profit. It's that simple.

Rather we proclaim the mystery of Christ, and we exhibit godliness.

6-10: God truly provides what we need. Look at the life of George Muller. That can be you too. You can pray 50,000 prayers over the course of your life and see them fulfilled, and a lot of those can just be meals.

However, money is very exciting, because it gives us this idea that all security and power can be melted down into little coins, or into pieces of paper, or into bits on a computer screen, whatever we prefer as long as it makes us feel very very safe. Money is good, answers everything. (Ecclesiastes 10:19) But the love of money is based on an emotional problem that you have, of not trusting God to provide what actually need, but rather committing yourself to collecting more of these dead units.

Money. Packets of stored potential that come and go so swiftly. You might as well begin worshipping a tin of fish. Build a whole pyramid of them in your basement and become convinced that you will be able to eat well for the rest of your life, fully secure. Bury yourself as a pharaoh in them.

Power is good. Money is good. But the never ending quest of trying to collect more money and power doesn't actually lead there, it can often just lead to unbelief and pain after pain.

11: Christian pursuit is instead about trying to perceive more the character of Christ in real time: righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness, right now, today.

Surely there is much to be adjusted about your behavior, right now, today. That you can repent of. Some things easy, some things hard, some things you're not sure about. But certainly there is much that can be done. That is much more worth testing and pursuing than fighting with other people over definitions of words, or seeking money,

13: Interesting that Paul references Pontius Pilate. What is the good confession that Christ made? (John 18) That he has been given a heavenly kingdom.

14: What does it mean to keep the commandment unstained?

15-16: Presumably he refers to the father here rather than the son, as he says, 'no one has ever seen.'

17-19: The rich must make the ultimate investment, transferring perishable things into what is eternal. Having time and money and talents is something that can be converted into greater reward in heavenly places, in other worlds, when it is given in love to the body of Christ. Give gifts, pay debts, watch something grow for generations to come.

20-21: Guard all this good inheritance and don't get distracted with babble.