Introduction
Since the 18th century, 1 & 2 Timothy together with Titus form a distinct group of epistles called the “Pastoral Epistles” because they deal with matters pertaining to pastors. 1 Timothy is an ad-hoc letter written by the Apostle Paul to Timothy whom he left in Ephesus to deal with specific problems within the church while he felt a more urgent need to go to Macedonia (1 Tim. 1:3). The problems within the Ephesian community included the embracing of serious doctrinal errors based on the preaching and acceptance of myths and speculative genealogies, Gnosticism, and ascetic ideals, propagated by false teachers, likely from within the church and who were in leadership positions. However, Paul knew that the crisis was perhaps too much for Timothy to deal with and thus wrote this letter as more of a stop-gap measure to Timothy and the church, hoping that he would be there soon to put things in order himself (3:14-15). You may wish to consult your Study Bible or other conservative commentaries for more information on the background of this epistle and about the relationship between Paul and Timothy.
Also, you may want to consult Donald Guthrie’s commentary on “The Pastoral Epistles” to read his sound refutation of the attacks on the authenticity of this epistle based on literary and grammatical criticisms (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries Series).
(1) Given the fact that this letter, though written to Timothy, would be read to the entire church, consider what he writes in his greetings:
a. What did Paul emphasize about himself and why?
b. Of all things, why did he call Christ Jesus “our hope”? What did hope have to do with the situation faced by Timothy?
(2) His greetings to Timothy appeared to be a bit more than the usual greetings:
a. Why was that?
b. How did he end this letter?
(3) What was the command or charge given by Paul to Timothy as he left for Macedonia?
a. What did these false teachers teach?
b. What do you understand by the teaching of “myths and endless genealogies”?
c. What did their teachings lead to?
(4) What attitude should Timothy adopt in stopping these false teachers? (v. 5)
(5) What had these false teachers turned away from as they turned to meaningless talk? (v. 6)
(6) If these teachers taught false doctrines, myths, endless genealogies and meaningless talk, why would they be believed upon? (v. 7 might give us some clues)
(7) Paul pointed out that these false teachers were “wannabes” when it came to being teachers of the (OT) Law:
a. For whom is the (OT) Law meant? (v. 9)
b. In what possible ways did these false teachers mishandle the Law?
c. Why did Paul choose to compile a list of offenders to the Law and end with including those “contrary to sound doctrine”?
d. Whom did Paul have in mind concerning this last category?
(8) What is the relationship between OT Law and the “glorious gospel”? (See Gal. 2:16, for example.)
(9) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
Once Paul talked about the glorious gospel, he could not help but praise God for the power of this gospel which he himself had experienced, even as he also lamented those who preached contrary to it:
(1) Who was the one who appointed him to the service (of being an Apostle)?
(2) Why was he appointed? Did he deserve such an appointment? Why or why not?
(3) Was it an exaggeration for him to say that he was a blasphemer, a persecutor, a violent man and thus the “worst” of sinners? Why or why not? (See Acts 7:60; 9:1-2)
(4) Paul attributed his unbelief to “ignorance” (v. 13).
a. What is meant by ignorance, in his case?
b. How was his ignorance taken away? (Acts 9:3-6)
c. How did he describe this experience in v. 14?
(5) Reflect on your own conversion from ignorance to belief:
a. How similar was your experience to Paul’s?
b. How would you describe your experience?
(6) In Paul’s opinion, what was the purpose of God in saving such a sinner like him? (v. 16)
(7) What is God’s purpose of saving you then?
(8) What caused Paul to explode into a doxology at this point?
(9) What caused him to say these things of Christ Jesus?
a. He is the King eternal
b. He is Immortal and Invisible
c. He is the Only God
(10) Though we do not know when and what the “prophecies once made about” Timothy were, consider the following:
a. What was the purpose of those prophecies?
b. Why did Paul choose to remind him of them at this point?
(11) Paul gave an example of how he dealt with those who wrecked their faith (presumably by their false teachings). It was the exact punishment or discipline he exercised against the adulterer in Church of Corinth (see 1 Cor. 5:5):
a. What does it mean that he handed them over to Satan?
b. What was the ultimate purpose of such a disciplinary action?
(12) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
(1) Why did Paul say that praying for everyone was good and acceptable to God, according to v. 3?
(2) How was it related to the trustworthy saying in 1:15?
(3) What was the purpose for praying for those in authority? (v. 2)
(4) How seriously have you and your church taken this command by the Apostle Paul?
(5) How can the Intercession Chart (a 7 day schedule of prayer for specific persons and groups) at the end of this Devotional Guide help you in this respect?
(6) In refreshing our understanding of the gospel, what did Paul point out as the particular role of Christ Jesus and what He had accomplished?
(7) Since Christ Jesus is the only “mediator” between God and Man, consider the following.
a. How then shall we pray and intercede for the world?
b. For whom should you intercede in particular?
c. While Paul was clear about his role as a herald of the gospel, i.e. being the Apostle to the Gentiles (2:7), are you clear about your role? What might it be?
(8) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?