Unto Timothy, My Own Son in The Faith
1 Timothy 1:1-3
1 Timothy 1:1-3 - "Unto Timothy, My Own Son in the Faith"
Coming from our previous series on the Christian Life, we have learned of our personal responsibility as children of God. I hope we appreciate that we are in a church where biblical truth is preached. However, to be able to please the Lord now that we are saved, we need a constant supply of biblical food from the scripture. That should be accompanied by sound doctrine; else, carnality will be the atmosphere of the congregation. This is where "order in the church" is important. Neglect order, and you will have confusion and chaos. Satan cannot snatch you out of heaven, but he will lure you into vanity that will ruin your life and testimony. Now, order is achieved when chosen men by God take charge and teach and apply the Bible. Remember, God's work is done by God's worker. We must learn to submit to authority because it is for our own safety and maturity.
By God's grace, we shall embark on this journey through the Pastoral Epistles—1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus—to learn God's desire for His children in their daily lives. This study will also help you learn the Bible through a verse-by-verse expositional approach. Let me tell you, there are many things here in the Pastoral Epistles that will require faith to obey. Here, you will be tested on whether you really believe the word of God or not. Here, we will see if we truly believe God or if we only want to believe in doctrines like salvation, which require nothing on our part. But when we become children of God and learn His word, God expects maturity in His children, a gradual growth that comes with responsibilities. As long as we do not know how to accept responsibility, we are not maturing enough. But when we learn to accept responsibility and become faithful in the tasks given to us, particularly in the church, we will grow. Even a simple task assigned to you, like washing dishes or arranging the benches, is a test of your faith because not everyone has the initiative and mindset to be faithful in what they are doing, even when they are not seen or noticed. Not every gift is a visible one, like preaching or singing, which you will always hear. But what about those gifts that seem invisible to others? We are to be faithful even in those things. That is what we will learn in 1 Timothy. We will learn that there will be responsibilities and changes in our lives that God expects us to have.
“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;”
Paul is our apostle. We should understand that we are not worshipping Paul. When Moses stood up for the nation of Israel and gave the law to that nation, they were not worshipping Moses when they obeyed him; they were obeying God. Why? Because Moses was God's representative to His people, appointed by God to declare His ways and will. If they did not listen to what Moses said, they were going against God. In the same way, in our dispensation, men often do not acknowledge the apostleship of Paul. Because of that, they are not contradicting Paul but God Himself. We are not worshipping Paul; he is like Moses, an instrument of God whom God placed in the ministry. Notice what he said in our opening verse: "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour." He did not place himself in the ministry; it was God who placed him there.
In Romans 11:13, the Bible tells us, "For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office." If you are not a Jew, you are a Gentile according to the Bible. And the word of God states that Paul is the apostle of the Gentiles. It's not about the person or the officer, but the office. He is the one appointed to that office. Therefore, as the apostle of the Gentiles, we need to understand that we get our doctrine from him. Peter, James, Andrew, Matthew, and the whole bunch of the twelve apostles from the Lord Jesus Christ's earthly ministry were apostles to the nation of Israel. But Paul is our apostle because we are Gentiles.
What if someone here is a Jew, even just 1% Jewish? According to the word of God in Romans 3:9, "What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin." Even if you are a Jew, we are all under sin. And in Romans 11:32, we find this wonderful statement: "For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all." We thank the Lord for that. Yes, the nation of Israel had a higher standing before, but because of unbelief, God leveled the playing field, making even a chosen Jew equal to the Gentiles who previously had no knowledge of God. We are not the covenant people of God; we are the church, which is Christ's body, and Paul is our teacher and apostle. We should acknowledge that. It is vital to understand that the Apostle Paul is our apostle because he is the apostle of the Gentiles. And even if you are a Jew today, you cannot be saved if you do not come to the Christ that Paul preaches—the gospel of Christ. If you do not believe in Christ, regardless of your race, you will not be saved. Being a Jew is not a license or a guarantee of going to heaven.
“Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith…”
Timothy, or Timotheus as he is also called, is mentioned 24 times in the Scriptures. What a blessing to be the recipient of a personal letter that is also the inspired word of God.
According to Acts 16:1, Timothy’s mother was a Jewess named Eunice, and his father was a Greek. We also learn from 2 Timothy 1:5 that his grandmother, Lois, was also a believer. So, his mother and grandmother were both believing Jewesses, but his father was a Gentile. It seems his father was an unbeliever, as Paul only ever mentions his believing mother and grandmother.
Timothy was a disciple at Derbe and Lystra, a fruit of the labors of Paul and Barnabas from their journey in Acts 14. We see in Acts 14 how Paul and Barnabas preached the gospel in Iconium, but due to persecution from unbelieving Jews, they fled to Lystra and Derbe. It was there they preached, and in Lystra, Paul healed a crippled man, which caused the people to mistake them for gods, Jupiter and Mercurius. Paul had to stop them from offering sacrifices, preaching to them, "Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein." This context is important because when Paul returns to Derbe and Lystra in Acts 16:1, we find "a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus." Timothy was a product of that first visit.
Later, after Paul and Barnabas had a sharp contention over John Mark (Acts 15:39), they parted ways. Paul chose Silas and, returning to Derbe and Lystra in Acts 16, found Timothy, a worthy companion for the ministry. Before leaving a region, Paul and Barnabas "had ordained them elders in every church" (Acts 14:23), men who surely helped guide Timothy in his faith. He had such a good testimony that he "was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium" (Acts 16:2). Though he was young during the events of Acts 16, this did not hinder him from being such an able disciple that Paul was pleased to include him in his journey. At a young age, Timothy learned that his life was not for himself, "but unto him which died for me, and rose again." He acknowledged that his life belonged to God.
The Apostle Paul calls Timothy "my own son in the faith." In 1 Corinthians 4:15, Paul writes, "For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel." One who leads you to Christ or teaches you early in your Christian life can be called a father in the faith. As a spiritual father, Paul fulfilled the role described in Ephesians 6:4, which instructs fathers to "bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Paul provided for Timothy’s spiritual needs and corrected him, guiding him every step of the way so he would not stray from the right path.
As Timothy’s father in the faith, Paul demonstrated through his speech and conversation what his son in the faith should become. In 2 Timothy 3:10-11, Paul tells him, "But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me." While Timothy was under Paul’s wing, he saw Paul’s life up close: what he taught, how he lived, how he worked as a tentmaker at times, how he relied on God for provision, and how he knew both how to be abased and how to abound.
His commendations and descriptions in the Scriptures paint a clear picture of his character: "workfellow," "beloved son," "faithful in the Lord," "worketh the work of the Lord," "servant of Jesus Christ," "minister of God," "fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ," and "likeminded." Paul had so much confidence in Timothy's faithfulness and soundness in the faith (Philippians 2:19-22; 1 Corinthians 4:17) that he was a co-writer with Paul on the epistles to the Corinthians (2nd), Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians (1st and 2nd), and Philemon. Timothy was also the recipient of Paul's last inspired letter, 2 Timothy, before his death. As a father, Paul encouraged his son, who was guarded by a great cloud of saints, to endure hardness as a good soldier.
“As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus…”
Paul pleaded with Timothy to remain at Ephesus. Ephesus was a prominent city under the Roman Empire, serving as the capital of Asia Minor. Its populace was largely educated and wealthy. The city was famous for the Temple of Artemis (Diana), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
The Apostle Paul labored here for three years (Acts 20:31). During that time, he "kept back nothing that was profitable" (v. 20), "taught... publickly, and from house to house" (v. 20), was "testifying... repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (v. 21), and had "not shunned to declare... all the counsel of God" (v. 27). He "ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears" (v. 31), "coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel" (v. 33), and his own "hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me" (v. 34).
The Apostle was concerned about the state of the church, and he warned them of wolves and men who would speak perverse things (Acts 20:28-30). As we have learned, Timothy was a faithful fellow worker who was likeminded with Paul in the faith. Therefore, Paul could entrust this church to him with confidence, charging him on how to deal with men who "teach other doctrine" (1 Tim. 1:3), give heed to "fables" (v. 4), and those who desire "to be teachers of the law" (v. 7).
This epistle was written as a charge to Timothy, "according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare" (1 Timothy 1:18). This letter to him was preserved by God as inspired scripture for us so that, like Timothy, we might war a good warfare. If we are to avoid a shipwrecked faith (1 Timothy 1:19), we should not neglect these Pauline letters filled with instruction profitable for us today. The Christian life is a war. Every day, Satan desires to render your soul useless so that you cannot be used by the Lord. But God desires to strengthen you, that you might wage a good warfare in this Christian faith. Paul exhorts Timothy, and us, to "[hold] faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck." May it never be that anyone here suffers a shipwrecked faith. Let us desire, Lord, though it is difficult and there are struggles and trials in our lives, to learn that our lives do not belong to us anymore. Someone else owns our lives. Our lives belong to God. Let us live for Him who died and rose again. He deserves your life. He deserves our life.