The Word Made Fresh
1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope:
2To Timothy, my devoted child in the faith:
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3I urge you, just as I did when I was on the road to Macedonia, to stay in Ephesus and order certain people to stop teaching doctrines different from what I taught, 4and not waste time with myths and genealogies that are nothing more than speculation. Instead, teach the sacred truth that is known by faith. 5But remember that the reason for it is to produce love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith. 6Some of those among you have moved away from teaching this and engage instead in worthless deliberations, 7trying to be recognized as teachers of the law. They don’t understand what they are saying, and can’t back up their claims.
8We know that the law is good, as long as it is used well. 9But understand that the law is there for those who are lawless and disobedient, not for those who are innocent. It charges the godless, sinful people who are unholy and obscene, who kill their own parents. It charges murderers, 10those who fornicate, commit sodomy, engage in the slave trade, lie, commit perjury, and other things that are contrary to sound instruction 11based on the wonderful gospel of the blessed God; the gospel God entrusted to me.
12I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord. He has given me strength because he saw that I was faithful, and he recruited me to his service 13even though he knew I had been irreverent towards him and had violently persecuted his followers. But God was merciful to me because I had done such things out of ignorance and unbelief, 14and our Lord’s grace was poured out for me with faith and love for Christ Jesus.
15This saying is true and should be fully accepted: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; and I was the worst among them. 16But that is why I was shown mercy, so that in me, the worst sinner, Jesus Christ might demonstrate his utmost patience. He made me an example for all who would come to have faith, so that he might grant eternal life. 17To the eternal king, who is immortal and invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
18Timothy, my son, I’m instructing you in these things to go along with the earlier expectations I had of you. Follow these instructions and fight the good fight. 19Have faith. Keep a good conscience. Some others have suffered shipwreck in the faith because they rejected these instructions. 20I’m referring to Hymenaeus and Alexander; I have given them over to Satan so that they may learn not to speak irreverently of God.
Commentary
1-2: Timothy was certainly one of Paul’s most frequent companions. His name appears 22 times, from Acts to Hebrews. The two letters that follow purport to be from Paul to Timothy while he was working on Paul’s behalf in Ephesus. The letters show that the church began to be organized as an institution very early on, with rules for various levels of leadership.
3-7: First, he urges Timothy to refrain from the kind of pseudo spiritual activities that occupied much of Greek culture and by which many Jews and Christians were led into inefficacious practices.
8-11: Paul has maintained that the purpose of the law is not to save but rather to convict (see Romans 3:28, 10:4; Galatians 3:10); here he gives another list of things which the law forbids.
12-17: He believes that Christ has made an example of him because he was “a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence.” In spite of this he received mercy, which he says proves that Christ came into the world to save sinners — himself being the foremost because he persecuted the followers of Christ.
18-20: He doesn’t want Timothy to wind up like Hymenaeus and Alexander. The sin of Hymenaeus was that he claimed the resurrection of the dead had already taken place (see 2 Timothy 2:17-18). Paul fleshed out his teachings about the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15. Here he seems to be saying that anyone who doesn’t hold to that teaching is headed for a spiritual shipwreck.
Takeaway
Paul’s relationship with Timothy is a prime example of Christian tutoring. Spend some time today to remember those men and women who helped form your faith in the Lord.