Instructions to Timothy
1The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. 3They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. 4For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.
6If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. 7Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. 8For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.
9This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance 10(and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.
11Command and teach these things. 12Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. 13Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. 14Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you.
15Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 16Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
The fourth chapter of 1 Timothy is 16 verses in length. In v1-5, Paul returns to his main theme of combating false teachers from 1 Timothy 1:3-7, 18-20. Then the rest of chapter includes a variety of personal admonitions to Timothy. We could also see v1-5 as negative instruction and v6-10 as positive instruction. In that case, v11-16 and further would be miscellaneous instructions. Let’s take a look:
1) V1-5 – 1The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. 3They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. 4For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.
Paul is adamant about refuting false teaching, and here he does so in regards to marriage and food, acknowledging that both are good if received with thanksgiving. The false teachers were encouraging abstinence on both accounts. But Paul shows that their character is flawed along with their teaching.
Paul begins by claiming the Spirit’s clear revelation (v1). He could be writing in the ilk of Old Testament prophecy, in which the prophets commonly took their own setting and related it eschatologically; if so, it’s no surprise that Paul mentions the apostasy of some, following deceiving spirits and demons. Rather than abandoning their salvation (they never had it), we ought to see this as their abandoning of their only means of salvation, the sound doctrine of the gospel (“the faith”). He could also be writing as a recipient of direct revelation from the Spirit, which happened perhaps frequently in Paul’s holy life of fully devoted ministry. Or he could be referring to the revelation given and passed on from other inspired teachers, such as that of Agabus in Acts 21:11. Regardless, Paul goes on to detail the negatives of the false teachers.
The teachings of demons and deceiving spirits (1 Kings 22:21-23; 1 Corinthians 12:3; 1 John 4:1-2) come from the false teachers, “hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared” (v2). Paul is concluding that there is no hope for their repentance (Ephesians 4:19; Titus 1:15); they have been branded with Satan’s mark (Revelation 13:16,17; 14:11; 16:2; 19:20; 20:4). One commentator says, “Because these men have refused to see truth, they are now incapable of seeing truth (2 Corinthians 4:4). This is the unpardonable sin of the Gospels and the sin unto death of 1 John 5.”
In v3, Paul comes to a pair of teachings they give that are false – “they forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods.” These false teachings were common not only of Gnosticism, but also of the pre-Gnostic mixture with ascetic Judaism that was likely the false teaching Paul and other New Testament writers were refuting. On the contrary, Paul says, God created these things (marriage and food/drink) “to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth” (v4). Notice that we believe and also know the truth; and notice that even though all things are permissible in this sense, since God’s word says all things are clean, not all things are beneficial for Christian edification (1 Corinthians 6:12; 10:23). We must be discerning for the sake of weaker brothers without allowing our own freedom, especially cultural traditions, to be “rejected” (Romans 14). This is not easy, perhaps the hardest implementation of the Christian faith in community with other believers, and we must do it prayerfully.
2) V6-10 – 6If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. 7Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. 8For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 9This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance 10(and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.
Paul points out that being a good minister is what Timothy was trained to do, and that comes through shepherding with sound doctrine. The first phrase in v6 literally means, “to suggest.” Shepherding sometimes requires gentle nudging (Jude 22), and other times harsh commands and rebuke (v11; Jude 23); both are appropriate in their place. Later in v6, after Paul mentions being “a good minister of Christ Jesus,” he speaks of being “brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed.” This literally means, “Constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine that you have followed.” In other words, Paul is declaring what a good minister needs – sound doctrine – for food, and he is saying that Timothy has had that. Timothy is faithful thus far in his ministry, and Paul is encouraging him to continue training himself unto godliness (v7) by sticking with sound doctrine and avoiding the “godless myths and old wives’ tales” of the false teachers.
Paul contrasts physical training, which has “some value” (v8), with spiritual training unto godliness, which “has value for all things.” Spiritual health is to be a priority over physical health, because it carries over into “the life to come” (3 John 2). Some commentators think Paul is writing about exercise, while others think he is referring to various ritualistic fasting or sexual abstinence, which eventually led to monks and nuns. In our culture, certainly the former applies, but in Paul’s culture, the latter is more likely his intention. One commentator says of the crucial word “godliness,” “This is a pivotal term in the Pastoral Letters. It refers to the doctrinal and daily lifestyle implications of the gospel. It describes not the exceptional, but the expected. It is a compound term from ‘good’ (eu) and ‘worship’ (sebomai). True worship is daily living by means of proper thinking.” And Paul issues the reminder of “a trustworthy saying” in v9, referring either to the importance of godliness in v8 or the fact of v10, that our hope lies in “the living God, who is the Savior.”
In the parenthetical remark of v10, Paul uses athletic metaphors to reveal his strenuous effort in proclaiming the gospel – the word “strive” might better be rendered “suffer reproach” or “agonize.” Also, notice the pronouncement that God, the self-existent One, is Savior of all men, to which Paul adds, “especially [or, that is,] of those who believe.” In other words, the call to repent and be saved is for all, in the sense that all kinds of people will respond by grace, for not all people hear the call of God due to their spiritual deadness. Salvation is a gift from God, for all who believe receive it. Jesus is the only Savior, and that’s exclusive, but He’s available for all kinds of men, not Jews only, and that’s inclusive.
3) V11-16 – 11Command and teach these things. 12Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. 13Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. 14Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. 15Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 16Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
Sometimes gentleness is appropriate for a Pastor (v6; Jude 22), but other times demands must be made of a congregation (v11; Jude 23). The word used in v11, translated “command,” is more literally referring to the giving of strict military orders. Timothy needed to take charge, since, as one commentator claimed, “false teachers and their surrogates (possibly younger widows – 2 Timothy 3:6-7)” were disrupting this church. The way he could take charge was by teaching the sound doctrine, the truth of God’s word. He needed to probe the hearts of his congregation.
In v12 and v14, Paul issues a pair of negative commands (“do not let anyone look down on you because you are young” and “do not neglect your gift”), which may clue us in to the struggles that Timothy faced (youth and timidity). The verb tense (present active imperative along with a negative participle) implies that people were indeed looking down on him because of his youth and that he was neglecting his gift, perhaps because of the response or lack thereof. This needed to stop immediately. Timothy needed to become bolder (2 Timothy 1:6-7), and his own godly living (speech, life, love, faith, and purity) and devotion to teaching and preaching (v12-13) is the good example that he must cling to in order to take charge of the Ephesian congregation, until Paul joined him there in Ephesus.
Paul measures Timothy’s success by his diligence, or persistence, and in turn, his progress (v15). Timothy is to be absorbed in, consumed by, and strenuously exercising “the public reading of Scripture…preaching and…teaching,” and his progress refers to both his own spiritual life and his ministry. Though arguably faithful, he has not arrived at the goal yet; neither has he completed the task at hand. But progress is Paul’s goal for Timothy; when others see it, they will know and believe him. So progress is sought, not so others would see it in us, but so we might progress. And let us be encouraged that progress, not perfection, in this life, is God’s goal for us. That’s one reason I’ve titled my commentary A Work in Progress. It’ll never be completed, and I’ll always be working on; but the goal of my writing it is for personal progress in godliness. At the same time, we must not be satisfied with any perceived progress, but we ought to strive for faithfulness to Christ and be ever repentant, for we will fail, daily in most cases, to be faithful. Thankfully, as Paul will later say, Christ is faithful always. As we persevere, we can be sure that He is preserving us.
Finally, orthodoxy and orthopraxy are places false teachers went wrong. Thus Paul instructs Timothy to watch his life (orthopraxy) and his doctrine (orthodoxy) closely (v16), lest he fall into their errors. We must do the same. God saves by grace through faith, but our justification includes sanctification in the truth, which is seen in orthopraxy guided by orthodoxy, which is learned from others. In this sense, Timothy can save those who hear his message, by serving as God’s tool unto the sanctification of His church (Philippians 2:12-13). He’ll point people to Jesus and then believers to one another.
Bible text from Gospelcom.net. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.