Apostle Paul begins both his letters to Timothy with "Grace, mercy, and peace
from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord" (1 Tim 1:2, 2 Tim 1:2):
- Grace is favor that we receive from God without deserving it. It always begins with grace. It's a life-changing thing. God loves us and has chosen grace through Jesus death and punishment on the cross for us, when we accept Jesus as our Savior (2 Tim 1:9, John 1:12).
- Mercy is something that we don't receive from God even though we deserve it, such as punishment for our sins.
- Peace is what we get as a byproduct when grace and mercy work in our lives. We get peace between God and man.
Timothy was commanded by Paul to rebuke certain persons in love not to teach false doctrines (1 Tim 1:3–5). They wanted to be teachers of the Mosaic Laws but didn't know what they were talking about (1 Tim 1:7–11), see The Book of Galatians.
The Mosaic Laws make us aware that we are all sinners and need a Savior
(Rom 3:20–24, 7:7–12), see The Book of Romans. Jesus was born into the world to save sinners (1 Tim 1:15). That was his main reason for coming to Earth. He is the only mediator between God and man, because he gave himself as a ransom for mankind (1 Tim 2:5–6a), see The Atonement.
If we want to rebuke another person in the Body of Christ, we must do it with love and respect, with great patience and careful teaching (2 Tim 4:2), if we are going to do it at all. We shouldn't rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he was our father. We should treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity (1 Tim 5:1–2). See also
Dealing With Sin in the Church.
We should pray for all men and for all in authority, that we may live peacefully and in holiness (1 Tim 2:1–2). Praying with raised hands was the most common prayer position in Jesus' time and in the Old Testament (1 Tim 2:8, Psalm 63:4 (5 in some translations)). This doesn't mean that we have to raise our hands when we pray,
but we can if we want, see Must we lift up our hands when we pray? in
The Woman's Place in the Congregation.
There is beauty that is external and beauty that is internal. We shouldn't focus on external beauty but on God. A woman's beauty shouldn't derive from the outside
but from the inside (1 Pet 3:3–4). The use of jewelry or fine clothing shouldn't be excessive (1 Tim 2:9). We must not have our focus on such things, see
How should a woman dress? in The Woman's Place in the Congregation.
The title of overseer (1 Tim 3:1) refers to a leadership position similar to elder or shepherd (= pastor). Although these three titles are represented by three different Greek words, they all speak of the same person (Acts 20:17, 28, 1 Pet 5:1–2a).
The Bible makes no distinction between pastor, elder, and overseer.
The Old Testament raised up elders to come along with the leadership of Moses and to be leaders among the Israelites. Elders are used many times in today's churches to help the pastor, who many times works full time for a church.
Can a woman be an overseer? What does it mean when Paul doesn't allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man (1 Tim 2:11–13)?
This is explained in chapter Can a woman be a leader in a congregation?
in The Woman's Place in the Congregation.
(1 Tim 3:2–7):
- Must be above reproach (it's blameless).
This means that if someone makes an accusation, it doesn't hold up. - A man of one wife, that's a one-woman man. It doesn't mean
that he must be married, but if he is, he must be faithful to her.
It then speaks about his devotion to his only wife,
see the 7th commandment in The Ten Commandments. - Sober-minded. It means a balanced character.
A person who doesn't give in to wild emotional highs and lows. - Self-controlled, sensible.
- Respectable. He is respected by others.
- Hospitable. Taking in strangers to his home.
Wants to open up to people. - Able to teach. See shepherd and teacher in The Book of Ephesians. Teaching isn't the same as preaching.
- A teacher must be able to convey the truth from the word
of God, read a text from the Bible and explain what it means,
and encourage application of the message. He brings instructions. - A preacher brings news. He exhorts and proclaims the gospel.
An evangelist falls into this category. - Not a drunk. He must not use any kind of drugs. See
"What does God think about Christians drinking alcohol?"
in The Woman's Place in the Congregation. - Not violent but gentle. He must be peaceful with individuals.
- Not quarrelsome.
- Not a lover of money. No one can serve two masters (Mat 6:24),
see The Love of Money and Hillsong Employee Leaks Thousands of Financial Documents | Australian Government Gets Involved. - He must manage his own family well and ensure that his children obey him, and he must do so in a way that deserves full respect. A man who aspires to church leadership must prove his leadership ability in his home, with the ability to lead his family in a godly sincere way.
- He must not be a new convert, or he may be puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. A rapid advancement of leadership for a person in a church can create for some an attitude of vanity that would make that person an object of pride. God opposes the proud
(Psalm 138:6, Proverbs 3:34, 29:23, Mat 23:12, Luke 1:52,
James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5). - He must be well thought of by outsiders (outside the church),
so that he won't fall into disgrace and gain bad reputation.
40:37–42:35 in 1 Timothy 5 • Instructions concerning widows and Elders/Pastors.
The Greek word for deacon means servant. But a deacon could also act in spiritual works, like Stephen who was a deacon and evangelist (Acts 6:8–10), and Philip who was also a deacon and evangelist (Acts 8:4–7, 30–35). A woman can be a deacon, such as Phoebe (Rom 16:1 (which uses the Greek word diakonos for servant)).
- Dignified, worthy of respect.
- Not double-tongued (deceitful, hypocritical) but sincere.
- Not addicted to a lot of wine.
- Not greedy for dishonest gain, see The Love of Money.
- Be able to hold on to the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience.
- He must first be tested, and if there is nothing against him (blameless),
he can serve as a deacon. (Note that blameless doesn't mean perfect.) - The women should be worthy of respect, not malicious speakers,
but temperate and reliable in all things. - He must be faithful to his wife and must manage his children and household well, see the 7th commandment in The Ten Commandments.
and also great confidence in the faith of Christ Jesus (1 Tim 3:13).
The Greek word for church is ekklēsia and means an assembly of Christians gathered for worship in a religious meeting (1 Tim 3:15, Eph 2:19, 1 Pet 2:5, 9).
We are a holy temple, God's household. God's spirit dwells in us. It's the believers who make the church, not the building where we meet to worship.
There will be false teachers who forbid people to marry and order people to abstain from certain foods (1 Tim 4:3, 7, 1 Cor 7:9), see Legalism in
The Book of Colossians.
If anyone teaches another doctrine and doesn't agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing
(1 Tim 6:3–4a, Proverbs 9:10a). This person has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produces envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, who imagine that godliness is a means of financial gain
(1 Tim 6:4b–5, 1 Pet 5:2).
Those who want to be rich fall into temptation (1 Tim 6:9). For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils (1 Tim 6:10a), see The Love of Money. We should flee from such behavior and instead strive to do the right thing, live in godliness, faith in the
Lord, unconditional love, standing firm under adversity and gentleness (1 Tim 6:11).
In the last days there will be difficult times. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unsatisfying, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving what is good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, who have the appearance of godliness, but deny its power (2 Tim 3:1–5, 4:3–4, 1 Cor 4:20).
Godliness means a desire to obey the Lord. Godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Tim 6:6, Phil 4:6, Heb 13:5). However, living a godly life in Jesus Christ will lead to some form of persecution (2 Tim 3:12, John 15:19).
All Scripture (the New Testament and the Old Testament) is breathed out by God, profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete and equipped for every good work (2 Tim 3:16–17), see Misconceptions about the Bible in Misconceptions and Objections.
See also The Book of Titus and The New Testament of the Bible.
