Read Aloud the Text Content
This audio was created by Woord's Text to Speech service by content creators from all around the world.
Text Content or SSML code:
I Timothy 1:1-11 Paul’s charge to Timothy. Timothy who was a young preacher working at the church in Ephesus which seemed to be embroiled in controversy over heretical teachers promoting "Gnostic" ideas. Gnosticism was a mixture of concepts and practices taken from philosophy, pagan mysticism, Judaism and • Christianity which were brought together to form a new, and as some thought, superior form of doctrine replacing the gospel which Paul had originally taught. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope, He introduces himself as an Apostle of Jesus, by the command of both God and Jesus Christ. This establishes his authority, his teachings and the source of both. Very early in the letter he introduces the idea that Christ is our hope, worthy of our trust as opposed to trusting in some sort of secret knowledge or teachers. To Timothy, a true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul establishes the credibility and integrity of Timothy, the recipient of the letter whom Paul blesses. The idea of a "true son" not only denotes their closeness but also the fact that Timothy was trusted to represent Paul in spiritual matters as well. As I urged you when I went into Macedonia—remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, Timothy is reminded of his original charge to instruct certain men not to teach other doctrines that were contraries to those that had been taught by the Apostles. Some Christian teachers were straying from the teachings of Christ and the Apostles, and Timothy was to rebuke them for this and demand that they stop spreading false ideas. nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith He gives a brief description of the type of teaching not to listen to and reminds Timothy that godly teaching is restricted to matters that develop faith and knowledge of God's word. Disputes do not produce the spiritual virtues that Paul mentions in the following verse: Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, Love is the direct and most important results of true and godly doctrine. The 'fruit' of proper teaching from true teachers will be: pure heart, good conscience and sincere faith. Debates, pride and division are not the fruit of solid doctrine. from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, Some teachers who were on the right path have been distracted, and have been caught up in this false teaching. They have "turned aside" means that they have left Christ's teaching in order to champion this new knowledge which Paul says is simply a waste of time. desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm. The term "Teachers of the Law" refers to rabbis of the Jewish religion. They wanted to assume this type of position and thus create a role of authority for themselves within the new Christian church. But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, The Law was never given as a means to justify oneself before God; it was designed to reveal our unrighteousness and our need for God's forgiveness and mercy. In the following two verses, Paul, emphasizes the fact that Christians are not under law because the Law is designed for godless, ignorant sinners. He then goes on to give examples of the type of people that the Law will judge. knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, This is not a complete list of sins but rather a representation of the kinds of people and sins that the Law will reveal, condemn, judge and then punish. according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust. Paul completes this section by saying that aside from this list of sins, God will condemn and punish those who teach anything else other than the gospel given by Christ and taught by the Apostles. The point Paul makes on this first eleven verses of chapter one is that any system of philosophy or religion which promotes another way to come into communion with God, other than salvation obtained through faith in Jesus Christ, will be judged, condemned and punished under the Law as something sinful. Paul, in his charge to Timothy, confirms the idea that only the gospel, given by God to Christ who then taught it to the Apostles, is valid teaching. In saying this Paul makes two important points: One. He establishes Timothy and his teachings as legitimately coming from God; and Two. He condemns the teachings and teachers of Gnostic ideas as false. Thank you for your time May God richly bless you