Lessons

Timothy Study – Part 3. The lesson on January 21, 2007 picked up the audio series on Timothy with lesson three in the series. The study covers 1 Timothy 1:1-11. The first lesson covered the people we are dealing with in Ephesus. Timothy and Paul. Paul is a preacher, apostle, and an teacher to the Gentiles. This wasn’t so in the Acts period when Paul met Timothy (this is when Timothy became one of Paul’s converts as explained in Acts 16:1-5) Timothy was a devout believer from being raised by his mother Lois, and grandmother Eunice which were Jews that believed in Christ. Timothy’s father was a Greek and this was considered a problem in his testimony to the Jews because he wasn’t circumcised (Paul took care of that when he circumcised him in Acts 16:3). In Acts chapters 19 & 20, we learn that Timothy is now the head of the church at Ephesus which is what ties into 1 Timothy 1:3 “ As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine”. We see in verse 10 that Paul warns Timothy “For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine” Paul talks about good doctrine in 1 Timothy 4:6 “If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.” Further, in chapter 6, verse 3 he warns “If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;” Doctrine is incredibly important. Doctrine teaches us practical truths but more importantly it teaches us what is truth for today (dispensational teaching). What we find in 1 Timothy chapter 1 is practical teaching (after all, 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus are written to Timothy and Titus which are pastoral leaders of their churches). We see that the doctrinal teaching has changed from before when Paul was there in Acts 20:17-27 and Timothy now is responsible to administer the new doctrine. The lesson continues through verse 10 of chapter one.