1 Timothy 1:15-17 - Forgiven sinners

Paul expands on the example of Christ's work in his life. Christ came into the world to save sinners, and Paul was the worst. We must never forget this fact, for we so easily start to think that we are chosen because of our abilities, goodness or some other feature of ourselves. Nothing could be further from the truth. 

So Paul was chosen so that God's mercy could be displayed in him. Now we need to recognise that this mercy is not just a matter of "letting us off" our sins. Rather it is about forgiveness and transformation. God forgives us so that we can receive eternal life. Eternal life is not just a matter of living forever, but is about the nature of the life we live. So Paul is an example of the forgiving and transforming work of God through Christ, and this a model of the effect of the gospel.

So all the glory goes to God. It is all about Christ, not about Paul.

1 Timothy 1:12-14 - Equipped

Paul now mentions a few things about himself. Why does he do this? It is in order to encourage Timothy. He has just commanded Timothy to take firm action against false teachers and false teachings. This is good, but when we do this we are engaging in spiritual warfare. There will be opposition, and we will feel vulnerable. So Paul encourages Timothy. 

First, it is Christ who gave Paul strength. This means there is no reason why Timothy cannot accomplish the same things that Paul did. We tend to look at the man or woman and think "I could never be like them". This is missing the point, it is Jesus who is the key. 

Secondly, Paul delights in the fact that Jesus considered him trustworthy and appointed him to service. Our reaction can often be "why me?". Why do I have to be lumbered with this task? This is the wrong way to look at things. Instead we should rejoice in the fact that the king of kings has called us into His service.

Next we might think only certain people are good enough to receive blessings and strength from God. Again, this is wrong thinking. Paul was "blasphemer and a violent man", yet God chose him. God showed him mercy, and poured out His grace, faith and love on him with abundance. We should look to God expecting to receive grace, faith and love. Then we will be equipped for the service to which He has called us.

1 Timothy 1:5-11 - False behaviour

Paul's command to Timothy to put a stop to false teachings is not doctrinaire, but is motivated by love. False teachings do matter, they are not just matters of opinion, they affect people's lives. What we need is a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith. The man of God does not harbour impure motives, he or she is not wracked with guilt, and has a sincere faith in Christ. False teachers have turned away from these things, they are no longer motivated by God. They may sound confident, but in reality they know nothing and do not know what they are talking about.

The place and role of the Law was a key issue in Paul's day, right from the beginning of the church. The problem was not with the Law, but with the use to which people were putting it. The Law was good, but is designed for lawbreakers. Ie it is designed to show us what sin is, and to restrain the ungodly.

We then get a list of various categories of "rebels" or "lawbreakers". This is not meant to be read as an exhaustive list, but does show clearly what some of the sins are, and there are some interesting entries. Given today's debates, those who practice homosexuality are listed. The Bible is clear that homosexual acts are sinful, and those who argue otherwise "have turned to meaningless talk", to use Paul's phrase from v6. "Slave traders" is also in there, which rather counters the oft heard claim that the Bible condones slavery.

Overall, notice that behaviour clearly matters. The notion that the fact that the gospel is about forgiveness clearly does not mean it does not matter how we live. Wrong actions are contrary to sound doctrine. This also shows that "doctrinal soundness" requires "godly lives", not just saying the right thing.

1 Timothy 1:1-4 - Countering false teachers

Paul writes as an apostle of Christ, sent by the command of God. God here is cited as our saviour. Salvation is the work of God, through Jesus Christ. And Christ is our hope. What does it mean to say Christ is our hope? He is the grounds for our hope, because He paid for our sins, and He was raised from the dead. So we know that we are forgiven, and that death is not the end. But He is our hope. Jesus is the first born. We will be raised like Him, and are being transformed to become like Him.

Paul writes to Timothy not just as a teacher, and certainly not as his "boss", but as a spiritual father. But while there is a relationship between Paul and Timothy, grace, mercy and peace come from God the Father and Christ Jesus. 

Timothy had been left in Ephesus by Paul in order to counter false teachers and false teachings. These false teachings may have later developed in Gnosticism. Timothy was also to counter those who devoted themselves to myths and genealogies. Ie "proving" all sorts of silly things, supposedly from the OT. We have lots of this sort of nonsense around today as well, and I believe we should be very wary of people who seek to prove all sorts of things by seemingly clever numerology, or similar misuse of Scripture. If a teaching is weird and esoteric then it is a fair bet that it is nonsense.

These sort of teachings have a superficial veneer of wisdom, but are actually nonsense, and they seek to put our confidence in something other than faith in Jesus Christ.

1 Timothy - Introduction

1 and 2 Timothy, along with Titus, form what are called the "pastoral" epistles. 1 and 2 Timothy, as the name implies, were written by Paul to Timothy. Timothy was a companion of Paul and had been along with him on several of his missionary trips. Timothy had now been given responsibility for some churches. The letters were written to guide and encourage Timothy. 

The early church always regarded these letters as written by Paul, and they clearly claim to be written by him. However, some modern scholars have cast doubt on their authorship, saying that they were written by someone else who just claimed to be Paul to add credibility to what he was saying. I will assume that the Bible means what it says when it says they were written by Paul.

They were letters were written at the time of Paul's imprisonment in Rome, ie in the mid-sixties. They contain much advice on how to deal with false teachers and false teachings. The key elements are to have sound Biblical teaching along with a godly lifestyle. There is also significant advice on choosing Christian leaders.

These are all things that we need much instruction on today.

1 Samuel 31 - Death of Saul

This marks the end of a key stage of proceedings with Saul's death, so the king "after God's own heart" can take over.

The Philistines attached Israel, going after Saul and his family, believing that if they killed the leader then the nation would collapse. Saul's sons were all killed, including Jonathan. Now, remember that Jonathan was a good man, who trusted God and acted honourably towards David, yet he still died. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. 

Saul knew his end was near and told his armour bearer to kill him, preferring to die at the hand of an Israeli rather than a Philistine. The armour bearer refused, so Saul fell on his own sword.

Israel saw what had happened and they all fled.

The Philistines considered this a great victory, and put Saul's armour on display in their temple.

The men of Jabesh Gilead sought to restore some honour to Saul, remembering how Saul had saved them.

So the Philistines think they have won, but in reality it marked the beginning of the end for them. There is a parallel here with death of Jesus. Many thought they had won that day, but in reality it was Jesus who had won.

1 Samuel 30 - David defeats the Amalekites

While David and his men had been away the Amalekites had attacked Ziklag, destroyed it and taken off the women and children. The men mourned bitterly. The men were angry against David and were considering stoning him. Moses experienced the same reaction on occasions. When you are in leadership there will be times when people blame you because they are "bitter in spirit". This will happen. We will be tempted to give anger for anger, but this is not the right way. David adopted the right approach in seeking the Lord and finding strength in Him.

David then asked the priest for the ephod and sought wisdom from God, and God told him to pursue the Amalekites. Note the difference between David and Saul here, for Saul also used the ephod, but he got no answer. Why the difference? It was because of the heart of the man. David was committed to God in his heart, his whole life was geared around relying on God. Saul, on the other hand, did not really know the Lord. 

So they pursued the Amalekites. Along the way some of the men became exhausted, but the rest continued the pursuit. They found an Egyptian who could help them. Then they found the Amalekites and defeated them after a long battle.

After the battle some of the men did not want to give a full share of the plunder to the two hundred who had not continued all the way, but David insisted that everyone gets the same. David knew that it was the Lord who had given them victory. When we are dependent upon the Lord and know it, it changes our attitude and approach to many things. David also send some of the plunder back to Judah.