1 Timothy

First Letter of St. Paul to Timothy   

Title: This is the first letter of St. Paul to his younger colleague Timothy. His name means either “honoring God” or “honored by God”.                      

Date of writing: There is a standard view on the dates of writing – 62-65 AD (TLSB). Yet, Timothy “disappears” out of the narrative of the Book of Acts in ch. 20. Therefore, we cannot be sure that he was with Paul during his last visit to Jerusalem, imprisonment, and the trip to Rome. IMHO, he – Timothy – is going back to Ephesus together with the elders whom Paul summoned to Miletus before going to Jerusalem (Acts 20:17-38). Then the date goes back to 55-58.          

Structure:

a. 1:1-2, Greeting

 b. 1:3-20, stay away from false doctrine

  c. 2, Prayer for the world and authorities because God saves all people

   d. 3:1-13, Bishops and deacons

    e. 3:14-16, confession of faith

     f. 4:1-5, some will fall away

    e’. 4:6-16, hold this true confession

   d’. 5, relations to older people and elders of the congregation

  c’. 6:1-2, relations to the authorities outside of the church

 b’. 6:3-19, false teachings

a’. 6:20-21, Final greetings

Main themes:

Preeminence of stewardship (good order) of God over the myths, genealogies, vail discussions, relying on what is falsely called “knowledge” (1 Tim. 6:20).

Good order of the prayerful life for the sake of the whole world based on the fact that Jesus is the only mediator between the Creator and all people.

Qualifications for overseers (bishops) and deacons as ministers and relationship with the older men and women in the congregation.

The central point of the Epistle is the Christological hymn as a confession of faith (3:14-16).       

Main Characters: Paul and Timothy, and Hymenaeus and Alexander (as those who are opposing the work of St. Paul, 1:19b-20).          

Reflection in other parts of the Bible:

The letter should be correlated to the events of the Book of Acts chapters 16 to 20 – second and third missionary journeys of St. Paul.

Discussing the financial support of the ministers St. Paul reflects on the institutions of Torah/the Law (Lev. 19:13; Deut. 24:15). But what is more surprising is the fact that he quotes from the Gospel of Luke 10:7 saying “for the Scripture says” (5:18).     

Lutheran teaching: The Book of Concord picks up the idea of Jesus as the only mediator of redemption between God the creation (1 Tim 2:5), using this verse in different documents. It is an important statement by itself, but also as a frame of reference for a proper understanding of the role of the saints (AC XX:9; XXI:2; SA III, XIII:1; FC SD III:23).

Also, our Confessions use 1 Tim. 4:1 as a Scriptural argument to equal the teaching of demons and the attempts to use the traditions of the Church as the norm for theology. (AC XXVIII:49; Ap. VII and VII (IV):40; XV (VIII):4; XXIII (XI):58,63; XXVII (XIII):26; LC III:47).         

Lutheran hymnody:

LSB 378 – Break Forth, o Beauteous Heavenly Light (1 Tim. 2:5)

LSB 905 – Come, Thou Almighty King (6:14-16)

Relevancy of the Book: This Letter of St. Paul should have an important part in our Biblical reading for three reasons. First, it shows us the challenges of the church of the First century AD and the proposed godly ways to overcome them. Careful reading shows that not much have changed in the nature of men and the challenges. Second, we see very close relations between the Apostle and Timothy – he calls him “my child” (1:18). It will be even more obvious in the Second Letter of St. Paul to Timothy. Third, it is important to note the usage of quotations from Luke labeled as Scripture (5:18).         

Memory verses:

4:16 – Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.