… which he entrusted to me.
Summary: Paul didn’t have an instruction book on how to share the Gospel. He just did it.
Question: What was entrusted to Paul?
Continue reading “1 Timothy 1:11b – Remembering Rowan”1 Timothy 1:11b – Remembering Rowan
1 Timothy 1:11a – Good News!
[…the sound doctrine] that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God…
Summary: Paul’s definition of sound doctrine depends on an understanding of the Gospel.
Paul began this passage talking about using the law “properly” (1 Timothy 1:8). This inspired a frenzy of meditations dealing with judging, law, covenants, and Paul’s examples of what the law is used for.
Continue reading “1 Timothy 1:11a – Good News!”1 Timothy 1:10b – Sound Doctrine
… and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine…
Summary: Paul and Timothy both know what “sound doctrine” is. You can see it in the letter that Paul writes to Timothy.
Since this is part of one of Paul’s famous “paragraph long” sentences, let’s look back and see how we got here. He begins with an introduction: “We know that the law is good if one uses it properly.” Then he starts his sentence with, “We also know that the law is made… for lawbreakers and rebels…” Eventually, he gets around to “…and for whatever else is contrary to … sound doctrine…”
Continue reading “1 Timothy 1:10b – Sound Doctrine”1 Timothy 1:9b-10a – Squinting
[The law is made for]… lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers …
Summary: Paul’s list of examples of false teachers who violate the law closely parallels God’s Ten Commandments.
If you squint when you look at this passage, it is possible to “see” the law Paul is talking about.
Continue reading “1 Timothy 1:9b-10a – Squinting”1 Timothy 1:9a – Challenge Enough
We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for …
Summary: As Paul leads us into his list of people the law was made for, it is good to pause and consider our personal role in the Body of Christ.
Paul’s sentences can be difficult to follow. He says: ”We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for …”
Continue reading “1 Timothy 1:9a – Challenge Enough”1 Timothy 1:8 – Part II: Cleaning House
We know that the law is good if one uses it properly.
Summary: Using the law to clean up our behavior is a good thing. Before something can be cleaned, though, it has to want to be cleaned.
Now that we have briefly looked at the different kinds of law that both Paul and Timothy were aware of, let’s examine how the law is used “properly.”
Continue reading “1 Timothy 1:8 – Part II: Cleaning House”1 Timothy 1:8 – Part I: Which Law?
We know that the law is good if one uses it properly.
Summary: Paul continues to lead us into deeper and deeper waters with his instructions to Timothy about the use of the law.
Most of Paul’s letters are written to churches. The two letters he wrote to Timothy and his letter to Titus are different — very different!
Continue reading “1 Timothy 1:8 – Part I: Which Law?”1 Timothy 1:7 – Part IV: Whose Law?
They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.
Summary: When we talk about being a teacher of the law, it is important to consider the source of the laws we are teaching. They are not all the same.
Before we move on, we need to spend a few minutes talking about the difference between God’s laws and man’s laws.
Continue reading “1 Timothy 1:7 – Part IV: Whose Law?”1 Timothy 1:7 – Part III: Teachers of the Law
They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.
Summary: Teaching others is a wonderful calling and profession, if we are teaching God’s truth. For those who teach otherwise, there are consequences.
Now that we have discussed what evil actually is and have a better understanding of what the law is, let’s look at what it means to be a “teacher of the law.”
Continue reading “1 Timothy 1:7 – Part III: Teachers of the Law”1 Timothy 1:7 – Part II: What is Evil?
They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.
Summary: Deciding what is “evil” seems easy to most of us. “Evil” is anything we don’t like or don’t approve of. But what about God’s definition of “evil?”
If the law is a signpost that warns us against evil, what is evil? This is the next BIG question. Did the serpent lie about that, too?
Continue reading “1 Timothy 1:7 – Part II: What is Evil? “