…older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.
Summary: Paul’s words challenge men to treat women with purity, echoing the words of the Old Testament laws.
Paul’s instructions to Timothy provide clear guidance on how to treat people. Not only people in church, but all people. In this passage, Paul once again instructs Timothy about those older and younger than he is. This time, the focus is on women.
If men treat women as mothers or sisters, there should be no question of sexual impropriety. That is something that all cultures seem to recognize as both reasonable and important.
Paul has a word for this: “Absolute purity.”
The word Paul used for “purity,” “hagneía,” is unusually concise in its meaning. It refers to the quality of being clean, especially when it comes to chastity.*
Some of the most explicit instructions in the Bible have to do with sexual purity. Leviticus, chapter eighteen, details the boundaries of proper sexual behavior. Leviticus, chapter twenty, expands on this list with some added details (mainly the curses and consequences of disobedience!).
This is an example of where the moral principles behind the Mosaic law transcend the old covenant and continue into the new.
Jesus simplifies the law into two statements: Love God above all else, and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40). The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17) expands on these two simple principles, explaining in more detail what God means by “love.”
In essence, God’s love is selfless love. Putting self-interest before God and others is sin. Under the Mosaic laws, there were penalties for sin. Some of the penalties were quite severe, even to the point of death.
Have the penalties for sin changed since Jesus’ day?
Unfortunately, sin is still deserving of death (Romans 6:23). Fortunately, Jesus was willing to die on the cross for us (1 Corinthians 15:3).
So, does that mean we don’t have to work at being pure?
Sin is still sin, isn’t it?
Yes, it is.
Sin is like a weed seed. If it is allowed to grow, the Bible says it “gives birth to death” (James 1:15). We can’t afford to allow the weeds to grow in our hearts and our minds. This is why Job was so careful about keeping lust out of his life (Job 31:1).
We may not be able to live a perfect life, but when it comes to purity in our relations with the opposite sex, we have to try.
Application: Purity begins in the mind.
Food for Thought: What are some simple guidelines to help men maintain purity towards women?
*”G47 – hagneia – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (NIV).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 9 Jun, 2026. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g47/niv/mgnt/0-1/>.
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