Notes on First Timothy, Chapter One
Text: I Timothy 1:1-20
Series: Restoration Sermons
Date:
Speaker: Ed Rangel
Location: Waupaca Church of Christ
Bible Version: NASB 1995
Sermon Type: Expository
Learning Objectives
By the close of this lesson the hearer should be able to:
- Identify Paul's threefold salutation in I Timothy 1:1-2 — the source, the recipient, and the triadic greeting — and explain why Paul always mentions the Godhead in his salutations.
- State the charge Paul renewed to Timothy at Ephesus and explain why "different doctrine," fables, and genealogies were specifically dangerous to that congregation.
- Explain the purpose of the law according to I Timothy 1:5-11 — love from a pure heart — and identify the structural argument that the law is not made for the righteous but to restrain the wicked.
- Describe what Paul says about his own call to apostleship and explain the "faithful saying" of 1:15.
- Identify Hymenaeus and Alexander, explain what Paul means by "delivered them to Satan," and state the purpose of that discipline.
Thesis
The first chapter of I Timothy is a charge to a young preacher stationed at a difficult post, anchored in the apostle's own testimony of grace and framed by the two dangers that threaten any congregation: false doctrine from those who want to be teachers without the competence for it, and the abandonment of faith and a good conscience by those who should know better.
Burden
This sermon opens with a pointed observation: this is "a profitable study for young preachers; an inspired man giving a young preacher instructions." The letter is not an abstract theological treatise — it is specific, personal, and situational. Paul is writing to Timothy in Ephesus, a city with a rich tradition of false teaching and a congregation that needed a firm doctrinal hand. The five sections of the chapter move in a clear sequence: greeting, charge, law's purpose, Paul's call, second charge — and the whole is held together by Paul's awareness that the stakes of getting this wrong are high. Hymenaeus and Alexander are not hypothetical cautionary tales; they were real men who had made shipwreck of the faith, and Timothy was being warned.
Introduction
"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope, to Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord" (I Tim. 1:1-2). The letter begins with full apostolic authority — "according to the commandment of God our Savior" — and with the warmth of the relationship: "my true child in the faith." Paul is not writing to a stranger or to a congregation; he is writing to a son in the gospel, stationed at a hard post, needing both the authority of the apostolic commission and the confidence that what he is doing has Paul's full endorsement.
I. The Salutation (vv. 1-2)
Paul's salutations in the pastoral letters are fuller than those in his earlier letters. By the time he writes to Timothy and Titus, the threats to sound doctrine have made it necessary to establish the source and authority of the letter as carefully as its content.
The salutation identifies the writer: Paul, an apostle. Not merely a preacher or a missionary but an apostle — one sent with full divine authority and accountable directly to "the commandment of God our Savior." The authority under which Timothy's charge is given is not Paul's personal opinion; it is divine commission.
Paul always mentions the Godhead in his salutations. In I Timothy 1:1-2, God the Savior and Christ Jesus appear in Paul's identity statement, and the triadic greeting "grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord" reflects the same two-person pattern. The salutations are not merely conventional politeness; they are theological anchors — reminders that the entire enterprise of the letter rests on the character and command of God.
The one to whom it is addressed is identified three ways: by name (Timothy), by relationship ("my true child in the faith"), and by blessing (grace, mercy, peace). The pastoral letters uniquely add "mercy" to Paul's usual "grace and peace" — perhaps because the pastoral situation requires it.
II. Reminded of the Charge (vv. 3-4)
"As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith" (I Tim. 1:3-4).
Timothy was at Ephesus by Paul's specific assignment. Paul had left him there when he departed for Macedonia — the letter is a continuation of the oral instructions given at that departure, not a new set of directives. The charge is: hold the ground I assigned you, and instruct the men who are teaching wrongly to stop.
Not to teach a different doctrine. Heterodidaskalein — to teach otherwise, to teach a doctrine that is alien to the apostolic deposit. The word is unique to the pastoral letters (also 6:3), which suggests it was coined to describe a specific and recognized problem in that context. The instruction is not "teach your own version of the truth" but "hold to the teaching you received."
Fables and endless genealogies. The Ephesian problem included preoccupation with speculative traditions — either Jewish haggadic elaborations of the Old Testament genealogies or proto-Gnostic genealogies of divine beings. Either way, the result is the same: "mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith." These pursuits stir up strife (v. 4) rather than building up the body. A teacher who substitutes interesting speculation for sound doctrine has not upgraded the congregation's diet; he has replaced food with entertainment.
III. The Purpose of the Law (vv. 5-11)
"But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith" (I Tim. 1:5). This verse is the fulcrum of the chapter. Whatever else Paul says about the law, teachers, false doctrine, and discipline, the stated goal of all of it is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith. Some have missed this and "turned aside to fruitless discussion, desiring to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions" (vv. 6-7).
The proper use of the law: "We know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully" (I Tim. 1:8). The lawful use of the law recognizes its design. It is not made for a righteous person but for those who are lawless and rebellious (v. 9). Paul then lists thirteen categories of people the law was made to confront: the lawless, the rebellious, the ungodly, sinners, the unholy, profane, those who kill their fathers or mothers, murderers, the sexually immoral, homosexuals, kidnappers, liars, and perjurers. The list is not exhaustive; it closes with "whatever else is contrary to sound teaching" (v. 10).
The law restrains the wicked. It names, exposes, and restrains behavior that destroys human community. The righteous person who has been transformed by the gospel and walks by the Spirit does not need the law as a restraint — not because the law is irrelevant but because the goal the law aims at (love from a pure heart) has been achieved in him by the work of the Spirit. The person who still needs the law as a restraint has not yet arrived at that goal.
"Sound teaching" (hygiainousa didaskalia) — the image is medical: healthy, wholesome teaching that promotes the health of the body as medicine promotes the health of the patient. False teaching is disease; sound teaching is health. Timothy's task is to promote health and resist disease.
IV. Paul's Call to Apostleship (vv. 12-17)
Paul inserts his own testimony at this point — not as an interruption but as the ground of everything that follows. The charge to Timothy about sound doctrine is not abstract; Paul knows from his own experience what it means to have been on the wrong side of sound doctrine and to have been rescued.
His thanks to God (v. 12): "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service." The apostleship was not self-selected; it was assigned to one who had been "considered faithful" — not because Paul was faithful before his call (he was "a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor," v. 13) but because God saw what Paul would become and committed to making him that.
His former manner of life (v. 13): "Even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief." The mercy is the center of the testimony. Paul was the worst of sinners — and he was shown mercy. This is not a boast about the depth of his sin but a testimony to the depth of God's grace.
The faithful saying (v. 15): "It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all." This is one of the five "faithful sayings" in the pastoral letters — formulas that appear to have been early catechetical statements. This one summarizes the entire gospel in a single sentence: Christ came into the world (incarnation), to save (atonement), sinners (the recipients of his saving work). Paul's addition "among whom I am foremost" is not false modesty; it is the autobiographical application of the universal statement.
Honor and glory to God forever (v. 17): "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." The doxology interrupts the argument — but the interruption is the point. When Paul thinks about what God did for him, the argument must pause for praise.
V. Another Charge (vv. 18-20)
Paul returns to the charge he gave Timothy in verse 3: "This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience" (vv. 18-19). The charge is grounded in the prophecies that had accompanied Timothy's calling — the public recognition, by the Spirit, that this was the man for this task. The charge is not Paul's personal preference; it is anchored in what the Spirit had already confirmed.
"Keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith" (v. 19). The "some" are named in v. 20: Hymenaeus and Alexander. These were not peripheral figures; they were people who had been part of the community of faith and had abandoned the combination of sound doctrine and clear conscience that makes faith seaworthy. Shipwreck is the image — a vessel that has been lost, not merely damaged.
"Whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme" (v. 20). Delivered to Satan — the same language Paul uses in I Corinthians 5:5 for the incestuous man. The purpose is remedial: "so that they will be taught not to blaspheme." This is discipline aimed at restoration, not permanent exclusion. The person handed over to Satan is handed over to the domain outside the church — expelled from the community's protection — in the hope that the experience of living outside the household of God will produce repentance. The goal is not punishment but teaching.
Application
The chapter gives Timothy — and by extension every preacher and elder — two anchors for the work: sound doctrine and a good conscience. These are not separate; they go together. Hymenaeus and Alexander rejected both: they abandoned sound doctrine and abandoned a good conscience. The person who maintains sound doctrine while living without a good conscience will eventually follow them; the person who lives conscientiously but abandons sound doctrine will drift. The combination is required.
The goal of all instruction is love from a pure heart (v. 5). The measure of whether the preaching is achieving its purpose is not whether the congregation is well-informed but whether the congregation is more loving, more pure in heart, more settled in conscience, more sincere in faith. Doctrine that does not produce this has missed its goal.
Conclusion
"To the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever" (I Tim. 1:17). The chapter ends — momentarily — with this doxology, and the doxology is the frame for everything in it. Paul charges Timothy with a weighty task, gives him the tools to do it, names the people who have failed, and describes the consequences of failure. But underneath all of it is the testimony: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners — of whom Paul, the blasphemer, the persecutor, the violent aggressor, is the foremost example. If the apostle was reached, no one is beyond reach. If the apostle's case demonstrates anything, it is that the mercy of God is larger than the worst record of the worst sinner.
Invitation
"It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (I Tim. 1:15). Paul says this statement deserves full acceptance — not cautious consideration, not tentative investigation, but full acceptance. The full acceptance the statement requires is the full obedient response the gospel demands.
Believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, who came into the world to save sinners. Repent — let the law do its work of showing what you have been. Confess his name. Be baptized for the remission of your sins (Acts 2:38). And keep faith and a good conscience — the combination that keeps you seaworthy.
Word Study
| English Term | Greek Term | Basic Meaning | Usage in This Sermon | Sermon Significance | Key Texts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strange doctrine | heterodidaskalein | to teach otherwise, to teach alien doctrine | to teach otherwise, to teach alien doctrine | heteros means "different in kind," not merely "another"; the false teaching is not a variant of the truth but a category error; it is fundamentally unlike what Paul delivered. | I Tim. 1:3 |
| Sound teaching | hygiainousē didaskalia | healthy teaching, wholesome doctrine | healthy teaching, wholesome doctrine | from hygiainō, to be in good health; the same root gives us the English word "hygiene"; sound doctrine is the condition of theological health; false doctrine is disease. | I Tim. 1:10 |
| Faithful saying | pistos ho logos | trustworthy is the word | trustworthy is the word | a formula that appears five times in the pastoral letters (I Tim. 1:15; 3:1; 4:9; II Tim. 2:11; Titus 3:8), each time introducing a statement that appears to have been a recognized catechetical formula in the early church. | I Tim. 1:15 |
| Shipwreck | enaupagēsan | to wreck a ship | to wreck a ship | metaphor for catastrophic loss of faith; not a storm weathered but a vessel lost; Hymenaeus and Alexander did not merely struggle; they made shipwreck; the image implies that the damage is total and that something deliberate contributed to it (ships do not wreck themselves). | I Tim. 1:19 |
Scripture Interlock Table
| Theme | Boles' Outline | Supporting Scripture |
|---|---|---|
| Paul's apostleship by commandment of God | I | I Tim. 1:1 |
| Triadic greeting: grace, mercy, peace | I | I Tim. 1:2 |
| Charge: do not teach different doctrine | II | I Tim. 1:3 |
| Fables and genealogies produce speculation, not faith | II | I Tim. 1:4 |
| Goal: love from a pure heart, good conscience, sincere faith | III | I Tim. 1:5 |
| Law not made for the righteous — made to restrain the wicked | III | I Tim. 1:8-10 |
| Paul a blasphemer and persecutor — shown mercy | IV | I Tim. 1:13 |
| "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" | IV | I Tim. 1:15 |
| Doxology: "to the King eternal, immortal, invisible" | IV | I Tim. 1:17 |
| Charge anchored in prophetic confirmation over Timothy | V | I Tim. 1:18 |
| Hymenaeus and Alexander — shipwreck of faith | V | I Tim. 1:19-20 |
| Delivered to Satan that they might be taught not to blaspheme | V | I Tim. 1:20; I Cor. 5:5 |
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Converted from H. Leo Boles, Outline 108. Primary text: I Timothy 1:1-20 (Boles outlines by chapter). OCR corrections: "gtv mg" → "giving"; "P.-\UL 'S" → "PAUL'S"; "~-" → "3." (list numbering artifact). Doctrinal audit: "delivered to Satan" correctly treated as church discipline aimed at restoration, not permanent excommunication; the purpose clause ("that they might be taught not to blaspheme") retained and developed; the law's purpose stated as restraining the wicked, not as the path to righteousness; sound doctrine and good conscience treated as inseparable; invitation retains full obedient response (Acts 2:38).
