Tag Archives: 1 Timothy

Daily Bible Study

December 14, 2024 Bible Study — Seek to be Rich in Good Deeds, Not in Material Possessions

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Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Timothy 5-6.

Paul concludes his letter of instruction to Timothy by saying that those who teach otherwise to what he just laid out are conceited, understand nothing, and do not agree to sound teaching.  Paul gives us some clues on how to recognize such people, and how to recognize if we are becoming one of them.  Paul writes that they have an interest in controversies and quarrels which result in strife, malicious talk, and friction between people.  These false teachers think that godliness is a means to financial gain…which is the clearest counter to the various types of “prosperity gospel”.  Paul tells us that the true gain, the blessings, of following the gospel comes from being content with what God gives us as we live a godly life.  In fact, Paul writes that the love of money, and its pursuit has led many people into being the false teachers which he has just warned against, thus warning us not to fall into the same trap.  Paul instructs us that rather than pursuing material wealth we should pursue spiritual wealth which can be found as we acquire righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.  I want to note that Paul’s warning against false teachers who have an interest in creating friction between people can help us recognize those who are not acting in good faith in other areas.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

December 13, 2024 Bible Study — The Law Was Not Made for the Righteous

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Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Timothy 1-4.

Paul wrote that Timothy should command “certain people” to stop teaching false doctrines and promoting controversial speculations.  Both of which took people away from advancing God’s work.  Those to whom this command is directed have abandoned focusing on having a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith in favor of meaningless talk.  They seek to be seen as teachers of the law, as spiritual leaders, but fail to understand what they are talking about.  Paul then explains that the law is not for the righteous, it does nothing for them as they do what is right without needing a set of rules to tell them what to do.  Rather the law exists for lawbreakers and rebels.  It exists to show them all of the ways in which they fail to be righteous.  I never noticed today that Paul lists slave traders among the ungodly and sinful for whom the law is intended.  And why is that significant?  Because there are some who claim that Paul defends slavery.  So, while Paul did not seek to do away with slavery, he clearly considered it something which was not a good thing.

Paul also writes a bit about how men and women should behave.  He writes that men should pray without anger or disputing and that women should adorn themselves with good works rather than with elaborate hairstyles, jewelry, and expensive clothes.  I would say that all of us should pray without anger or disputing AND adorn ourselves with good works rather than elaborate hairstyles, jewelry, and expensive clothes.  This is followed by a passage which has caused much controversy in the Church.  Most translations record that Paul wrote that women should learn in quietness and submission and that he would not permit them to teach or assume authority over a man.  The translators’ notes for the NIV say that the word translated as “women” could be translated as “wives”, and the word translated as “man” could be translated as “husband”.  That change takes away most of the controversy.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

December 14, 2023 Bible Study — If You Fill Your Time Doing Good Deeds, You Won’t Have Time to Sin, Not Even by Accident

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Timothy 5-6.

Paul writes that some sins precede us, while others only become obvious later.  He followed that by writing that good deeds are obvious, and even those which are not obvious cannot remain hidden.  It took me quite awhile to figure out what he was saying by writing this.  After some thought, I came to the conclusion that he meant that some sins are obviously sins, while others allow us to convince ourselves that committing them is not actually a sin.  In contrast, we all know a good deed when we see it, and even if we do good deeds in secret, eventually people will notice.  As for the sinful acts which we convince ourselves are not sins, since good deeds are obvious, we can avoid those sins by only doing those things which we know are good.  Or to put it another way, if we avoid doing anything which is not obviously a good deed, we will not sin by accident.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

December 13, 2023 Bible Study — Strive to Embody the Characteristics of a Good Leader

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Timothy 1-4.

In his letter to Timothy Paul urges us to pray and intercede for all people, especially for kings and those in positions of authority.  In addition, we should thank God for these people, even those we think are doing a bad job and/or persecuting Christians.  Doing so pleases God, who desires that everyone come to know the Truth and be saved.  The Truth which God wants everyone to know is that He is One and that Christ is the only mediator which anyone needs between God and man.  We should all pray without acting or dressing provocatively.  We should not seek to draw attention to ourselves, but rather should act so as to bring glory to God.  We should not allow anger to control our actions, nor should we dress to inspire lust.  When we do either of these things we are trying to make ourselves the center of attention.

Paul transitions from speaking about prayer and keeping the focus on God to writing about the qualifications for leadership in the Church.  He begins that transition by saying that a woman should learn in quietness and submission.  Followed by saying that he does not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man.  However, the translators’ notes suggest that “woman” could be translated as “wife” and that the “man” she should not teach or have authority over is her husband.  Such an interpretation would put this passage into the same context as what Paul wrote in Ephesians 5 where he told wives to submit to their husbands and husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the Church.  Christ loved the Church so much that He sacrificed Himself for it.  Similarly, a husband should sacrifice himself for his wife.

Starting from there, where Paul says that a wife should not be put into authority over her husband, he goes on to lay out the qualifications for leadership in the Church.  Paul tells us that a Church leader should be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, and hospitable.  He goes on to write that women leaders in the Church should be temperate and worthy of respect.  Really, all Paul says here is that those chosen for leadership positions in the Church should embody those characteristics which we should all strive to exhibit.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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December 14, 2022 Bible Study — Do Not Believe Those Who Preach Godliness As The Path To Wealth

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Timothy 5-6.

Paul again warns Timothy against false teachers towards the end of this letter.  He describes them as being conceited and having an unhealthy interest in controversy.  Rather than pursuing godliness for the sake of goodness, they see godliness as a means to gain wealth.  Paul advises that we should be content with sufficient food and clothing, warning that those who who want to get rich run the risk of falling into traps and temptation.  In particular, Paul points out that the love of money has led many into sins of various sorts.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

December 13, 2022 Bible Study — Society Will Not Be Transformed For The Better By Enacting The Correct Laws

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Timothy 1-4.

Early in his letter to Timothy, Paul writes that Timothy should command some people to stop teaching false doctrines.  He tells Timothy that these people want to be teachers of the law, but do not actually know what they are talking about when it comes to the law.  Then Paul says something to which I think we should pay more attention than we do: the law is not for the righteous, but for lawbreakers and the ungodly.  The law is for those who are constantly looking for loopholes.  You know, the people who constantly say, “Well, there wasn’t a rule against it,” as justification for something they have done which caused problems.  On the other hand, those who seek to do good, who seek to advance the interests of others do not need a set of rules which lay out what is acceptable and what is unacceptable behavior.  So, we do not create a righteous society by having the correct laws.  No, we bring about a righteous society by following Paul’s second piece of advice to Timothy; pray for all people.  If we want to transform society into the kingdom of God, and we should desire to do so, we must lift our hands in prayer, without anger or dispute.  Instead of adorning ourselves with expensive clothes and jewelry we should adorn ourselves with good deeds.  Let us pray for everyone, especially those in authority, not praying that they do what we think best, but that they do God’s will.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

December 14, 2021 Bible Study — Do Not Be Fooled By Those Who Claim Knowledge Which Shows The Gospel Is False

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Timothy 5-6.

Paul instructs Timothy to treat everyone with appropriate respect, those older than himself as his mother or father, those his age or younger as brothers and sisters.  We should take this advice to heart and treat our fellow believers with similar respect.  I wanted to start off with that just as this passage does.  However, the main thing which struck me is Paul'[s final instruction to Timothy in this letter.  Paul finishes his instruction to Timothy by telling him to turn away from godless chatter and from ideas which some falsely call knowledge.  From this we see that even in the early Church there were those who styled themselves intellectuals who sought to deny the Gospel in the name of “{knowledge”, or “science”.  There will always be those who are sure that they know something which proves some aspect of what has always been taught as part of the Gospel is not so.  We should not get caught up in debating what such “{knowledge” says about our faith, instead trust that God has made His will made known and that those who went before us in faith were not fooled by man-made stories.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

December 13, 2021 Bible Study — We Should All Aspire To Meet The Qualifications Paul Lays Out For Church Leaders

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Timothy 1-4.

One thing that has often taken my attention, and that of many other commentators, is what Paul means when he tells Timothy to command certain people to not devote themselves to “myths and endless genealogies.”  I have seen several different interpretations of what sort of genealogies Paul meant.  However, today it struck me that it does not matter, because in his next sentence Paul tells us what the problem with them was.  They promoted controversial speculations which distracted from advancing God’s work.  So, any debate which does not promote the love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith should be avoided.  If we look for a reading of Scripture, for a loophole, to find how what we want to do does not violate God'[s law, we have missed the point.  If we do not see how what we want to do advances God’s work, we should do something else.

Paul goes on to give instructions for how we should behave and the qualifications for Church leaders.  He gives somewhat different instructions for men and women and we can debate whether what he writes means that Church leadership roles should only be filled by men.  However, I want to note that ALL of the things he describes can apply to all Believers.  Paul starts this section by requesting that we pray for, intercede for, petition God for, and offer thanksgiving to God for all people, but especially for those in positions of government authority.  Then he writes that men should pray and women should dress modestly, but really both men and women should pray and dress modestly.  We should adorn ourselves with good deeds rather than with fancy hairstyles, attention grabbing jewelry, or high fashion clothes.  Paul goes on to describe the attributes we should look for in elders (overseers as translated here) and deacons in the Church.  Even in the context it is clear that all of the qualifications he gives are so that those holding these positions of authority in the Church can be held up as examples for other Believers, especially new Believers, to follow.  We should be faithful to our spouse, self-controlled, respectable, and hospitable. We should be gentle rather than violent or quarrelsome.  We should not be lovers of money nor drink to excess.  We should strive to be worthy of respect and not talk maliciously about others.  Even the one qualification for the position of Church elder which not everyone should have is one at which we should all seek.  That one is the ability to teach.  We may not all be called upon to teach, but we should seek to be able to do so in case the occasion arises where we need to do so.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

December 14, 2020 Bible Study Guidelines For Caring For Those In Need

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Timothy 5-6

Here Paul gives Timothy instructions for caring for widows.  I am convinced that these instructions can be easily extended to how we as Christians should care for all of those in need.  First, we definitely should care for those who have no one else to care for them who cannot care for themselves.  However, we should ask the relatives of those who cannot care for themselves to care for them before we, as the Church, get involved.  Also, those who are able to care for themselves should do so.  Further, those who we provide care for need to be respectful and kind to others.  If you are one of those who need help, you need to be grateful to those who give you that assistance. Further, while some among us have the gift to care for those who are ungrateful, none of us are obligated to care for those who treat us poorly.   I am tempted to write more here to try to clarify my points, but instead I am going to ask you to read the passage and see how Paul said it.

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December 13, 2020 Bible Study Pray For People Instead of Arguing With Them

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Timothy 1-4

Today’s passage begins and ends with Paul warning Timothy against false teachers who fill their time with meaningless discussions.  He speaks of how they spend time on discussions of myths and genealogies (the context seems to suggest that some people were claiming to have special insights into God’s will because of who their ancestors were, but it may also apply to those who claimed authority because they had been students of particular people).  Paul warns us against getting caught up in such meaningless discussions.  Instead of getting caught up in meaningless discussions we should pray for people, especially those in positions of government authority.  In times like these that last bit will help us avoid getting caught up in meaningless discussions which do nothing to help us, or others, live a life of faith in God.