First Timothy 1:1-20

The Apostle Paul wrote this letter (epistle) in accordance with the information that God and the Lord Jesus Christ revealed to him.

I Timothy 1:1 and 2:

^1:1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to a command of God our Savior and Christ Jesus our hope – ^.2to Timothy a genuine child in belief; grace, mercy, peace from God (the) Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul begins this letter by first identifying himself to Timothy by name: Paul. Then he identifies himself by 'job-title' or 'work-function' relative-to his working or service relationship with Christ Jesus: apostle. An "apostle" is a person sent-forth or sent-away by someone on a mission or specific assignment to someone else, and in the context we see that Paul was sent-forth by Christ Jesus. Paul was Christ Jesus' apostle in accordance with a command (that-which is commanded with authority, an authoritative arrangement, what is put in order upon or over a person and therefore must be obeyed) of…

God our Savior (the only true God is the source of salvation for all holy-people) and
Christ Jesus our hope (Christ Jesus is the one who carried out what was needed to make salvation available to mankind thus giving all holy-people our hope, the expectation of the full completion of God’s promise definitely coming to pass at a future time).

Paul had not decided all by himself that he would make himself an apostle of Christ Jesus, nor did some committee or organization get-together and vote Paul into being an apostle of Christ Jesus. There was not some "unknown force" which was driving him to do the things he was doing, nor was he deluded into thinking that he was somebody else, nor did he decide that he was "good enough" to be an apostle to his neighbors or to the whole world, nor had he "forced" God or Christ Jesus into making him an apostle! He became an apostle of Christ Jesus according to a command of God our Savior and Christ Jesus our hope. Paul includes the word "our" twice reminding and emphasizing to Timothy that God is the Savior and Christ Jesus is the hope of Paul, Timothy, and all holy-people.

When Paul writes "Christ Jesus" he is emphasizing the truth that the Lord Jesus Christ is the resurrected, anointed-one of God. The word "Christ" means the "anointed-one" or "Messiah." In the lands and during the time-period of the writing of the Bible, holy oil was poured on the high priest of God to begin his ministry for God, and it was also used to anoint kings. Many people and things were anointed with holy oil to signify their making holy or sanctified for a specific purpose, etc, which can be read about in many scriptures in the Bible (refer to Exodus 30:22-33; Acts 2:36, and 4:27, and 10:38). The resurrected Christ continues doing God's will today.

The word "Jesus" is explained in Matthew 1:21 by the Angel Gabriel when he spoke to Joseph:

Matthew 1:21:

^.21She [Mary] will bring-forth a son and you [Joseph] will call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

"Jesus" means "God saves / Jehovah (Yahweh) the Savior," and the Lord Jesus Christ was given that name "Jesus" because he is the one who carried-out God's will to make it available for people to be saved, to be made-safe. It is by means of Jesus, the Christ, that people are able to be saved and thereby have a true and vital spiritual relationship with the only true God. Jesus Christ is God's son – he is alive today! Christ Jesus is now at God's right-side, second-in-command to God his Father.

Let us re-read verses 1 and 2 of I Timothy and continue with our study:

Verses 1 and 2:

^1:1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to a command of God our Savior and Christ Jesus our hope – ^.2to Timothy a genuine child in belief; grace, mercy, peace from God (the) Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul addressed this letter to Timothy a genuine child in belief (literally: a legitimate, genetic child born to/from me, which includes the figurative sense of being an affectionate term of endearment – a genuine child within the sphere of action of the belief/faith that God gives us to believe);…

grace (what is freely bestowed without any merit on the recipient's part; it includes reference to the attitude and quality of the one giving something favorable to another. Grace is not bestowed because somebody deserves a wage that is owed for something they said or did, nor because they begged so hard, nor because they forced the giver to give! Grace is bestowed because the giver wants to give by his own freedom of will to the recipient - it is completely unmerited favor from the giver to the recipient.),
mercy – active-relief because of withholding merited judgment (not bestowing punishment on one who deserves to be punished),
peace – tranquil-harmony without strife (We may think of peace as the opposite of war, the opposite of conflict, the opposite of being at odds with the other party. Who are the other parties as far as holy-people are concerned? God and the Lord Jesus Christ. All of God's children are at peace with God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ because it is given to us from God and the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore all Christians should behave peaceably with one-another too.)….

Grace, mercy, peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. Timothy and Paul were children of God. God was their Father - spiritually. Paul also gives Christ Jesus his title of "Lord." The word "Lord" refers to a master or an owner, one who has the authority or authoritative-power, the one from whom the directions and instructions are given and who is to be obeyed, the one who has the dominion over and exercises his lordship in relation to that-which his title of "Lord" or "Master" is being associated.

We should notice the emphasis that Paul gives in these opening two verses:

God is our Savior
God is the Father
Christ Jesus is the one from whom Paul is apostled
Christ Jesus is our hope
Christ Jesus is our Lord.

[Reference: Luke 1:47; Acts 16:1-3; Romans 5:1-6, and 16:21; I Corinthians 4:17, 15:51-57, and 16:10; II Corinthians 1:1 and 19; Galatians 2:20; Philippians 1:1, and 2:19-22; Colossians 1:1 and 23-27; I Thessalonians 1:1, 3:2 and 6, and 4:13-17; II Thessalonians 1:1; I Timothy 2:3; II Timothy 1:2, 5, 8b, and 9a; Titus 1:3 and 4, and 2:10, and 3:4; Philemon 1:1; Hebrews 13:23; Jude 1:25.]

Verses 3-7:

^.3According as I encouraged you to remain in Ephesus, (while I am) journeying into Macedonia, in order that you may charge to some-people not to differently-teach, ^.4neither to have-attention to fables and interminable genealogies the-things-which present seekings rather than God’s stewardship, the (stewardship) in belief; ^.5but the completion of the charge is love¹ out-from a clean heart and good conscience and belief without-hypocrisy, ^.6which some-people having failed were turned-out into futile-wording ^.7intending to be law-teachers not mentally-perceiving neither the-things-which they say nor concerning what-things they throughly-make-firm.

Paul had previously told Timothy about remaining in Ephesus and now he was writing this letter to him. According as I encouraged you (just as I exhorted or called you Timothy beside me, as a concerned father and/or mother would call their children close to them under their arms so as to help them to do that which is right) to stay with the holy-people in Ephesus, while I am journeying into Macedonia, for the purpose and result that you would charge (pass on from yourself the message of what I am writing here) to some-people…

not to differently-teach (not to teach some other different doctrine, not to instruct people with a different teaching)
neither to have-attention to (and not to hold or turn their minds, thoughts and attention towards/for the purpose of)…
- fables (legends, fictional stories, myths) and
- interminable genealogies (genealogies without a way of passing out from them, unending family-tree tracings, word discussions about generations whether of mankind or false gods)
which are the things that present seekings (those things have/hold beside, offer actions of seeking out, looking for answers to them, questions, searches, inquiries about these things, quests)
rather than God’s stewardship (more-so than God’s administration, the duty of house-management, the administration of God's household-matters – God's household affairs include teaching, instructing, caring-for, protecting, nourishing, and helping God's children),
- specifically the stewardship in belief (within the sphere of action, character and attributes of the belief/faith that God gives us to believe);

…but the completion of the charge (the complete-thing, the ending-issue, fulfillment of the message that you are to pass on to the holy-people in Ephesus, not causing the charge to vanish or cease to exist but bringing into its perfect state; the completion of the charge) is love¹….

The word "love¹" or the verb "to love¹" comes from the Greek word agape which is God's kind of love. To love with His love means to love the same way as God loves, to manifest God's love towards another, whether it is towards God Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, yourself, your Christian neighbor, or towards anyone else. God tells His children today (all who have the spirit of Christ within us) how to Godly-love by means of His previously-revealed written Word and also via our holy spirit-life whereby we receive information from Him regarding how to love in different specific situations. It is the carrying out of God's commandments, His Word, which is the correct usage or way to manifest God's kind of love according to His will (refer to I Corinthians chapter 13 and I John 5:1-3). It is not the same as the brotherly or friendly kind of love, nor is it the same as the emotional/feelings/sexual kind of love.

The completion of the charge is Godly-love out-from the interior/inside of…

a clean heart (the word "heart" literally means: the organ which keeps the fleshy body alive by circulating the blood; but figuratively it means: the center or core of a person's being, the seat of his whole personal self and life; here Paul refers to a heart that is clean, free from any bad foreign-mixture) and
good conscience (the word “conscience” means: a person’s knowing-awareness, the perception of what is right which he put together for himself in his mind as a result of all that he has already been taught and learned in relation to the one whom he recognizes as his ruler, the one who has authority, ultimately this authority should be the only true God - a good conscience is one that agrees with what issues from God; God is the standard of what is good) and
belief without-hypocrisy (un-hypocritical faith/trust relative-to God, belief which is not an answer in reply given in pretense as if wearing a mask playing a part on a stage, belief which is without feigning to be believing what God says when you are not),…

…which some-people having failed (pertaining to these things some people having actively aimed off course, deviated from the mark, not having aimed at or endeavored to reach the goal of having Godly-love out-from a clean heart and good conscience and belief without-hypocrisy) were turned-out into futile-wording (turned from where they should be, they dislocated themselves into a futile collection of words, a spoken sentence of their inner-thoughts being empty as to any results, meaningless and useless) intending to be law-teachers (willing to be teachers of law, instructors of what is set-up, divided-out and administered to be customarily and rightly used among people), however they are not mentally perceiving (not observing with their minds, not seeing to the end of knowing mentally)…

neither the things which they say
nor concerning what-things they throughly make firm (thoroughly make steady, surely affirm).

[Reference: Luke 5:17; Acts 5:34, and 23:1; I Corinthians 9:17; Ephesians 3:2-9; Colossians 1:25; II Timothy 2:18, and 4:4; Titus 1:10, 14, and 3:9; II Peter 1:16.]

Verses 8-11:

^.8But we knew² that the law (is) beautiful if-ever someone lawfully may use it ^.9having known² this that law is not laid for a righteous-person but for lawless-people and unsubjected-people, not-reverential-people and sinners, unholy-people and profane-people, father-beaters and mother-beaters, murderers-of-men, ^.10fornicators, homosexuals, men-traffickers, liars, perjurers, and if some different-thing is adverse to the teaching being sound ^.11according to the good-message of the glory of the Happy God which I was trusted-with.

We (you Timothy and myself) knew and still know (perceive, see) that the law is beautiful (God’s law has a manifested decorous, harmonious and acceptable goodness) if-ever someone lawfully may use it (if it should ever happen that someone would deem the law to be needful for a purpose, make use of it in a lawful manner, according to the law, the way it says that it should be used, i.e. according to what God says) having known and still knowing (perceiving, seeing) this – that law is not laid for a righteous-person (God does not make law lie-down in position ready for action for a just-person in the walk/behavior category, one who behaves in a justified manner) but law is laid for:

lawless-people (those who do not abide by God’s law, who do not obey what God says and so their behavior is unlawful, who are in the state of being without God's law, being in violation-of, non-observance or transgression of the law of God) and
unsubjected-people (those who are not in subjection to God’s law, who do not submit themselves, who do not arrange themselves in the position of being under the authority of what God says),
not-reverential-people (those who are without reverential respect for God, who do not have reverence to/for God) and
sinners (those who miss the mark of God's Word, who err from what God says),
unholy-people (those who do not practice holiness which is pure-Godliness free from all crime, those who are not in the state of constantly observing all God says, who do not practice every duty and function and thereby do not fulfill every obligation which God has given to be believed and carried-out) and
profane-people (those who desecrate, trample, pollute, violate, cross the threshold from what is holy and enter-into what is unholy, not sacred or initiated),
father-beaters (those who beat their fathers, treading on them as cattle thresh grain, trampling all over them so that their words and actions are quashed, even to the degree of killing them) and
mother-beaters (those who beat their mothers, treading on them as cattle thresh grain, trampling all over them so that their words and actions are quashed, even to the degree of killing them),
murderers-of-men (those who wrongfully kill adult-males, generally refers to murdering God’s people both male and female),
fornicators (those who carry-out wrongful sexual activity/relations),
homosexuals (males who go to bed having sexual relations with other men, specifically those who are the active male-like partner in a homosexual relationship, and generally also includes females with females, lesbians),
men-traffickers (those who deal/trade adult-males as animals, tyrants putting grown men under their feet controlling them like animals with two feet instead of four),
liars (those who speak and live lies, falsifiers),
perjurers (those who make an oath on/against an oath already made and thus falsely swear, commit perjury),
and if some different-thing is adverse to (any other different thing that opposes, is in opposition to, figuratively puts itself in the position of lying/laying against) the teaching being sound according to the good-message of the glory of the Happy God (this word ‘teaching’ includes the teaching itself and the action of teaching it, the instruction being healthy, in good health, well, in accordance with the gospel, evangel, of the importance, splendor, renown, belonging-to and emanating-from the felicitous God, He is in the continuing and lasting standing and state of happiness) which good-message emphatically I was trusted-with (entrusted with).

The Greek verb translated as "trusted-with" comes from the root-word pisteuo which means "to believe, to have faith, to trust" - when it is in the passive form of the verb with accusative, as it is in this context here, it has the meaning that the recipient of what is given is being believed-in by the giver that he is willing and capable of taking-care-of and fulfilling all that is involved pertaining to that-which is given to him - the recipient is entrusted with what is given to him by the giver. God entrusted Paul with the good-message of the glory of the happy God - what a great privilege and responsibility had been entrusted to him!

[Reference: Matthew 5:33; Luke 5:31; Romans 1:18-32, and 7:12-16; I Corinthians 6:9, 9:21; I Timothy 6:15; II Timothy 2:5, 16, 3:2, and 4:3; Titus 1:3, 6, 9, and 10; Hebrews 2:8, and 12:16.]

Verses 12-16:

^.12I have thanks to the (one) having enabled me – Christ Jesus our Lord – because he led (his mind to regard) me believing having put (me) into (the) ministry, ^.13formerly being a blasphemer and a persecutor and a hurtful-person but I was shown-mercy because unknowing I did (those things) in unbelief, ^.14and the grace of our Lord became-superly more-and-more with belief and love¹, the (belief and love) in Christ Jesus. ^.15The word is believable and worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am first ^.16but because-of-this I was shown-mercy in order that Christ Jesus may point-out all-together patience in me first towards an under-type of the (people) being about to believe on him into eternal life.

In verse 12 the word "thanks" in the Greek is the same word as the word "grace," and here it is used as the expression made by the freedom of will of the recipient, Paul, expressing his gratitude to the giver, Christ Jesus, of the grace (what is freely bestowed without any merit on the recipient's part) given-to and received-by him.

Paul writes: I have thanks to the one having enabled me (who has given me able-power, ability within, empowered me, made me capable within) – Christ Jesus our Lord (he is Lord/Master of all holy-people) – because he led his mind to regard me believing (he took the initiative, caused it to be in his mind to view me as faithful, trustworthy, a believing person, a believer relative-to God, one who has faith-in, trusts God’s Word), having put me into the ministry (having placed me with-a-view-to, directed-to the day-to-day ministerial duties or functions of serving others to benefit them, not 'being-subject' to them but doing work to bring profit),…

formerly (before, previously) I was being…
- a blasphemer (a person who speaks evilly, treats others with lack of Godly reverential respect, calumniates) and
- a persecutor (a person who pursues others with malignity as enemies) and
- a hurtful-person (a person who uses wanton-violence and insolence resulting in injury to others),…

…but contrary to that kind of behavior…

I was shown-mercy (given active-relief, merited judgment was withheld from me) because unknowing I did those things in unbelief (while I was personally not knowing, being unaware, ignorant, I performed those activities within the sphere of action of lack of belief, faithless, without belief),
and the grace of our Lord became superly more and more with belief and love¹ (the unmerited, freely-bestowed favor belonging-to and proceeding-from our Lord Jesus Christ became extremely more than it was previously, the amount of grace increased in company and association with faith, what to believe, and God’s kind of love),
emphatically and specifically the belief and Godly-love that are in/within the sphere of action, character and attributes of Christ Jesus.

The word (the spoken account) is believable (faithful, trustworthy) and worthy of all acceptance (of equal-value to every reception, of like-worth with all welcoming, as being correctly weighed on a scales and thus deserving of all acceptance) – what word? – that…

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (Christ Jesus came into the ordered-arrangement that God created to allow those who miss the mark of God’s Word, who err from what God says, to be made safe)…

…of whom emphatically I am first (I, Paul, am foremost), but contrary to the state of being a sinner, on account of this word I was shown-mercy for the purpose and result that Christ Jesus may point-out all-together patience in me first (he would indicate or point-out as though with a finger, display entirely long-suffering, long-temperedness, long-forbearance within me first time-wise) towards an under-type of the people being about to believe on him into eternal life (to the end that I am an outline or sketch of a mark, impression, pattern to be filled-in with/by others, a basic example to be copied by the people who are on the point of believing, having faith, trusting on Christ Jesus into, directed-to, resulting-in eternal life).

The Greek word aionios may be translated “eternal” or “agelong”. In the context here, the life being referred to will not end. It is eternal, agelong, lifelong, everlasting. It lasts throughout all durations of life, all ages from the time a person receives it. This life can only be received by God's giving of holy spirit by means of the Lord Jesus Christ. All holy-people (Christians) have received holy spirit-life within us, which is the spirit of Christ in us; it is the deposit, token, earnest of what we will receive at a future time. This holy spirit-life will remain for the duration of God's life which will not end. The full completeness for us will come to pass when our Lord Jesus Christ will come to gather all holy-people together with him giving us new spiritual bodies, the life of which will be holy spirit-life like the body he has already received from God, his Father and our Father, when God raised him up alive from-among the dead-people.

[Reference: Acts 8:1-3, 9:1-22, 22:4, 5, 19, 20, and 26:9-11; Romans 5:8; I Corinthians 7:25, 12:5; II Corinthians 4:1; Galatians 1:13-16; Ephesians 4:8-13; Philippians 4:13; I Timothy 3:1, and 4:9; II Timothy 1:13, and 2:11; Titus 3:8.]

Verse 17:

^.17But to the King of the ages, incorruptible, unseen, only God, (is) honor and glory into the ages of the ages, with-certainty.

Paul again refers to God:

to the King of the ages (to the One Who is the Sovereign, having royal dominion and government and rule and territory and power, etc, pertaining-to the durations of life, lifetimes inclusive of all ages),
incorruptible (not capable of decaying, in the state of incorruption),
unseen (not perceived with the eyes of mankind so as to understand God in the mind's thoughts as a result of physical sight. God is unseen. He is not perceived with the eyes of man, not even for an instant! God Who is Holy Spirit cannot be seen – but the Lord Jesus Christ has been seen and will be seen with the physical eyes.),
only (alone, there is no other)
God (the First, Superior or Ultimate One, the One Who has power, executes judgment, and emanates what He is, His power and light),
- is honor (estimation of being valuable, deemed to be worthy of price)
- and glory (importance, splendor, renown)
- into the ages of the ages (the durations of lifetimes for/throughout the durations of lifetimes – not only one age or a group of ages, but emphatically for all the durations of life, the entirety, for eternity, forever),
- with-certainty (amen, truly, surely!).

“To the King of the ages, incorruptible, unseen, only God, (is) honor and glory into the ages of the ages, with-certainty”

[Reference: John 1:18; Romans 1:23, and 16:25-27; I Corinthians 15:51-54; Philippians 4:20; Colossians 1:15.]

Verses 18-20:

^.18This charge I put-beside you, child Timothy, according to the prophecies leading-forth on you in order that you may serve-as-a-soldier in them the beautiful soldiery ^.19having belief and good conscience, which some-people having thrust-away shipwrecked concerning the belief ^.20of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander whom I gave-over to satan in order that they may be trained not to blaspheme.

Paul again calls Timothy a “child” as in verse 2 above in the figurative sense being an affectionate term of endearment. The word “prophecies” refers to God's words spoken forth to a person or people by the one prophesying having been given these words via his/her holy spirit concerning the past, present or future. Also, the usage of military terminology draws attention to the truth that holy-people are in a battle/war against the opposing side which is under the leadership of satan, the devil.

He writes: This charge I put-beside you (I place this message alongside you, I pass it on from me to you), child Timothy,…

according to the prophecies leading-forth on you (in accordance, conformity, proportion with the prophecies that are presently preceding you, going before, in front of you, the words leading you relate down onto you so that you know which way to go)
for the purpose and result that you would serve as a soldier in them the beautiful soldiery (that you would put yourself in service soldiering during battle/war within the sphere of action of these prophecies, thereby you will be soldiering in the military service with a manifested decorous, harmonious and acceptable goodness)
- having belief (you must be having faith, holding what God gives you to believe, having trust relative-to God and what He says)
- and good conscience (as verse 5 above),

…which some people having thrust-away shipwrecked concerning the belief (some people pushed-away, repulsed, rejected good conscience and they shipwrecked around, about or with reference to the faith, with reference to trusting what God says, they actively hit against what God gives us to believe and so they broke their own vessels/bodies around the belief) of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander whom I gave-over to satan (I handed them over, delivered them alongside/beside satan, the name emphasizing the devil's opposing and adversarial attributes) with the purposed result that they would be trained (as children or young servants) not to blaspheme (not to speak evilly, not to treat others with lack of Godly reverential respect, not to calumniate).

Paul tells Timothy that he had given Hymenaeus and Alexander along to satan and they were therefore outside of the protection of God's household. Paul, of course, had been given the instruction to do this by God or the Lord Jesus Christ, and he did it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ - similar to what he records in his letter of First Corinthians 5:3-5. They were no-longer under God's protection during this life, which God affords to those who honestly endeavor to do His will, because God will not force His will upon them. These two opened themselves up to the influence of satan (the devil) by their own choice in the walk/behavior category in the fleshy realm. Because of what would happen to them in the physical category during their lives while continuing to thrust-away good conscience they would be trained not to blaspheme because they would be experiencing the consequences of blaspheming. Then it would be their free-will decision to return to doing God’s will in the walk/behavior category.

We should understand that holy-people cannot lose the gift of holy spirit which we received at the time of our first believing what God gives mankind to believe regarding Himself and His son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This holy spirit cannot be taken away from us, we cannot lose it. Therefore Hymenaeus and Alexander most definitely were saved spiritually to God and they will be part of the gathering-together when Christ comes for all holy-people. But they had chosen at that time during their earthly lives that they would not walk with/for God but would instead do what satan instructed them to do by various means even though they knew better since they had already been taught God’s Word.

Also, we should understand that when Paul wrote “whom I gave-over to satan” it cannot refer to these two becoming “possessed” by a devil/demon because all holy-people (Christians) have been bought with the price that the Lord Jesus Christ paid, and these two who were holy-people still had holy spirit-life within them. A holy-person (Christian, having the spirit of Christ within him/her) can never have a devil/demon inside of his physical body.

[Reference: Matthew 12:31; John 13:27; Acts 5:3-10; I Corinthians 5:5, and 9:7; II Corinthians 10:3 and 4; I Timothy 4:14; II Timothy 2:17 and 18, and 4:14 and 15 (Acts 19:33 perhaps the same Alexander). Note: verbs with a superscript 2 (²) immediately following them indicate the "perfect" tense - details are provided in the "Relevant Notes" link of this study.]

Paul continues…in the next ‘chapter’…

I Timothy Chapter 2