1From Paul, apostle of Christ Jesus by a command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, 2to Timothy, my true son in the faith. May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy and peace.
False teachers
3 ① When I left for Macedonia I urged you to remain in Ephesus to warn certain persons not to teach false doctrine 4or to concern themselves with fables and endless genealogies. These give rise to discussions rather than promoting a better service of God through faith. 5The aim of our warning is love which comes from a pure mind, a good conscience and sincere faith.
6Some have turned away from such a motivation and have strayed into useless discussions. 7They claim to be teachers of the Law when, in fact, they understand neither what they say nor the things they speak about.
8We know that the Law is good, as long as it serves its purpose. 9The Law is not for the righteous, but for the lawless and for the wicked and sinful, for those who do not respect God and religion, for those who kill their parents, for murderers, 10for those who indulge in unlawful sex and homosexuality, for kidnappers and exploiters, for liars and perjurers and for all that is contrary to sound doctrine, 11to the Gospel of the God of glory and happiness, which was entrusted to me.
12I give thanks to Christ Jesus, our Lord, who is my strength, who has considered me trustworthy and appointed me to his service, 13although I had been a blasphemer, a persecutor and a rabid enemy. However he took mercy on me because I did not know what I was doing when I opposed the faith; 14and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, together with faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
15This saying is true and worthy of belief: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first. 16Because of that I was forgiven; Christ Jesus wanted to display his utmost patience so that I might be an example for all who are to believe and obtain eternal life. 17To the King of ages, the only God who lives beyond every perishable and visible creation – to him be honor and glory forever. Amen!
18Timothy, my son, I command you to fight the good fight, fulfilling the prophetic words pronounced over you. 19Hold onto faith and a good conscience, unlike those who, ignoring conscience, have finally wrecked their faith. 20Among them are Hymeneus and Alexander whom I have delivered to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.
- 1 Tim 1,3 In this first chapter we have a mixture of various topics: it practically repeats what Paul said in other letters where the commentaries have already been given. We will note only what refers to false prophets. Since the apostles who had seen Christ were dead, some people forgot that all of faith is based on what Christ taught. Instead of reading and actually living the Gospel, certain people began to discuss and work out religious theories. See Introduction to Colossians. The aim of our warning is love which comes from a pure mind (v. 5). Timothy must be firm in eliminating these discussions which weaken the Church and prevent development of the love which saves people. Even bloody wars came out of sterile religious arguments. The center of the paragraph is doubtless verse 15: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. The new masters remain with their theories instead of facing the reality of sin. It is the reality of our sin that makes the grace of God a grace, and our salvation a true salvation.
