False Teachings (1 Timothy 1)

Paul wrote this first letter to Timothy about the church in Ephesus and false teachings there about the law. Are doctrines about the law, NOT taught by Jesus or the apostles still prevalent? Is love the most important doctrine? Is the law still a focus of many false teachers? Let’s find out in 1 Timothy 1.

Who wrote this letter? Who is it to?

From Paul, who is an apostle of Jesus Christ by the command of God our savior and of Christ Jesus our hope. To Timothy, my true child in the faith. Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord. (1 Timothy 1:1-2 CEB)

To which church does this apply? Why did Timothy stay on in Ephesus? Are false teachings ubiquitous today? What do doctrines not taught by Jesus or the apostles cause?

When I was leaving for Macedonia, I asked you to stay on in Ephesus and warn certain people there to stop spreading their false teachings. You needed to warn them to stop wasting their time on senseless stories and endless lists of ancestors. Such things only cause arguments. They don't help anyone to do God's work that can only be done by faith. (1 Timothy 1:3-4 CEV)

What was the purpose of Paul’s warning? Is love the most important doctrine?

The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (1 Timothy 1:5 ESV)

Had some deviated from a pure heart, good conscience and sincere faith? What kind of discussion was the result?

Some have deviated from these and turned aside to fruitless discussion. (1 Timothy 1:6 HCSB)

What is the focus of these false teachers? The phrase “the law” can refer to the five books of Moses or the whole of the Hebrew Scriptures? Is a legalistic misuse, a letter of the law approach, still a focus of false teachers today?

They want to be teachers of the Law, yet they do not understand either what they are talking about or the things about which they speak so confidently. (1 Timothy 1:7 ISV)

Is the law good? Does it depend on how it’s used?

But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; (1 Timothy 1:8 KJV)

Who is the law for?

knowing this, that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and godless, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for sexually immoral persons, for homosexuals, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, according to the gospel of the glory of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted. (1 Timothy 1:9-11 LSB)

Was Paul once a legalist outside the faith as some attempt to combine legalism and faith?

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was previously a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 1:12-14 NASB)

Who did Jesus come to save? Who deserves honor and glory?

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Timothy 1:15-17 NIV)

To whom did Paul commit the charge to “stay on in Ephesus and warn certain people there to stop spreading their false teachings”? Who were two of those responsible for the false teachings there?

This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. (1 Timothy 1:18-20 NKJV)

Paul wrote this letter to Timothy about the church in Ephesus and false teachings there about the law. Are doctrines about the law, NOT taught by Jesus or the apostles, still prevalent? Is love the most important doctrine? Is the law still a focus of many false teachers? You decide!