EMMAUS SCHOOL OF BIBLICAL STUDIES

The first letter Paul writes to Timothy could have been after his first stint in Rome. Thus the book might have been written some time in the 60s.  The main idea of the book is to stay strong in faith, hope, and love in order to boldly teach the glorious gospel. He is warning Timothy about false teachers and telling him to stay clear of and watch out for false doctrine in order to keep the church pure of anything less the sound doctrine. Paul establishes guidelines for the church practices, and he encourages Timothy in his personal conduct–specifically his conduct with regards to the ministry.

This is a great instruction book for any church administrator but it must be understood in its context. Paul was writing a personal letter to Timothy and it dealt with some specific issues with the culture in Ephesus at that time.

For example lets take the women teaching passage in chapter 2. At first glance this sounds almost anti-women and traditionally grounded. But if taken into historical context and by examining both letters we find that there were some reasons for the instruction. First Women were typically not allowed to learn. So Paul is clearing up this issue by saying let them learn. The temple of Artimus was in Ephesus and the spiritual leaders were essentially temple prostitutes. Paul is trying to combat that aspect of creeping into the Christian church by telling them to dress modestly and to submit to learning like respectful students. There also seems to have been a feminist movement during this era where women tried to act like men and take control of things. So Paul might have been combating this worldview by saying that their role is not be authoritative. Then there may have also been myths asserting that women were created first and inherently spiritual, if they did not have children. Paul recounts the creation story to set that myth straight and then says that yes even if they have kids they can be saved.

Okay, all this to say that, todays culture is much different then that culture and situation.  Women are obviously not inferior to men. And if anyone would argue otherwise, that would go against a central theological thesis of Pauls that ”all are created new in Christ” (Gal. 3:26-29). Plus there seems to be a bunch of women teachers/ church leaders throughout the New Testament (i.e. Pricilla, Phoebe, Lydia, Junia…ect). So needless to say, women can teach.

Here are some of the timeless truths that I learned from this book.

1. fight for the faith of others and yourself
2. don’t teach if you don’t understand, be silent.
3. the church is meant to guard the truth of the gospel.
4. be content with what God has given.
5. give freedom to other believers to be guided by the Spirit
6. pray for what God desires (one thing he desires mentioned in 1 Timothy is for all people to be saved)
7. An elder must be above reproach and able to wisely guide and disciple the church like a father instructs his children.
8. Leaders should lead through example in godliness.
9. Godliness is worth more than knowledge.

Paul left Timothy in Ephesus to watch over the church there. The church had just gone through a major church split where some wicked men (Alexander and Hymenaeus) led many believers away from the faith. On top of this many widows and other women in the church thought that they had great understanding and knowledge. But in fact what they were teaching were myths and lies. Timothy is given the task of helping to set the church back in order.

This letter has been written by Paul to Timothy in Ephesus.  It seems that Paul left Timothy there to deal with some of the false teaching that has begun to creep into the church and also deal with some other aspects of church life.

Timothy has a task on his hands as some false teaching has crept into the church.  This letter shows that some people are teaching the Jewish law, others are being shipwrecked in their faith because of false beliefs.  Timothy is a major challenge on his hands.  The way Paul instructs him to deal with this is by teaching the true gospel and holding firm to his faith.

In the midst of this book there are some interesting passages on women – it seems to me that it was an issue of context as the Ephesians came from a culture were woman ruled the religious systems in the Temple of Artemis and the Temple Prostitutes certainly had a liking for bling!   Bringing this into the picture Paul says to the women of Ephesus – learn but don’t do it like the pagans do.  And please don’t look like they do either!    So it is not so much about how big your gold earings are in church today or if you can speak or not but learning the truth of God.  Paul was a forerunner in womens rights desiring that they should learn the word of God and be able to discern heresy from the truth for themselves.

There is also some interesting passages from Paul on caring for the widows in the church and it is a reminder to us today that we have a responsiblity towards our relatives as they get older. 

Exciting stuff.  I’m off to polish my earings for church tomorrow!

First of all, I apologize to those of you who read this. It might have a few things in it that don’t make sense or are hard to understand, not because I am some amazing rhetoritician or theological whiz, but because I am very tired and think I have a fever right now.  Hahaha! Okay. But anyway.Eeeeggghhhhmmm….here goes.

Paul wrote 1st Timothy to Timothy (obviously) to give him instructions on how to deal with the false doctrine that existed in Ephesus. Paul left Timothy to deal with the issues that were arising from this heresy, and to teach the whole truth to the Ephesians. (I love learning about Ephesus, it is SO interesting to me, and I was surprised when I heard that this book was actually about Timothy IN Ephesus!) So, Paul wrote to instruct Timothy on how to deal with and what to teach about the different areas about which the Ephesians had false doctrine. He deals with money, relationships in the church, and also tells Timothy that he will have to be an example of what he teaches. He shows him exactly what this looks like. Paul instructs Timothy on how to fight the good fight for the faith against heresy. How does he do it? By teaching Timothy the truth, so Timothy can live and teach it as well.

One thing I really liked from this book was how Paul emphasizes that God wants everyone to be saved, and how no one is too far gone to be reached by God and be saved. I like how Paul showed they should pray for their leaders and people in high positions to be saved. Now in their day, that meant they were praying for people like Nero, who HATED Christians and tortured them. So not only did God want them to be saved, and they were not too far gone, but God wanted them to PRAY for them to be saved. This encourages me when I think of people that may be so far from being saved, I don’t have much hope for them. But God says that they aren’t too far gone! They can still be saved! It inspires me to pray! It gives me hope for those people who seem so far gone already. They are NOT too far gone! God wants them to be saved, and he wants ME to pray for them! Cool.

1 timothy is what we studied next.  It was a quick transition into it when we just finished 2 Corinthians a day ago, and it was packed with tons of goodies.  well, jumping into 1 Timothy was a different feel.  It is a short book, and I guess I am still kind of processing what exactly God wants to show me in it deeper.  I guess that time will happen after SBS.  I can tell you snipets of what I got out of it though…

This is a different type of letter, because it is known as one of the pastoral letters Paul writes.  The other 2 are Titus, and 2 Timothy.  What that means is basically Paul writes to a young leader that is fixing or setting things up in a church, that most likely Paul has visited.  Well, this one is to Timothy in Ephesus.  Paul and Timothy spent a lot of time together awhile traveling from country to country proclaiming the gospel.  Well, now Paul is writing to Timothy in Ephesus, and there are a ton of wrong things going on in the Ephesian church.  So, it is a different kind of letter that Paul uses writes.  It is very jumbled, and in my mind I kind of think of it, as Paul is talking on the phone to Timothy, and he is like “Ohhh yeah, and widows blah blah blah…Elders, Deacons, Bishops, blah blah blah.”  The reason he writes to him like this is because there are false teachers in the church of the Ephesians, and they have let the church become completely out of hand.  Here’s where Timothy comes on the scene.  Paul gives him these instructions of everything to do, and they aren’t just small instructions.  It has a lot to do with confronting people, and basically aligning them back up with the true gospel.  But, all awhile having a pure heart, which is what Paul tells him to have in the first couple verses of the book.

So after all of that, I look up to Timothy.  I think of myself in that situation, and how overwhelming it would have been, BUT, have a pure heart.  That is difficult.  i admire Timothy in this book, because I can imagine all the years he had with Paul refuting false doctrine, now it is his glorious time to act accordingly to the gospel by having the opportunity to fix this catastrophe.  “Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” 4:12 Wow.  What a line to feed a young leader that is surrounded by countless contradictions to the gospel he has been so in tune with.  What a time to make an example to them, which Paul urges him to.  Age is not looked at.  Knowledge is not looked at.  Nor is experience looked at in this time.  But, being an example of Godliness is what is looked at.  That touched me.  I look at my life, and mirror it up against Timothy’s. I desire to be put in a place like that.  To be challenged to live a Godly example.  But it cannot happen by just talking about it, it has to happen by living by it.  This has made me truly see that everything about a person’s physical being is looked past, and true Godliness representation is what is going to be the pivotal point to get this church up and running again.

            1 Timothy is a letter written by Paul to his young friend and co-worker in the ministry, Timothy. Written as basically a to-do list, Paul weaves throughout the theme of the Church’s role to defend the truth. There were numerous crazy beliefs infiltrating the Church, and because of that, many were being led astray. In the midst of this strung-together letter of ideas, a style in which one would write a close friend, Paul instructs Timothy in how to determine who the Church should assist and who not to assist.

            This issue is very interesting to me and it seems to have many relevant implications for our society today. Based on 1 Timothy 5:3-16, it seems very evident that the Church should provide for the poorest of the poor believers, it should use criteria and have accountability for determining who receives aid, and it is also clear that families should take care of their own. That I feel comfortable concluding.

            Because I believe the Bible speaks truth into every domain of society, I wrestle with what the implications are for the government’s role in aiding the poor. If the Church is supposed to take care of their own, then who cares for the extremely poor that are not Christians? Jesus did not discriminate who he loved and served – he served us in the most ultimate way on the cross while we were still his enemies. So how does this issue of aiding the poor reconcile with the reality of grace – undeserved mercy?

            Perhaps because the body can only do so much, it must take care of its own members before it can reach out to others. With this analogy taken literally, of the Church as a body, it makes sense that the body takes care of the broken, hurting hand before it is able to feed someone else out of that hand.

            Maybe then, I don’t have an issue with the government stepping in and aiding those who the Church is unable to help (assuming it follows the example of the Church in using specific criteria to determine who receives it). However, I think there is a danger in this line of thinking because all too often, it seems the Church uses the government as a crutch. The Church has way more resources than are being donated and shared. If the Church took care of its own body, and families looked out and provided for each other like 1 Timothy 5:8 commands, then maybe the government would have very few people to assist. The body of Christ would be well and healthy, readily available to hand out a meal and financially support someone outside the body.

            The Church must give extravagantly and take care of its own people. And if America is approximately 75% professing Christians, than it would seem that the $614 billion spent on federal assistance programs in the US would be cut drastically because the Church, the body of Christ, would be doing its role in caring for all those people. How powerful a testimony would that then be to the generosity of God towards us if people all over the world saw how generous his followers are towards each other? Unfortunately, we still have a long way to go…

    The book of 1 Timothy is one that is hard to describe because Paul writes of many things and in a structure that is not as organized as the rest of his letters.  Paul is writing to Timothy, who is in Ephesus, to tell him how to instruct the Ephesians to live and to tell Timothy to be a model of that living so that they will have a true example to follow.  Paul focused on three important themes in the book, the nature of God, instructions for the church members and instructions for fighting false teachings.  As I was doing my normal exercises in studying the text I came across a particular passage that really struck a cord in my heart, it came from 6:6&7 “of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it.”  Further on in chapter 6 it talks about how in Christ we are given everything for our enjoyment and it hit me, Christ has given us so much, he has made every sacrifice so that we may be rich in him, and yet we chose to be rich in this world, in the things that don’t matter.  Paul, nor I am saying it is bad to have money, but I think the pursuit of it, the American dream, is the problem.  God will always provide for his people as he always has and we are too blinded by our our selfishness to appreciate that, instead we say, “hey thanks for bringing me out of that dark place in my life, do you think you could just let me date this one person so I can be completely content?” Can we not be content to serve a Lord who labored for us on earth and loves us in heaven? I say this because I know I don’t do it in my own life and I am dreadfully ashamed! Thank goodness our God is merciful and he gives us countless opportunities to kick the dust off our shoes and get back in line with him. I’m afraid my entry has been a bit scattered brained, but I guess I know how Paul felt writing the letter to Timothy, I just want the point to get across, not matter how structured it is, pursue richness in Christ, show him your gratitude for his mercy on your life, I know I am going to try!

The book of 1 Timothy is such a good book because it contains so many different applications for today. It is so cool to me, to see how the solutions to the problems in the Ephesian church, that Paul addresses, are still applicable to us in the 21^st century today.

One of the biggest things that stood out to me through this book was the Timeless Truth that “what you believe will affect how you live”. In the Ephesian culture that Paul was writing into, there were all sorts of weird mystery religions, and Greek traditions that had been upheld for years. These beliefs were being infiltrated into the Ephesian church, and because of this, it was affecting the way the Christians lived their lives. Therefore, Paul wrote this letter to Timothy to tell him to train up himself and others, in godliness, so that they will live their lives in accordance with the truth, and not according to the influences of the world around them.

Because what we believe does affect how we live our lives, we too, must take care to train ourselves in godliness, so that we will be living our lives according to truth and not according to the world around as, as well. Therefore, this means that we must daily be persistent in developing our relationship with God, so that the truth of his word can change our beliefs and thus, our lives.

This could take on a variety of different spiritual disciplines such as prayer, meditation, scripture reading, scripture memorization, etc. But the most important part of all the disciplines is not that we just do them, but that we allow God to change our beliefs through them; that we apply them to our own lives. This is the way that we will see growth – by letting God’s word change our beliefs, which in turn, will change the way we live.

Timeless Truth: We are to be known by our Good works (2:10) 

I have been pondering this whole idea of the church as an example to the world and I can’t help but see how much 1 Timothy represents the modern western church. Paul was concerned about these individuals who were in the church who sought godliness for personal gain. The issue was lack of leadership that had a clear understanding of the Gospel.

The picture is so vivid, the Gnostic teaching is being birthed, different people have different ideas, typically for some personal gain, and the church is being bombarded in the midst of all of this. Paul, continually calls Timothy back to the gospel as the source for truth. What is knowledge, I live in a world that tells me knowledge and truth are defined by what I feel. It doesn’t take long for that theory to play out in a not so healthy way. Christianity is called to be an example to the world not part of the world.

Thankfully we join Timothy on this same journey, and can be encouraged and exhorted through the advice of Paul.

The challenge for me came in the form of two questions:

How do I make a difference? And How do I live this spotless walk?

To make a difference I begin by living my life the way I should, setting an example in “speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity.” I am reminded of a quote by T.S. Eliot; “The greatest proof of Christianity for others is not how far a man can logically analyze his reasons for believing, but how far in practice he will stake his life on his belief.” I cannot convince the world to believe in a savior I do not know and knowing comes through following.
How do I live this walk? By “putting these things into practice” and “devoting” myself to them. I spent 11 years of my life on a competitive swim team. I was in the pool more than I was at home. The boys I grew up with on the team are as close to me as my brother. During one High School season we would spend 4+ hours a day training, for 5 months out of the year, and typically swimming over 10,000 yards a day. When I stop and add all of this time up I realize one thing…If I don’t know how to swim after all of that, I am insane. Well thankfully I know how to swim and still can turn in some decent sprints.
This train of thought lead me to see that this Christian walk, which is to be an example for the world, happens just like my swimming career, one lap at a time.
My prayer is that God will make me bold in proclaiming the gospel, and that he will give me the strength to daily get in the pool and swim.  

Sound doctrine vs. false doctrine is probably the biggest theme in this book. It says in 1^st Timothy 1:18-20 on giving you these instructions, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophesies made earlier about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, having faith and a good conscience. It also says in 1^st Timothy 4:1-5 the spirit expressly says that in later times some will renounce the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits and teaching of demons, through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared with a hot iron. They forbid marriage and team and demand abstinence from foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, provided it is received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by Gods word and by prayer. We need to do everything in the obedience to God. What I mean is that we need to not do stuff that will glorify the devil, but we need to do stuff to glorify God & in obedience to God. Do what he says, tell him, not my will be done but yours be done in me. I also think that we need to embrace the truth, get deeper into it, so that we can go out, and preach the word of God to those who need it.

Throughout the period of my life, I have gone in and out of exercising. I was in great shape in high school because I played a lot of soccer and basketball. It has become harder when I don’t play sports anymore. I haven’t worked out in about month and it has made me not feel good. I have been feeling lazier, low on energy, tired faster, and disgusted that I am probably gaining weight.

  

1 Timothy has put a desire in me to exercise on a constant basis. Physically training our bodies in exercise is a lot like training ourselves Spiritually. I am saved because of the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, so now what am I going to do about it? How will I now live my life? Ok, so I know that exercise is good for my body but what am I going to do about it? Am I going to exercise? I don’t want to keep going in and out of physically exercising where it is not a constant lifestyle of mine. I want it to be the same for Spiritual training. Not legalistically, but lovingly I want to constantly be in contact with our Father. It takes effort on my part to want to spend time with him, not because I have to but because I want to. I want to be in the presence of my loving creator by reading his true words, talking to him, listening to him, talking to others about him, fellowshipping with others etc. This is living in Truth! When I stop physically exercising, I start physically feeling horrible and when I stop Spiritually training, I feel Spiritually horrible, forgetting who I am and I forgetting who God is. This is life here on earth but my hope is in the eternal life after this one, life spent in constant contact with out Father forever!

  

1 Timothy 4:7-8 “Train yourself in godliness, for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

1 Timothy has shown me true truth. To allow myself to be set free from the dark, which would be things i struggle with, things i don’t want to deal, chains that tie me down. The truth is that the gospel is real and changes lives.

Truth can be defined as a since of real, ideal, genuine ( this is our God), a declare the God fulfills the meaning of His name; He is “very God” its a distinction from all other gods (false gods). To know God is to know truth. If you apply truth into your life this leads to a godliness only found in truth. God is truth. He uses us in others lives to tell this truth and for others to that to us. our gifts and talents are for telling the world the truth…the gospel of Christ! I must allow it to be spoken into my life first, allowing that truth to be light in a dark place and my life(my actions) represent the truth that lives within me. The world is dark because they don’t know truth. Giving our lives to Christ and pursuing truth at every corner.

Overall timeless truth: (1:3) When teaching the sound doctrine of the gospel (grace through faith) aim to teach in love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith.
          Paul wanted Timothy to teach The Truth of The Gospel to the Ephesians. God wants me to teach The Truth of The Gospel to the people around me. I want to change my life by presenting the truth of Jesus in love through a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith. To have a pure heart I must confess. To have a good conscience I must confess and fill my life with pure things. I want to have sincere faith by reading the word, meditating on what it says, and knowing the ins and outs of what I believe. Really feeling in my heart the saving power of Jesus Christ. I can change my life by committing my plans to the Lord, and my heart. I want to bask in the glorious riches he has to offer so I can be firm and grounded in the rock of Christ Jesus.
       To carry out these changes of presenting the truth from a sincere faith and pure heart, I must cleanse myself, repent, and diligently seek the Holy Spirit to keep me on the correct path. I want to be a vessel for the Lord. I never want to be responsible for a non-truth doctrine to surface. I will carry out these changes by asking for accountability in the way I treat others and the way I think about myself. Because I believe those will infiltrate into the way I present truth. Also not even formally presenting truth but that my life would exude truth from every inch. I can chose to carry out the change to be a good example by the power of the Holy Spirit winning battles against the flesh that wants to be a poor witness for Christ. Ultimately my heart is attached to Jesus. He wants the best for me and will help me be all that I can for Him, when I make an effort to show Him I care enough to try in loving response. 

Contentment seems to be something that God is really working on me with. I am very goal oriented so when I feel like I am not completing goals I feel very unproductive. The devil uses this against me taunting me that being up here is a waste of time and not completing any true goal in my life, which is a lie! I did have a goal to study the Word of God before I settled down into a career. God is helping me to be content up here in the mountains taking this time out to study his word. I love to travel and have adventures, so being up here seems dull to me at times. Just this week I have felt really happy to be up here. God has opened my eyes to the beauty of the country. We have colors up here that I never get to see in Charleston. I am coming to like the peace and quiet rather than wish I was in a city. God is showing me how I want what I can’t have and then when I get it I will want something else. How can you enjoy the good things if you can’t even stop your brain long enough to really be content in the moment. I know that I will look back on my time here as some of the most uplifting community experiences of my life, and I want to feel that way right now. I want to be positive and grateful. I want to cherish every moment, every person, every class, and every book. Now I know in my head that this is impossible to do. So I have to ask God to help me be content everyday.

There are people all over the world who are desperately searching for truth. Looking in all places for what it is that will bring them fulfillment and answers to the questions in their minds. Questions about who they are and questions about this world and about life. People will go through almost anything to reach and find what they call truth. Some even claim that there is no absolute truth, that there is nothing in this world that is absolute for all people of all cultures.

            The one thing that is absolute is Jesus Christ. And there is nothing outside of him that will satisfy or fulfill my longing for truth and what is right and what is peace. He is truth and he is all things right and good and just in this world. And I will never be satisfied outside of him no matter where I search or how long I search or how desperately I search- he is the answer, he is the end to my searching. In him I have all I need! And when I was in unbelief and when I was searching outside of him, not even looking or knowing that it is him I was searching for, he found me. He called to me and he pursued me and he revealed his truth to me!

            And he is still calling and pursuing and revealing himself to me. And now my responsibility is to proclaim this truth to those who are just like I was, wondering and searching and desperately needing truth in their lives. I know the truth! And I am to be a pillar of Gods truth, displaying the truth in all that I do. And I am to be the bulwark of truth, its defender. My lifestyle should display and defend and proclaim the truth of Christ. The breath of truth is moving in my lungs. And I cannot hold it in anymore. The breath of truth is moving in my lungs and I cannot hold it in, I’m bursting at the seams, singing Spirit move and let me journey with you, To return this generation to God it’s maker and King. River flow to replenish dusty ground, to return this generation to God its maker and King!” (return worship, SBCC)