True or False - 1 Timothy 1:3-17

What is truth?

 

This question was made famous by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate in John 18:38 while Jesus was on trial. A quick AI search brings up a few of our modern untruths that plague those looking for truth. 

 

Neo-Pelagianism: The idea that humans are basically good and can achieve salvation or moral perfection entirely through their own good choices and efforts, downplaying the necessity of divine grace.

Prosperity Gospel: The belief that God rewards strong faith with health, financial wealth, and material success, which ignores biblical accounts of Christian suffering and portrays God as a transactional force.

Arianism Reframed: Modern groups like Jehovah's Witnesses continue to teach that Jesus was a created being and not co-eternal or fully God.

 

 

And there are others. Individuals may seek to find their truth in making as much money as possible through human trafficking or grift, exchanging their identity as a child of God for that of gay or lesbian, or pursuing dominating intellectual pursuits of all kinds that have nothing to do with God, or violence, lying, gossip, and the occult. Any of these things can become a truth for them, but not the Truth.

 

The Search for truth predates these concepts and in fact have existed since after the fall of humanity. There seems to be the human need to find salvation or truth or peace through anything other than the revealed truth of God the Father, God the Son—Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit. Pastors and Christian leaders often come across individuals who are teaching and preaching many things other than the truth. One of the roles of a shepherd in the Church is to protect the flock. We can see in the New Testament some letters that the Apostle Paul wrote to pastors to encourage them in doing this good work. One of the passages that is the focus of today’s Bible study is found in 1 Timothy 1:3-17.

 

Let’s first understand the situation of this scripture so that we can search out its original meaning as far as possible. Then we will discover how it can apply to our Christianity today. Ephesus was the center of a Roman province with a dynamic and bustling harbor. It is likely that in AD 52 the Apostle Paul first arrived there, “making it a center of evangelism for about three years.”[1] We can read about this starting in Acts 19. Not only was this an incredible commercial center in the Mediterranean, it was also a lively place for multiple religions. Chief among these was the worship of Artemis, also called Diana. The temple built for her was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World and all of the things that accompany vast and popular religion were also there. Idolatry was rampant, not to speak of the immorality, in the name of the gods, for many Roman citizens throughout its empire. This is the place Paul entered when he was on three of his missionary journeys. Read about his creative evangelistic encounter with many of the pagan thinkers of Ephesus in Acts 19. In that same chapter you can read about the violent reaction that people had when the Apostle Paul told them that Artemis was not a true god. This is the kind of city and environment that the Apostle Paul charged one of his young co-workers named Timothy to live and work in. Timothy’s work was to be a leader in the Church of Christ Jesus in Ephesus.

 

Can you imagine the difficulties that a young Christian church leader might have in a city like this? What kinds of trouble could he get into? What kinds of opposition might he face? How would he and his parishioners stay true to Jesus Christ in a culture so fraught with paganism?

 

Wayne Meeks described the reality of a strong Jewish community in Ephesus as well. This was not unusual at the time of the writing of this letter to Timothy. The Jews had guaranteed rights in Ephesus and were exempt from military service if they were Roman citizens. There was a “generally favorable policy of Rome toward the Jewish diaspora communities from Caesar until well after Constantine.”[2] In the middle all of the pagan religions, many Jews had found a way to survive and stay true to their Old Testament understanding of God. In fact, by what we see written throughout the book of Acts, and even represented in the letters to Timothy, we also can see that there were a good number of Jews who had converted to Christianity.

 

But there were some Jews who were ardently opposed to Christianity and sought to destroy the Church and some integrated mystical practices adapted and adopted from pagan practices. The aesthetic Jewish community Qumran, while clinging to the standard Old Testament texts, “also contained unfamiliar elements, frequently speaking of knowledge as an esoteric affair and freely using the language of mystical enlightenment.”[3]While there are certainly some mystical experiences in Christianity, the danger lies when that mystical experience does not fall in alignment with what God desires (and may actually be a lie from Satan) or becomes the primary goal of Christian living. Ecstatic experiences cannot always happen, nor do they provide evidence of an ongoing and lively relationship with Jesus Christ.

 

So, now let’s look at what the Apostle Paul wrote to his brother Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:3-17.

 

Paul starts this letter with what was top of his mind—the truth.

 

I Timothy 1:3-5

 

³ As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer ⁴ or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith. ⁵ The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

 

Since Timothy had met Paul in his home area of Lystra or Derby, he had traveled with him on several missionary journeys through Macedonia, Achaia, and Corinth and likely other places. For several years he had watched and learned how to be a Christian evangelist and leader. Now he was stationed in Ephesus with a boatload of problems. Imagine yourself being a young Christian leader being told to stop people from teaching wrong doctrine. A doctrine is a set of beliefs, principles, or teachings taught and accepted by a group—and in this case Christian doctrine including the saving work of Jesus Christ necessary for life and godliness. I imagine that these words weighed heavily on Timothy. To be commanded to tell someone to stop something comes with the backing of the person who gave the command. Since the Apostle Paul had been evangelizing and establishing churches all over this region, he had apostolic authority by the power of the Holy Spirit to do and say the things he did. The teaching that he now required of Timothy would equip and enable the Church of Jesus Christ to more than survive in pagan societies and oppositions from Jews who would not accept Jesus Christ. I imagine that this command from Paul would have been both heavy and encouraging. We see in the life of the Apostle Paul that he was not a shy man when it came to declaring the gospel truth. There was much more at stake for himself, Timothy and the Church than any temporal conflict that existed.

 

Verses 3b-4 list the things that were being taught by false teachers in the Ephesian church. Oh, what troubles Timothy had!

·    False doctrines

·    Myths

·    Endless genealogies

·     Controversial speculations

 

Craig Keener further describes some of these for us in the IVP Bible Background Commentary.

“Genealogies might refer to expansions of biblical genealogies, as in some Jewish works from this period, or perhaps false post biblical attributions of ancestry… Both Judaism and the philosophers condemned empty, worthless talk, including arguments about words and the verbal skills of wordy rhetoricians unconcerned with truth. Some groups of philosophers…emphasized verbal quibbling more than seeking truth, regarding the latter as inaccessible; but most philosophers criticize these agnostics. Many professional speakers also valued important speeches above settled disputes over trivialities, although training in public speaking included extemporaneous speeches on randomly assigned topics.” In addition to this, Craig Keener cites, “there was nothing legally to keep anyone from claiming to be a teacher of the Bible any more than there is in many Christian circles today.”[4]

 

On the pagan side of the aisle during this time, sat a popular belief system called Gnosticism. Robert Banks wrote that Gnosticism “claimed to reveal the true character of the supernatural world and insisted that it could be attained only by nonrational means. The gnosis had its climax in a “vision of the divine,” ie., in a mystical, indeed ecstatic, illumination in which the participant was taken quite outside [their] normal mind—even, it was held, outside [their] physical body…It is a human creation and, for all its apparent piety and wisdom, is essentially specious [misleading] in argument and sensual in appeal…The true gnosis for which it is searching is located in Christ.”[5]

 

The Apostle Paul hastens Timothy to the purpose of the mission there: advancing God’s work—which is by faith. ⁵ The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. It is by faith in the power of God’s love through the Gospel that Timothy can keep to true North. Words and words and arguments about words, the attraction of fascinating ideas and titillating practices are distractions. Through love, empowered by God’s lover for all people, Timothy was to intersect these false doctrines with loving encounters, pointing to the truth. If a person holds to the faith with a pure heart and good conscience, then the boat may be righted.

 

Paul goes on describing the theological and doctrinal issues as stake in verses 6-11.

 

⁶ Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. ⁷ They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.

 

Paul makes it clear that certain individuals have turned their backs on the truth. They have deliberately departed and turned against it. They were more interested in becoming teachers, and the influence and power that sways with that, than they are in imparting the truth so that others can grow! Paul calls it as he sees it—these people don’t even know what they don’t know! What a sad state to be in—influencers one and all.

 

Then in verses 8-11 Paul states that the law (God’s law rooted in the Ten Commandments and other books of the law in the Old Testament) is necessary, not to beat over someone’s head, or to demonstrate how ignorant someone is of the Scriptures, but to lead the unsaved to salvation!

 

⁸ We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. ⁹ We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, ¹⁰ for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine ¹¹ that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.

 

Sound doctrine does no harm. It may feel harmful to the ungodly and sinful, for by it they cannot indulge in every whim of their fancy, and it may lead to their loss of personal power or wealth, but it is harmful. You see, the ungodly don’t know how lost they are! Their truths operate for them for a time, but eventually those un-truths will be revealed for what they are, a vast and deep pit of darkness. Paul is pleading for the souls of the lost. And then he does something entirely unexpected. He tells his story of the untruths he used to live under, the darkness he used to dwell in—just like them!

 

¹² I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. ¹³ Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. ¹⁴ The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

 

Paul added to the list of sinful behaviors found in his previous life.

·         Blasphemer

·         Persecutor

·         Violent

·         Ignorant

·         Unbelieving

 

Paul identified with all of those in the darknesses previously listed because he once was as blind as they are! And he knew that there was another way—the one way of Truth. He described with deep humility the grace and mercy he received when he acknowledged he was in need of the Savior Christ Jesus. When he encountered Jesus, he then knew the Truth. All of the other false truths then fell away. No more wrangling about words or genealogies, no more underhanded methods of capturing people, no more acts of violence or greed for power—just Jesus Christ crucified, dead, buried and now living! What more is needed?

 

¹⁵ Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. ¹⁶ 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.

 

William H. Malais, Jr. related: “God’s plan of salvation in Christ is clear and does not need to be supplemented with human speculation.[6] Words and words and arguments about words, the attraction of fascinating ideas and titillating practices are no longer needed. They can fall away in the wonderful Light of our Savior. When we see it this way it is easier to intersect the unruly, ungodly, false teachers and rebellious with God’s love. For if we know that God’s love can transform them as it did us, then love can pour out all over them, even if they don’t like it right now.

 

Robert Banks wrote that the truth of Christ Jesus “is knowledge that the community needs for its growth—knowledge whose content is the ‘whole counsel of God’ and whose only source is in God. Such knowledge, transmitted as much by life, especially suffering, as it is by the word, can be communicated to members of the community only by the Spirit.”[7] It was by the Spirit that the Apostle Paul wrote to a young Christian leader that he, too, could live by the Spirit and speak the Truth in love to those who so desperately need it.

 

1 Timothy 1:17

 

¹⁷ Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

 

© M.R.Hyde 2026

 

 

 

 

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[1] New International Study Bible, Zondervan Press, Grand Rapids, MI, 1995, p. 1791.

[2] Wayne E. Meeks, The First Urban Christians: The Social World of the Apostle Paul, Yale University Press, 1983, p. 44-45.

[3] Robert Banks, Paul’s Idea of Community, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. Peabody, Massachusetts, 1994, p.75.

[4] Craig Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL, p. 608.

[5] Banks p.73.

[6] Faith Connections Bible Study Guide, Summer 2026, The Foundry Publishing, Kansas City, MO, p. 35. 

[7] Banks, p. 73.

The Great Commissioner - Matthew 10

This month’s Bible study is an excerpt from Who is Jesus? A Devotional Journey Through the Gospel of Matthew.

 

The message you read next is not for the seeker. It is for those who call Jesus as Lord. If you are investigating Jesus but have not asked Him to be Lord of your life you may read, but you may not understand. Even for the believer these words of Jesus are often difficult.

 

They are difficult for several reasons: 1) there are unpleasant things discussed—for there is the forecast of trouble; 2) there are words regarding the reality of persecution and rejection; 3) there are no promises for an untroubled life. These passages are not for the faint-hearted, but are for those who have made the radical commitment to Jesus Christ. And I’m not joking.

 

In Matthew 10:5-20 we see that Jesus is an honest Commissioner. A commissioner is an individual who carries the power and authority over an interest or area. In essence, Jesus, because he is God, oversees the universe. He has the authority to give away authority. When a commissioner authorizes or commands an act, that authorization empowers and the instructions equip those to whom the commissioner speaks. The commissioned individuals then “act as if” they are the one who has given the commands or authorization. Suddenly the follower has become a leader because of the words spoken to them. This is what Jesus did to the apostles.

 

The apostles were given not only the authority to act as Jesus acts, but they were also given the reality of the consequences of those actions. Therefore, Jesus needed to prepare his apostles for the realities of Christian leadership. The realities are sometimes quite harsh.

 

Jesus gave them very clear direction in Matthew 10:5-6. These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.”

 

At first glance this seems to be a very narrow and exclusive field to which Jesus was sending them. But the reality at that time was that the house of Israel was the group of people who should have first recognized him as the Messiah. They had lived centuries full of expectation for the Messiah. The promise of Abraham found in Genesis 12:3 that God would bless all peoples of the earth through Abraham is critical in understanding Jesus’ motivation for this first commission. Now that he was among them, he did not want them to miss out on the fullness of the blessing found in the reality of the Messiah-arrived.  We will see later in Matthew how Jesus ministers to Gentiles and commissions the apostles to go to them as well. This first commission, however, was to the precious people of Israel for whom he had come to bring final salvation as well.  

 

Read Matthew 10:7-10.

 

The great Commissioner gives the apostles specific tasks for their journey:  preach, heal, cleanse, drive out, raise and give. These may have seemed overwhelming tasks unless they understood that they were speaking with the authority of God. God decided to work through weak human beings. This is a wonder!  And when he vested authority in them they were able to do all the things that he commissioned because it was his power not their own. God will never ask anyone to do anything that he will not enable them to do.

 

The Commissioner also wanted the apostles to trust him completely. Now here is a hard statement to swallow: “Don’t take anything that you could use to survive—except your trust in me.” This is what Jesus seemed to be saying.

 

Perhaps it is best to have an understanding of the situation they were in at the time. In that day there were many traveling philosophers and teachers who relied on the support they would find through their students and benefactors. It was common knowledge that a respectable teacher should be supported as they traveled around. Sometimes these philosophers and teachers would have ulterior motives and seek out the best accommodations or the wealthiest benefactors.  The difference between the apostles and every other travelling philosopher/teacher was that Jesus wanted them to know that he would be taking care of them through whatever means he would provide. Their singular motivation was to teach, preach, heal and freely give out the message of the Gospel.

 

In the next few verses Jesus gave them instructions on housing and civic interaction.

 

Read Matthew 10:11-16

 

Snakes and doves?  Why in the world would Jesus give this kind of advice?  The answer is that there are people who are opposed to him and they will be opposed to any of his commissioned disciples. There would be some honorable persons who would take them in, and there would be people who were opposed to them. No sugar-coating here, folks!  They would encounter stark rejection.

 

But what was Jesus’ expected response to these negative encounters?  Move along. Don’t give them any more time. Get the message out to those who will listen. Do not waste your efforts on those who oppose you until you absolutely have to. So, in verses 17-23 Jesus spoke truthfully about things that might happen to them and what God will do for them on their Gospel journey.

 

Read Matthew 10:17-23

 

Jesus gave powerful promises that would be sustaining at the most critical moments. When you are accused . . . when you are flogged . . . when you are tried in court . . . when you are betrayed . . . it is because of me. And you will have the words . . . you will have the strength . . . you will have the ability to stand firm for one reason—because I have commissioned you to be my apostles.

Like the early Apostles we may face these same difficulties because we bear the Name of Christ. A few of us have the gifts of preaching, teaching and healing but all of us have the gift of the Gospel to share. Christian, the way may be rough, as Jesus’ words so clearly articulate, but the Apostles have gone before us and we have many true and precious promises from a trustable, sufficient Commissioner.

 

Christian disciple, the way may be rough, but the great Commissioner has gone before us and we have true and precious promises from a trustable, loving and sufficient God. Be strong and of good courage for the Lord is with you—and the Lord is for you. You will need to rest in these great promises because the next passage of Scripture gets even more difficult. In Matthew 10:5-20 we read about the kind of difficulties the apostles would encounter with people in their travels. Jesus told his followers the kind of difficulties that would come from the people closest to them. We will encounter some of the greatest sacrificial consequences for the sake of a relationship with Jesus Christ and the compelling force of the Gospel. But here this word from Jesus first . . . Don’t be afraid.

 

Read Matthew 10:21-42.

 

Imagine yourself to be one of the apostles listening to Jesus as he spoke these words. Some of you used to be fishermen, some of you used to be tax collectors and business men. Life was pretty good—and then came Jesus. Your lives were forever changed when you encountered him. You found peace and joy you did not even think possible. You found that your sins were forgiven and that you were free to be baptized and raised to a new life in him.

 

Because of Jesus your life has been filled with joy, wonder and awe—up to this point. Up to this point most of the negative experiences have happened to Jesus as you stood by watching him confront the religious leaders, being questioned by the legal masters. Now, he tells you that this is your way, too. This is the Way of Jesus Christ. Losing one kind of life and finding another. Losing some family relations and finding new or restored family relations. Saying “yes” to Jesus and saying “no” to your brothers and sisters. Seeing the reality of evil and seeing the reality of deliverance from that evil. Losing a comfortable lifestyle and gaining a fulfilled lifestyle. Losing a temporary reward and finding an eternal reward.

 

It is this crazy, backwards Kingdom of God that he’s been proclaiming to you for the last months and days. The miracles of healing, feeding and restoring live large in your memories. And now there is a new way of living. One that requires a tremendous amount of trust in God and one that compels you to spread the Gospel, to preach, teach, heal, raise the dead, deliver the demon possessed. This will be a frightening venture.  “But, don’t be afraid of them,” Jesus says to you. “Don’t be afraid.”

 

Don’t be afraid of losing relationship with my father and mother?!  Don’t be afraid of being accused wrongly?!  Don’t be afraid of being beaten or killed?!  Who are you Jesus?

 

Do you remember why Jesus spread the Gospel?  Read Matthew 9:35-36 again. “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

 

Every person who harmed Jesus and his apostles was harming his sheep. There is every kind of evil out there trying to defeat and destroy God’s precious children. Demons are capturing people’s lives and tormenting them. False teachers are leading disciples into empty places of thought and hopelessness. Disease and despair are claiming the lives of all who would be whole. Satan is stealing what has been given to them!  This is why the Gospel must be spread. This is why Jesus Christ commissions his disciples to do the work he has already started.

 

How great a burden this is! How high the cost!  How deep the desires that move us beyond our own little world and into the world of God where people—like sheep without a shepherd—need him so desperately.

 

Jesus himself had great conflicts with his own family. In other Gospels we read how his own brothers and sisters thought he was crazy (Matthew 12, Mark 3 & 10, Luke 8, John 2). Jesus himself had great conflicts with religious leaders and court officials who eventually crucified him on a cross to try to silence this good news called the Gospel. But what the opposition did not know was that Jesus Christ, the Great Commissioner, was God himself come to save the world through his own willing submission to the cross and his own powerful resurrection from the dead.

 

The voice of Jesus the Commissioner rings out over the centuries. “Will you, believer, be my commissioned?  Will you be willing to let go of everything except me?  Will you spread the good news to my harassed and helpless sheep?” Oh, Christian, do not be afraid of them.

 

Read 10:26-31.

 

Receive the compassionate commission of Jesus Christ today so that you can share his compassion with the world. Be a commissioned disciple for Jesus Christ! 

 

Who is Jesus to ask you to take risks like these?  Are you ready and willing to be commissioned?

 

© M.R.Hyde 2026