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
[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.
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