THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO TIMOTHY: I TIMOTHY
BAB 620
By: Dr. Cornelio Hegeman
MINTS INTERNATIONAL SEMINARY
(MINTS)
14401 Old Cutler Rd.
Miami, Florida 33158. USA
786-573-7000
2008 (revised 2018)
INDEX
THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO TIMOTHY: I TIMOTHY
PREFACE
LESSON ONE.THE IDENTITY OF AN APOSTOLIC AUTHOR
1.1.EXPOSITION OF I TIMOTHY 1: 1-2
INTRODUCTION
Vs. 1. THE AUTHOR’S IDENTITY
Vs. 1. THE APOSTOLIC VOCATION
Vs. 1. THE APOSTLE’S COMMISSION
Vs. 2a. THE APOSTLE’S DISCIPLE
Vs. 2b. A TRIAD OF BLESSINGS FROM A TRIUNE GOD
1.2. QUESTIONS ABOUT I TIMOTHY 1: 1-2
1.3. CALVIN’S COMMENTARY
LESSON TWO.DEFENSE AGAINST LAWLESS LEADERS
2.1.EXPOSITION OF I TIMOTHY 1:3-11
INTRODUCTION
Vs. 3-4. UNCOVERING IMPOSTORS
Vs. 5. THE FRUIT OF SOUND DOCTRINE IS LOVE
Vs. 6-7. FALSE LEADERS THAT STRAYED
Vs. 8. THE LAW SUPPORTS THE RIGHTEOUS AND CONDEMNS THE WICKED
Vs. 9a. A LAWLESSNESS THAT REBELS
Vs. 9b. A LAWLESSNESS THAT KILLS
Vs. 10a. A LAWLESSNESS THAT PERVERTS
Vs. 10b. A LAWLESSNESS THAT CONTRADICTS
Vs. 11. THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL
CONCLUSION
2.2. QUESTIONS ON I TIMOTHY 1:3-11
2.3. CALVIN’S COMMENTARY
LESSON THREE. IDENTITY OF A CHRISTIAN LEADER
3.1. EXPOSITION OF I TIMOTHY 1:12-20
INTRODUCTION
Vs. 12. THE SOURCE OF A LEADER’S CALL AND MINISTRY
Vs. 13. A LEADER’S CONFESSION
Vs. 14-17. LEARNING A THEOLOGICAL LESSON
Vs. 18-19a. THE CHARGE TO WARFARE
Vs. 19b-20. A SOLEMN WARNING ABOUT THE REBELLS
CONCLUSION
3.2.QUESTIONS ON I TIMOTHY 1:12-20
3.3. CALVIN’S COMMENTARY
LESSON FOUR. PRAYER AND SPIRITUAL RESPONSIBILITY
4.1.EXPOSITION OF I TIMOTHY 2: 1-15
INTRODUCTION
Vs. 1. PRAYERS FOR ALL PEOPLES
Vs. 2. PRAYER FOR GOVERNING AUTHORITIES
Vs. 3 – 4. GOD’S PURPOSE IN PRAYER
Vs. 5-6. GOD’S ROLE IN PRAYER
Vs. 7. PAUL’S ROLE IN PRAYER
Vs. 8. THE CHURCH’S ROLE IN PRAYER
Vs. 9. INSTRUCTIONS TO WOMEN
CONCLUSION
4.2. QUESTIONS ON I TIMOTHY 2:1-15
4.3 CALVIN’S COMMENTARY
LESSON FIVE. QUALITIES OF CHURCH OFFICE LEADERS
5.1.EXPOSITION OF I TIMOTHY 3
INTRODUCTION
Vs. 1. WHO IS THE NOBLE BISHOP?
Vs. 2-7. QUALITIES OF A BISHOP
Vs. 8-13. QUALITIES OF A DEACON
Vs. 14-15. QUALITIES OF THE CHURCH
Vs. 16. AN EARLY CREED
CONCLUSION
5.2. QUESTIONS ON I TIMOTHY 3:1-16
5.3. CALVIN’S COMMENTARY
LESSON SIX.WATCH OUT FOR APOSTACY!
6.1.EXPOSITION OF I TIMOTHY 4
INTRODUCTION
Vs. 1. IDENTIFICATION OF AN APOSTATE
Vs. 2. HYPOCRITICAL TEACHERS
Vs. 3-5. THE APOSTATE FORBIDS WHAT GOD CREATES
Vs. 6-10. INSTRUCTIONS FOR A GOOD MINISTER
Vs. 11-16. PERSONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR MINISTRY
CONCLUSION
6.2.QUESTIONS FOR I TIMOTHY 4
6.3. CALVIN’S COMMENTARY
LESSON SEVEN.FAMILY MATTERS
7.1. EXPOSITION OF I TIMOTHY 5
INTRODUCTION
Vs. 1-2. THE FAMILY OF GOD AND HUMAN FAMILY
Vs. 3-16. SUPPORT FOR THE WIDOWS
Vs. 17-2O. SUPPORT FOR THE CHURCH ELDERS
Vs. 21-25. CLOSING INSTRUCTIONS
CONCLUSION
7.2.QUESTIONS ON I TIMOTHY 5
7.3.CALVIN’S COMMENTARY
LESSON EIGHT. SLAVERY, SLANDER AND RICHES
8.1. EXPOSITION OF I TIMOTHY 6
INTRODUCTION
Vs. 1-2. COUNSEL FOR BELIEVING SLAVES
Vs.3-5. SLANDER CONDEMNED
Vs. 6-10. GODLINESS WITH CONTENTMENT
Vs. 11-19. CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH
Vs. 20-21. CLOSING STATEMENT
CONCLUSION
8.2. QUESTIONS FOR I TIMOTHY 6
8.3. CALVIN’S COMMENTARY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
TEACHER’S MANUAL
HOW TO DO THE MINTS BIBLE STUDY
AUTHOR’S BIOGRAPHY
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
This course is written for English speaking students in North America as well as throughout the world. The students are involved with MINTS (Miami International Seminary), which is a theological distance education program, that in 2015 had more than 16,000 students in over 70 countries. This English version is the basis for translated copies in Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole and other languages. The overall strategic purpose for writing (2008) and editing (2015) is to encourage students and teachers involved with MINTS to write their own course on I Timothy. Thankfully, this has taken place in the USA, Malawi, the Dominican Republic and other places.[1] I continually remind our students that they can write better courses than their teachers because they can learn from both the contributions and errors of their disciplers.
One of the main tasks of the teacher is to, on one hand, prepare his disciples to promote the biblical gospel and, on the other hand, to denounce and stay away from anti-gospel activities. The discipler needs to prepare his disciples to promote the truth and depart from the lie. To illustrate that point to a group of missionary students of For Every Tribe (May 2008) we watched two movies: The Mission and the First Fruits.
The Mission is about Jesuits in Paraguay who during the eighteenth century worked with the Guaraní Indians. The Jesuits and the Indians lived in a mission compound where they shared their resources and flourished in music and cultural activities. However, the Vatican emissary, Altamirano, came bearing bad news. The Vatican agreed that the Spanish territory on which the compound was build had to be given over to the Portuguese, due to an agreement established in Madrid in 1750. The Vatican did not want to disturb the balance of political work by refusing the transfer and bring misfortune to the Church in Europe. However, the same respect was not granted to the Guaranis. The Portuguese were slave traders and the Guaraní Indians fought until death to preserve their freedom and dignity.
The Jesuits did not train the Indians to protect them from the Vatican political corruption and syncretistic theology, nor were they protected from the Spanish and Portuguese greedy and slave trading colonists. The Guaraní believers and leaders had not been trained to avoid the errors of an apostate church. They were betrayed by well-intentioned but misdirected missionaries.
Also, during the 18th century, quite a different story is told about the Moravians. The film, The First Fruits, tells the story about the formation of the Herrnhut community in Germany. The Moravian Church came under the umbrella of Count Nicolaus von Zinzendorf. In 1732, they embark on working with African slaves on the Caribbean island of St. Thomas. Rather than complying with the Reformed Church leadership who protected the slave traders and cruel slave treatment, the first two missionaries, Leonard Dober and David Nitschman, became servants to the slaves and brought them the gospel. Even though they were threatened with violence by master and slave alike, they stood their ground. Many of the first missionaries died due to tropical diseases. They prepared the Africans to be the first church members and leaders to take over their mission work.
Jesus lived just 33 years and ministered only three years on earth. He trained a group of 12 apostles who in turned trained thousands of Christian leaders who established the early Christian church. The apostles Peter and Paul write their prison and Pastoral Epistles to their disciples on the eve of their martyrdom. Their main concern was the training and correcting of their disciples and warning them against impostors, false teachers and false prophets. Jesus directed His Church from heaven; the apostles trained their disciples from jail and through letters; and the local Christians had to take the leadership responsibility for the work.
Christian leadership discipleship is the main theme of both I and II Timothy.
The methodology of Paul’s teaching on leadership is discipleship. He writes to his disciple, Timothy. Paul’s discipling of Timothy goes beyond personal mentoring for his efforts are part of the monumental transition in the history of redemption where the apostolic foundation of the Church is being laid and now the leadership offices are being put in place. The reader will not understand I Timothy unless they appreciate the role of the apostles in the history of building the Christian church.
The antagonists in I Timothy are the false and apostate leaders. As apostates (I Tim. 4) they had been members and even leaders in the church but had abandoned the faith that was based on apostolic teachings and doctrine (1:3). Paul points out their inconsistencies and destructive ways. They were probably the Gnostics (I Tim. 6: 20)
The author has included Calvin’s commentary in this study.[2] This gives the student an opportunity to reflect on the thoughts of the Genevan reformer who also helped shape the future the church. The student will note that the author does not always agree with the great reformer, especially on social issues such as the role of the government in religious matters and the role of Christianity in slavery. However, Calvin’s theological contributions far outweigh his sociological positions, which reflect his culture. Above all, Calvin’s respect for the apostolic teachings, his hermeneutics of harmonizing Scripture with Scripture and his identification of the historical and grammatical nature of the Biblical text, makes his commentary timeless.
Since this study will be translated into different languages, the author has restricted his use of English only commentaries. Efforts are made to use commentaries that are classical and have been or will be translated into other languages.
The students will be challenged to not only answer the questions at the end of each lesson but also to participate in exegeting the portions of the texts. The hope is that this will further promote their understanding and building their doctrine and ethics on the great foundation of the Biblical apostles.
INTRODUCTORY DIAGNOSTIC OF I TIMOTHY
(Determine whether the following statement is true to the Apostol Paul’s teaching in I Timothy)
- Persons who have killed others and persecuted Christians cannot become leaders in the Christian church.
- The sale of slaves was strongly condemned by Paul.
- Paul taught Timothy and the church in Ephesus to pray to Cesar and the Roman authorities.
- Paul taught that mature believers are free from the effects of the fall of Adam and Eve.
- The bishops and deacons in the church must refrain from consuming wine.
- Paul encouraged Timothy to stay single and so strengthen his relationship with the Lord.
- The apostle taught that young widows should not marry and so have more time to serve the Lord.
- Paul had a part time job as a tent maker and so taught by his example that local pastors should not be paid for preaching.
- The rich were encouraged to sell everything they had and give the proceeds to the church.
- Christians are not fighters and they should be tolerant of the views of the leaders who make have a different opinion than those of the apostles.
LESSON ONE. THE IDENTITY OF AN APOSTOLIC AUTHOR
1.1. EXPOSITION OF I TIMOTHY 1:1-2
INTRODUCTION
I Timothy allows the reader to look in to the heart of one of the greatest servants in the Christian church, the apostle Paul. This letter is written by Paul to not only his disciple, Timothy, but also to the church. The church universal needs to appreciate what Christ has accomplished and how Christ is building His Church on the foundation of the apostolic teachings.
The brief salutation is characteristic of other Pauline salutations. The verse 1-2 affirm that the author’s historicity, vocation, commission, purpose and theme of his writing.
Vs. 1. THE AUTHOR’S IDENTITY
Paul is a historical person. The author of I Timothy identifies himself as Paul. [3] Paul does not identify the date or place where he is writing from, but the contents of the letter allow us to say that he was writing to Timothy who was in Ephesus. He was writing because Paul could not visit. Most conservative commentators place the writing of the letter after the fourth missionary journey of Paul and obviously before his martyrdom around the year 68AD.
The attempts by commentaries to place the writing (and rewriting) of this epistle in the second or third generation (late first century or in the second century) are negated by the clear and forthright self-identification of the author. To negate Pauline authorship would also change the genre of literature from an historical and personal letter to a mythological legend.
Paul is the author of this letter. As an apostle, he is both a writer of Scripture and one of the founders of the Church. In this letter we see how responsibility for the building of the church is passed on to the next generation, a generation of evangelists, pastors, elders, deacons and church members.
Vs. 1. THE APOSTOLIC VOCATION
The apostles are “send ones.” Paul identifies himself as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. The title ‘apostle’ simply means “sent one.”[4] He is not an apostle of the Church in Jerusalem, nor was he sent by other apostles (Gal. 1: 15-17), but he is an apostle of Jesus Christ. He was called and sent by Christ (Acts 9). The reader must not miss the message that Christ still directs his church. He calls, trains and sends His own messengers. The Head of the Church directs the Body of the Church. Divine intervention is always needed in the leadership and direction of the Church.
It is tempting to take our eyes off the one who calls. It is Christ, the head of the Church that calls. The Church does not call; it affirms the call of Christ. The source is the Head and the instrumentation is the Body.
The original apostles are unique. The apostleship of Paul and the original apostles are unique. They were called directly by Jesus (Romans 1:5; 15:16); they are eyewitnesses to the resurrected Lord (I Cor. 15: 1-11); they are inspired to write Scripture and their teachings are authoritative (II Peter 3:15, 16); they are part of the foundation of the Church (Eph. 2:20). Eleven of the twelve apostles gave their lives in martyrdom. They went to where the church had not yet been founded. Thomas went to India. Mark to Africa. Andrew went into Europe. By the time of their death, the eyewitness to the resurrected Lord had been established; the church was founded; the Scriptures had been written and their special office closes. However, the apostolic doctrine of the church continues. The Lord continues to call and send servants to build his church; the witness to the historical resurrection of Jesus continues; Scriptures are translated into other languages; the church is founded throughout the entire world. Whereas the original apostles were apostles with a capital A, we continue to build on their foundational ministries and we are apostolic with a small a.[5]
The call comes from God. Paul received his call directly from Jesus (Acts. 9:15, 16). On many occasions the apostleship of Paul was challenged by the enemies of the gospel. However, Paul continually depended on His divine call, something that no one could take away.
A missionary, a former member of a church I pastored, wrote me about being told by some of her mission board members to return home. She had responded to the call many years ago to help poor children in Haiti. What should she do, listen to some of her missionary board members back home who were concerned about the stress she was under or continue to follow the call to help the poor in Haiti? My advice was: follow the call of God. It is a question between the call of God and the calls of men. Unless the Lord calls us to go elsewhere, the present call remains. Such a call is valid for church leaders as well as church members. The Lord’s servants must know who they are serving.
However, the call from God does not only come to the servants of God in missions. Each Christian is called in a vocation to serve God. The Christian parent is called by God to serve God in the context of the family. A Christian employer or employee is called to serve the Lord in the labor force.
So how can you be certain that you are responding to the call of God? God Himself, by His Word and Spirit, directs the calls. God also uses the faithful church to affirm your call. Just as Ananias was sent to give further instruction and direction to Paul, so the Lord sends other servants to do likewise to his servants. Church history is filled with the sad testimony of Church leaders, mission committees and even missionaries who have not been faithful to the call of world evangelization and service for the Lamb. However, there are also incredible examples of Christians, who against all doubts and fears, served the Lord with fear and trembling and became instruments of great blessing in ministry and missions. Read the biographies of David Brainerd, William Carey, Amy Carmichael, the Moravians, Johan Willem Kals, Jerry Pott and others and in each case, you will see that they were called by God.
Sandra and I served as missionaries in the Dominican Republic from 1981-1993. We returned to Canada and served both in a local church for two years and then with Ligonier Ministries for three years. Knowing the incredible need for credible theological instruction in Latin America, I felt the call of God to return to the Caribbean and Latin America to train Christian leaders. However, the ruling committee of the local church was not of the same mind. You might say there was an impasse between the local committee and myself. Who could break the tie? Representatives of the local committee came to our home and we mutually and respectful, as brothers in the Lord, talked about the call. Finally, the pastor asked Sandra, “What do you think about your husband going to Miami?” She said, “If the Lord is calling him to go to Miami to be a missionary, then I will honor that call and go with him.” That functionally broke the tie and a short time later we received the approval of the local church consistory to go.