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Introduction
to the First and Second Books of
Timothy
I.
Writer
Paul the apostle (1Tim. 1:1; 2Tim. 1:1).
According to the records of the Bible, Paul was formerly called Saul (Acts.
13:9), an Israelite, of tribe of Benjamin (
II.
Reasons and Dialectics for
Querying Paul’s not Being
the Writer of this Book
In recent years, some Bible scholars,
according to the following several arguments, queried the reliability of Paul’s
being the writer of the first and second books of Timothy and guessed that the
two books may be written by others in the name of Paul in 2nd
century. Now here are the dialectics one by one:
1) The
questionable point: the words and the style of writing in this book were
different from that in Paul’s other epistles probably because this book was
written by another.
The
dialectics: other epistles were written to the church the corporate and the
first and second books of Timothy were written to the individual and naturally
the tones were different. In addition, the words and the style of writing
changed with ages and different ones who wrote on Paul’s behalf.
2) The
questionable point: the deeds recorded in this book were not recorded in the
Acts of the Apostles and probably they were faked up by later generations.
The
dialectics: the Acts of the Apostles was not Paul’s biography and therefore the
tracks of Paul’s life were not all recorded in it. The deeds from Paul’s first
time in the Roman prison to his martyrdom for the Lord were especially not seen
in the Acts of the Apostles and these deeds were complemented in the first and
second books of Timothy and the book of Titus.
3) The
questionable point: the organization of the church that was recorded in this
book was different from that in the time of Paul and it was like that in the
second century.
The
dialectics: the organization in the early church developed with years and
environments. In the beginning the elders were appointed (Acts. 14:23) and then
there were gifts and deacons for various services (Rom. 12:6-8; Pill. 1:1). And
it was quite rational that the so-called overseers (the elders) and deacons
existed in Paul’s old age and it was not questionable.
4) The
questionable point: the heretical teachings mentioned in the book were similar
to Gnosticism which occurred approximately in the second century.
The
dialectics: actually the ideas of Gnosticism to which Paul opposed had already
occurred in the book of Colossians. And the ideas of Gnosticism had already
seeped into Judaism before the occurrence of Christianity. It merely became a
theory indeed till the second century.
III.
The Recipients
The recipient of the first and second books
of Timothy was Timothy (1Tim. 1:2; 2Tim. 1:2). Timothy was a man from Lystra
and he was much younger than Paul. Probably he was the fruit of the gospel that
Paul bore when he visited Lystra in the first journey (See Acts. 14:6-7, 21). And
therefore he regarded him as his son. His father was Greek and his mother was
Jewish. Both his mother and grandmother believed in the Lord and were quite
pious. They taught him to the Old Testament since his childhood (2Tim. 1:5;
3:15). During Paul’s second journey, Timothy had made great progress and was
well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium. And Paul went
forth with him to preach and he became Paul’s fellow-worker throughout his
life. And Paul even circumcised him for their convenience of work among the
Jews later (Acts. 16:1-5).
Timothy was discreet and he might be a little
cowardly and fall back (See 2Tim. 1:7; 2:1). He was not strong, having a little
stomach trouble (1Tim. 5:23). However, he was zealous in preaching the gospel
and willing to work for the Lord. He treated Paul as his father and therefore
he was regarded highly by Paul (Pill. 2:19-23) and Paul often sent him to look
after and shepherd the churches. And God accepted his devotion. And therefore
the moment he began on the service, He gave him the special gifts through the
laying on of the hands of Paul and the elders (2Tim. 1:6-7; 1Tim. 4:14).
Most of time Timothy followed Paul to serve the
Lord: he walked with him, worked with him and labored with him (See Acts.
17:14-15; 18:5; 19:22; 20:1-6) and Timothy was even the fellow-prisoner of Paul
when Paul was imprisoned in Rome for the first time (Pill. 1:1; Col. 1:1;
Philem. 1). When Paul wrote the second book of Corinthians, the book of
Philippians, the book of Colossians, the first and second books of
Thessalonians and the book of Philemon, he listed his name with Timothy.
Timothy was Paul’s good assistant throughout his life indeed.
When Paul was imprisoned in
IV.
The Time and Location the Book was Written
The first book of Timothy was written in
about A.D. 64-65. And it was between the time Paul was set at liberty from the
Roman prison and his second imprisonment. It was written in
The second book of Timothy
was written after his being imprisoned for the second time and before his
martyrdom for the Lord (about A.D. 67). And it was written in the Roman prison.
At that time, Paul foreknew that he would suffer disaster (2Tim. 4:6) and wrote
this book in order to transfer his works to Timothy and ask him to know one's
subordinates well enough to assign them works commensurate with their
abilities. And therefore many names were mentioned in this book and some of
them were good and some of them were bad.
V.
The Motivation for Writing the Epistle
The reason why the first book of Timothy was
written was that Paul preached in
Paul wrote the second book
of Timothy because he was suddenly arrested on the journey and was imprisoned
in
VI.
Importance
On the occasion of the perilous times in the
last days (2Tim. 3:1) and in face of the development of evil and the attack of
heresies, how do God’s workers defend the truth and build the church? The first
and second books of Timothy provide us some appropriate and important messages
and the main points are as follows:
1) First of all, we must get a clear understanding
of our duties. We should not be silly or muddle along any more but work
diligently to accomplish what God had entrusted to us.
2) The sound truth in the Bible is our best weapon
to resist the heretical teachings and God’s workers should put in time and
effort in the word of God in order to avoid the clumsy and meaningless
disputes.
3) In order to be able to influence others to keep
the truth together effectively, God’s workers must not only teach others the
sound doctrines and teachings but also show the good examples to them in life.
4) God’s workers should know one's subordinates
well enough to assign them jobs commensurate with their abilities------appoint
the appropriate leaders in churches in various places and build the church and
keep the truth with them.
5) In order to manifest God, bear witness to Him in
the dark world and be convinced by the world, believers in the churches in
various places must live the normal life.
6) Fellow-workers and believers should fight the
good fight of faith and be strong and endure to the end though being persecuted
and suffering tribulation.
7) Paul the apostle gave the best testimony and
example. We should also love the Lord’s appearing like Paul and be faithful
till death.
VII.
The Comparison between the First
Book of Timothy and the Second Book of Timothy
When Paul wrote the first book of Timothy, the
church was the house of God,
the pillar and ground of the truth (1Tim.
3:15). When Paul wrote the second book of Timothy, the church became a great
house in which there was the difference between the honorable and dishonorable
vessels (2Tim. 2:20). The circumstances were favorable when Paul wrote the
first book and there wasn’t hindrance or persecution. And therefore workers’
building of the church was stressed on. There was persecution and tribulation
when Paul wrote the second book and therefore the workers’ own faithfulness in
keeping the truth was stressed on. When Paul wrote the first book, there
weren’t many internal questions in the church and it was still in the stage of
preparation. When Paul wrote the second book, there were a lot of internal
problems in the church and many people forsook Paul (2Tim. 1:15; 3:10, 14, 16)
and the faith of some was overthrown (2Tim. 2:17-18).
The elders and deacons
in the church were stressed on in the first book and the faithful individuals
were stressed on in the second book. The corruption of the church was predicted
in the first book and there was the fact of corruption in the second book. It
is said in the first book that we should exercise ourselves in godliness and in
the second book, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer
persecution. It is stressed on in the first book that the authority of workers
made men be obedient and in the second book, the workers exhorted all with the
hearts of gentleness.
VIII. It’s
Relations with the Book of Titus and the Features
The first and second books of Timothy and
the book of Titus are all private epistles and they are all written to young
fellow-workers. They are all called the Pastoral Epistles. Their common
features are as follows:
1) Stressing on the visible organization of the
church: when the church begins to take shape and the number of believers
increases, naturally there are many works and various problems which are unable
to be solved by one or two full-time preachers. And therefore managers and
minsters are needed in the church and an effective organization must be set up.
And there are many churches in various places, there must be a general and
consistent principle which could be known and used by workers to ordain the
elders and deacons. In addition, the heresies rise up and the churches suffer
disturbances. These problems cannot be solved merely by the spiritual
doctrines. In order to handle these problems, there must be a complete
organization in the church. On one hand, the church proclaims the truth as the
pillar and ground of the truth and on the other the church keeps the truth and
guards against heresies. The works in the church are taken charge by special
ones so that everything could make progress in order gradually.
2) Stressing on the talented persons in the church:
if we stress on the organization, we have to stress on the talented persons,
i.e. ordaining the elders and deacons. The elders are overseers and they take
care of the church (1Tim. 3:15; 5:17). The deacons, overseen by the elders,
deal with the common affairs in the church and they stress on serving and
helping the Saints. And the elders and deacons in a local church are plural and
it means that in a normal local church, it is not allowed that one takes all
the responsibilities and monopolizes every service. The elders should
complement each other in order to take care of all the flock. The deacons have
their own special duties and serve men in their aspects. There are only these
two kinds of positions in the local church and the other saints, with their own
gifts, functions and services, give provisions to each other and help each
other.
3) Stressing on characters: we should specially pay
attention to characters if we stress on talented persons. We should not only
consider whether they have gifts and talents but also pay attention to whether
they have good spiritual states, characters and testimonies (1Tim. 2:1-3). And
therefore every time the elders and deacons are mentioned, we specially refer
to their qualifications and we give special attention to characters in
qualifications. For example, the overseers must be blameless because their
influence of examples is greater than that of teachings. The corruption of the
church probably begins with life. And therefore, in order to lead brothers and
guard against heresies, the leaders in the church must have good characters.
4) Stressing on the order: there is the
organization of the elders and deacons in the church. The church should also be
in order in all aspects. There are respective explanations for the relations
between the old and the young, male and female, mothers and daughters-in-law in
the family, masters and servants and even how to deal with heretics, the poor
widows and those who are sinning.
5) Stressing on the outlines of main doctrines: in
the first and second books of Timothy, Paul always used brief words and
expressions to state the outlines of main doctrines: godly edification which is
in faith (1Tim. 1:4-6); the functions of the law (1Tim. 1:8-10); the mystery of
godliness (1Tim. 3:16); sound doctrine (Titus. 2); the main doctrine of justification
(Titus. 3:1-8) and etc. We should stress on the talented persons and their
characters and we must train them with the outlines of the main doctrines so as
to make them understand the main doctrines and principles of Christianity. In
this way, they won’t make mistake in the work.
6) Stressing on the workers: how do they learn by
themselves (1Tim. 4:13); how to divide the word of truth (2Tim. 2:15); how to
seek to be examples to believers in life (1Tim. 4:12); how to appoint the
elders and deacons, knowing how to conduct in the house of God (1Tim. 3:14-15);
how to stand faithfully when the church suffers persecution and some betray the
truth and commit the teachings to faithful men who will be able to keep the
truth.
7) Being private: the first and second books of
Timothy, the book of Titus and the book of Philemon were Paul’s epistles to
individuals and the other epistles were written to the church the corporate. It
is discussed in the first book of Timothy that how the workers of the church organize
the church to make her be in order and become the pillar and ground of the
truth. The individual life of workers is discussed in the second book of
Timothy: workers are asked to be strong and faithful when the church is
unfaithful, keep the truth to death and commit the teachings to faithful men
who will be able to teach others also.
IX.
Key Verses
“This
is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I
obtained mercy” (1Tim.1:15-16a).
“But if I am delayed,
I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of
God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth”
(1Tim. 3:15).
“Let no one
despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in
love, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1Tim. 4:12).
“Be diligent to
present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth” (2Tim. 2:15).
“Therefore if
anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor,
sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work” (2Tim.
2:21).
“I have fought
the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
8Finally, there is
laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge,
will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved
His appearing” (2Tim. 4:7-8).
X.
Key Words
“Conscience” (1Tim. 1:5, 19; 3:9; 4:2; 2Tim. 1:3).
“Faith” (1Tim. 1:5, 14, 19; 2:15; 4:12; 6:11; 2Tim.
1:13; 2:18; 3:10).
“Love” (1Tim. 1:14; 2:15; 4:12; 6:11; 2Tim. 1:13;
3:10).
“Faith”, “Sound doctrine”, “truth”, “good thing”
(1Tim. 1:10, 19; 2:4, 7; 3:9, 13; 4:1, 3, 6; 5:8; 6:10, 12, 20, 21; 2Tim. 1:14;
2:18, 25; 3:7, 8; 4:3, 4).
“Godliness” (1Tim. 2:2; 3:16; 4:7, 8; 6:3, 5, 6,
11; 2Tim. 2:16; 3:5, 12).
“Pure”, “good”, “sincere”, “blameless”, “not be
ashamed of…”, “not need to be ashamed” (1Tim. 1:5, 19; 3:2, 9, 10; 5:7; 6:14;
2Tim. 1:5, 8, 11, 16; 2:15).
“Ministry”, “a good work”, “rule”, “serve as
deacons”, “manage”, “serve”, “the work” (1Tim. 1:12; 3:1, 4, 5, 8, 10, 12, 13;
5:14, 17; 6:2; 2Tim. 1:3; 4:5).
“Sufferings” (1Tim. 1:8, 12; 2:3, 9; 3:11; 4:5).
XI. Outlines
of the Book
Outlines of the First Book of Timothy
I. Foreword (1:1-2).
II. The true and
false workers in the church (1:3-2:7):
A. The danger of false workers (1:3-11).
B. The testimony of true workers
(1:12-17).
C. The true workers’ orders and
exhortations to the young fellow-workers (1:18-2:7):
1. be soldiers with faith (1:18-20).
2. pray for all men and all who are in authority
(2:1-7).
III. The normal
life, administration, and testimony of the church (2:8-3:16):
A. The godliness in the normal life of
the church (2:8-15).
B. The candidates who deserve attention
in the normal administration of the church (3:1-13):
1. the qualification for a bishop (3:1-7).
2. the qualification for a deacon (3:8-13).
C. The states of the normal testimony of
the church (3:14-16).
IV. How to be a good
deacon of Christ (4:1-6:21a):
A. Be alert to those who depart from the
faith and the doctrines of demons (4:1-5).
B. Exercise ourselves in godliness and
teach others (4:6-11).
C. Be an example to the believers in
word, in conduct and in various aspects (4:12-16).
D. Know how to exhort and teach various
men and in various conditions (5:1-6:10, 17-19):
1. to men with different genders and different ages
(5:1-2).
2. to widows and their family members (5:3-16).
3. to the elders and those who labor in the world
(5:17-25).
4. to bondservants (6:1-2).
5. to those who teach differently and are greedy
for money (6:3-10).
6. to those who are rich (6:17-19)
E. The states of those who are of God
(6:11-16, 20-21a):
1. fight the good fight of faith (6:11-16).
2. guard the truth which is committed to us
(6:20-21a).
V. Epilogue (6:21b).
Outlines of the Second Book of Timothy
I. Foreword (1:1-2).
II. Be a worker who
does not need to be ashamed (1:3-2:26):
A. Stir up the gift of God (1:3-7).
B. Do not be ashamed of the testimony of
our Lord (1:8-12).
C. Adhere to the truth constantly
(1:13-18).
D. Be strong in the grace that is in
Christ Jesus (2:1-7).
E. Remember that Christ Jesus was raised
from the dead and reigned (2:8-13).
F. Rightly divide the word of truth
(2:14-18).
G. Be sanctified and useful for the
Master (2:19-22).
H. Be gentle to all and able to teach
(2:23-26).
III. The perilous
times in the last days and the duties of a worker (3:1-4:5):
A. The knowledge we should have to the
peril in the last days (3:1-9).
B. All who desire to live godly in
Christ Jesus will suffer persecution (3:10-13).
C. All Scripture is profitable to the
man of God (3:14-17).
D. Do the work of an evangelist with all
longsuffering and teaching (4:1-5).
IV. A worker’s
example of fulfilling the ministry and last testimony (4:6-18):
A. The declaration of a worker’s
fulfillment of the ministry (4:6-8).
B. The arrangement and instructions to
the fellow-workers (4:9-15).
C. The reliance upon the Lord before his
martyrdom (4:16-18).
V.
Epilogue------greeting and blessing (4:19-22).
──
Caleb Huang《Christian Digest Bible
Commentary Series》
Translated by Sharon Ren