1 Timothy - An Intro

If I could start this section of my study again, right where the Acts of the Apostles starts, I would have done it completely differently. I would have corresponded the rest of the books in the New Testament with the Acts of the Apostles and gone through it chronologically instead of sequentially. Paul’s first letter to Timothy was written sometime between 62-66 AD. Timothy was the son of a gentile, Greek father and a Jewish mother but the article on this chapter from gospeldoctrine.com notes, “The absence of any personal allusion to the father in the Acts of Epistles suggests the inference that (Timothy’s father) must have died or disappeared during his son’s infancy. The care of the boy thus devolved upon his mother Eunice and her mother Lois.” Timothy was raised by these two devote Jewish women to “know the Holy Scriptures daily.” Even though he was raised as a Jew, he remained uncircumcised. Scholars are unsure if the little family was from either Lystra or Derde, but when Paul and Barnabas showed up in Lycaonia, “Timothy and his mother… received it with ‘unfeigned faith.” Apparently Timothy was still a child when he first encountered the gospel on Paul’s first mission there, but “during the interval of seven years between the apostle’s first and second journeys the boy grew up to manhood.” Timothy was highly praised by those who knew him and Paul recognized the same faith and strength in him which is why Timothy “was solemnly set apart to do the work and possibly to bear the title of evangelist (or elder)” by Paul. Timothy accompanied Paul and others such as Silas and Luke on his missions and was even possibly imprisoned with Paul in Rome. “Paul added Timothy’s name to the opening of seven letters and mentioned his trustworthiness in two others. Paul had many powerful companions, but not one continued to be closer to him. Timothy had served in missionary work and in building the branches over a dozen years when Paul sent him to Ephesus to preside over that region.” 12 years as a missionary companion is a really long time and the bond between Paul and Timothy was so strong that Paul described Timothy as his own faithful son. This first letter to Timothy comes after Paul had been released from his Roman house arrest in A.D. 62 or 63. The IM notes, “It is unknown where Paul went after leaving Rome; however he likely traveled widely, visiting regions where he had previously established branches of the Church as well as new fields of labor.” The purpose of this letter, as well as that of 2 Timothy and Titus is to guide the church leadership in how to lead their congregations. The IM says, “they contain instruction to help leaders regulate the Church. IN these epistles Paul described the qualifications of bishops, who are to be examples of practical gospel living… He taught Timothy about the offices of bishop and deacon and discussed the qualifications of those who serve in these offices… Paul suggested guidelines to help Timothy identify worthy candidates to serve as bishops or deacons. These guidelines helped highlight the responsibility of Church leaders to provide for members’ temporal and spiritual needs.” So even though the next few epistles will be aimed toward ancient Church leadership, I bet we will still be able to find some profit in them for ourselves, especially as we strive to serve in the church and be good disciples of Christ.