Bible Commentaries
1 Timothy

1Tim

Paul’s letters to Timothy and Titus are concerned with conduct in service. Not only are they given instructions for their own guidance, but rules are laid down for the selection and service of elders, or supervisors, and servants. These two classes were officially recognized and appointed and thier functions defined. Besides this there are exhortations for all the various classes in the ecclesias, old and young, the rich and the dependent widow, and slaves. Indeed, these epistles contain the constitution of the church. The second epistle to Timothy is especially applicable to the last days, showing whom and what to avoid, and with whom we may associate. Philemon makes most gracious provision for those in bondage to believing masters.

I TIMOTHY

As a guide in understanding the great contrast between Paul's two epistles to Timothy it is important to know when the first epistle was penned. If it was written to Timothy in Ephesus while Paul went to Macedonia, we have no situation corresponding to it in the book of Acts, and it is difficult to understand why the instructions given should be needed in Ephesus where Paul had labored so long and which had the benefit of his personal superintendence for years. If we reverse the situation and send Timothy to Macedonia to the ecclesias from which Paul had been driven before he could set them in order, and to which he dared not go on peril of his life, every precept in the epistle is full of point, and we have circumstances which exactly correspond in Act_19:22 . This places the epistle at the second crisis in the apostle's ministry ( Act_19:21 ; Rom_15:19 ; 2Co_5:16 ). " His second epistle was written after the third and final crisis. This places a great gap between them which accounts for the vast difference in the aspect of affairs. In the first epistle we have the ecclesia described as God's house, the pillar and base of the truth ( 2Th_3:15 ). In the second it has become a "great house" with utensils of various kind, both honorable and base ( 2Th_2:09 ). In the first the pristine power of faith holds all together. In the second the dominant note is apostasy.

FRAMEWORK OF I TIMOTHY

Complex Reversion with Alternations

INTRODUCTION 1Ti_1:1-2

Charge: Different Doctrine 1Ti_1:3-4

The Law Misplaced 1Ti_1:5-11

Paul's Stewardship 1Ti_1:12-16

The Invisible God 1Ti_1:17

Faith Shipwrecked 1Ti_1:18-20

A Prayer for All 1Ti_2:1

Saviour of All Mankind 1Ti_2:4

Paul as Apostle 1Ti_2:7

Women 1Ti_2:9-15

Supervisors 1Ti_3:1-7

Servants 1Ti_3:8-13

Temporary Instructions 1Ti_3:14

The Secret of Devoutness 1Ti_3:14-16

Subsequent Eras 1Ti_4:1

Marriage, Food, Physical Exercise 1Ti_4:1-8

A Saying for All 1Ti_4:9

Saviour of All Mankind 1Ti_4:10

Timothy as Example 1Ti_4:11-16

Widows 1Ti_5:1-16

Elders 1Ti_5:17-25

Slaves 1Ti_6:1-2

Devoutness not Capital 1Ti_6:3-10

Timothy's Avowal 1Ti_6:11-12

The Invisible God 1Ti_6:13-16

Riches Properly Placed 1Ti_6:17-19

Guard: False Knowledge 1Ti_6:20-21

CONCLUSION 1Ti_6:21