The Church Needs Jesus | 1 Timothy 1:1-14
Paul wrote these words around the years 62 AD-64 AD after being imprisoned in Rome under house arrest. This longing to be free would come in earlier letters such as Philippians (Philippians 1:25-26, 2:24) and Philemon (Philemon 1:22). Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected in either the year 30 AD or 33 AD.
This means there is roughly 29-35 years spanning between the death and resurrection of Christ and Paul’s first letter to Timothy. What happened in between this period? God built His church. Peter preached the gospel famously as the church was born in Acts 2. Saul was converted to Christianity after seeing Jesus on the road to Damascus in Acts 9.
“’And Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.’”
--Matthew 16:16-18
The church would meet every Sunday, would break bread (communion), would sing Psalms and would go out to share the gospel—the church would meet in old synagogues, houses and even on the street. God grew His church and brought up an apostle who He would work through to help keep the church on track, to edify the church, challenge the church and encourage the church.
The church has the greatest leader in Jesus Christ, the God / Man whose resurrection from death is celebrated today—the only perfect person who ever lived, who died for our sins and who came back to life three days later defeating death. Christ is who we worship. Christ is where we look. Christ is our perfect leader.
Christ has called many to lead the church, to shepherd the church and to share the gospel around the world.
- The Church Needs godly leaders who will contend for the faith.
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, our hope.”
--1 Timothy 1:1
Ephesus was the metropolitan crossroads of Asia Minor. A melting pot of religions, culture, ideas and trade.
Ephesus was like the New York City of Asia Minor in the New Testament-era. Pliny once called it, lumen Asia, the Light of Asia. In the first century, only Rome, Alexandria and Antioch of Syria surpassed Ephesus in importance. Having ministered there for three years (Acts 20:31), the Apostle Paul obviously felt a loving concern for its citizens, and sometime around 63 AD, having dispatched Timothy to work with the church in Ephesus, he wrote the epistle of 1 Timothy.
False religion dominated Ephesus as the temple of Artemis (The daughter of Zeus) was considered one of the wonders of the ancient world. Artemis represented protection, virginity and fertility. Artemis was more than just the primary deity worshiped in the city; much of the city’s immense wealth was tied to her cult. The treasury in the Temple of Artemis acted like a bank, where everyone, from the average citizen to rich businessmen, deposited their money for safekeeping. The Artemisian “bank” eventually controlled the finances for much of that part of the world.
“’And not only is there danger that this trade of ours fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great +-goddess Artemis be considered as worthless and that she, whom all of Asia and the world worship, is even about to be brought down from her majesty.’ When they heard this and were filled with rage, they began crying out, saying, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!..But when they recognized that he was a Jew, a single cry arose from them all as they shouted for about two hours, ‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!’”
--Acts 19:27-28, 34
It is clear Ephesus was a city that needed to hear the true Gospel of Christ. The church in Ephesus was up against much strife, false worship even tied to the commerce of the city.
Paul is writing Timothy to encourage him to give him boldness in what he needs to do so he may contend for the faith of Christ in Ephesus and the church God has entrusted him with. Paul knows God’s church needs strong men to lead His church.
“To Timothy, my genuine child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. As I exhorted you when going to Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may command certain ones not to teach a different doctrine, nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the stewardship from God which is by faith.”
--1 Timothy 1:2-4
The purpose for Paul writing this letter to his young leader in the faith is to give him direction so that false doctrine can be sifted out from the church.
“Paul opens by recalling his sending of Timothy to Ephesus to confront the leaders spreading false or ‘strange teaching’(1 Tim. 1:3). He describes them as being obsessed with speculation about the Torah, specifically with the early stories and genealogies from the book of Genesis. As we’ll soon find out, they had developed all kinds of strange ideas about food, marriage, and sexuality, none of which were consistent with the teachings of Jesus or the apostles. Paul even names some of them, Alexander and Hymenaeus (1 Tim. 1:20), describing how their teaching has divided the church and generated controversy. Paul says that this is a clear sign that their message is distorted because true Christian teaching that’s faithful to the way of Jesus results in love and genuine faith.”
--The Bible Project
Why is Paul writing this letter? Why did God want Paul to write this letter? Because God is giving instruction to the specific church in Ephesus (which Timothy is leading) and for the church as a whole for future generations to properly follow God and stand on the Faith of Jesus Christ.
- The Church must look, act and be different than the world. The Church is set apart.
God’s people KNOW BETTER. If you hear the gospel, accept the gospel, repent and worship Jesus as your Lord You are called to live separate from this world—you are called to follow Christ, to love Christ because He has transformed your life.
“But the goal of our command is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and an unhypocritical faith. For some, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions. But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully,”
--1 Timothy 1:5-8
How is Timothy supposed to lead? How is he supposed to discern? What is the answer for this wayward church? --Go back to Jesus Christ, the saviour of your soul, the God/Man who died and three days later came back to life, Christ transforms lives just as He has transformed Paul’s life, Timothy’s life.
“I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He regarded me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.”
--1 Timothy 1:12-14
Paul is reminding Timothy of the Law, the Torah. The law is given not as a source of salvation but as a mirror to expose sin, to remind us, to remind God’s church of where they belong and who they belong to. The law exposes to dirt and God cleans the dirt. The law exposes who true Christians, true followers of Christ are within God’s family.
“You shall not do according to what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do according to what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. You are to do My judgments and keep My statutes, to walk in them; I am Yahweh your God. So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does them, he shall live by them; I am Yahweh.”
--Leviticus 18:3-5
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk in step with the Spirit. Let us not become those with vain glory, challenging one another, envying one another.”
--Galatians 5:22-26
“A family is a place where principles are hammered and honed on the anvil of everyday living.”
--Charles Swindoll
“But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, knowing this, that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and godless, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for sexually immoral persons, for homosexuals, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching…”
--1 Timothy 1:8-10
- The Church has a perfect, loving and wonderful Leader: Jesus Christ.
“…and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. It is a trustworthy saying and deserving full acceptance: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost. Yet for this reason I was shown mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Christ Jesus might demonstrate all His patience as an example for those who are going to believe upon Him for eternal life. Now to the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”
--1 Timothy 1:14-17
What a Jesus community believes and who they worship will directly shape how that community lives and behaves. Allowing the Scriptures and good news about Jesus to form you will lead to a life of integrity and good works.
“Jesus then said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, Moses has not given you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.’ Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.’”
--John 6:32-35
You are what you eat! That goes for both physically and spiritually! Are you consuming Christ? Is He your daily bread, your daily breath, your daily devotion? You cannot become a law abiding Christian on your own—you must be centering your life around Christ! Sit at His feet, study His word, sing His praises and follow Christ. The reason we do what we do as a church must be because we LOVE JESUS, we LOVE GOD!