1Timothy 1:15 - The Declaration of DE-pendence: Not a sherpa, and first of the worst

”Faithful [is] the word and worthy of all approval, that Christ Jesus came into the world sinners to save, of which first am I myself.”

-That’s it.  That’s the Good News, and that’s about as concise as it gets, right there.  If you can get your heart around that statement right there and embrace it, then you and I have something in common.  That’s our starting point, our common creed.  It’s just twelve words in the Greek, twelve words is all it takes (altho translating into English requires fifteen words).  This word, these twelve Greek words together make a statement which is completely true - we can totally stake our life and reputation on it (Paul did) - and it is deserving of universal acceptance.  It can and should be believed and trusted by all, by any and all who have and ever lived on this planet.  This is our confession, our declaration - of dependence!  But on Who?

-CHRIST JESUS, that’s the who.  No one else, there is no other name given under heaven by which we can be saved, rescued.  There is no other way to (successfully) approach God, no one else who has opened up the route to the summit of that heavenly mountain.  But we don’t merely follow His path - He IS the path.  He’s not the sherpa - He’s the hot air balloon!  We ascend in Him.  And He is the summit.  All and whatever we are trying to attain in our climb to heaven is found in Him.  We climb in Him, ascend towards the heights in Him, and when we reach the top, we find - Him.  But He didn’t just sit there waiting for us...

-He CAME.  Down to earth.  In the flesh.  The Word Who was in the beginning with God and Who IS God came to earth and became flesh.  He dwelt among us (John 1.14).  Became one of us.  Again, part of the core confession of the Christian faith (cf 1John 4.2, 1John 1.2).  And He came INTO THE WORLD.  Not just for a brief visit.  Not just some quarterly site visit to check up on us.  No, He became Emmanuel, God with us.  One of us, with us.

-And He came TO SAVE.  This was indeed a rescue mission, the mother of all rescues.  The stakes could have been no higher, because the rescue involved paying a kingly ransom - the King gave up His life for ours - and the scope of the mission included every person on earth.  He came to rescue SINNERS, which includes everyone.  Every man, woman, and child on planet earth.  No one is excepted, because all we have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3.23), and the wages of sin is death.  We are all in harm’s way, deadly peril.  And Jesus swoops in and lowers the lifeline to every person, and the question is whether or not you will grab onto it.

-Paul grabbed it.  Grabbing it involves recognizing Who is holding the rope, and admitting that you need it.   Paul puts his hand right up, and says, yup, that’s me.  That’s what I am.  I am one of them.  Yes, I have sinned.  I am not perfect, no way, far from it in fact.  And Paul as he is wont to do is ready to surpass us all - he says, OF WHICH I MYSELF AM FIRST.  In other words, I am worst.  First of the worst.  THE worst sinner on the planet.  Spiritually speaking, I stink to high heaven.  I am the worst scumbag there is.  Paul puts the extra personal pronoun last.  For emphasis.  Emphasizing me.  My bad.  Two chest pats.  That’s right - I’m speaking for myself, and I own this.  And here it’s not really about degrees of actuality, it’s about attitude.  It’s a heart which says, I am lost, and there is no way on God’s green earth that I am getting into heaven without outside assistance.  Without Jesus.  He is the One.  He is the Way.  We grab onto Him.  And this then is our oh-so-simple core confession - Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, and that’s me.  He came to rescue me, ‘cuz I need to be rescued.  Jesus came to save me.  Do I believe this?  Have I grabbed onto Him?  It’s so very simple - but maybe not easy...

1Timothy 1:14 - God's Massive Curve

”But hyper-abounded the grace of our Lord, with the faith and love in Jesus Christ.”

-Yes, amazing grace.  Wonderful grace.  Greater grace.  We sing about it - as we should.  Grace one-ups mercy, takes it to another level.  Not only do I NOT get what I do deserve, but I GET what I do not deserve.  Undeserved favor.  It’s the curve on the great heavenly entrance exam.  And we’re not just talking about a few points, just a little dab’ll do ya.  This is the ultimate, most unbelievable grading-on-a-curve in the history of ever.  This stuff gets slathered on like it’s going out of style.  A massive curve.  Hyper abounding grace, that’s what Paul calls it.  It overflowed, a mighty river of blessing rising up and over its banks in a torrent of breathtaking goodness.  And it’s for each and every one of us.  With Paul-then-Saul, the Lord took this enemy of the Cross and forgave him and blessed him and gave him power and divine revelation and gifts of teaching and evangelism and apostleship.  The Lord actually spoke to Paul and appeared to him.  And put him into service.  And used him to bear incredible fruit for the Kingdom.  There’s no telling this side of eternity how many lives were directly impacted by his ministry - not to mention the countless millions down through the ages who have been influenced by both his writings and the lives of those who follow them.  One life, seemingly out of control and beyond the reach of even the Lord Himself, profoundly and eternally transformed.  Truly amazing.  Grace.

-And Paul of course found more than grace in Christ Jesus.  He found love.  And faith.  One view is that he discovered the Lord’s great and infinite love for him, a sinner, and the inexhaustible faithfulness with which the Lord stands by His people.  Another view is that Paul saw undeniable proof of God’s grace in his life in the fruit of love for God and others in place of cruelty and of faith in the place of unbelief.  Both views are valid.  On the one hand, we see God’s grace opening up a whole new life-changing understanding of Who He is and what He is like, and on the other, we see Paul-then-Saul’s hot mess of a life completely obliterated by that same grace.  Both are true.  Both happened for Paul, and both can happen for you.  And me.

1Timothy 1:13 - Paul Repurposed, Because God Is Full Of It

”...the [one] formerly being a blasphemer and a persecutor and an aggressor, but rather I was mercied, because being ignorant I did [it] in unbelief.”

-The way we were.  The way he was, this Paul-formerly-known-as-Saul.  He even had a different name.  He was a completely different person.  He was, in fact, a blasphemer.  Blasphemy is speaking evil against something or someone, usually against one deserving of respect.  Interesting that this word hardly even appears in the Old Testament, as there was/is no consistent Hebrew equivalent (cf Isaiah 52.5, where the actual word means “to despise”, and Leviticus 24.16, where the Hebrew word there means “to curse”).  Essentially tho, what we’re talking about is a direct violation of the 3rd Commandment (Exodus 20.7), a failure to revere and honor and set apart-and-above-all-else the Lord and His Name, which of course represents all that He is, the great I AM, eternally faithful, immutable, omnipresent.  And so what we do see develop is this understanding that despising, cursing, reviling, and otherwise spurning the Lord is not to be tolerated, certainly not among God’s chosen people.  In that great land of monotheism, a culture carved out to be devoted to the one true God, where a good Jew came to consider it wrong to even utter God’s special name (Yahweh), all and whatever we would lump together under the category of blasphemy became a capital offense, worthy of death (Leviticus 24.10-16, Numbers 16.30, 1Kings 21.13, cf Mark 14.64, John 10.33, Acts 6.11).  

-Of course, from the vantage point of the Cross and the empty tomb, the real blasphemy then becomes denying the bonafide messianic claims of Jesus.  This then was what Paul-then-Saul was actually doing.  So zealous was he of the Law and traditions handed down to him by his ancestral leaders (Acts 22.3, Galatians 1.14) that (initially at least) he completely missed the fulfillment of that Law, until it (for all intensive purposes) hit him in the face on that road to Damascus.  The words he had been speaking against Jesus and the early church, the threats, the curses, and the accompanying persecution, were actually directed against the God he thought he was trying to defend.  His threasts and cursing and deadly intent were in fact deserving of death.

-Now, in truth, the Lord can defend Himself - words technically do not diminish Him in any respect.  He is infinite almighty God, whether the nations and my neigbors and I myself acknowledge that or not.  But my words reflect my heart, a heart which was made to worship Him and Him alone, and my words also influence those around me.  Our words collectively also can contribute to a culture of either honor and respect or one of disrespect.  God made us to worship Him, to revere Him and keep Him first in our hearts.  Anything less than this is a violation of the created order.  And for his part, Paul was in violation of that order.

-Paul adds that he violently persecuted the church (cf Acts 8.3, Galatians 1.13 - was this perhaps that about which he felt most guilty, his greatest sin? cf 1Corinthians 15.9).  It (he) says he ravaged the church, God’s people, the apple of His eye (Zechariah 2.8).  Yet in spite of that Saul/Paul still received mercy.  Mercy.  Forgiveness, compassion.  Relenting from meting out justly-deserved punishment.  God in His Word tells us repeatedly that He is mercy-full.  That’s right, He is full of it... :)  In an oh-so-good way.  (Psalm 86.15, 145.8; Luke 6.36; Hebrews 8.12; James 5.11)  It is not mere happenstance that the first formal place where the Lord deigned to regularly meet with and speak to His (chosen-yet-stiff-necked-and-disobedient) people was called the “Mercy Seat”.  ‘Cuz for sure, that’s what we all need.  In truth, no one could dare approach His thrice-holy-majesty apart from mercy, but no one is beyond the reach of God’s mercy.   No, not anyone.  His throne is indeed a throne of mercy, of compassions and undeserved favor, and His mercies are very great - each new day is full of them (Lamentations 3.22-23).  He is truly abounding in lovingkindness and forgiveness for all who call on Him.  Nothing I did yesterday or will do today is beyond the reach of His overflowing compassionate mercy.  There is nothing so heinous that God cannot forgive.  Do you beliveve this?

-Paul mentions that he was shown mercy because 1) he was an unbeliever, and 2) he was acting in ignorance, which fueled his unbelief.  Worse by far for a believer to act or speak in this manner.  We wouldn’t consider Paul-then-Saul to be a total unbeliever.  He believed something.  In fact, everybody believes/trusts in something.  It’s just that Saul didn’t believe/trust in Jesus as Messiah.  He disbelieved that, in fact, with every ounce and fiber of his being.  And of course, he was ignorant.  Ignorance is not normally a get-out-of-jail-free card (cf Luke 12.48), but in this instance the one persecuting Jesus (God) and His people - a crime worthy of death in that culture - was not put to death for that crime but was instead repurposed to actually spread LIFE, the life that is found in the truth and teaching about Jesus.  Wondrous irony - this is what the God of infinite mercy does with vessels otherwise prepared for destruction.  He is so full of it!.  And in a grand twist of fate, Paul actually WOULD one day be put to death for the sake of this One he once opposed.  Amazing grace.

1Timothy 1:12 - Do me a solid, Coach!

”Favor I am having to the [One] having strengthened me, Christ Jesus the Lord of us, because faithful He counted me, having put into service...”

-We usually translate this word, charis, as “grace” (specifically meaning undeserved favor, 122 of 159 times in NT), or just “favor” (11x).  But we also render it as “gratitude” or “thanks” 12 times.  The root word is chairo, meaning joy.  And charis is that which causes joy, about which one rejoices.  Hence some kind of a favor which made you joyful - and thankful.  And the Greeks do use this word for (undeserved) favor to say thank you.  They literally say, “Good favor”.  Eu-charis-to.  Which in modern times they have modified to “ef-haris-to”.  What they are doing is acknowledging and returning a favor.  You did me a good favor - and I'm expressing that back to you.  And it gives us our word Eucharist.  The Eucharist is our traditional term for the Christian Sacrament otherwise referred to as Communion.  The Lord’s Supper.  It is the remembrance of the time when Jesus took the bread and gave thanks as He broke it and distributed it and directed His disciples to do the same thing as a way to remember Him and to recognize that the bread was a symbol of His body which was (about to be) broken (as a favor) for them.  For us.  He did likewise with the wine, which was a symbol of His blood which was poured out for forgiveness of sins.  But this act of gratitude (and of course the sacrifice which was to follow) was also a [huge] favor for us, and we now acknowledge and return this good favor, eu-charis - in the Christian Sacrement referred to as the Eucharist.  We are speaking Greek - “efharisto” - every time we give thanks in the Eucharist.  But in essence it is like us asking someone to do us a solid, and when they come through we acknowledge that by saying, solid.  That’s exactly what Paul is saying here.  Solid.  Favor.

-But in this verse, Paul is thinking about a double favor, one which in Paul’s mind was user-specific for him.  He is returning favor to Jesus Who did him a favor, a HUGE solid, not only dying for him on the Cross but also giving him strength and putting him into service.  Paul will expound upon this in the next verse, but is this not true for every last one of us who believe in Jesus?  That in Christ we enjoy the blessings not only of forgiveness and salvation, but also of sanctification, of life-transformation, and of purpose and glorious participation in the worldwide rescue mission of the Gospel?  He gives us grace, favor, strength each day, all that we need (and more) for all we must do.  Solid.

-Interesting to note the sequence here.  Faithfulness preceded service.  Or did it?  But it was not demonstrated faithfulness per se.  Usually we want to see a new believer demonstrate faithfulness in the little things before we put them in charge of bigger things, right?  That tends to be the divine pattern (cf Luke 19.17).  But God had a specific service, a ministry picked out for Paul - then Saul - before he had even been converted (cf Acts 9.15-16).  This faithfulness was rather more anticipated.  It was divine foresight, prescience, no doubt.  God counted Paul faithful.  It is the decree of a ruler, and that makes it so.  It was the God-factor.  It was this good favor - even Paul’s future faithfulness was (going to be) put in by the Lord.  God would make it so.

-Of course the word for service is diakonos, where we get our word “deacon” - but we need to picture the job of waiting on tables.  The first deacons were quite literally the guys who were in charge of serving food to the believers.  We’re talking a dirty, thankless job, one which somebody has to step up and do, perhaps one which nobody wants to do, probably not going to be a lot of recognition, not a lot of strokes for doing this.  But this is ministry, is it not?  It is not some glamorous, cushy gig where you’ll get lots of strokes and lots of money.  It is long hours, never finished, overworked and underpaid (or unpaid).  The needs are endless, constant, not always convenient.  Such is the job of caring for sheep.  A high calling, to be sure, but not one to which most would aspire, nor last very long.  Hence the requisite faithfulness.  Now at a certain level, no believer is exempt from SOME form of service - we are ALL called to share in it at some level (cf Ephesians 4.12).  We all, each one of us, have a part, a role to fulfill, a ministry which is to help build up the body of Christ.  God will make it so!  Paul, for his part, is thanking God for the FAVOR of putting him IN to service, into the game.  Put me in, Coach!

1Timothy 1:11 - On Relay Throws and a Truly Sacred Trust...

”...according to the Good News of the glory of the blessed God, with which I was entrusted.”

-Actually, the Law does not start with the bad news.  It starts in the very beginning, a very GOOD place to start, with a very, very GOOD God.  Breathtakingly so.  In the beginning, God.  That’s exactly how it starts out.  And this indescribably, ineffably good God of glory is the blessed Creator and Maker of all things.  He started out by making everything which exists, not one thing came into existence which He did not make, and it was all VERY good.  That is the very first thing we read in the Law.  We read about paradise.  That garden of extreme goodness, a place where there was no sickness or brokenness or dying or crying or pain.  A place where man enjoyed unbroken intimate friendship with his heavenly Father.  How things were always meant to be.  But then paradise was lost.  In that fateful moment, man cast God out of mind, and for his efforts he received an outcast mind and was cast out of paradise.  The bad news.  And while I suppose news COULD be good in the absence of bad news, this particular bad news made this particular Good News all the better.  Because the message of the Law involves not only the problem of sin which separates us from our breathtakingly good heavenly father - Paradise Lost - it also points to His provision.  Paradise Restored.  A Savior.  The Messiah.  The promised seed of Adam and Abraham Who would crush the serpent and conquer death and bring the blessings of this breathtakingly good God to every tribe and tongue on planet earth.  This is the Good News which is developed throughout the entirety of what we call our Old Testament, and then clarified and realized in the New.  It is the Good News ushered in by Jesus Christ, a message which - in keeping with the original intent of the Blessing - the Son of God directed to be delivered to all the nations.  A Message and a Mission which this blessed God entrusted to His people - and specifically to Paul.  Disciples everywhere, men and women and children in every nation believing in and following Jesus and telling others about Him - that is the Mission.  Not for Paul only, but definitely Paul.

-And here’s the kicker.  This glorious Good News is a precious gift, but not one which is meant to be hoarded.  Hide it under a bushel, no!  There is no issue of trust if we are only talking about a gift which is merely meant to be received/believed.  If somebody TRUSTS me with something, they expect me to take care of it.  And in the case of a message - which is what we’re talking about in this instance - the recipient is expected to faithfully convey that message to its intended hearers.  THIS Message doesn’t stop with me.  I am not supposed to be a black hole, but rather a conduit.  In baseball lingo, I am making a relay throw, not a cut-off play.  I am supposed to send the ball on its way, not hold on to it.  God entrusted His glorious Good News to Paul - and to us - and He is expecting us to deliver, to deliver it to our neighbors and to the nations.  He is counting on us.  If you have believed, if you have received, He is counting on you.  And me.  To be sure, He is not standing in heaven, helplessly wringing His hands, just hoping that you and I will deliver His Good News.  “Oh, I just hope they’ll come thru for Me.”  But surely ours is a sacred trust.  This Good News of peace on earth and good will towards men is a message for all people.  It was secured at an incomparable price.  It is the greatest, most precious and costly gift ever given.  Truly a sacred trust.  Can He trust you?  Can He trust me?  Who then is the trustworthy, faithful servant, whose Master will find faithfully giving the Bread of Life to His household (Matthew 24.45)?  It is required of stewards that they be found faithful (1Corinthians 4.2).  Entrust these things to faithful men, He says (2Timothy 2.2).  God found Paul faithful - next verse (1Timothy 1.12)...

1Timothy 1:10 - Bad News: chronically extreme anti-health

”...for pornos, male-sexers, men-stealers, liars, perjurers, and if any other which is opposing teaching being healthy...”

-What we saw in the previous verse was ways in which people misuse and transgress the first several of what we refer to as the Ten Commandments.  Those are generally the front face of the Law, and Paul is simply pointing out some of the more extreme ways in which people miss the mark and show their need not only to be shown what is wrong but also how to get right.

-So in verse 9, Paul addressed extreme disrespect of God (no other gods, no images, don’t misuse God’s name, and set apart a day of rest for Him) and parents (honor your mother and father) and of life (don’t murder).  Here he pretty much addresses the rest of the commands.  ‘Pornos’ and male-sexers are those who show extreme disrespect for God’s gift of the covenant of marriage and the joys of sexual intimacy reserved therein (don’t commit adultery).  Men-stealers of course are showing the ultimate disregard for other people and their stuff (don’t steal, don’t covet), and liars/perjurers are dispensing with the truth (do not bear false witness).  Let’s be honest, lest we be pointing one too many fingers in the wrong direction, who among us has never once disregarded the truth?  Who among us has never disrespected God or our parents?  Maybe most of us have never directly disrespected life by taking it from a fellow human being, but Jesus said anger in my heart towards a brother is just as bad (Matthew 5.21-22).  Who among us has never been angry with a brother?  Especially that exasperating little brother?  Or that badgering big brother?  Who among us has never had a lustful thought, or wanted to have something which belonged to another?  We all of us have gone astray and have completely missed the mark - not even close - and God gave us the Law to show us just how sinful sin really is.  How far short we fall of His magnificent breathtaking glory.

-Sound.  Whole.  Wholesome.  That which is healthy and makes for good health and good, normal, as-intended functioning of the body.  Good health in body and mind and spirit would of course be the legitimate goal for any sane individual.  Teachers of God’s law at the very least are aiming at health of mind and spirit (or should be, right?).  But the sad truth is that you and I each find within us the principle that we are inclined to oppose the very teaching which would make us healthy.  Our flesh is in fact energized to do the things which it is told not to do, and it is chronically loathe to do the things which it is supposed to do.  It resists and stands in opposition to God’s law in all sorts of ways, manifesting itself differently for each person.  The epitome of anti-health!  This is the bad news.  The Law is good and beautiful to be sure, but it is badly-needed bad news - at least that’s where it starts.  Yet that is not even the half of it.  There’s also Good News!  Read on...

1Timothy 1:9 - Of Burger King and Bullseyes and the Way Back...

”...having come to know this, that for righteous [the] law is not laid down, but for [the] unrighteous and unruly, for [the] godless and sinners, for [the] unholy and profane, for [the] father-killers and mother-killers, for murderers...”

-The starting point for approaching and using and loving God’s Law is the realization that God is, that He is righteous and holy and breathtakingly good, and I am not.  I am not God, and I am not righteous, I am not right with Him apart from His divine intervention.  Nor am I good.  There is a part of me that wants to do good perhaps, to be good, but there is a part of me that wants to be God, and that’s the problem.  That’s where I go wrong.  I want to be king of my castle.  Lord of the manor.  Master of my domain.  And that is why the law was laid down, not because we were perfect and perfectly right in God’s eyes, but because we were not.  That’s what Paul is saying over in Romans 7.7 - God laid down the law so that I would know that my coveting was actually not the right or godly thing to do.  Etc, etc, etc.  The law was laid down by the one true God to show sin and godlessness for what it truly is - life lived apart from Him, doing what I want instead of what He wants, putting other things in His place in my heart and life.  King Me.  I want to have it my way.  That is where it all began, and from there all of mankind began its descent into all these other things which Paul goes on to mention.  We rebelled against God, against what He wanted, and while He did like Burger King and let us have it our way, He was faithful to give us a clarion reminder of Who He is and of how far we fall short.  He showed us the way back.

-So Paul specifically states that the Law was laid down for those who were/are law-less.  It is God clarifying the boundaries for all we who rebel against them like sparks fly upward, for those who want no authority over them, who want to be in charge, no god whatsoever (except perhaps in a pinch).  It sets the bar for those who fall short, the bullseye for those who miss the mark.  In other words, for every last one of us.  It shines the light on who God is and what He is like, it shows us how pure and perfect and set apart He truly is, and how we can and should relate to Him.  The Law also gives us the gold standard for how we should treat one another, how we should respect and treasure the miracle of life and specifically honor the ones who gave us life - our parents, those whom God put over us as His surrogate authority figures, to help us learn His Law, to learn God's ways such that we grow up to walk in them.  But parents we cast off and disrespect just as easily as we cast God and His Law out of mind.  And in extreme cases we have children taking the lives of the very ones who gave life to them.  Or of a fellow human being.  Snuffing out that amazing spark of life, which no man can bring back.

-It goes without saying that much of the spirit of our age flies in the face of God's law, goose-stepping in sync with so many of these things.  Disrespect for God, for the things of God, for His Word.  Disrespect for parents.  Disrespect for life, cheapening life.  Taking life, taking it into our own hands.  Everywhere you look you encounter life being lived contrary to what God is like, far apart from Him, far from home.  His beautiful, perfect, life-giving Law shows us the way back, back to Him, back to life as it was always meant to be, back to the garden, back to paradise...  Next verse.

1Timothy 1:8 - A Lesser Babka?

”But we are having come to know that beautiful [is] the law, if anyone he may be using it lawfully...”

-The Law.  This is the law of Moses, and the words of the prophets.  This Law of the Lord is perfect (Psalm 19.7)!  We’re talking Old Testament - that’s all they had.  There were no Gospels or Pauline epistles to speak of.  Paul says it is beautiful.  IF one uses it lawfully.  Think about what God says about His Word as contained in the pages of the Old Testament, as it was penned and subsequently read by those saints of old, who looked forward to the coming of Messiah but who nevertheless found great beauty in God’s Words, in the pages of the Law and the Writings and the Prophets, in this Word about which God promised, “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it, for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success” (Joshua 1.8).  Yes, for them, the law of the Lord is perfect.  They declare, How blessed is the one who delights in the law of the Lord, who meditates on it day and nigh" (Psalm 1.2).  I delight to do Your will, O my God - Your law is within my heart (Psalm 40.8).  Open my eyes, Lord, that I may behold wonderful things from Your law (Psalm 119.18).  I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, as much as in all riches (Psalm 119.14).  They are more desirable than much fine gold, and sweeter than honey (Psalm 19.10, 119.103).  The unfolding of Your words gives light (Psalm 119.130).  Oh how I love Your law - it is my meditation all the day (Psalm 119.97, 163).  I rise before dawn, I wait for Your words (Psalm 119.147).  My heart stands in awe of Your words (Psalm 119.161).  Lord, You are God, and Your words are truth (2Samuel 7.28).  I found Your words and I ate them, and they became for me a joy and the delight of my heart (Jeremiah 15.16).  Again, God promises that, “My word which goes forth from My mouth will not return to me empty, without accomplishing what I desire and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55.11).

-Yes, God’s Word - even when restricted to that portion which we refer to as the “Old” Testament - as in something which is more ancient?  Do we tend to think of it as somewhat inferior, a bit passé, outdated, antiquated, non-binding, irrelevant and obsolete even (altho we would never go on record as stating that)?  A lesser babka?  Is this not how many of us approach the Old Testament?  Is this not how the world looks at the Bible in general?  What word comes to mind when you think of “The Law”?  “Scripture”?  Does it conjure up images of something sweet?  Does your spiritual mouth begin to water?  What if the people of God - all of us - were to (re)discover the beauty of Scripture?  What if we, like Jeremiah, really discovered it, and learned to feast on it, more than a little-dab’ll-do-ya?  More than a hurried glance at a few verses before we scurry off to work or fall off to sleep?  What would it take for us to begin to see God’s Law more like tasty morsels we get to enjoy than pills we just need to swallow?  More like the drippings of the honeycomb than some unpleasant cough syrup?  More like piles of gold than a boring bunch of rules?  What would it take?

-One thing which does help is to use the Law, to approach it “lawfully”, Paul says.  Next verse...

1Timothy 1:6-7 - Deviants

"...which certain ones having strayed were turned unto empty talk...wanting to be teachers of law, not understanding what they are saying nor about what they are asserting.”

-So Paul says that some have strayed.  Strayed from these things - from love, from a pure heart and clean conscience and sincere faith.  Some men have strayed, he says.  Aspiring, would-be teachers.  In our day of progressive egalitarianism (more on this in chapter 2) it could also be women who have strayed.  Paul probably has a few folks in mind (he mentions two by name in 1Timothy 1.20).  These are the ones who are teaching differently.  They are speculating, making assertions about things which are uncertain, and in doing so they have literally missed the mark.  Deviated off course.  They are in fact becoming deviants... :(  Paul says they are caught up in empty talk.  Fruitless discussion.  They are not only wasting their own time (and that of those around them), when you have one who has strayed off the path they are in danger of leading others astray as well.  We are to be pursuing (together) Jesus.  Pursuing love.  And these fellows have turned aside from that.  They are missing that mark.

-Not only do they lack certainty (they don’t lack confidence, but they apparently are focusing on things about which one cannot be certain), they lack understanding.  It sounds like their hearts may even be in the right place, wanting to teach God’s law (which Paul kind of affirms as a motive in 1Timothy 3.1 - altho surprisingly James somewhat discourages folks from aspiring to teach, James 3.1).  Questions of motives and character aside, what these clearly lack is competence.  They may or may not actually be able to teach (an indispensable quality - 1Timothy 3.2; 2Timothy 2.2, 2.24), but competence for a teacher also involves understanding their subject matter.  It is way more than simply knowing facts.  Sadly, these definitely do not have sufficient understanding of what they are saying, what they are trying to teach.  Understanding is the reasoning perceiving mind in action.  Perception.  Awareness.  Insight.  Illumination.  For these guys, the light needs to come on.  Knowledge, the knowing of various facts, must be accompanied by understanding - the insight into how those facts synthesize and relate to one another and to life - and also accompanied by wisdom, which is the ability to apply this truth, both for myself and those around me.  This is why Paul asked the Lord to fill people with the knowledge of His will with all spiritual wisdom and understanding (Colossians 1.9).  It is not just about knowing.  It is about doing.  Applying well what we know.  But their lack of understanding here is not due to any lack of effort on their part.  The things on which they are focusing are speculative.  That plane is just not going to land.  It is impossible to know for certain, thus they will never be able to arrive at any requisite understanding of these things such that they could teach them to others in a way which would build up their faith.  They are wasting their time, and that of anyone who gives them an audience.  Pouring it down the drain.  And time is one thing which is too precious to waste and fritter away on empty talk.  You can’t get it back.  Let’s remember, the target is love.  Great Command, New Command, Great Commission.  Let’s focus on these.

1Timothy 1:5 - Twoo Wuv: Metric this...

”But the end of the command is love out of a clean heart and a good conscience and an unhypocritical faith.”

-Love.  Love.  Love.  Yes, love is the greatest of these, and it is our final destination.  The desired end and outcome of all we do - all our teaching and learning, all our preaching and studying, all our meetings and programs and buildings - the end goal is love.  Or should be.  Our ongoing mission.  The Great Commission is all about making disciples who not only make other disciples but who LOVE, who live into and reproduce the Great Command and the New Command.  And there is a reason why those two commands (three, actually - love God, your neighbor, and one another) are all about love - it is about what God is like.  Yes, God is thrice-holy, but holiness is not merely about what He does NOT do (no sin).  Even a rock or a corpse can approximate that standard.  It is about what He DOES because of Who He IS.  He is breathtakingly good - glorious - and this goodness in action is love.  He IS love.  He moves towards and pursues good on behalf of those He so loves.  So, these commands to love, and all this hustle and bustle of what we call church - it all is intended to result in us becoming more and more like Him, doing more and more like Him.  Who.  Is.  Love.  Goodness in action.  Love increasingly oozes out of every pore and fiber of our being - because we are becoming more and more like Him, our God of love, this One Who IS love and Who LOVES, Whose lovingkindness is everlasting.  Ours is the body which is to be building itself up by His Spirit IN LOVE (Ephesians 4.16).  With all our counting of noses and nickles, of budgets and buildings, with all our metrics of church growth and governance models and strategies, we ought to metric this.  How am I doing at loving the Lord and loving my neighbor and loving the brother next to me?  How are we doing?

-But contrary to what we hear from Lennon-McCartney and Dionne Warwick, love is not all we need.  It is not the only thing that there’s just too little of.  Love needs to flow from clean heart and a good conscience and an unhypocritical faith.  In fact, I would argue that without these things, it will not flow at all.  Because all these speak to a vital connection and healthy relationship with the living God Who is the Source of love.  Without that, without Him, love is not what we’re gonna get.  Not God’s love.  Not twoo wuv.  We’ll get a counterfeit, something other than, something less than.  Something which will fall tragically short of being patient and kind and not jealous, something which WILL seeks its own and keep an account of wrongs suffered and which will NOT bear all things and believe all things and endure all things.  This love will be temporary, and it will fail.  Unlike God’s love.  To get that, you need to go straight to the Source, and THIS One, you need to approach with a heart washed-whiter-than, sprinkled clean by the blood of His Son.  You need to not be holding on to any wrongdoing in your life.  And you must trust in Him fully and faithfully, consistently, not sporadically or only on Sunday mornings or when you’re in a pinch.  I need to need Him every moment of every day.  It must be an ongoing relationship of trust and surrender, of love and obedience with all my heart, not one where I claim or pretend to be perfect, but one of open and honest communication and one where if (when) I do mess up I am willing to admit it (and forsake it!) and move on.  That is faith, and faith comes first, then the love.  How are we doing?

1Timothy 1:4 - God's Business

”...nor to be paying attention to myths and endless genealogies, which are causing speculation rather than [the] management of God, the [management] in faith.”

-So, in addition to guarding the flock from different teaching, to admonishing those thus teaching to cease and desist, Timothy is also instructed to exhort these path-strayers to not get caught up in that which leads to speculation.  As opposed to administration.  What needs to happen is administration - the management of God’s affairs, His house.  And note the mention of faith - there are some things which we just need to take by faith.  We are simply not going to be able to land that plane of certainty on this about which we are speculating.  Just need to put a pin in that one and get about God’s business.

-God’s business.  The administration of God - what is that?  The word is oikonomian, house-management.  It is/was the job of a steward (Luke 12.42).  Like Joseph (Genesis 39.4).  We call it a stewardship - a somewhat sacred trust, in that the owner of said house - and all its accoutrements - is trusting this person to take care of that which is (most?) precious to him.  Daily affairs, any and all structures, even the children - the whole kit-n-kaboodle.  And we find that God entrusts multiple things to those pastors/teachers He would call His stewards: His mysteries (1Corinthians 4.1, Ephesians 3.9), His grace (Ephesians 3.2, 1Peter 4.10), His church (Colossians 1.25, Titus 1.7).  And as a house-steward, the vital quality one clearly must possess is trustworthiness.  Certainly pastors/teachers - like Timothy - must carefully study and learn and faithfully convey the truths of God to God’s people in ways which help them learn and understand and apply those truths.  These must help guard the family of God from straying off the true path, from being distracted away from pure and simple devotion to Jesus.  Presenting every person complete in Christ - that's God's business (Colossians 1.28).  One of the ways we can get distracted from that  is by getting caught up in these myths and genealogies.  Speculations.  Things about which God’s Word is either not clear or even silent.  There is no definite guidance or hard evidence.  These are things which in God’s economy are more useless and unprofitable, and truth be told, they are endless.  There is no end to them, if you give yourself to them.  More and more useless information - on this path I can't get no satisfaction.  These are things which do not build up (1Corinthians 14.26) - in fact, that right there is the perfect measuring rod for the profitability of whatever I am paying attention to.  Does it build up and strengthen my faith and the faith of others?  Is there an element of speculation in it such that it does not really build up but is rather more trivial?  Interesting perhaps to think about but not inherently transformational?  These things oughta be none of our business...!

-That verse from Peter makes it abundantly clear that all of us, we who follow Jesus, are called to be stewards of something.  Surely while not every one of God’s people has the call to be an overseer of an entire flock, each one of them/us have been entrusted with truth, with grace, with gifts and blessings which we must manage and multiply in helping to serve and grow God’s kingdom, His family.  We are all called to stir up undistracted devotion to Jesus.  To find and drink deeply from His fountain of living water.  Our goal is not stockpiling more and more useless information but rather love and transformation.  Purveyors of blessing!  That should fire our imagination!  I will bless you, He says, and in you all families of the earth will be blessed.  It is the parable of the talents (Matthew 25.14-30).  We manage and multiply those by His grace and power in order to bear fruit for God’s glory.  What are you, what am I doing with MY gift, which what God has entrusted to me?  Are we more or less straightening pictures on the walls of burning houses, or are we helping to build up the household of God?  May it be said that for each one of us, He will find us faithful.

1Timothy 1:3 - The Absolute No-No

”Just as I encouraged you to wait in Ephesus, going unto Macedonia, in order that you should command certain ones not to be teaching differently...”

-Teaching differently.  That is an absolute no-no.  Negatory.  The word is used only by Paul in this one letter.  He uses it twice (again in 1Timothy 6.3).  Which points out several things.  First, the implicit assumption of the need to be teaching the SAME things.  Which would of course require that a would-be teacher first learn the same things, and then watch out over his life and teaching to insure that he remains on the path of orthodoxy.  Then there is the tacit imperative to guard the flock from any different teachings (Acts 20.28-29, 1Peter 5.2) - arguably the fundamental responsibility of an overseer.

-But so, what needs to happen in this instance is that Timothy needs to guard and watch over the flock there in Ephesus.  Paul had left for Macedonia, and he had put Timothy in charge of the flock.  Timid Timothy, as we read in Paul’s subsequent letter to his protege.  Timothy needs to step up, and stand in the gap for God’s people, for this assembly.  Paul here is exhorting him to do just that.  One might ask how such “other teachers” might gain any kind of platform with God’s people, whether it would have been inside their assembly, or if it might have simply taken place in the public square somewhere.  Best I can tell, these were insiders (cf 1Timothy 1.19).  And as was their custom, when God’s people gathered each person would have an opportunity to speak to the assembly (1Corinthians 14.26, Ephesians 5.19).  Some of these were getting off-track and off-course in their thinking and understanding of the truths of God, and were potentially going to lead His people astray.  And since we know that the goal of all such instruction was to build up the body in its capacity to love, the critical equipping of God’s people to carry out the prime directives of the Great Command and the New Command (Matthew 22.37-39, John 13.34-35, Ephesians 4.15-16, 1Timothy 1.5), it was paramount that these ones be corrected as needed.  Or at least opposed.  For their sakes as well as for the sake of the flock.  And of course there will always be competing voices in the public arena, other teachers who advocate things which are contrary to the Gospel, to the truths of God.  I don’t think Paul is insisting that Pastor Timothy go out and confront them in that arena per se.  But there is certainly a battle for the hearts and minds of God’s people, those He has called out to be the people of the Book, those to whom He is entrusting His truths, entrusting us to disseminate them to our family and our neighbors and ultimately to all nations.  The stakes could be no higher.  Timothy - time to step up...!

1Timothy 1:2 - Peace and parenting?

”...to Timothy, a true child in [the] faith: grace, mercy, peace from God [the Father] and Christ Jesus the Lord of us.” 

-Paul begat Timothy.  Yes, God actually did the heavy lifting, but He used Paul (and others of course, including Timothy's family - 2Timothy 1:5) directly to help Timothy learn about and begin to hope in and truly follow Jesus.  How about you and me?  Got any children?  Who has God used you to help hope in Jesus?  As he shared the Good News with Timothy along with so many others, and as he helped them to put their trust in Jesus Christ for eternal life to enter in to new life, this spiritual birth, Paul became their spiritual dad (cf 1Corinthians 4.15, Philemon 10, Galatians 4.19).  Many tutors, many coaches and mentors perhaps, but just one birth dad (or mom).  At least in this instance.  And as a good dad, Paul is continuing to play a proactive role in his son’s life.  Who was it who helped you to hope in Jesus?  Of course there can be situations where God uses multiple people to help a person come to the point of trusting in Christ.  The point is, I suppose, that we not only learn something of Paul’s relationship with Timothy but of our own stewardship of the Gospel.  God has entrusted His Good News to us, we who have received it, and it is meant to be shared.  It needs to be shared.  How are we doing?

-What we have in the remainder of this verse is the rest of what is a traditional Middle Eastern greeting, which was for peace, but Paul, as he was wont to do, dresses it up with extra sauce and a side of fries.  Shalom (peace) was (and is) how the Jews said hello and goodbye (“Peace be with you” - cf John 20.19, 20.26).  Their Arab cousins say the same thing (“salaam”, as in “as-salaam ‘alaykum”).  But Paul, as he usually does, feels it is better to greet people with a wish for more than simply peace.  He wants to extend wishes for both the grace and the mercy which are the only way for folks to find peace, and that from the one and only Source of the same.  Only the one true God and Father of us all, and His only begotten Son, the risen Lord Jesus Christ, offer the requisite grace and mercy by which any of us can find shalom/salaam, that place of overall well-being and goodness which have their source in God alone.  Paul doesn’t want to merely wish peace upon someone without reminding them of how they can actually experience it.  For Paul, it was not just a wish, some cultural pipedream.  He had found real, soul-satisfying shalom - when he hoped in Jesus.  In embracing the good news of God’s grace and mercy poured out at the cross.  Peace - inner peace, lasting peace, surpassing peace, world peace - you name it, it starts right here...

1Timothy 1:1 - God's Special Envoy, and Good Prospects

”Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to [the] commandment of God our Savior and of Jesus Christ the hope of us...” 

-So, we have a typical address here to begin this letter, with one glaring exception.  In every other letter, Paul identifies himself as either a prisoner of Christ Jesus or an apostle of Christ Jesus.  And when he chooses to identify himself as an apostle, he states that he is such “by the will (or desire) of God”.  But here we have the one place he does not state that, the one time he says that he is an apostle “according to the command of God (the Father) and of Jesus Christ”.  The commandment of God.  This is a direct order - by one in authority - which has every expectation of being carried out (cf Luke 4.36; Mark 6.27, 9.25; 1Corinthians 7.25; Titus 2.15; Philemon 8).  But so that tells us who’s writing this letter.  Here’s who is addressing (Timothy, as we read in the next verse, and) us.  He is one who has been sent out (which is the meaning of the word, apostle - a sent one) by direct order of almighty God.  God the Father AND God the Son not only wanted Paul to go out and preach the Gospel to the Gentiles (which again is what we read in almost every one of his other letters), they gave him a direct order to do so.  They specifically authorized it.  Which also means that there is no getting around it, unless you are willing to try and pull some kind of a Jonah (but of course we know how that turned out).  

-Okay, so here right at the beginning of this letter we are reminded of just whom we are dealing with.  This is not just a trusted friend or a mentor (altho he is certainly that and we along with Timothy could certainly see him that way) - this is God’s emissary, His special envoy.  Very few people have ever been able to make such a direct claim - we would do well to pay attention (and yes, even tho our name is not specifically on the envelope).  We NEED to pay attention.

-This is also the only place where Jesus is specifcally referred to as “our Hope”.  He gives us hope, a blessed hope, a living hope, we look forward with this hope to the grace we will fully realize at His appearing, but truly, He IS our Hope.  We do hope in Him.  All of life, any prospect for eternity, is hope-less apart from Him.  Hope is the desire for something good, the belief that something good will happen.  Nobody hopes for something bad.  An evil person might have nefarious hopes, but for them they are only working with a broken and twisted definition of what is good.  No, all of humanity longs for, strives after, pursues goodness (to the extent that they are able), and when it is not present in whatever form may be desired, we fall back on this thing called hope.  Hope shows us that we were wired for paradise, for something better than this, for perfection - ultimate goodness.  Nobody in paradise is hoping for something better.  But here in paradise lost, we all find ourselves trying to get back to the garden.  Hoping to get back there someday, somehow.  And if and when we ever lose hope, when we are facing situation hope-less, no prospect for good, life is over.  Despair.  This is why some choose to end their life - the loss of hope.  Goodness gone - or so they believe.  But now, we have this One Who IS Hope.  He is OUR Hope.  In fact, life finally BEGINS when we fix our hope on Jesus.  It IS, literally, a new birth.  Born again.  Life as it was always intended (or back on track, towards ultimate goodness).  Prospects are good!  As soon as, and for as long as we fix our hope on Him, this One Who is consummately good and Who works all things together for good, life is good.  And no, in this world we are never completely free of the brokenness, but that is the essence of our hope.  We have goodness in bitesize nuggets in this life, and the blazing expectation of mind-blowing goodness in the next.  Hope.  Living hope in Living Hope.  Daily, real hope in and because of Jesus.  Thank you, Lord...