Exposition on 1 Timothy

Contents

Reading pages: 0–5.25 · 6.1–6.21

1. 0Pelagius's argument: Paul gives Bishop Timothy authority over church discipline and ordination and arms him against false teachers.
2. 1.1Paul asserts his apostolic authority, given by the one command of Father and Son.
3. 1.2Timothy is Paul's son in faith; mercy freely given reconciles us to God.
4. 1.3Timothy must stop false teachers, the wolves Paul foretold.
5. 1.4The fables are the Jewish traditions (deuteroseis) and genealogies, which breed disputes.
6. 1.5The goal of the commandment is love of God and neighbour from a pure heart, with a faith shown in deeds.
7. 1.6Lemma of 1 Tim 1:6.
8. 1.7The would-be teachers of the law misunderstand it; the law agrees with the gospel entrusted to Paul.
9. 1.12Paul thanks Christ, who strengthened him and made him a minister.
10. 1.13Paul accuses himself first; his sins were done in ignorance, which is lighter.
11. 1.14Grace overflowed where sin had abounded, and Paul loved Christ more for being forgiven much.
12. 1.15Christ came to save sinners, so Paul, the foremost sinner, was saved too.
13. 1.16Paul's forgiveness is an example that no one should despair.
14. 1.17Paul praises the eternal King, who forgave him undeservedly.
15. 1.18Paul gives Timothy authority to ordain and urges him to fight the devil and vice.
16. 1.19Living badly destroys even the faith one seemed to have.
17. 1.20Hymenaeus and Alexander were handed to Satan for correction, not destruction.
18. 2.1Christians must pray for all, even persecutors.
19. 2.2Prayer for rulers secures peace, which must serve godliness, not luxury.
20. 2.3God wants believers to serve him quietly in holy works.
21. 2.4God wills all to be saved but forces no one, leaving free choice intact.
22. 2.6The one God is three persons in one nature; Christ, God and man, is the one mediator who gave himself for all who will be redeemed.
23. 2.7Paul was appointed preacher and apostle of the Gentiles.
24. 2.8Prayer may be offered anywhere, with hands clean of evil and a mind free of anger.
25. 2.9Christian women should adorn themselves with modesty, not costly display that could clothe the poor.
26. 2.10Display denies the chastity Christian women profess; women should learn in quiet humility.
27. 2.12Women may not teach publicly in church, though they may teach their family privately.
28. 2.13Lemma of 1 Tim 2:13.
29. 2.14Woman, first in guilt, is saved through baptism, the generation of God's sons, not through bearing children.
30. 2.15For those living after baptism, faith alone does not suffice without holiness of mind and body.
31. 3.1The episcopate is a good work to desire, not an honour.
32. 3.2A bishop must be blameless, married only once, chaste, hospitable, and a teacher by word and example.
33. 3.3A bishop must be sober, gentle, moderate, peaceable, and free of greed.
34. 3.4Lemma of 1 Tim 3:4.
35. 3.5One who cannot govern his own children cannot govern God's church.
36. 3.6A new convert must not be made bishop, lest pride bring him the devil's condemnation.
37. 3.7A bishop needs a good name even among outsiders, who by nature recognize virtue.
38. 3.8Deacons must be chosen like bishops; presbyters are included under "bishops," being almost the same rank.
39. 3.9Deacons must hold the faith of Christ's redeeming passion purely, without profiting from it.
40. 3.10Deacons too must be tested before ordination.
41. 3.11The "women" are deaconesses, still found in the East, to be chosen like deacons.
42. 3.12"Husband of one wife" excludes the twice-married from the diaconate, not the unmarried.
43. 3.13Deacons who serve well gain a great standing and boldness.
44. 3.14Paul's letter gives Timothy authority to order the church, which alone now upholds the truth once placed in law or nature.
45. 3.16The mystery of godliness is Christ's incarnation, revealed, vindicated, seen by angels, preached, and taken up.
46. 4.1The Spirit foretold that some would abandon the faith.
47. 4.4Lemma of 1 Tim 4:4.
48. 4.5All God's creation is good; Timothy is to be a moderate, studious, and exemplary bishop; true widows are like Anna.
49. 5.6Luxury beyond nature's needs is the death of the self-indulgent widow, like rich widows of Pelagius's day.
50. 5.7The command shows that blamelessness is possible.
51. 5.8Neglecting one's own family is worse than unbelief, since even unbelievers care for theirs by nature.
52. 5.9Widows enrolled as deaconesses must be older women married only once.
53. 5.10Enrolled widows must be proven in good works; younger widows are not to be set over others, lest they grow wanton and marry.
54. 5.12Widows who vowed to remain so and then marry break their pledge; the rule applies to virgins too.
55. 5.13Idle young widows wander, gossip, and set a bad example.
56. 5.14Younger widows should marry before making a vow they may not keep.
57. 5.15Paul prefers remarriage because some widows who vowed continence had fallen into fornication.
58. 5.16Families should support their widows so the church can help those without anyone.
59. 5.17Presbyters who rule and teach well deserve double honour.
60. 5.18Teachers occupied with the word should be supported by those they teach.
61. 5.19Accusations against presbyters require due proof.
62. 5.20Proven offenders are to be rebuked publicly as a warning.
63. 5.21Timothy must judge impartially, before God and the angels at the altars.
64. 5.22Timothy must not ordain hastily and must himself stay chaste in order to rebuke others.
65. 5.23Timothy should take a little wine, putting teaching before abstinence; created remedies may heal.
66. 5.24Some sins are exposed now, others later, so ordination must not be hasty.
67. 5.25Good deeds, like sins, eventually become known.
68. 6.1Slaves must honour even unbelieving masters so the faith is not reviled.
69. 6.2Slaves of believing masters should serve them all the more willingly.
70. 6.3False teachers reject Christ's sound words, the gentle teaching of the New Testament.
71. 6.4False teachers are proud word-quibblers, like the Manichaeans setting the Testaments against each other.
72. 6.5False teachers, corrupt in mind, treat religion as a means of gain.
73. 6.6Godliness with a sufficiency set by nature, not luxury, is true gain.
74. 6.7We take nothing from this world, so we should seek riches that last into heaven.
75. 6.8Food and clothing suffice; anything more is wealth.
76. 6.9The desire to be rich is avarice, a snare leading to ruin, as with Ahab.
77. 6.10Greed, the root of evil, must be uprooted; it draws people from faith into anxiety.
78. 6.11The man of God flees greed and pursues the riches of virtue.
79. 6.12Timothy must contend for the faith to death, holding the life he confessed at baptism.
80. 6.13Paul charges Timothy before God the life-giver and Christ, who confessed before Pilate.
81. 6.14Timothy must keep the command until Christ's coming; God alone has immortality, against the Manichaeans, and is seen by each according to his purity.
82. 6.17The rich must not be proud or trust uncertain wealth, but hope in God, who gives to be shared.
83. 6.18The rich should be rich in good works and generous.
84. 6.19Giving all to the poor is the foundation of perfection; Timothy must guard the faith he received.
85. 6.21Heretics, like the serpent, promise knowledge through dialectic and fall from the faith.