Paul's Previous Charge to Timothy
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the command of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ our hope, The Father saves, the Son is our hope, and they chose Paul together—I wonder what the implications are.
2 to Timothy, true son in faith: Grace, mercy, peace from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 You recall that I urged you to remain in Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, in order that you should command certain persons to stop teaching a different doctrine
4 and occupying themselves with myths and endless genealogies, This sounds like Gnosticism. which cause disputes rather than the godly edification which is by faith.
5 Now the goal of that command is love, out of a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith; This is a beautiful picture, surely: a love that emanates from pure heart, good conscience and sincere faith will probably be quite similar to God’s love.
6 some having strayed from these have been turned aside The verb is in the passive voice; once they strayed they came under outside influence (see Eph. 2:2). to empty talk,
7 desiring to be teachers of the law, not understanding either what they say or the things that they affirm. This is typical of people whose ambition exceeds their mental ability—they end up faking it.
8 Now we know that the law is good if one uses it correctly,
9 knowing that law is not made for a righteous person but for lawless and rebellious ones, for ungodly and sinners, for unholy and profane, for patricides and matricides, for murderers,
10 for fornicators, for sodomites, The reference is specifically to those who play the role of the male in homosexual intercourse, as distinct from catamites (1 Cor. 6:9), who play the role of the female. From the Creator’s point of view both are unacceptable forms of human behavior. for kidnappers, Or, ‘slave-dealers’. for liars, for perjurers, and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine
11 as defined by the Gospel Notice that law is supposed to be based on God’s Word. Only the Creator is competent to legislate morality. of the glory The Gospel reflects God’s glory. of the blessed God, with which I was entrusted.
12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who enables me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into a ministry;
13 I, who was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and arrogant; but I was shown mercy, because being ignorant Paul was highly instructed in the Jewish religion, but was ignorant where it really mattered. I did it in unbelief;
14 the grace of our Lord overflowed, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. I take it that Paul is saying that he received an outpouring of faith and love, as well as grace.
15 Here is a trustworthy word, worthy of total acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am chief;
16 precisely for this reason I was shown mercy, that in me, the ‘chief’, Jesus Christ might display all his forbearance, as an example for those who are going to rely on Him into eternal life. If God could save Paul, He can save anybody—there is hope for any sinner; which calls for a doxology (next verse).
17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, Most modern versions, following 2% of the Greek manuscripts (of dubious quality), omit ‘wise’, leaving ‘the only God’. be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
First Charge: War a Good Warfare
18 Son Timothy, I am giving you this charge in accordance with the prophecies about you that lead the way, ‘Lead the way’ is in the present tense, and so does not refer to the past. Evidently those prophesies were of such a nature that they gave direction to Timothy’s ministry. that in them you may wage the good warfare,
19 holding on to faith and a good conscience When a person starts faking it he rejects a good conscience. (which some having rejected have suffered shipwreck concerning the faith;
20 of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander—whom I have handed over to Satan that they may be taught The verb here is in the passive voice, which makes Satan the teacher! But I wonder how this works—if you are under Satan’s tutelage, what are your chances? Unless it be that Paul isn’t talking about recovering them, but making them see the extent of their stupidity. not to blaspheme).