Episode 16: 1 Timothy. The Importance of Christian Doctrine. Bible overview Part 14.
Paul was thankful to God that God had entrusted to Paul the opportunity and the mission to be an apostle for God. Paul remembered his past in which he had sinned against God by persecuting believers in Jesus. He did this in ignorance. He thought he was pleasing God. Yet God in his mercy appeared to Paul. Jesus after his resurrection from the dead appeared to Paul the apostle while Paul was still an unbeliever and a persecutor of the church. God called Paul to be an apostle to the Gentiles and to share with them the Gospel (“Good News”) that Jesus had died for their sins and that God had raised Jesus from the dead. Paul realized that he had sinned against God and was unworthy of God’s mercy and forgiveness. All Christians should remember that they too have sinned and it is only by God’s grace that God forgave them.
Paul had shared God’s Good News to Christians in Ephesus. Timothy had accompanied Paul on his ministry to the Ephesians. When Paul first met Timothy, Timothy was already a believer in Jesus. Paul mentored Timothy and Timothy had became like a son to him in the Christian faith. Timothy was of great assistance to Paul in sharing God’s Good News to the Gentiles. Paul had to leave Ephesus and go to Macedonia. He left Timothy behind in Ephesus to strengthen the Christians in Ephesus.
God variously gifts believers in Jesus to serve the needs of the church which is the Christian community. Timothy was gifted with preaching, teaching, leading, and assisting Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles. Timothy was younger than Paul and was possibly looked down on as a teacher by some Christians because of his youth. Timothy evidently also had reoccurring health problems.
Paul reminded Timothy of the importance of preaching, and teaching. Doctrine was very important to Paul. Doctrine means teaching. When Jesus gave the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20, he commanded his disciples to make disciples. Disciples are students. A fundamental part of discipleship as per Jesus was to teach his disciples to obey all that Christ commanded. Paul too was concerned about doctrine. When the church fails to focus on doctrine (the teaching of the Bible) then Christians become vulnerable to false teaching. Paul urged Timothy not to neglect the reading of God’s Word in the church. Paul urged Timothy not to neglect being nourished in the words of the faith.
Timothy had to be a good student of God’s word, including the teaching of Paul the apostle, if he was first to live the Christian life that God expects and secondly if he was going to have something valuable to share with other Christians.
Besides reading God’s Word in the church, Paul encouraged Timothy to give attention to exhortation. Christians need to be encouraged to continue to obey God and to grow as Christians. Further Paul encouraged Timothy to give attention to teaching. One of the important functions of the church is to teach the Word of God. Paul instructed Timothy to exercise the spiritual gift God had given him. All believers receive a spiritual gift from God and are to use that gift to build up and strengthen other Christians. Timothy is to do this with diligence. Just as an athlete exercises to build up his physical body, Christians are to exercise their character in godliness. Not all Christians will stay true to God to the end. That is why Christian teaching is so important to help Christians stay on God’s path. In 1 Timothy, Paul addresses the importance of true Christian doctrine.