Scripture Reading: 1 Tim. 1:1-17
With this message we begin a series of Life-study Messages on 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. In previous Life-studies we have covered six books written by Paul: Romans, Hebrews, Ephesians, Colossians, Galatians, and Philippians. In these six books the basic and crucial truths concerning Christ and the church are revealed. The other four Epistles written by Paul are 1 and 2 Corinthians and 1 and 2 Thessalonians.
Of the fourteen Epistles written by Paul, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Romans, and Hebrews are very basic and may be regarded as a group. First Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon may also be considered a group. We believe that the arrangement of the books in the New Testament is according to the Lord’s sovereignty. In this sovereign arrangement, the four books of 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon are put together as a group.
Perhaps you are wondering how the other four of Paul’s Epistles — 1 and 2 Corinthians and 1 and 2 Thessalonians — relate to the first two groups of writings. The first group, composed of six books, contains the basic revelation concerning Christ and the church, whereas the second group, composed of four books, deals with God’s economy regarding the church. This group covers the dispensation of God with respect to the church. First and 2 Corinthians strengthen both of these groups of Epistles. In these two books we see some further and richer revelation concerning Christ and the church. On the one hand, in 1 and 2 Corinthians we have further riches of Christ; on the other hand, these books strengthen the economy of God concerning the church. Then what about 1 and 2 Thessalonians? In these Epistles Paul shows us our hope, the hope of glory, that is, the appearing of our dear Lord Jesus Christ.
First Timothy unveils to us God’s dispensation concerning the church. It is not easy to present such a brief yet all-inclusive summary of this book. Only when we dig into the depths of this Epistle do we realize that this is the subject. If we get into the depths of this book, we shall see that it can be summarized as a book which speaks of God’s dispensation, His New Testament economy, concerning the church.
In 1:4 Paul uses the marvelous term “God’s dispensation.” This dispensation is an economical administration. Hence, it refers to God’s economy. God’s economy is revealed in four expressions found in 1 Timothy 3: Great is the mystery of godliness; God was manifested in the flesh; the church is the house of the living God; the church is the pillar and base of the truth. God’s dispensation is related to the great mystery of godliness, to the manifestation of God in the flesh, and to the church as both the house of the living God and the pillar and base of the truth. When God’s dispensation is put together with these four matters, we see that 1 Timothy does in fact reveal God’s economy concerning the church.
The purpose of 2 Timothy is to inoculate the church against the decline. On the one hand, an inoculation is positive; on the other hand, it is negative, for it indicates that we need to be protected from a disease that could kill us. Paul’s purpose in writing 2 Timothy was to inoculate the church against decline, degradation, and deterioration.
The purpose of the book of Titus is to maintain the order of the church. It was written to assure that a local church would have a proper order.
The unveiling of God’s dispensation concerning the church in 1 Timothy, the inoculation against the decline of the church in 2 Timothy, and the maintaining of the order of the church in Titus are three aspects of one purpose: that is, to preserve the church as the proper expression of the Triune God, as symbolized by the golden lampstands in the ultimate portion of the divine revelation (Rev. 1:12, 20). For the accomplishment of this purpose, the following basic and crucial things are stressed repeatedly in these three books:
1) The faith, the contents of the complete gospel according to God’s New Testament economy; hence, it is objective, as mentioned in 1 Tim. 1:19; 2:7; 3:9; 4:1, 6; 5:8; 6:10, 12, 21; 2 Tim. 2:18; 3:8; 4:7; Titus 1:13.
2) The truth, the reality of the contents of the faith, as mentioned in 1 Tim. 2:4, 7; 3:15; 4:3; 6:5; 2 Tim. 2:15, 18, 25; 3:7, 8; 4:4; Titus 1:1, 14.
3) Healthy teaching, in 1 Tim. 1:10; 2 Tim. 4:3; Titus 1:9; 2:1 healthy words, in 1 Tim. 6:3; 2 Tim. 1:13 healthy speech, in Titus 2:8 healthy in the faith and in faith, in Titus 1:13; 2:2. All these are related to the condition of life.
4) Life, the eternal life of God, in 1 Tim. 1:16; 2, 6:12, 19 Timothy 1:1, 10; Titus 1:2; 3:7.
5) Godliness, a living that is the expression of God, as mentioned in 1 Tim. 2:2, 10 (godly); 1 Tim. 3:16; 4:7, 8; 5:4; 6:3, 5, 6, 11; 2 Tim. 3:5, 12 (godly); Titus 1:1; 2:12 (godly). The opposite, ungodliness, is mentioned in 1 Tim. 1:9 (ungodly); 2 Tim. 2:16; Titus 2:12.
6) Faith, our act of believing in the gospel, in God, and in His word and deed; hence, it is subjective, as mentioned in 1 Tim. 1:2, 4, 5, 14, 19; 2:15; 3:13; 4:12; 6:11; 2 Tim. 1:5, 13; 2:22; 3:10, 15; Titus 1:1, 4; 2:2; 3:15.
7) Conscience, the leading part of our spirit, which justifies or condemns our relationships with God and with man, as mentioned in 1 Tim. 1:5, 19; 3:9; 4:2; 2 Tim. 1:3; Titus 1:15.
The faith equals the economy, the household administration, the dispensation, of God. The truth is the contents, the reality, of the faith according to God’s economy. Healthy teachings, healthy words, and healthy speech are the ministry of the truth, ministering to people the reality of the divine truths. Eternal life is the means and power to carry out the divine realities of the faith. Godliness is a living that expresses the divine reality, an expression of God in all His riches. Faith (subjective) is the response to the truth of the faith (objective), receiving and participating in the divine realities. Conscience is a test and check to preserve us in the faith.
Philemon does not seem to be related to 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. According to many Bible teachers, these three books are called pastoral Epistles, books that give instructions on how to pastor, shepherd, a church. Because the term pastoral as applied to these books is too shallow, I prefer not to use it. I admit, however, that there is an element of pastoring, of shepherding, in these books. But it is altogether too superficial to speak of them as pastoral Epistles. If we look into the depths of these books and realize that they speak respectively of God’s dispensation concerning the church, inoculation against the decline of the church, and the maintenance of the order of the church, we shall realize that Philemon should be put together with them.
In Philemon we have an illustration of the believers’ equal status in the new man. Although Philemon was a master, and Onesimus was a slave, they shared an equal status in the new man. As we shall see, Onesimus ran away from his master, but was saved through Paul in prison. Then Paul sent him back to Philemon not as a slave, but as a dear brother in Christ. Therefore, here we see an illustration of the equal status of all believers in the new man. If we put this Epistle together with 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, we shall know how to have a proper local church life.
The title of this message is “God’s Dispensation versus Differing Teachings.” Very few Bible readers have seen this point in chapter one of 1 Timothy. But in this chapter there is the matter that God’s dispensation is versus differing teachings. What is the focus of God’s revelation, the focal point of God’s economy, His dispensation? God’s economy is to dispense Himself in Christ through the Spirit into His chosen people so that they may have the divine life and nature to be Christ’s Body, the new man, the church, to express God in the universe. This is the crucial point.
The problem among Christians throughout the centuries has always been the differing teachings versus God’s revelation. Some may argue that when they teach people to be immersed, they teach according to God’s revelation. Although this may be true, immersion is not the main point of the divine revelation. The crucial point is not related to immersion, to whether we use wine or grape juice at the Lord’s table, or to whether we believe in a rapture that is pretribulation, post-tribulation, or mid-tribulation. Neither is the focal point of God’s economy the huge image in Daniel 2 or the beasts in Revelation 13. How pitiful that Christians have argued over the type of water used in baptism, but have altogether neglected God’s dispensation! It is vital for us to see that God’s economy is God’s dispensing of Himself as the wonderful Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — into His chosen ones so that, having His very life and nature, they may become His many sons, the members of Christ, to manifest Him in the universe. This is the central revelation in the Scriptures; it is what the Bible speaks of as God’s dispensation.
There were some during Paul’s time who were teaching differently, just as there are today. They were teaching things that were versus God’s dispensation. However, Peter, John, James, Paul, and the rest of the apostles preached the same thing — Christ and the church. Although the apostles were many, their ministry was one. We should never think that Peter, John, James, and Paul taught differently from one another. No, they all taught Christ and the church.
In the four Gospels one Person is revealed through four biographies. These biographies are written from different angles, but they do not reveal more than one Person. All four reveal the same Person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Because this wonderful Person has a Body, beginning with Acts and continuing through to the end of the New Testament, we see the Body of this Person. Again I say, all the apostles preached and taught the same thing, Christ and the church.
Because the apostles taught and preached Christ and the church, they all had one ministry. For this reason, Paul could say, “We have this ministry” (2 Cor. 4:1). The apostles were many, but they had received just one ministry. In chapter one of Acts there is a further indication that all the apostles were in one and the same ministry (v. 17). Any so-called ministry that is different from the ministry of Paul and the other apostles is actually not a ministry at all; it is a different teaching. According to the New Testament, the one ministry is to minister Christ to God’s chosen people so that the church may be formed. This is God’s economy, and it is versus all manner of differing teachings. God’s economy certainly is not a matter of head covering, foot-washing, and regulations about eating or the keeping of days. God’s dispensation is versus these differing teachings.
Paul opens 1 Timothy with the words, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, according to the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope.” It was according to the command of God and of Christ that Paul became an apostle. In his earlier Epistles, he told us that he was an apostle through the will of God (1 Cor. 1:1; 2 Cor. 1:1; Eph. 1:1; Col. 1:1). The command of God is a definite expression, a further direction, of the will of God.
God our Savior (1 Tim. 1:1; 4:10; Titus 2:13) and our Savior God (1 Tim. 2:3; Titus 1:3; 2:10; 3:4) are titles particularly ascribed to God in these three books, which take God’s salvation as a strong base for the teachings concerning God’s New Testament economy (1:15-16; 2:4-6; 2 Tim. 1:9-10; 2:10; 3:15; Titus 2:14; 3:5-7). It was according to the command of such a saving God, a Savior God, not according to the command of the law-giving God, a demanding God, that Paul became an apostle.
In 1:1 Paul speaks of “Christ Jesus our hope.” Christ Jesus is not only God’s Anointed (Christ) to be our Savior (Jesus) that we may be saved to gain the eternal life of God, but also our hope to bring us into the full blessing and enjoyment of this eternal life. The hope of eternal life revealed in Titus 1:2 as the base and condition of Paul’s apostleship, and the blessed hope revealed in Titus 2:13, which is the appearing we are waiting for of the glory of the great God and our Savior, are all wrapped up with the Person of God’s Messiah, our Savior. Hence, He Himself is our hope, the hope of glory (Col. 1:27). It was according to the command not only of our Savior God, but also of the One Who has saved us with eternal life and will bring us into the glory of this life, that Paul became an apostle. His command is of the eternal life and is to be fulfilled by the eternal life, in contrast to the command of the law-giving God, which was of letters and which was to be fulfilled by human effort, without the supply of eternal life.
In verse 2 Paul continues his word of introduction: “To Timothy, genuine child in faith: grace, mercy, peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.” In Greek the name Timothy is timotheos, composed of time, meaning honor, and theos, meaning God. Thus, it means to honor God. Timothy became a genuine child of Paul, not by natural birth, but in faith, that is, in the sphere and element of faith; not naturally, but spiritually.
In verse 3 Paul says, “Even as I urged you, when I was going into Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus in order that you might charge certain ones not to teach differently.” Paul’s word about “going into Macedonia” must refer to his travels after his liberation from the first imprisonment in Rome. Probably he wrote this Epistle from Macedonia, which is made up of what is today northern Greece and southern Bulgaria.
In verse 3 Paul refers to “certain ones.” These were dissenting ones, as mentioned in verse 6 and in Galatians 1:7; 2:12.
To teach differently was to teach myths, unending genealogies (v. 4), and the law (vv. 7-8), all of which were vain talking (v. 6) and differed from the apostles’ teaching centered upon Christ and the church.
Paul’s Epistles are the completion of the divine revelation concerning God’s eternal purpose and economy (Col. 1:25). His ministry completes the revelation concerning the all-inclusive Christ and His universal Body, the church as His fullness to express Him. Concerning the church as the Body of Christ, there are two sides: life and practice. From Romans through 2 Thessalonians, a full revelation is given concerning the life of the church, including its nature, responsibility, and function. Now, from 1 Timothy through Philemon, a detailed revelation concerning the practice of the church is presented. This pertains to the administration and shepherding of a local church. For this the first thing needed is to terminate the differing teachings of the dissenters, which distract the saints from the central line and ultimate goal of God’s New Testament economy (vv. 4-6). The differing teachings in 1:3-4, 6-7; 6:3-5, 20-21, and the heresies in 4:1-3, are the seed, the source, of the church’s decline, degradation, and deterioration dealt with in the second book.
In verse 4 Paul continues, “Nor to occupy themselves with myths and unending genealogies, which give occasion for questionings rather than God’s dispensation which is in faith.” The Greek word rendered “myths” in this verse is muthos. The same word is translated tales in 4:7 and fables in 2 Timothy 4:4. It refers to words, speeches, and conversations concerning such things as rumors, reports, stories (true or false), and fictions. It might include Jewish stories of miracles and rabbinical fabrications. They were the profane and old-womanish tales (4:7) and Jewish myths (Titus 1:14). The Jewish myths may have been the seed of Gnostic mythologies.
The “unending genealogies” mentioned in this verse probably refer to Old Testament genealogies adorned with fables (Titus 3:9).
The myths and unending genealogies give occasion for questionings and vain talking rather than God’s dispensation.
The myths and the unending genealogies give rise to vain talking and cause people to misaim from the goal of the charge of love. In verses 5 and 6 Paul says, “But the goal of the charge is love out of a pure heart, and a good conscience, and unfeigned faith; from which things some, having misaimed, have turned aside to vain talking.” The charge in verse 5 refers to the charge mentioned in verse 3. The differing teachings of the dissenting ones in verse 3 caused envy and discord among the believers. Such envy and discord were contrary to love, the goal of the apostle’s charge. To carry out the apostle’s charge, love, which is out of a pure heart, a good conscience, and unfeigned faith, is needed.
A pure heart is a single heart without mixture, seeking the Lord only and taking the Lord as the unique goal. A good conscience is a conscience without offense (Acts 24:16). Unfeigned faith, connected with faith in verse 4, is faith without pretense or hypocrisy, that purifies the heart (Acts 15:9) and works through love (Gal. 5:6). In order to deal with the differing teachings when the trend of the church is toward decline, all these attributes are required. They are necessary if we are to have a pure, true, and genuine love.
In verse 7 Paul refers to law teachers: “Desiring to be law teachers, understanding neither what they are saying, nor concerning what they confidently affirm.” Law teachers, teaching people what to do and what not to do, are different from the minister of Christ (4:6), who ministers His riches to others. According to this verse, those who desire to be law teachers confidently affirm certain things. The Greek for confidently can also be rendered strongly or emphatically. The same word is used in Titus 3:8.
According to verses 8 through 10, the law is good if used lawfully. Paul says that the “law is not enacted for a righteous man, but for the lawless and unruly, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for smiters of fathers and smiters of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, homosexuals, kidnappers, liars, perjurers, and if there be any other thing opposed to healthy teaching.”
The words “healthy teaching” imply the matter of life. Anything that is healthy refers to the health of life. The sound teaching of the apostles, which is according to the gospel of the glory of God, ministers healthy teaching as the supply of life to people, either nourishing them or healing them. In contrast, the differing teachings of the dissenting ones in verse 3 sow the seeds of death and poison into others. Any teaching that distracts people from the center and goal of God’s New Testament economy is not healthy.
In Greek the words “God’s dispensation” in 1:4 also mean God’s household economy (Eph. 1:10; 3:9). This is God’s household administration to dispense Himself in Christ into His chosen people, that He may have a house, a household, to express Himself, which household is the church, the Body of Christ (1 Tim. 3:15). The apostle’s ministry was centered upon this economy of God (Col. 1:25; 1 Cor. 9:17), whereas the differing teachings of the dissenting ones were used by God’s enemy to distract His people from this. This divine economy must be made fully clear to the saints in the administration and shepherding of a local church.
My burden is altogether centered on God’s economy. This has been my burden for more than forty years. During the years I have been in this country, I have not taught anything other than God’s dispensation.
God’s dispensation is His household economy. According to the Bible, God does not first want to have a kingdom. Rather, He first wants a house, a family. Once He has a family, His family will spontaneously become His kingdom. If He is not able to secure a family, a household, a house, He will not be able to have a kingdom. Thus, God’s dispensation is first a matter of His household economy, or family economy.
Second, God’s dispensation is His household administration to dispense Himself in Christ into His chosen people that He might have a house, a household, the church, the Body of Christ, to express Himself.
God’s dispensation was the focus of the Apostle Paul’s ministry (Col. 1:25; 1 Cor. 9:17).
In verse 4 Paul tells us that God’s dispensation is in faith. The dispensing of God into us is altogether by faith. The dispensation of God is a matter in faith, that is, in the sphere and element of faith, in God through Christ. Faith may be in contrast to questionings. God’s economy to dispense Himself into His chosen people is not in the natural realm, nor in the work of law, but in the spiritual sphere of the new creation through regeneration by faith in Christ (Gal. 3:23-26). By faith we are born of God to be His sons, partaking of His life and nature to express Him. By faith we are put into Christ to become the members of His Body, sharing all that He is for His expression. This is God’s dispensation according to His New Testament economy, carried out in faith.
We need to be deeply impressed with the meaning of faith in the New Testament. We have spoken much about this in our Life-studies of Romans, Hebrews, and Galatians. Faith is firstly God being the Word spoken to us. We have God and then God as the Word spoken. Through the Word of God and by the Spirit of God we are infused with God in Christ. As a result, something rises up within us. This is faith. Faith then works in us to bring us into an organic union with the Triune God. Through this organic union, God is continually transfused and infused into us. As a result, we have the divine life and the divine nature to become God’s sons, members of Christ, and parts of the new man. As a totality we become the house of God, the Body of Christ, and the new man. This is God’s dispensation in faith.
God’s dispensation is “according to the gospel of the glory of the blessed God” (v. 11). Have you heard this expression before? Many have heard of the gospel of grace, the gospel of forgiveness, the gospel of justification, and the gospel of regeneration, but not the gospel of glory. This gospel not only brings good news concerning forgiveness of sins and justification by faith; the gospel of glory is the gospel of God’s dispensation. Glory is God expressed. Thus, the gospel of glory is the gospel of the expressed God; it is a gospel which expresses God’s glory.
The “gospel of the glory of the blessed God” is an excellent expression. It refers to God’s dispensation mentioned in verse 4. The gospel with which Paul was entrusted is the effulgence of the glory of the blessed God. This gospel, by dispensing God’s life and nature in Christ into His chosen people, shines forth His glory, in which He is blessed among His people. This is the commission and ministry the apostle received of the Lord (v. 12). This should be commonly taught and preached in a local church.
In verse 12 Paul says, “I give thanks to Him Who empowers me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because He has counted me faithful, appointing me to the ministry.” The Lord not only appointed the apostle to the ministry and commissioned him with the dispensation of God outwardly, but also empowered him inwardly to carry out His ministry and fulfill His commission. This is altogether a matter of life in the Spirit.
In 1:13-17 we see a pattern under God’s dispensation.
Paul says that he was a foremost sinner (vv. 15-16). He was a blasphemer of God, a persecutor of man, and an insulting, destructive person with respect to the church. In verse 13 he says of himself, “Who formerly was a blasphemer and a persecutor and an insulting destructive person; but I obtained mercy because being ignorant I acted in unbelief.” A blasphemer is one who blasphemes God, and a persecutor is one who persecutes man. Saul of Tarsus, a strict Pharisee (Acts 22:3; Phil. 3:4-5), could never have blasphemed God. But he had spoken evil of the Lord Jesus. Now he confesses that this was blaspheming. This indicates that he believed in the deity of Christ.
Saul of Tarsus persecuted the church in an insulting, destructive way (Acts 22:4; Gal. 1:13, 23), just as the insulting Jews persecuted the Lord Jesus.
Paul also says that he was ignorant and acted in unbelief. To be ignorant means to be in darkness, and unbelief comes from blindness. Saul of Tarsus was in darkness and acted in blindness when he opposed God’s New Testament economy.
In verse 13 Paul testifies that he obtained mercy. Saul, a blasphemer and persecutor, first obtained mercy and then received grace (v. 14). Mercy reaches farther to the unworthy one than grace. Because Paul was a blasphemer of God and a persecutor of man, God’s mercy reached him first rather than the Lord’s grace.
Verse 14 continues, “And the grace of our Lord superabounded with faith and love in Christ Jesus.” The Lord’s grace, following God’s mercy, visited Saul of Tarsus and not only abounded, but superabounded in him with faith and love in Christ. Faith and love are the product of the Lord’s grace. Mercy and grace come to us from the Lord; faith and love return to the Lord from us. This is a spiritual traffic between the Lord and us. Faith is for us to receive the Lord (John 1:12), and love is for us to enjoy the Lord whom we have received (John 14:21, 23; 21:15-17).
In verse 15 Paul declares, “Faithful is the word and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” Christ came into the world to be our Savior by incarnation (John 1:14). He was God incarnated that He may save us through His death and resurrection in His human body. This should be constantly announced as the gospel, the glad tidings, in a local church.
In verse 16 Paul speaks of believing on Christ unto eternal life. The uncreated life of God is the ultimate gift and topmost blessing given by God to those who believe on Christ.
In verse 16 Paul says, “But because of this I obtained mercy, that in me, the foremost, Jesus Christ might display all His longsuffering for a pattern to them who are about to believe on Him unto eternal life.” Saul of Tarsus as the foremost among sinners became a pattern to sinners, who can be visited by God’s mercy and saved by the Lord’s grace.
In verse 17 Paul says, “Now to the King of the ages, incorruptible, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory unto the ages of the ages, Amen!” This word needs to be understood in relation to the decline of the church. When Paul was in prison, the churches began to decline, and the situation was very disappointing. Many were discouraged. Even some of Paul’s co-workers left him. But he had a strong faith with an absolute assurance that the very God in whom he believed, the One who had entrusted him with the gospel of glory, is the King of the ages. He never changes. No earthly king can be called the King of the ages. Caesar was a temporary ruler, but how different is our God! The God whom Paul served truly is the King of the ages. This means that He is King of eternity. He never changes; He always remains the same.
Everything except God is corruptible. The church may decline, deteriorate, and become degraded, but God is incorruptible. Paul also says that God is invisible. God is powerful, everlasting, incorruptible, and also invisible. We cannot see Him. Certain terms ascribed to God in this verse are used only in this book. With Paul, we need to use these words to praise God. I would encourage someone to write a suitable melody for the singing of this verse. In a living, released way, we need to declare, “Now to the King of the ages, incorruptible, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory unto the ages of the ages, Amen!”
