1 Timoteo 1:3-17

Paul’s Initial Charge To Timothy (1 Timothy 1:3-17 ).

Timothy is first reminded why he is in Ephesus and what his task is.

a He has been called on to charge the church leaders to be faithful to the truth and not to heed false teachers, some of whose teachings are indicated as being connected with ‘fables and endless genealogies which raise questions’ (1 Timothy 1:3-5).

b Paul then gives his verdict on those false teachers. They desire to be ‘Teachers Of The Law’ but in fact lack the understanding necessary for the task with the result that they are going astray along false paths and missing the target (1 Timothy 1:6-7).

c With this in mind he describes the true purpose of the Law and explains Whom it is aimed at. It is for sinners (1 Timothy 1:8-11).

d He then gives thanks for God’s grace and mercy shown towards himself, pointing out that God has appointed him to His service and how as a sinner he had been graciously taken up by His grace in spite of what he had been and fully enabled for the task (1 Timothy 1:12-14).

c This leads him on to describe what the true Gospel is, it is that Christ Jesus to save sinners like himself, for he is the very chief of them (1 Timothy 1:15).

b He then explains that God had raised him up in order that he might be a true illustration of the active grace and longsuffering compassion of Jesus Christ even to the chief of sinners, and thus a pointer given to all who believe in Jesus Christ with eternal life in mind (1 Timothy 1:16).

a He finally closes the section with a paean of praise to the ‘King of the ages’, stressing His ‘otherness’, that is, His unlikeness and utter superiority to anything connected with the world (1 Timothy 1:17).

It will be noted that this follows a kind of chiastic pattern. In ‘a’ he commences with the fantastic speculations of false teachers, and in the parallel reveals what is the real truth about God. In ‘b’ he demonstrates that these false teachers desire to be Teachers of the Law but are going astray, while in the parallel they are in contrast to him, for he has been raised up as a true representation of what the Gospel really is. In ‘c’ he defines the purpose and significance of the Law, and in the parallel he defines the essential foundation of the Gospel. Centrally in ‘d’ he gives thanks for what God had done for him, and explains that he had been appointed by God for His service in spite of what he had been, and that it was through His abundant grace that he had been enabled and made what he was (the Apostle of Jesus Christ).

It will be noted from this analysis that, at least at this point, the main contrast is between false speculations based on the Old Testament (the Law), and the central message of God’s present action in the word through Jesus Christ as the One Who has come to save men from their sins, the one based on men’s interpretations and inventions (fables and genealogies) the other based on the grace and activity of the infinite but historical God, the King of the ages, through Christ Jesus.