Chapter 3 concluded with Paul's purpose for writing to Timothy and a six line presentation of the life of Jesus Christ-
14I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long;
15but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.
16By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness:
He who was revealed in the flesh,
Was vindicated in the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Proclaimed among the nations,
Believed on in the world,
Taken up in glory.
It is key that Paul writes about the church being the pillar and support of the truth, for he continues to write in Chapter 4 about those who "fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons." Essentially, people will fall away by following false teachings.
Where are these false teachings coming from? v1-3 is a little hard to parse out in the NASB due to the long sentence. I will try to diagram it here:
1But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith,
paying attention
to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,
2by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron,
3men who forbid marriage and
advocate abstaining from foods
which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.
People will fall away from the faith because they are following false teaching from "deceitful spirits" and "demons." This sounds otherworldly where we may be thinking that this would never happen to us or in our church, or in a modern day church. People following the teachings of evil spirits and demons? Yet, in the very same breath, Paul puts these men teaching false doctrine and alongside the spirits and demons. Apparently some men were forbidding marriage, which is very odd since God instituted marriage in the very beginning with Adam and Eve!
The false teaching of abstaining from certain foods was a key issue in the early church. The Law had strict guidelines as to what the Israelites were allowed to eat and what not to eat. We see this today in our supermarkets where foods are labeled as kosher. In Acts we see the Gospel going out to the Gentiles and in Acts 9 and 10, God leads Peter through a series of incidences where He shows him the Gospel is now going out to the Gentiles. The most famous incident is in Acts 10:9-19 where Peter falls into a trance and sees a sheet filled with unclean animals descending from the sky. Unclean meaning non-kosher. The Lord commands Peter to kill and eat, but Peter resists, saying that he's never eaten anything unclean. But the Lord says, "What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy." (Acts 10:15) Also see Galatians 2 where Paul mentions this in another context.
While these men weren't teaching something radical such as worshipping Satan, but the false teaching was a teaching of legalism. I won't get into it here, but Paul chastises the Galatians for turning away from a life of grace and liberty in Christ and returning to a life of bondage in the Law from which Christ set us free. This legalistic false teaching can very easily seep into our lives in the way we think and live out or Christian faith.
One thing to note about the false teaching is that it takes what is intended to be good into something a sin. In v3, Paul writes that food and marriage was created by God to be "gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth." Note the end of the verse- "by those who believe and know the truth." This is in direct contrast to the false teachers! Those who believe and know the truth get to enjoy marriage and food while those who believe in the lies are deprived of that enjoyment.
Paul here shows Timothy the strategy to address false teaching which is to point it back to God, the source of truth!
Continuing on, Paul tells Timothy that if he points out these things (the truth vs. the lies), then he "will be a good servant of Christ Jesus." And a good servant of Christ Jesus is "constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following." Timothy, as pastor of the Ephesian church, was to be a man of the Word and sound doctrine, teaching it to his flock.
Additionally, Timothy was to "discipline" himself "for the purpose of godliness... since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." Paul emphasizes the importance of this statement by saying "It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance." (v9)
v10 Paul again presents the gospel in short form- "For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed out hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers."
1 Timothy 4:6-10 are crucial to having a Biblical understanding the life of a pastor and his and the churches goal. According to the Apostle Paul, a pastor is to be a man of God's Word, continually nourising himself on it. (4:6) He is not to have anything to do with "worldy fables" (4:7) The pastor himself is to "discipline" himself "for the purpose of godliness" because godliness holds promise for this life and for the life in heaven. (4:8) And why is the pastor to do all this? For he is to be an example to the believers.
Without 4:10, the preceding verses are just "a good thing" to do. In 4:8 and 10, Paul gives the whole reason for ministry! 4:10-
For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.
Yes, this is the gospel in short form as I mentioned earlier. But here, Paul is giving one of the main reasons for the church ministry- to discipline(train) believers for the purpose of godliness because it "holds promise" in this life and in the afterlife in heaven. Why? v10, because of our hope in God who saved us.
Paul is coming back to what he started with in Chapter 1. Recall 1 Timothy 1:5-
But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith
He continues to urge Timothy through the rest of Chapter 4-
11Prescribe and teach these things.
12Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.
13Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.
14Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery.
15Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all.
16Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.
Paul focuses on what Timothy what must do - "Prescribe and teach these things." Timothy is to keep on prescribing and teaching the truth. Note Paul uses two words here "prescribe" and "teach." Another word for prescribe is command. The Greek word here is "paragello"-
Paraggello:
In effect, Timothy was to prescribe the Word that people would "take the prescription" so to speak. Just as a doctor writing a prescription for the patient, the presumption is that the patient will take the medicine and take it according to the instructions. So Timothy was just not to teach the Word and people could take it or leave it, but he was to charge them with the Word.
In all Timothy did, he was to show himself an example to those who believe- in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity. (4:12)
He was to "give attention to"- (4:13)
- the public reading of Scripture
- to exhortation: "paraklesis"
- teaching
Going on, Paul instructs Timothy to not neglect the spiritual gift in him.
4:15 is very interesting- "Take pains with these things, be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all." These things Paul is instructing Timothy to do are not going to be easy things to do (take pains), yet he is to "be in them" (absorbed in them) to, again, be an example for others.
Finally 4:16, "Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you." Paul was warning against false teaching entering the church and causing believers to fall from the faith. After quickly showing Timothy how to fight lies with the truth from God, he instructs Timothy primarily in what he is to do as a pastor: Teach the Word and be focused on God's Word for himself for the purpose of godliness. Further Timothy, by being immersed in the Word, teaching the Word, nurturing his spiritual gift, being a godly man by example in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity will be an example to his flock and then will ensure the salvation both for himself and for those who hear him(v16).
Paul repeatedly urges Timothy to teach the Word:
v6 "In pointing out these things..."
v11 "Prescribe and teach these things...."
v13 "public reading of Scripture... teaching."
v16 "pay close attention ... to your teaching"
Paul also says twice that Timothy, the pastor, is an example to others...
v12 "show yourself and example..."
v15 "... so that your progress will be evident to all"
Paul's direct instruction to Timothy here is not telling Timothy how he should execute the ministry; i.e. "do this, do that, don't do this, don't do that." Rather Paul's focus is on Timothy, the pastor. The pastor need do only a few things. First is to continually teach the Word to the believers. Second is to be example to the believers of the Word which is alive and at work in him. This is how the gospel message is secured in each persons heart and will not be seduced by false teachings. Lastly note in v16 at the end, that in doing so, Timothy will ensure salvation "for those who hear you." Remember in v1, Paul said the Spirit revealed that in "later times some will fall away from the faith." In v16, Paul has just concluded instructing Timothy in the priorities of a pastor but how to keep people from falling away from the faith.
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