1 Timothy 1

1 Timothy 1:1-2

¹Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ according to the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ our hope, ²to Timothy, my true child in faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul greets Timothy as his true child in faith, identifying himself as an apostle by God’s commandment and blessing Timothy with grace, mercy, and peace from the Father and Christ Jesus.

1 Timothy 1:3-7

³As I urged you when I was going into Macedonia, stay at Ephesus that you might command certain men not to teach a different doctrine, ⁴and not to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than God’s stewardship, which is in faith. ⁵But the goal of this command is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith, ⁶from which things some, having missed the mark, have turned away to vain talking, ⁷desiring to be teachers of the law, though they understand neither what they say nor about what they strongly affirm.

Paul urges Timothy to remain at Ephesus to stop different doctrine, myths, and endless genealogies that breed disputes instead of God’s stewardship in faith, aiming at love from a pure heart, good conscience, and sincere faith.

1 Timothy 1:8-11

⁸But we know that the law is good if a person uses it lawfully, ⁹as knowing this, that law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, ¹⁰for the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave-traders, for liars, for perjurers, and for any other thing contrary to the sound doctrine, ¹¹according to the Good News of the glory of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.

The law is good when used lawfully—not for the righteous as a ladder, but to restrain the lawless—and it aligns with sound doctrine according to the gospel of the glory of the blessed God entrusted to Paul.

1 Timothy 1:12-14

¹²I thank him who enabled me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he counted me faithful, appointing me to service, ¹³although I used to be a blasphemer, a persecutor, and insolent. However, I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. ¹⁴The grace of our Lord abounded exceedingly with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

Paul thanks Christ for enabling and appointing him despite his past as blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent man; he obtained mercy in ignorant unbelief, and grace abounded with faith and love in Christ.

1 Timothy 1:15

¹⁵The saying is faithful and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

A faithful saying worthy of all acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—and Paul counts himself foremost among them.

1 Timothy 1:16-17

¹⁶However, for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first, Jesus Christ might display all his patience for an example of those who were going to believe in him for eternal life. ¹⁷Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Paul obtained mercy so Christ might display perfect patience as a pattern for future believers; he then doxologizes the eternal, immortal, invisible King—the only wise God—with forever honor and glory.

1 Timothy 1:18-20

¹⁸I commit this instruction to you, my child Timothy, according to the prophecies which were given to you before, that by them you may wage the good warfare, ¹⁹holding faith and a good conscience, which some having thrust away made a shipwreck concerning the faith, ²⁰of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they might be taught not to blaspheme.

Paul commits the charge to Timothy according to prior prophecies so he may wage good warfare, holding faith and good conscience—unlike Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom Paul delivered to Satan to learn not to blaspheme.

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