Day 191 – Wednesday, September 24, 2025

One Year Journey Through the New Testament

1 Timothy 1

Welcome to our journey through the New Testament!

Greeting

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope,

² To Timothy, a true son in the faith:

Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. 

(1 Timothy 1:1–2, NKJV)

Points to Ponder:

• Paul opened his letter to Timothy with typical self-identification and a causative statement of his apostleship.
• He addressed the letter to his son in the faith, Timothy.
• He then offers him the typical blessing of grace, mercy, and peace.

No Other Doctrine

³ As I urged you when I went into Macedonia—remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, ⁴ nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith. ⁵ Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, ⁶ from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, ⁷ desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.

⁸ But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, ⁹ knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, ¹⁰ for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, ¹¹ according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust. 

(1 Timothy 1:3–11, NKJV)

Points to Ponder:

• Paul immediately reminded Timothy of his assignment in Ephesus to guard against false teaching and disputes. He reminded him of the need for love, a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith.
• Timothy is deputized to pull the stray believers back from this type of teaching and debate, and to relearn the truth before becoming teachers.
• Paul reminded Timothy of the truth he should teach: the law is only made to identify the lawless and insubordinate, those who commit all types of sins. Anything contrary to sound doctrine falls under judgment by the law.

Glory to God for His Grace

¹² And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, ¹³ although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. ¹⁴ And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. ¹⁶ However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life. ¹⁷ Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. 

(1 Timothy 1:12–17, NKJV)

Points to Ponder:

• Paul reminded Timothy of his great thankfulness that God called him in spite of his sinfulness and adversarial relationship with the church.
• God’s grace is abundant. Jesus came into the earth to save sinners, including him, who is the chief sinner.
• God’s reason for saving Paul was that he might be an example and a witness to all who would believe on Jesus.
• Paul’s honor and glory to God is his way of expressing the thankfulness he had for his own salvation.

Fight the Good Fight

¹⁸ This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, ¹⁹ having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, ²⁰ of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. 

(1 Timothy 1:18–20, NKJV)

Points to Ponder:

• Paul summed up this opening chapter of his letter to Timothy with a charge to his spiritual son to continue to wage war against the enemy.
• He further told Timothy to have a good conscience and continue in faith. He warned of the spiritual shipwreck suffered by some who did forsake the faith, who were destined for a hard lesson leading to restoration.
• Let us be faithful followers of Christ and walk in His ways always. The wreck that waits around the corner of disobedience is treacherous.

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All Scriptures from New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Join us this afternoon at 5:00 pm for a discussion of this chapter live online. Live@5 with Dr. Greg Sloop can be found on Facebook on the Dr. Greg Sloop page or on the Kannapolis Church of God Facebook page or Youtube page. Another blog will be posted each weekday at 6:00 a.m.