Most of us know what a Butler is. Often called ‘Jeeves’. Like Parker in the Thunderbirds or Lurch in the Addams Family. Or Stevens, played by Anthony Hopkins in the movie, Remains of the Day.
The butler was the head of the domestic staff in a great English house. He was in charge of the pantry, the wine cellar, the dining room and all the male staff. Other names for similar roles are majordomo, steward or the chamberlain. They would manage the household of the rich and powerful, with substantial responsibilities over finance and other servants.
Paul likens himself to the head servant of a great household. He is a bit like a butler serving in a grand mansion in Victorian England. The butler arranges the other servants and their household service. He organizes their work and their quarters and their pay. And under the butler, the work is done in a fitting and orderly way.
Paul is under the command of the Lord Jesus Christ, the master or head of the house. And Paul has a Son. Paul calls Timothy his ‘true’ or ‘legitimate’ child in the faith. Paul has been training Timothy in the family business of the gospel. That is what every father does for his son in the Graeco-Roman world. The father teaches his son his trade, so that the son might continue it.
And there was need in God’s household in Ephesus. Paul left Timothy in Ephesus because it had a particular need. So Timothy is Paul’s delegate in Ephesus. Timothy is head servant there.
And Paul writes with instruction to Timothy his son as to how to do this job. This is what Paul says in chapter 3 verses 14 to 15:
‘Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.’ (1 Timothy 3:14-15 NIV)
Timothy is given the charge. Timothy is entrusted with the care of God’s household in Ephesus[1].
And 1 Timothy is a reminder about how Timothy should administer God’s household. They are words of advice for the management and organization of God’s household. The church is ‘God’s household’, literally ‘the house of God’[2].
In chapter 1 verse 4 speaks of the ‘household administration of God’. In chapter 1 verse 4:
‘These promote controversies rather than God's work [oikonomia theou. literally, the household management or administration of God]-- which is by faith. (1 Timothy 1:4 NIV)’
The word oikonomia[3][4] literally speaks of the management and administration of a household by a steward (called an oikonomos)[5]. If he was a good manager, his management was said to be ‘oikonomikos’, or ‘economical’. Other English versions translate it as ‘administration’ or ‘stewardship’. It has to do with the administration or management of household affairs. That is what 1 Timothy is about: how to organize and manage God’s household.
Now Paul, Timothy and Ephesus had a long history with each other. Paul spent the best part of 3 years with them, and including one uninterrupted period extending over two years. Most of AD 51 to AD 54 he spent in Ephesus, going backwards and forwards to Greece and Syria (Acts 18:19[6] and 19:1ff)[7]. It is possible that the letter was written in the early 50s[8], during this 3 years of ministry[9]. Paul describes the situation during these years in Ephesus as the opening of ‘a great door for effective work’ (1 Corinthians 16:9)
Alternatively, it is possible that Paul wrote the letter after his release from imprisonment in Rome in Acts 28.[10] That is, in the early 60s AD. This is on the supposition that after Paul was arrested and taken to Rome, he was released and resumed his mission, probably visiting Spain, Greece and Crete. It is possible that he hoped also to return to Ephesus.
The problem in Ephesus was false teaching. We see this in 1 Timothy chapter 1 verses 3 to 7.
3As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer 4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God's work [or better, the household law of God]-- which is by faith. 5 The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. 7 They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm. (NIV)
Paul wanted Timothy to stay in Ephesus firstly because he couldn’t be there personally. Paul went to Macedonia, that is Greece. Apparently Paul was needed across the Agean.
But a solution was at hand. Timothy, Paul’s trusted spiritual son and apprentice. Timothy had watched Paul do ministry and suffer. Paul watched Timothy do ministry and suffer. He was tested, trained, and faithful. And now, yet again, Timothy was let loose on the church in Paul’s stead.
This is God’s method of cloning in the church. Training faithful apprentices to continue the job when we cannot be there. Companies do this. They call it succession planning. The early church did it. Paul did it with Timothy and Titus. Timothy and Titus were called to do it in Ephesus and Crete, appointing overseers, elders and deacons. And the church likewise should be proactive, passing the gospel on to faithful men and women who are equipped to teach and minister.
In all of Paul’s letters, Paul only speaks of Timothy with warmth and love Paul describes him as ‘brother’, ‘fellow worker’ (1 Thess 3:2; Romans 16:21; cf 1 Cor 16:10); His ‘beloved and faithful child in the Lord’ (1 Cor 4:17). Most revealingly, to the Philippians Paul says this about Timothy:
20 I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. 21 For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. (Philippians 2:20-22 NIV)
Paul doesn’t have anyone better to give them. The Ephesians got Paul’s best when they got Timothy.
And the Ephesians have real need. For there are false teachers among them.
We can piece together some of the things that they were teaching. Some of the false teaching was a misuse of true things. The false teachers were misusing the Torah, the Old Testament Law of Moses, as good as it was and is. But good things misused can do as much damage as bad things.
And this seems to have been combined with a fascination about myths and endless genealogies (1 Timothy 1:4; 4:7). These were probably Jewish traditions that grew up around the Law of Moses. These were bad in themselves, because apparently they were untrue and unhelpful.
Further, some of their teaching seems to have been ascetic. They forbid people from marrying and ordering them to abstain from certain foods (1 Timothy 4:1-5) Similar problems also seemed to have occurred in Colossae, an inland city of Asia Minor (see Colossians 2:16-23).
And all of it was carried out with a divisive, quarrelsome and controversial spirit (1 Timothy 6:3-5).
Instead of this, Timothy is to teach Christ Jesus. Much positive teaching in this letter is about who Christ is and what he has done. Often this teaching is conveyed in Paul’s trustworthy sayings. Chapter 1 verse 15, the trustworthy saying deserving full acceptance, that ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’. Or the trustworthy saying in chapter 4 verse 10, that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.
In fact, the very first thing Paul says in the letter is that God is our Saviour and Jesus Christ is our hope, who gives us grace, mercy and peace (1 Timothy 1:1-2).
And this theme continues throughout 1 Timothy. Think of chapter 2 verses 3 to 6, that God our Savior wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth, because there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men.
Or the mystery of godliness in chapter 3 verse 16, which is all about Jesus:
He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.
But love does not just mean teaching the truth about Jesus. It also means silencing the false teaching. He must not just speak what is true. He must extinguish what is false. Paul expressly says it is loving to silence the false teachers.
He commands and urges Timothy to command certain men not to teach false doctrine, verse 3. And then he says, verse 5, the goal of this command is love.
So false teaching is profoundly unloving. And it is profoundly loving and sincere and faithful to shut it up and squash it.
And the main false teaching Paul highlights here is a misuse of the law.
Read with me chapter 1 verses 8 to 11:
8 We know that the law is good if one uses it properly [literally, lawfully]. 9 We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for adulterers [literally refers to all sexual immorality] and perverts [literally, men who bed males], for slave traders [those who kidnap people to make them slaves to sell them] and liars and perjurers-- and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine 11 that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me. (1 Timothy 1:8-11 NIV)
The false teachers Paul wants silenced have a Jewish flavor. They want to teach the Torah, the Law of Moses. Yet they don’t understand it properly. So Paul says, it is possible to use the law in an unlawful way.
The first thing Paul says is that the law is good. After all, it came from God, and it told men to live good lives. It is not evil to tell men to be good. It is good. And that is what God did by giving the law.
But secondly, Paul points out that the law was made for the lawbreaker. If you take pride in the law, remember what you are saying. I am a lawbreaker and rebel who needs to be ruled by the law.
We’ve just finished Paul’s letter to the Galatians. And you will recall that Paul said the time of the Law is the time of immaturity. And if you keep in step with the Spirit by loving your neighbor as yourself, you will fulfill the law.
Notice the sins for which the law was given. Paul is pointing out sins that right thinking people wince at. Patricide, Matricide and Homicide Sexual sin, both heterosexual and homosexual. All sex outside of marriage between a husband and wife is included Stealing people to sell as slaves. Perjury and lying. All in breach of the 10 commandments, numbers 5 to 9.
But notice that it is not that the Law is inconsistent with the gospel. The Law condemns sin, just as the gospel does. The Law commands righteous living, just as the gospel does. But the Law did not have power to deal with the penalty and power of sin.
But the gospel does. It deals with the penalty of sin because it tells us that Jesus died as a ransom for all men. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
And it deals with the power of sin. Because Jesus Christ rose from the dead to send his Spirit. And by the Spirit we put to death the acts of the flesh.
So the gospel is not contrary to the law. Rather, they have different functions. The Law saves no-one. It only brings about a consciousness of sin, and condemns. But the gospel saves everyone convicted by the law that they are sinners, yet who believes in the Christ who gave himself as a ransom and was vindicated by the Spirit in his powerful resurrection from the dead. Indeed, Paul will show that he is living proof of this, for he is the worst of sinners.
So what is the church? It is God’s household.
And who are Paul and Timothy? They are father and son stewards of God’s household. They are to manage and administer God’s household economically. They do this by teaching the truth and silencing error. But there will be some other things Timothy must do.
And who is Jesus Christ? He is the Lord and Saviour of the household. He ransomed the household, dying for it. He conquered death for his house, and now he rules it from afar.
And what are the dangers to God’s household? So far, false teachers, who take God’s good law and use it the wrong way. But there are others also. We will come to these as we read through 1 Timothy. But for now, let’s pray.
1Paul, apostle of Christ Jesus, according to the command of God our Saviour and Christ Jesus our hope. 2To Timothy, my legitimate child in [the] faith. Grace, mercy [and] peace from God [the] Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3Just as I beseeched you [s] to remain in Ephesus when I went into Macedonia, so that you [s] might charge certain [men] to not teach different teaching 4nor to enter into myths and endless genealogies, which afford subtle disputes rather than the stewardship/administration of God, the one in/by faith. 5The end of the charge is love out of a clean heart and a good conscience and an unhypocritical faith, 6which some, deviating from the mark, have gone astray into foolish speech. 7Wishing to be teachers of the law, not understanding neither that which they are saying nor concerning what they confidently insist upon.
8Now we know that the law [is] good, if someone might use it lawfully, 9knowing this, that law is not laid down for [the] righteous but [the] lawless and rebellious, ungodly and sinners, [the] unholy and profane, father-killers and mother-killers, murderers, 10fornicators/sexually immoral, men who bed males, those who kidnap people to make them slaves to sell, liars, perjurors/false swearers, and if something is different from the healthful teaching that lies opposite/opposes 11according to the gospel of the glory of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.
[1] Indeed, in Titus 1:7, Paul calls the bishop ‘God’s oikonomos (steward)’.
[2] oi;kw| qeou/
[3] oivkonomi,a, oivkonomi,aj, h` (oivkonome,w), the management of a household or of household affairs; specifically, the management, oversight, administration of others' property; the office of a manager or overseer, stewardship, in Paul, office (duty) entrusted to him by God (the lord and master) of proclaiming to men the blessings of the gospel, the office of administrator (stewardship) intrusted by God, administration, dispensation: Thayer
[4] LSJ derives it etymologically from oikos = house, and nemo = to distribute, manage, pasture.
[5] Also Ephesians 3:2, 9; 1 Cor 9:17; Col 1:25
[6] Paul visited Ephesus in Acts 18:19, but then heads to Syria, not Greece (as suggested in 1 Timothy 1:3)
[7] Schnabel dates Paul’s visits as the late summer of 51AD for some days/weeks, then again in the early summer of 52 AD for 3 months, then the 2 years in Tyrannus’ lecture hall, from 52-54 AD (also 1 Cor 16:), in which several churches were founded, including Laodicea, Heirapolis and Colossae in the Lykos Valley, probably planted by Epaphrus (Col 1:3-8; 4:13). His total time among them was 3 years (Acts 20:31).
[8] This appears to be the opinion of Towner, Timothy & Titus: NICNT, 107
[9] Others Christian missionaries worked there as well during that time, including Priscilla, Aquilla, Apollos, Timothy. See Schnabel, Early Christian Mission, 2:1220
[10] This is the opinion of Mounce and Knight. On his way back to Jerusalem, Paul told the Ephesian elders he would never see them again (Acts 20:25). This, together with the suggestion in 1 Timothy 3:14 and 4:13 that Paul expected to visit Ephesus, provides a difficulty for dating 1 Timothy in the early 60s, after his release from prison in Acts 28. In light of this prophecy in Acts 2:25, 38 that he would not see the elder’s faces again, why then does Paul express an expectation that he would return to Ephesus (1 Timothy 3:14; 4:13), if 1 Timothy is dated after the meeting with the Ephesian Elders in Acts 20? William D Mounce suggests ‘Perhaps Acts 20:25 refers only to the Ephesian elders at the that time and not to the church as a whole’: Pastoral Epistles: WBC, 17. Knight suggests in addition that he visited Timothy in Ephesus or Miletus but only met Timothy and not the elders he spoke to in Acts 20:25, 38. Knight likewise suggests that if he did indeed go to Ephesus, perhaps his premonition was incorrect: G W Knight III, Pastoral Epistles: NIGTC, 71.
[11] gnh,sioj, gnhsia, gnh,sion (by syncope for genhsioj from gi,nomai, ge,nomai (cf. Curtius, sec. 128)), legitimately born, not spurious; genuine, true, sincere: Phil. 4:3; 1 Tim. 1:2; Titus 1:4; to, th/j avga,phj gnh,sion equivalent to th,n gnhsiothta (A. V. (the sincerity): Thayer
[12] avstoce,w, avsto,cw: 1 aorist hvsto,chsa; (to be a;stocoj, from sto,coj a mark), to deviate from, miss (the mark): with the genitive, to deviate from anything, 1 Tim. 1:6: Thayer
[13] evktre,pw: passive (present evktre,pomai); 2 aorist evxetraphn; 2 future evktraph,somai; 1. to turn or twist out; passive in a medical sense, in a figurative sense of the limbs: i[na mh, to, cwlo,n evktraph/|, lest it be wrenched out of (its proper) place, dislocated. 2. to turn off or aside; passive in a middle sense, to turn oneself aside, to be turned aside; (intransitive) to turn aside; with the accusative to turn away from, to shun a thing, to avoid meeting or associating with one: Thayer