Setting the Stage for Ministry in the Local Church
The Apostle Paul opened his first epistle to young pastor Timothy with a typical salutation for the times. The three elements of the greeting were Paul’s identification of himself as the author; Timothy as the addressee; and a blessing. Notably, he got right down to business by verse 3 of chapter 1.
Timothy was employed by the great Apostle to the Gentiles on his second missionary journey to the interior of Asia Minor (Acts 16). Paul traveled there with Silas after the sharp disagreement with Barnabas and John Mark (Acts 15:39–41). Years later, nearing the end of his work and between imprisonments at Rome, Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus through their current pastor, Timothy.
Ephesus was a thriving city just off the coast of the Aegean Sea. It was a significant city in the Roman Empire; and Paul had previously demonstrated its importance to the network of churches by pastoring there himself for three years (Acts 19; 20:31). Timothy, at the time of his receipt of the letter, had been asked by Paul to stay on duty at Ephesus. His primary purpose was to teach the church sound doctrine and refute the false teachers, who rose up from within the congregation. He was also to appoint qualified elders and deacons, who would promote godly conduct (1 Tim 3:1–14).
Paul’s call to the apostolic ministry is called a “commandment of God our Savior” (1 Tim 1:1). One immediately relates the phrase to Paul’s same encouragement to Titus (Titus 1:3). The parallels between the two suggest Paul wrote to both Timothy and Titus at the same time c. 61–63 A.D. Titus was serving the church on the island of Crete.
The hope of every local church is Jesus Christ, our Lord (1 Tim 1:1). Hope transports our thoughts and affections to the future. Hope is dependent upon the trustworthiness of One who is in the position to make promises that He will keep. All of God’s promises are “yes” and “amen” in Christ Jesus (2 Cor 1:20). In telling us the glories of our corporate future, we believe the Word of God. In other words, the body of Christ, in union with her exalted Head (Col 1:18), entrusts herself to His tender care and His promise, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb 13:5).
Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God (Jn 1:14; Heb 4:14) came to save His people from their sins (Mt 1:21). He, along with God the Father and God the Spirit is God our Savior. It is for us to observe how Paul intimately links the Father and the Son in his writing and theology. This is especially true in 1 Timothy 1:1–2.
Grace, mercy, and peace are the chosen elements Paul included in his opening address to Pastor Timothy and the Ephesian church. Grace is God’s work to affect the salvation of His elect people. Mercy is God’s attitude in action toward those sinners He delivers from His righteous wrath. Peace is what God established with His own at the cross of Jesus (Rom 5:1). Our union with Christ is the basis for peace with God. He made that our reality.
Our union with Christ resembles Christ’s union with God the Father. The vitality of the interaction, and together the corporate action, reveals the inseparability between the Persons in purpose and work. The Father is in the Son; and the Son is in the Father. We are in Christ; and Christ is in us by the Spirit.
God granted the Apostle Paul a body of knowledge akin to “the faith.” The revelation of God imparted to Paul (and other prophets and apostles), by Christ, is what makes for sound doctrine. As a father teaches his son how to live in the world and within their family, so Paul discipled Timothy. This is why he called the younger pastor at Ephesus “my true child in the faith” (1 Tim 1:2; see also Titus 1:4).
Timothy left the region of Lystra and Derbe when he was a young man. For years, he was an apprentice to Paul on his missionary journeys, trials, and imprisonments. Timothy worked on the missionary ministry team with Silvanus (Silas). He encountered Gaius, Tychicus, Sopater, Secundus, Trophimus, Apollos, Priscilla, Aquila, Luke, and others who shaped him into the man of God he became by God’s grace.
There is much to learn about the calling and development of the man of God from Paul’s epistles to Timothy and Titus. It behooves those who sense the call to join in the sufferings of Gospel ministers to know these books of the Bible. It is also wise for churches who are searching for a new pastor to study these pastoral epistles, together.
The Word of God, employed by the Spirit of God through the man of God, is powerful to accomplish what concerns Christ’s church. As with the Ephesian heresy, today’s churches are plagued by the intrusion of man-centered theology, works-based religion, the philosophies of men, and whatever else this perverse generation can introduce to the local churches.
1st Timothy is an encouragement to pastors who wish to be found faithful on the Day of Judgment because they were faithful in their days of ministry in this present evil age. It also serves as a warning to those who undermine sound doctrine for the sake of popularity, ill-gotten gain, and sexual immorality at the expense of Christ’s church.
Long before this letter was penned, Paul had warned the elders at Ephesus that false teachers would arise from among them (Acts 20:29–30). The devil, who is the father of lies (Jn 8:44), sends his children into Christ’s church to poison it with destructive heresies. The crux of spiritual warfare is to win the hearts and minds of people to the cause of one kingdom (domain of darkness) or the other (kingdom of God’s beloved Son).
In this first of several short articles, I hope to set the stage for effective pastoral ministry in the context of the local church. Our context will be a local church in great need of revitalization. May God add wisdom and blessing to both pastors and the fellowship of Christ’s beloved.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
October 4, 2023
1 Timothy 1:1–2
Article 1 in the series
