1 Timothy: Misusing the Law of the Lord

Today we are beginning a new series for our first sermon period going through the letters of Paul to Timothy and have been excited about getting to preach through these letters because they are letters written to two evangelists working with churches where Paul shares with these two men the kind of things that they need to be teaching to the churches they are working with and how they need to be living their own lives before God. So these are good letters for us to go through together because they will show you what the Apostle Paul expects even of me as I work with you as an evangelist.

I would like to begin in chapter 3 of 1 Timothy. As I did with the book of Philippians, I would like to begin by going to a passage that I believe sums up the main idea that Paul wants to get through in this epistle. What is good about the letter of first Timothy is that Paul tells us exactly why he wrote this epistle. Let’s look at 3:14-15.

14 I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; 15 but 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.

Paul shows a lot of concern for Timothy and for the church in Ephesus in this passage. He was planning to visit Timothy sooner than later, but just in case something got in the way of this happening, Paul wanted to make sure Timothy and the rest of the church through his teaching, would know how to live and act in such a way that reflected what they were created to be… those who stand upon the truth and are held up by it. They needed to be equipped and ready to deal with the problems and issues that face them as members of God’s household; God’s family.

Go ahead and turn to chapter 1 of 1 Timothy. We see right away in chapter 1 that Timothy was dealing with some men in Ephesus that were threatening the church that he needed to deal with. Let’s read verses 3-4 again.

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.

There are at least three places in this epistle that Paul talks about false teachers who were in Ephesus (here in 1:1-11, 4:1-4, and 6:3-5). This seemed to be a problem in every place the truth was being preached at the time of the Apostles (and even today). Wherever you have a place where the Gospel is being taught there would be a place where Satan was at work also, spreading his lies so he can cause trouble to God’s people. This is something that Paul warned the brethren in Ephesus about before. When Paul met with the elders of Ephesus in , he told them, “I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. 32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” Paul says that for three years while he was with these brethren he warned them about false teachers and tried to prepare them for what would come with God’s word. Paul knew that servants of Satan would be coming in to tear away sheep from the flock, and that quite possibly, even some of the elders themselves would be guilty of being the fierce wolves he speaks of. This may be what Timothy is dealing with now as Paul writes to him.

These wolves are coming in. They are teaching some strange doctrines to try to get disciples to follow them, and Timothy may not have been ready. He may not have known how to respond to quite possibly even elders who were leading God’s people astray by strange doctrines. That would be an intimidating situation.... But here is Paul’s instruction to Timothy about how to deal with these false teachers: You don’t have to answer their arguments, just command them to stop! Command them to stop teaching their strange doctrines!” Timothy, as an evangelist who was a representative of the Apostles, was to just command them to stop… to stop teaching these things and to stop giving your hearts to these lies/myths of Satan…

What exactly this teaching was, we do not know for sure. All we know is that their teachings were from the law. We see this in verse 7. They created some kind of speculative, bizarre interpretation of the law using genealogies… It doesn’t really matter what the teaching was. It was not the teachings of the Apostles that were from God. They needed to be commanded to stopped because they were, through their teachings, causing disputes and controversies among the people of God instead of helping them grow in their faith. The strange teachings and the results of their teachings showed that they were not from God and that they were not representatives of the Apostles.

Now let’s read verses 5-7.

5 But the goal of our [e]instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, 7 wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.

Paul speaks of the goal of the teachings of the Apostles here and then compares it to the motivations of the false teachers. Those who are going to teach the people of God, if they have listened to the Apostles of the Lord, they are going to show love, not the motivations that these false teachers are showing. If the teachings of Jesus have impacted you, you are going to show love for God, wanting to please Him first and foremost in what you say. And you also are going to be looking to help others grow spiritually and be right with God and have a sincere love for God and man. But this is not the case with these false teachers in Ephesus. Their motivations are corrupt. Their hearts are not pure. Their consciences are not good. Their faith is not sincere. Their motivations are not to help anyone or to glorify anyone but themselves. Paul says that they have strayed from these things in verse 6. This is evidence that these men were at some point faithful disciples of the Lord. They had at some point had the love that Paul is talking about here, but now they have strayed from it, but why? What would lead them to do this?

I think we see their main motivation in chapter 6. In 6:3-5, Paul says, “3 If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not [d]agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, 4 he is conceited and understands nothing; but he [e]has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that [f]godliness is a means of gain.” Why were these false teachers so into these controversial questions and speculations from the law? For financial gain. They try to get disciples for themselves for money. They use the Word of God to make money, to make merchandise out of people. They twist it and pervert it for their own end.

They try to get a following for themselves and even attack those who God has placed in authority among His people so they can get more people to follow them… and they do it for the money. This is what false teachers like these men do.

Also, we see in verse 7 that these men desired to be teachers of the law. They wanted to be looked at as an authority on the law, and wanted to be followed as such. And in order to do so, they had to teach things that were different and new. Whenever we read in verse 7 that these men “wanted to be teachers of the law”, this doesn’t sound like a bad thing… but it is whenever we consider their motivations behind wanting to be teachers. They don’t want to know the law. They don’t want to know the God who gave the law. They wanted the prestige of being a rabbi or teacher.

Their motivations for followers, honor, and for money are why their hearts are not pure, their consciences are seared, and their faith is hypocritical. They only have a love for themselves and what they can get out of teaching.

Paul tells us another problem with their wanting to be teachers of the law in verse 7: they have no idea what they are even talking about! Paul does not hold back here. He tells it how it is. These men are speaking so confidently and so dogmatically about God’s commandments and law, but they have no idea what they are talking about. They are misusing God’s law. How they were using it showed just how ignorant they were of God’s purposes.

Paul elaborates on this idea in verses 8-10. Let’s read these again:

8 But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers 10 and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, 11 according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.

Paul makes the point that the law is good. It has good purposes, and the misuse of it by the false teachers to bring attention to themselves should not take away from that. The Old Testament law was designed by God to be a good thing. God gave His laws so his people could have practical moral guidance, so they could know Him, and so they could see their need to trust and have faith in Him. He didn’t give His law so one could ignore those things and just dispute about things that are not mentioned in its pages, things that are speculative and fruitless and not helpful to anybody… the law ultimately is to show that we need help because we live in ways that are lawless and disobedient… no matter how good we may think we are, we are in desperate need of God’s mercy through the Messiah that the law and the Prophets ultimately point us to.

We’ll talk more about this passage next week, but in verses 12-17, Paul shows us a correct way to use the law. Paul was confronted with his sin as he was confronted by Jesus on the road to Damascus. He learned that he was not living for God, but instead was a blasphemer, a persecutor of God’s people, and an insolent man… and his understanding of the law taught him that he needed his sins taken away. Without the grace of Christ, he stood before God as the self-proclaimed worst of sinners, but after God’s grace, he was called into service for the growth of others.

The false teachers didn’t see what the law was truly pointing to because they allowed their greed to lead them to fall from their faith in Christ and to misuse the law of God so they could lead others to themselves. So Timothy’s first order of business would be to make sure these men stop what they are doing and that they are called to repentance.

CONCLUDING LESSONS

First, Elders and teachers: take heed lest ye fall… temptations will come to those who preach and teach Gods word and for those who are in leadership among God’s people. Don’t believe that you are immune. Satan will attack you. He will try to get you to have motivations that are wrong and selfish. Be on guard for this and be willing to examine your motivations often for being a teacher of God’s word.

Second, I believe passages like this should lead us to take seriously what James says in , “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a [a]stricter judgment.” We at times may be too quick in encouraging everyone to teach and preach in our sermons and our adult and children’s bible classes when James seems to say the opposite here. When James says, “let not many of you become teachers,” I think he means, “let not many of you become teachers.” But we seem to still encourage everyone to be a teacher. Don’t be so quick to put others into the position where they will bring themselves under stricter judgment. Teaching God’s people is a big deal… And James says that not everyone should do it! Some people cannot handle the temptations that come to those who teach. Teaching should not be something we make people feel obligated to have to do in our assemblies and classes. Souls are at stake when teaching is done with wrong motivations and when the word is misused.

How are we using God’s word? Do we use it to dispute over things that don’t bring growth or fruitfulness to God’s people and to show men their need for faith in Christ? This is not to say that there is not a time to ask challenging questions or to debate things in God’s word. There are some times and places for that. But in general, what do you do more with the word? Is your life characterized as one who uses it to encourage people or to cause division among God’s people?