1 Timothy 1:18-20: Paul’s Charge to Timothy
2021-08-31
1 Timothy 1:18
Timothy is in Ephesus to solidify the church and to bring it to maturity. Paul wrote this letter to show him how to do that. The mentor Paul charged his protégé Timothy to “war a good warfare” (1 Timothy 1:18). His leadership in the church as Ephesus put him in the middle of a spiritual battle. Elders and deacons needed to be appointed and people needed to be discipled. The new leadership will ultimately replace Timothy. Surely, this activity has drawn the attention to the forces of darkness. To do anything for the Lord, it will be met with fierce resistance. This type of warfare should remind us of Ephesians 6:10-20 and the type of armor used. This charge was “according to the prophecies which went before on thee” (1 Timothy 1:18). Timothy sat under much preaching and exhortation that would have instructed him in these matters at length.
1 Timothy 1:19-20
There are two aspects of the Spirit to notice here: faith and a good conscience. This is the second time we see the phrase “good conscience” in this chapter. Faith in the finished in work of Christ brings about a good conscience. Remember this instruction: “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:22). The corollary is that living without faith and a life of sin, there no longer is any good conscience. These are they “which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck” (1 Timothy 1:19). Two men are called out publicly for this sin: Hymenaeus and Alexander. What exactly were they doing?
It appears these men either had no conscience toward sin, or they disregarded their conscience. We can know that they had “put away” faith and a good conscience, so this is something they purposefully did. It was also deemed blasphemy (1 Timothy 1:20). We could debate whether these people were really saved or not, but it is rather unimportant. They were “delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme” (1 Timothy 1:20). Considering 1 Corinthians 5:5, we see this person there was probably unsaved and one should “deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” (cf. 1 Corinthians 5:13). The reality is that unrepentant, intentional sin results in being cast out of the church. This is not done in malice, but rather that the sinner will be “be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”