New Testament scholar D. A. Carson once reflected on his career teaching seminary students. Here is what he said: “If I have learned anything in 35 or 40 years of teaching, it is that students don’t learn everything I teach them. What they learn is what I am excited about, the kinds of things I emphasize again and again and again and again. That had better be the gospel.”[1]
For Carson, “gospel-centered” is more than a slogan. His life and ministry reflect a dogged commitment to the centrality of the gospel.
And this is not a joyless commitment, but a dogged commitment marked by genuine excitement. Not just excitement, but genuine love.
If you’re excited about something, it’s because something has captured your heart’s affection. Carson is excited about the gospel, because his heart loves the gospel. And he’s been redeemed, transformed, and set free by the gospel.
Carson reminds us that the gospel is always just a few generations away from being lost. It can be lost when you let something at the margins become central. The gospel can be substituted with some other concern or program. The gospel can be distorted or overshadowed.
Or––not as obvious––the gospel can be assumed but not explicitly articulated, and then it’s another generation closer to being lost.
This phenomenon is not unique to our generation but is an ancient concern that goes all the way back to the apostles who wrote the New Testament.
This is the urgent concern that motivates Paul to write his first letter to Timothy.
Today, as a church we are beginning a new series preaching through 1 and 2 Timothy. Since this is the first sermon in a new series, before we turn to our passage in 1 Timothy, let me provide some wider context for us to consider.
Background:
1 Timothy belongs to a sub-genre of the New Testament referred to as the Pastoral Epistles (letter): 1–2 Timothy and Titus.
Paul wrote 13 letters in the New Testament, and ten of these are written to churches (e.g., Rom 1:7; Eph 1:1; Phil 1:1).
The Pastoral Epistles are not written to churches but individuals: Timothy and Titus. In a sense, Paul writes as a mentor to his two young proteges who were helping to plant and establish churches.
In 1 Timothy, Paul writes to Timothy, who he originally met on his missionary journey in Acts (Acts 16).
Timothy needed to know how to deal with the challenge of false teachers and other general church matters––everything from how a church is organized, qualifications for pastors and other leaders in the church, caring for widows, how much to pay a pastor, etc.
Though the Pastoral Epistles are written to individuals, we should not think of them merely as private correspondence. They’re personal letters but not private. The content of the letters has a corporate and public focus.
Paul writes as an apostle. An apostle was an authoritative messenger/herald of the gospel who laid the foundation for the church with Christ as the cornerstone (Eph 2:20). As an apostle, his letters are foundational for the whole church, not simply one particular local church at Ephesus.
As we spend time in these letters, there is going to be a lot of material that is focused on the role of a pastor and pastoral ministry. If you’re not a pastor (which by design is the majority), I want to encourage you not to “check out” as if those instructions don’t really apply to you.
It’s not as if the Pastoral Epistles are applicable only to pastors or those who aspire to become a pastor.
It is good for the whole church to understand what the Bible teaches about the office of pastor, qualifications for church leaders, and other church matters. These are not concerns only for church staff.
Most importantly, these things are important to God, which is why he has graciously given us these instructions in his Word. Christ loves the church, and he wants his church to be healthy.
If you have a Bible, please open it to 1 Timothy 1. Our passage this morning is 1 Tim 1:1–11.
As I began this sermon, from the beginning, the church has faced perennial challenges with various threats to the gospel.
Paul writes to Timothy urgently, because the gospel is under threat.
Love for the gospel results in zealously guarding the gospel.
Why do you guard something? You guard something if it’s valuable, precious, or a treasure.
As I look at my daughter, Alice or my wife Elizabeth––they are precious. My love for them results in zealously protecting them and guarding them.
Paul writes and urges Timothy to zealously guard the gospel. It’s important for us to see that he is motivated to guard the gospel because of his love for the gospel. Love for the gospel results in zealously guarding the gospel.
Eternal life and death is at stake if the gospel is lost.
Listen as I read 1 Tim 1:1–11:
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope:
2 To Timothy, my true son in the faith.
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 As I urged you when I went to Macedonia, remain in Ephesus so that you may instruct certain people not to teach false doctrine 4 or to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies. These promote empty speculations rather than God’s plan, which operates by faith. 5 Now the goal of our instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. 6 Some have departed from these and turned aside to fruitless discussion. 7 They want to be teachers of the law, although they don’t understand what they are saying or what they are insisting on. 8 But we know that the law is good, provided one uses it legitimately. 9 We know that the law is not meant for a righteous person, but for the lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinful, for the unholy and irreverent, for those who kill their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 for the sexually immoral and males who have sex with males, for slave traders, liars, perjurers, and for whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching 11 that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which was entrusted to me.
Exposition:
The main question our passage seeks to answer is how the church should respond when the gospel is threatened from false teaching within.
How should the church respond?
The answer is found in the main idea of our passage: The church must zealously and lovingly guard the gospel God has entrusted to us.
What is the church to do when threatened by any teaching that undermines or distorts the gospel? We must zealously and lovingly guard the gospel that God has entrusted to us.
The sermon has two points that explain how the church guards the gospel.
In short, we guard the gospel by playing defense and offense.
- Guard the gospel by rejecting false teaching that distorts the gospel. (defense)
- Guard the gospel by promoting healthy teaching that conforms to the gospel. (offense)
We guard the gospel by rejecting false teaching and promoting healthy teaching.
- Guard the gospel by rejecting false teaching that distorts the gospel.
We find this in verses 3–7.
Paul wastes no time with the urgency of his charge. He urgently commands Timothy that false teaching must be stopped.
Verse 3: “that you may instruct certain people not to teach false doctrine.”
Timothy cannot let this problem go unaddressed. He must step up and put a stop to it.
What do we know about the nature of the false teaching at Ephesus?
I think it’s notable that Paul does not go into great detail about the precise nature of the false teaching. This is because false teaching is something of perennial significance for the church.
In the Greek, “false doctrine” is one word that means teaching that deviates from a standard.
This shows us that already in the first century there was an orthodox standard of Christian teaching. (orthodox = right teaching).
In The Da Vinci Code’s popular-level theology, there’s this idea that early Christianity had no set standard of teaching, and “orthodoxy” is bad. It’s something that comes way later and is all about political power.
Though it gets a lot of traction in pop culture, these ideas are widely rejected by scholars today. It’s very clear that the early church had an orthodox doctrinal standard.
This was not something that developed in later centuries. Paul already assumes an orthodox standard.
In verse 4, Paul sheds some light on the nature of the false teaching. He urges Timothy “[not] to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies. These promote empty speculations rather than God’s plan, which operates by faith.”
Many scholars suggest that the false teaching at Ephesus was related in some way to Greek thought or early forms of Gnosticism, which was an early church heresy.
I think all of that is highly doubtful because the context of verse 4 is Jewish.
I think that the “myths and genealogies” of vs 4 refer to Jewish speculative interpretations of the Mosaic law and the OT.[2]
Verse 7 emphasizes the Jewish nature of the controversy. “They want to be teachers of the law [The OT/Mosaic Law], although they don’t understand what they are saying or what they are insisting on.”
I think it’s most likely that the “myths and genealogies” refer to a misuse of the OT.
We don’t know exactly what they were teaching, but by emphasizing these genealogies in the OT, they were undermining the heart of the gospel.
That’s what Paul says in the second half of verse 4. Their teaching undermines God’s plan that operates by faith.
Salvation by faith alone is at the heart of the gospel. Think of a passage like Genesis 15:6: “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”
In Romans 4, Paul understands this verse to be teaching justification by faith alone. We are not made right with God through works of the law, but rather through faith in Christ. The promise came through faith.
Here’s what justification by faith means:
God does not accept you on the basis of what you can do for him; he accepts you on the basis of what he has done for you.
By sending his Son to die on the cross for your sins, you can be raised to eternal life with him if you repent of your sins and believe.
Justification—that God accepts you on the basis of what Christ has done––is at the heart of the gospel.
As we read through the NT this year, you can sign up for the daily devotionals to be sent to your email. Everyday, the devo will ask you the same 6 questions. Those questions are designed to help you read, understand, and apply the Bible.
Question 4-5 are about how to apply the passage. Q5 says, “How does the gospel relate to my response?”
That question is designed to point us back to the gospel. Our efforts or response to God never earn God’s favor, but our actions/efforts are always in response to what God has already done for us. That’s how the gospel relates to our response.
This is why Paul’s command to stop the false teaching was so urgent–– the false teaching was undermining the logic of the gospel itself.
People are not saved because of their genealogical descent or which tribe they belong to. They are saved by grace through faith––Jew and Gentile alike.
Paul’s urgent concern for sound doctrine is not because he is interested in policing people’s speech.
That is not his motivation. He tells us his motivation in verse 5: “Now the goal of our instruction [the instruction to put a stop to false teaching] is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.”
This is the heart of our passage.
Paul’s commitment to sound doctrine was motivated by love. Love for God; love for the gospel; and love for people.
The pursuit of truth; the pursuit of sound doctrine must never be divorced from love.
Let me offer some application here.
Do you find that in small group settings or conversations with friends, you have a tendency to police people’s language about doctrine?
Are you more concerned with “getting things right” and winning arguments; or is your goal love?
Yes, sound doctrine matters. Truth matters. But truth absent from love is ruinous to your spiritual health and the spiritual health of others.
Spiritual maturity is not measured by how much you know. The Devil could pass PhD comprehensive exams. He knows the Bible well, but he is a liar and does not know the love of God.
Don’t be like those in verse 7 who want to be perceived as teachers of the law. They want to be known as wise. They want to be viewed as if they know what they’re talking about. That’s prideful and arrogant. That’s the sin of man-pleasing.
If that’s you, then repent of that. Mess up, fess up, and move on and aim at love.
- Guard the gospel by promoting healthy teaching that conforms to the gospel.
If the problem with the false teaching was a misuse of the law, then in verses 8–11, Paul seeks to explain what the proper use of the law is.
He aims to show how the law was designed to point us to Christ.
In verse 8, Paul begins by saying, “we know that the law is good.” Paul is asserting that this is universally agreed upon. The law itself is not the problem.
The problem with the false teachers was that they were using law in the wrong way.
This begs the question: what is the right use of the law? In other words, what is the purpose of the law?
Paul clarifies the purpose of the law in verse 9 when he says that “the law is not meant for a righteous person.”
The righteous are believers: those who have been justified through faith in Christ (Rom 3:24–26).
Remember, in verse 4, Paul reminds us God’s plan operates by faith. Salvation is by grace through faith.
So, if you are justified on the basis of faith in what Christ has done, what is the purpose of the law?
Paul is saying that God did not give us the law as a means for us to achieve a righteous status before God.
The law does not exist so that we can attain righteousness through our white-knuckled commitment to it.
Righteousness is a gift to be received through faith in Christ. There’s nothing you can do to earn it. It’s a gift to be received with thanks.
High schoolers, some of you may be applying for scholarships or thinking about how you’re going to pay for college in the future.
A scholarship is a reward that is given on the basis of merit (good grades, athletic talent, personal character, leadership skills, etc.). And typically, they are given on a condition. In addition to the merit required for the scholarship, you only keep the reward of the scholarship on the condition that you maintain a certain GPA.
You can lose the scholarship by failing to keep the requirements.
But God’s righteousness is not like this. God’s righteousness is not a scholarship that you earn; God’s righteousness is not a reward that God gives on the basis of your merit.
God’s righteousness is a gift that comes through faith in Christ.
When you repent of your sins and believe in Jesus, Christ clothes you with his own righteousness.
If the law is not for the righteous, then who is the law for?
Paul’s answer: sinners.
This echoes Jesus’ statement in Luke 5:32 “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
The purpose of the law is to reveal and restrain sin. The law names sin.
It reveals what sin is, so that sinners might come under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and repent of their sin and find grace, mercy, and forgiveness that is found in Christ, the true righteous one.
Since the purpose of the law is to reveal sin, Paul provides what is known as a “vice list,” or a list highlighting examples of various sins.
Paul does something like this in several of his letters. Let me tell you what this list is not.
This list is not––as secular-minded people would say–– a bigoted rant against sins that Paul does not like.
Paul lists what the law condemns, so that those who are living this way might repent of their sins and receive forgiveness.
And far from being random, the list corresponds to the Ten Commandments
If the false teachers misuse the law, Paul demonstrates how to properly use and understand the law. The proper use of the law is to understand and identify what is sinful.
In verse 9, Paul starts by describing general ungodliness and then he will get more specific.
First, general ungodliness. The law is not for the righteous, but it is for the:
- Lawless and rebellious
- Ungodly and sinful
- Unholy and irreverent
Then, Paul gets more specific, listing examples of sins that directly correspond to the Ten Commandments.
Let me contrast the commandment with Paul’s examples of a violation of the commandment.
The fifth commandment (Exod 20:12): Honor your father and mother.
The violation: Those who kill their fathers and mothers. (The most extreme form of dishonor).
The sixth commandment (Exod 20:13): Do not murder.
The violation: murderers.
The seventh commandment (Exod 20:14): Do not commit adultery.
The violation: for the sexually immoral and males who have sex with males.
Two comments about Paul’s example here.
First, the Greek word for “sexually immoral” is pornos. In our context, we hear that word and think of internet pornography. The Bible unequivocally condemns the evil of pornography.
But it’s important to know that this Greek term is an umbrella term for a wide range of inappropriate sexual behavior.
It refers to any sexual behavior or activity outside of the context of monogamous marriage between one man and one woman.
Marriage is the only legitimate and God-ordained context for sexual activity. Anything else is considered sexually immoral.
Second, Paul gives a more specific example of sexual immorality by saying “males who have sex with males.”
Some people wrongly suggest that Paul only condemns certain forms of homosexual activity. But this is false. The Bible condemns all forms of same-sex sexual activity.
The reason Paul highlights the sin is so that those guilty of it would be drawn to repentance and find redemption in Christ.
This is exactly what Paul describes in 1 Cor 6:11: “And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
God’s design for sex is that it only takes place in the context of marriage between one man and one woman—that’s God’s good and beautiful design for his image bearers. Sexual expression in marriage is designed to picture the union of Christ and the church.
Remember that Paul said his motivation for sound doctrine is love. He doesn’t provide this example of sexual immorality because he is motivated by hate. His goal is love—that sinners would be drawn to repentance and find restoration and redemption in Christ.
The eighth commandment (Exod 20:15): Do not steal.
The violation: for slave traders.
The word for slave traders is literally “man-stealer.” Whether we are talking about 19th Century American slavery or contemporary human trafficking, the Bible condemns it. This is an affront to what it means to be made in the image of God.
The ninth commandment (Exod 20:16): Do not give false testimony against your neighbor.
The violation: liars and perjurers.
Paul concludes the list capping it off with “and for whatever else is contrary” to sound doctrine.
How should we think about this list? Again, this is not a bigoted rant against sins Paul doesn’t like.
The purpose of this list is to show us how the law is designed to expose us in our sin.
The purpose of a list like this is to call sinners to repentance.
The same law that condemns us is designed to lead us to forgiveness and new life in Christ.[3]
Here’s the beautiful gospel reality: At whatever point the law condemns you is the very point at which you can experience forgiveness and new life in Christ, if you repent and believe.
Wherever the law condemns you as a sinner, instead of that being a mark of shame, it can become a testimony of Christ’s redeeming power to save even the uttermost sinners.
“Yes, even me!” God could save even me.
All of us fall short of God’s glory (Rom 3:23). Though apart from Christ, we all stand condemned under the law, Jesus died in our place and was condemned for us so that we can receive forgiveness and everlasting life. (John 3:16).
If you’re not a believer in Jesus, turn from your sin and trust him today.
Sound doctrine is teaching that points us to the gospel of the glory of the blessed God (vs 11).
Here shortly, we are going to celebrate the Lord’s Supper together. This is an expression of how we guard the gospel.
When we partake of the bread and the cup, we remember Christ’s sacrifice and proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes again. We look backwards at what he has done for us in his sacrifice on the cross and we look forward to the day when we will drink it anew with him in heaven.
Let me pray for us and we will continue in worship.
[1] Justin Taylor, “Carson: People Don’t Learn What I Teach Them; They Learn What I’m Excited About,” The Gospel Coalition, 19 Nov 2010, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/carson-people-dont-learn-what-i-teach-them-they-learn-what-im-excited-about/.
[2] Andreas J. Köstenberger, 1–2 Timothy and Titus, Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2020), 69.
[3] Robert W. Yarbrough, The Letters to Timothy and Titus, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2018), 115.