Handed Over to Satan? (1 Tim. 1:19-20)

"having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme." (v. 19-20)

After Paul charges Timothy to "fight the good fight" of faith, he states that one fights this battle by having faith and having a good conscience. Interestingly enough, Paul uses these same two words in verse 5 when he states that the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, good conscience and a sincere faith.

Evidently, Hymenaeus and Alexander did not have a pure heart, a good conscience, or a sincere faith. Since these attributes can only be exhibited by believers who are being controlled by the Holy Spirit, we can conclude that either, (1) these men were not believers but thought they were or tried to disguise that they were, or (2) they had fallen away for a season of their lives.

Either way, Paul, somewhat shockingly, states that these men have suffered spiritual shipwreck, and therefore, he has handed them over to Satan because of their blasphemy. What does this mean?

Judging by Scripture's explanation of how church discipline should be carried out, I'm assuming that these men had been accosted previously by Paul, and were unrepentant. The only time Scripture even comes close to instructing in handing believers over to Satan is when Jesus remarks that if a brother refuses to listen, "let him be like a heathen." In other words, let him go his own way, or as Paul states, "hand over to Satan."

What is the reason for this treatment? If Hymanaeus and Alexander are truly believers and ministers of the Gospel, they will repent and rejoin the flock. Sometimes standing up for the faith involves making decisions that may shock or irritate people. However, in the long run it may be the most loving act you can do for both the church and the unrepentant brother who needs to be desperately reconciled to Christ.

Fight the Good Fight - (1 Tim. 1:18)

"This charge I commit to you , son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare." (v.18)

In the rest of this letter (after the next two verses) Paul proceeds to instruct Timothy on how to "wage the good warfare." The NLT translates this phrase, "fight well in the Lord's battles." The NIV says to, "fight the good fight."

No matter which translation you may prefer, the point of Paul's urging remains: Christian ministry is a battle. What is it a battle against? It's a battle against those who:

a) teach other doctrine (v.4, 11), and,

b) stray from keeping Christ the "main thing" (v.5-7)

Together, denying doctrine and denying Christ will be what leads a church astray. No doubt these types of fallouts happen in many churches. Paul knew this would happen and had seen it happen and spends the rest of the letter preparing Timothy on how to keep this from happening. More on this soon...

God - Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, Wise (1 Tim. 1:17)

"Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." (v. 17)

Paul ends verses 12-17 with a doxology of sorts as he describes who God is. Many people ask questions such as, "What is God like?" Thankfully, Scripture gives us clues as to who God is. In verse 17, Paul reveals four attributes of God:

1) He is eternal - The question, "Who made God?" is nonsensical (or nonsense) because only finite and mortal beings are created. God is eternal, or infinite, thus meaning He has no beginning and no end. Therefore, to ask who made him is similar to asking, "What does the color blue taste like?" It is an impossible question to answer, because God exists outside the realm of finite creations. God is eternal.

2) He is immortal - God is immortal, meaning he can never be killed (despite Friedrich Nietzsche's claim that, "God is dead and we killed him"). We can take comfort in the fact that God has always and will always exist.

3) He is invisible - Some people claim that when we get to Heaven we will see God face-to-face. Biblically, they do not have warrant for this statement, because Scripture tells us that God is invisible. He is a Spirit that transcends space and time and cannot be beheld. However, Jesus Christ, is God in human form. What a wonderful day it will be when we see Jesus face-to-face. God the Father, however, is invisible

4) He is only wise - Finally, Paul states that God alone is wise. He is the only one who has perfect knowledge and perfect wisdom. He is the only God and the only one that is worthy to be praised.

For these four attributes, we are to give him alone all honor and glory forever and ever.

The Pattern of Paul (1 Tim. 1:16)

"However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life." (v.16)

One of the reasons that Paul was called to be an apostle was so that Jesus Christ could use him as a pattern of how the Christian life should be lived. Paul, who many scholars say may be only second to Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, in being one of the smartest people to have ever lived, was at the top of his class at Pharisee school. He would have been giving the valedictorian speech which I'm sure would be filled with why Christianity needs to be snuffed out. He had a tremendous zeal for Judaism (he murdered and tortured Christians) to match his superior intellect. In fact, this zeal is one of the reasons, I believe, that God picked Paul to be the apostle to the nations. God knew that if Paul was a Christian he would be perhaps the greatest evangelist to have ever lived. Paul pretty much did just that. He spread the gospel all over the Middle East, Asia and parts of Europe. His goal was to go to Spain! God knew that Paul would take His name to the nations so that other people may have a chance to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

However, God also chose Paul as a pattern of suffering. Paul suffered as much as any of the followers of Christ. Listen to his second letter to the church at Corinth:

"Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches." (9:24-28)

A lot of times when we try to share Christ with people, we leave out the cost of the calling. To follow Christ, and to follow him well will equal persecution. Because we have freedom of religion in America, we may not be persecuted as Paul was persecuted. However, we will be labeled intolerant, bigoted, unloving, backwards, old-fashioned, weird, stupid, poor, and even crazy.

Are you suffering-long? Is the pattern of Paul being duplicated in your life? I suspect it is not and I can't say that it is in my life. However, if we are following Christ, we should experience some friction from this world. And suffering is good:

"More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (Romans 5:3-5)

Sufferings lead to endurance. Endurances produces character. Character produces hope (a bedrock faith). And our faith does not put us to shame because we have the love of God, his Holy Spirit in our hearts. Amen!

The Greatest Gift (1 Timothy 1:14)

"And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love with are in Christ Jesus." (v. 14) NKJV

After explaining how he was formerly a persecutor of Christians and a blasphemer of Christ, Paul states that he obtained mercy from Jesus on account of his actions occurring in ignorance and unbelief. Likewise, before we come to know Christ as our Lord and Savior, we live our lives in ignorance and unbelief.

However, as Paul says, the grace of our Lord is exceedingly abundant. The NLT says, "Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus."

Indeed, how generous and gracious our Lord was. We were lost sinners living selfish lives, not knowing any difference because of the power of sin over us. However, because of the Lord's glorious and generous mercy and grace He has filled every believer with faith and love that only comes from Christ Jesus. The Lord seeks us and we choose to reject or accept his love. Being with Him in eternity will be the greatest love and goodness we could ever experience but being apart from Him in eternity will the greatest evil that we could ever experience. What a wonderful God we serve that keeps seeking his sinful and rebellious creation! Thanks be to God for the greatest gift we could ever receive - eternal life through repentance of sin and faith that Jesus Christ is Lord.

The Glory of God's Grace (1 Tim. 1:12-13)

"And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief." (1 Tim. 1:12-13)

After opening with a section on the importance of adhering to sound doctrine, Paul embarks on a praise thanking God for his mercy and grace. Paul first thanks Jesus, his Lord, who has enabled and given Paul the strength to do ministry. Indeed, there are times in a minister's life when he knows full well that God is enabling him to do what needs to be done. Paul knows this too well. For reasons that Paul did not deserve or understand, (as he mentions in the next verse), Christ counted Paul faithful and worthy of serving in the ministry of drawing others to Him.

Paul, like the rest of us, did not deserve this privilege. He notes in the next verse that Christ called him despite the fact that he was a "blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man." Paul not only used to blaspheme and curse Christ's name, he tortured and killed Christians. The world would think that someone with Paul's reputation would never be called by God and even probably deserved Hell more then any other. However, God does not see it that way.

Despite Paul's former life, Christ Jesus extended his grace and mercy to him because Paul acted in his former ways ignorantly because was not a believer. What a testimony that is to all of us! Many people think that they cannot become Christians because they have lived a bad life and done many horrible things. However, Paul makes it clear that it doesn't matter what you have done - you are forgiven for that if you call upon Jesus Christ as your Lord - and that is truly Good News.

A Mirror and a Map (1 Tim. 1:11)

"according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust." (v.11)

Paul ends his urging to Timothy for his church's adherence to sound doctrine and the relationship between its teaching and the law with a praise to God. Paul states that the law is according to, or comes from the Good News, the Gospel. What Paul means is that the Gospel is the fulfillment of the law. Jesus Christ said, "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill." (Matt. 5:17, NKJV). Our wonderful God knew that his created beings would not be able to live by the law. One gives a commndment to another because that person is prone to break it. For instance, when I worked at the YMCA I was contantly 'commanding' my kids to not do certain things. Why? Because, if I didn't they would do exactly what they did not need to be doing. The commandments are there because we need them.

Our relationship with God is a lot like the above example. He created us and He knows what is best for us and so he has given us a map to follow in His law. He has also given us a mirror in that when we look at the law we know that we cannot live up to it. We have all sinned and fallen short of God's glory (Romans 3:23). Therefore, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to our sinners' death so that we may have everlasing life (John 3:16). How 'blessed' and wonderful our Lord is!

Who Needs the Law? Everyone (1 Tim. 1:9-10)

"...knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine," (1 Tim. 1:9-10)

After instructing that Timothy much teach "no other doctrine," Paul lists a lengthy amount of actions that are contrary to sound doctrine. Before he lists these grievences, however, Paul states that the law is not made for a righteous person (i.e. someone who has never broken God's law). He then lists the actions that the law was made for which all mankind is guilty of:

1) the lawless - those who literally abide by no laws

2) the insubordinate - those who rebel against governing authorities

3) the ungodly - those who live their lives without regard to any of God's law

4) sinners - those who are constantly living against God's will

5) the unholy - those who defile what is sacred

6) the profane - those who defile what is holyand set apart

7) murderers of fathers, mothers, manslayers - those who kill mankind which was created in God's image

8) fornicators - those who are sexually immoral (sex outside of the marriage/covenant relationship)

9) sodomites - those who commit homosexual acts

10) kidnappers - some also translate this as 'slavetraders'

11) liars - those who are consistently deceitful

12) perjurers - those who break promises or the law.

To sum it all up, Paul adds, "or anything else that is contrary to sound doctrine." What are we to make of this? Who then can keep the law? No one can keep the law. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the law in that he came to rescue mankind from breaking God's moral law because not one can keep it. "There is none righteous, no not one." (Rom. 3:10) Thank God for his choosing to send His Son to save mankind! Without the law we would not know that we are sinners and have attacked God's perfect character. Thank God for his law! Who needs the law? Everyone.