Pure Doctrine

Text: 1 Ti. 1:1-11

Introduction:

· NT Church Manual

· One of the Pastoral epistles

I. Background Information

A. Author: Paul

B. Date: 62-62 AD

C. Purpose

1. Oppose false teaching

2. Give instructions for proper deportment in church services

3. Give requirements for church leadership

4. Give instructions for dealing with issues and people in the church

D. Key Verse: 3:15

E. About Timothy

1. Timothy was not a pastor per se

2. Greek father, Jewish mother

3. Paul's son in the faith

4. Paul's associate during his second missionary journey

5. Left in Ephesus to set things in order

6. Martyred during the reign of Domitian or Nerva

F. MacArthur’s synopsis

1. He had been with Paul as his companion for at about 15 years

2. He was with Paul at:

a) Berea

b) Corinth

c) During his writing of Romans, 2 Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, the Thessalonian epistles, and Philemon

3. Paul’s troubleshooter at:

a) Corinth (1 Co. 4:17)

b) Thessalonica (1 Thess. 3:2)

c) Philippi (Phil. 2:19)

d) Ephesus

II. Outline

A. Ministry Guidelines

1. Timothy to remain in Ephesus (1:3-11)

a) Establish doctrinal purity

b) Purpose of the Law

2. Paul reflects on his ministry and calling (1:12-17)

3. Motivational charge (1:18-20)

4. Proper Church Administration (2:1-3:16)

a) General guidelines for ministry (2:1-15)

(1) pray for all men, especially their salvation

(2) role of men and women in the church

b) Guidelines for leadership

(1) Pastoral characteristics

(2) Deacon characteristics

B. Ministry Duties

1. Dealing with false teaching

a) departure prophesied

b) duties of good servant

c) duties of a good ministry

2. Dealing with older Christians

3. Dealing with widows

4. Dealing with elders

5. Dealing with slavery

C. Ministry Dangers

1. False Teaching

2. Material Prosperity

3. Laxness

a) In your personal life

b) In standing up to sin in the church life

c) In warning of the dangers of riches

4. Final Exhortation

III. Doctrinal Purity and the Law

A. Salutation

1. Paul gives his credentials

2. Paul gives a formula demonstrating the deity of Christ

3. Timothy is Paul’s son in the faith

a) Suggests he is his convert

b) Suggests he is his “disciple”

B. Instruction to remain at Ephesus

1. To establish doctrinal purity

2. In Rev. 2 we know that Timothy was successful at this endeavor

C. Dangers of false doctrine

1. Matt. 7:15; 24:11, 24

2. 2 Cor. 11:13

3. 1 John 4:1

4. 2 Pet. 2:1

5. 2 Cor. 2:17; 4:2 “they peddle the word”

D. Types of false doctrine

1. “Other doctrine” (v. 3)

2. “Fables” (v. 4)

3. “Genealogies” (v. 4)

4. Wrong use of the “Law” (v. 8)

5. “Doctrines of devils” (4:1)

6. Restrictions where God has put none (4:3f)

E. Love is the ultimate goal (v. 5)

1. Definition of biblical love

a) Choice

b) Will

c) Sacrificial

d) Unconditional

2. Key is love

a) Matt. 22:37, 39

b) 1 Co. 13:1-3

c) 1 John 4:7-8

d) John 13:35

3. Ingredients of biblical love

a) Pure heart

b) Good conscience

c) Faith unfeigned

F. Wrong motives

1. The false teachers wanted the prestige that came with being teachers

2. Their goal was not conveying truth, but of obtaining a position

3. They wanted the position, even if they didn’t have the credentials

G. The Law

1. It is good and holy

a) Ro. 7:12

b) Ps. 19:7

2. Holiness of the Law

a) Reveals sin (Ro. 3:20)

(1) It reveals particular sins

(2) It reveals sin as a principle

(a) We realize that we cannot meet the demands of the law

(b) We realize that we have sin in our inmost being

(c) Illus.

The rich ruler in Mark 10:17-27 is a good example of the use of the Law to reveal sin and show a man his need for a Saviour. The young man was very moral outwardly, but he had never faced the sins within. Jesus did not tell him about the Law because the Law would save him; He told him about the Law because the young man did not realize his own sinfulness. True, he had never committed adultery, robbed anyone, given false witness, or dishonored his parents; but what about covetousness? When Jesus told him to sell his goods and give to the poor, the man went away in great sorrow. The commandment, “Thou shalt not covet,” had revealed to him what a sinner he really was! Instead of admitting his sin, he rejected Christ and went away unconverted.

b) Makes sin alive

(1) We are rebels at heart and “thou shalt not” brings out the worst in us

(a) Don’t walk on the grass is an invitation to most people to walk on the grass

(b) Rebellion and selfishness are motivated by a challenge to their autonomy

(c) There are times that we would have done the right things but a command to do that particular thing made us rebel against it in order to show that we were not taking orders from anybody

(2) The law itself is not the cause of sin or the problem

(a) It only reveals what is already inside

(b) Our sin nature is the problem

(c) Illus

When a person is convicted of a crime, i.e. murder, the fault is not with the Law against murder, but with the individual. Granted, there are some laws that are wrong. However, none of God’s law is unjust. The fault lies in us who break the just laws of God.

c) The law kills (v. 10)

(1) It deceives you in making you think it is the way to live

(2) It deceives you into thinking that self-righteousness will suffice

(a) This is what it did to the Jews

(b) They were deceived by sin into thinking that the law was a means to salvation

d) Demonstrates the awfulness of sin

(1) Sin is shown to be awful because it can take something holy and just like God’s law, and use it to deceive us

(2) It can twist something holy into something that is detrimental to us

H. Admonition to Timothy

1. Keep the doctrine sound

a) “Sound” comes from Gk. word from which we get our English word “hygiene”

b) Purity of doctrine must be maintained. Once doctrine slips, then behavior slips