Ep. 335. 1 Timothy 1-2 | God Our Savior

EPISODE 335

GOD OUT SAVIOR: 1 TIMOTHY 1-2

It is helpful to remember that First Timothy is written to the pastor himself and not to the church body. This will absolutely shape how we read the letter. Not all of us are pastors/shepherds, so there is not a one-to-one correlation between what Paul instructs Timothy and the responsibility of each individual believer. When Paul is addressing a church as a whole, we can more easily find applications (for the masses) in the teachings of the Apostle, but when Paul is addressing a shepherd/overseer (Timothy) at the church in Ephesus, the application part becomes a bit more narrow. Certainly, not all believers are called to appoint elders in the church of God. Certainly, not all believers are meant to instruct and correct the elders of the church. Or if one wants to take the approach that even here, Paul is talking to all believers, how are we to read this letter (addressed to a pastor) as addressed to all people? We have to decide if the authorial intent and intended audience have any bearing on interpretation and application. I have been making the case throughout this entire year that both of those things directly shape how we interpret and apply any particular text. Without pausing to think about the author's intent and the intended audience, a reader would be free to make the text say anything at all that he or she desired. And if that approach was followed to its logical end, if the text can mean anything, then it actually means nothing.

In this letter, Paul spends a great deal of time addressing the kind of person(s) he desires to see as overseer(s), deacon(s), and leaders in general, but we can get into that a bit more tomorrow.

ADDITIONAL READING: NONE