Faithful Commission of the Mission

1 Tim. 1:18-20

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, 19a having faith and a good conscience,

The phrase “this charge” refers back to the one made in verse five. Now the reasons are given why Paul has chosen Timothy in particular instead of someone else. Paul has committed to Timothy something of great value. This can be entrusted to him because he is viewed as a faithful son of the apostle. The second reason for committing this charge to him are the prophecies made about him. Apparently the Holy Spirit spoke up to Paul or through one of the New Testament prophets (Acts 13:1-3) that God wanted Timothy to be put in the ministry. For Timothy to reject his charge of seeing sound doctrine taught at Ephesus would be a direct violation of the Divine orders coming from the Holy Spirit. In fulfilling his charge, Timothy must wage the good warfare. Christians are at war. Paul of all people knew this to be a fact. Everywhere he went preaching the Gospel he was dogged by false teachers sent from Satan and hell-bent on hindering the apostles from fulfilling his mission. Paul told the Thessalonians “but we, brethren, having been taken away from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored more eagerly to see your face with great desire. Therefore we wanted to come to you–even I, Paul, time and again–but Satan hindered us”(1 Th. 2:17-18). He commanded the Christians at Ephesus to put on the whole armor of God in order to fight (Eph. 6:10-17). In his second letter Paul reminded Timothy “you therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier” (2 Tim. 2:2-4). Paul at the end of his life could say with confidence “I have fought the good fight” (2 Tim. 4:7). What makes this fight good? Who can call carnal warfare a good or wholesome thing to wage? Yet, our spiritual war is good. God is at war with Satan. The angels of God are in a spiritual conflict with the Devil and his angels. Humans are at war with the kingdom of darkness. Whereas, the forces of darkness fight dirty, Christians fight with the Truth of the Word and let the pure Light of Truth shine forth in the darkness. Timothy is not urged to fight dirty using any means possible to defeat the Devil. He is commanded to wage a strong and noble battle.

In order for Timothy to wage a good warfare, he must do so in faith. We sing a song “Faith is the Victory.”

Against the foe in vales below Let all our strength be hurled Faith is the victory we know That overcomes the world… By faith, they like a whirlwind’s breath Swept on o’er ev’ry field The faith by which they conquered Death Is still our shining shield.

Christians are command to take up the shield of faith by which they can quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. A faithful soldier will trust the orders of His commander. He will never be found slothful but vigilantly guard what has been committed to him. Where the standard goes he will follow. He will not lose faith and retreat.

Not only must Timothy hold fast the faith, but also a good conscience. Keep in mind Paul fought against Christ and the church “in all good conscience” (Acts 23:1). A conscience is not the source of our faith. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Rom. 10:17). One’s conscience does not determine what is right or true. If trained properly it will tell the Christians when their conduct does not match up with what they have been taught. Paul’s conscience had been trained to know that blasphemers must be punished. His mistake was to reject Christ as the Son of God. Once he knew the truth his conscience pricked him so bad that after he saw the Lord on the road to Damascus “he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank” (Acts 9:9). When Ananias found him he was praying. Timothy on the other hand had been trained by the apostle Paul. His conscience could help him in his good fight. You see a conscience is like a clock. No matter how well the time piece is made and how accurately is works, if it is set wrong it will always tell the wearer the wrong time. If one lives in the Mountain Time Zone and his quality watch is set to Eastern Standard Time, it will always be an unreliable guide, although it is a good watch.

19b which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck,

Paul warns Timothy of what will happen if someone does not hold on to the faith and a good conscience. By their rejection they will make shipwreck of their faith. These have actually shoved faith and a good conscience away from themselves. Paul moves from army metaphors to the navy. He had known what it was like to be shipwrecked and stranded on an island. The cause of their shipwreck was rejecting faith. They did not trust or have faith in the charts God had provided them to chart their course through dangerous waters. They shoved these aside and did not even listen to their conscience about the dangers that lay ahead.

20 of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.

Paul gives Timothy two illustrations of those who make shipwreck of their faith. Hymenaeus may be the same false teacher mentioned by Paul in 2 Timothy 2:17,18. “And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some.” Also, in 2 Timothy 4:14 Paul wrote, “Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works. You also must beware of him, for he has greatly resisted our words.” There was an Alexander who tried to speak out against Paul during the silversmith riot at Ephesus (Acts 19:33). Keep in mind that Alexander (as it is today) was a very common name in the first century.

At some point Paul was able to be at Ephesus and discipline these two false teachers. This of course does not guarantee that they were not still around to give Timothy trouble while he labored at Ephesus. When a man was guilty of taking his father’s wife at Corinth, Paul wrote, “for indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1 Cor. 5:3-5). This is a form of disassociation from the members. This same action by the church is commanded in Matthew 18:15-17 and 2 Thessalonians 3:6-14. Notice, that the use of congregational discipline was not just a punitive measure but a reformatory effort to teach these two men not to blasphemy. Of course, Paul does not give the particulars here. Timothy was probably already familiar with the case. Why remind Timothy about what had happened to these men? So Timothy could deal with others like them.

– Daniel R. Vess