The Apostle Paul wrote 1 Timothy to his Apostolic coworker Timothy in part to encourage him to defend the faith against certain false teachers, who were troubling the Church there. It should be remembered that earlier, Paul had warned the Ephesians that false teachers would come, and had exhorted them to be watchful, "Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert..." (Acts 20:28-31a ESV). Now, later on, Paul's prediction had come true and he has dispatched Timothy to deal with the false teachers (1 Timothy 1:3).
Now, it is not entirely clear as to the exact nature of the Ephesian heresy at this time. Paul does not go into detail nor does he issue a point-by-point rebuttal. He expects Timothy to be the one to confront them. But I think we can use some clues from 1 Timothy and make an educated guess. And from there, I want to make a brief application for today. It seems evident that to some degree, the heresy in Ephesus to which Timothy was commissioned to combat contained some element of Law keeping as a means of being right with God. In other words, it encompassed some kind of distortion of the Torah, the Law of Moses (i.e., Genesis-Deuteronomy). What Paul does in writing to Timothy is to fight fire with fire. Paul combats an erroneous use of the Law by showing its true use. Throughout 1 Timothy, virtually all of Paul's Old Testament references come from the first five books of the Bible, the Law of Moses. The following is not exhaustive of every possible OT reference in 1 Timothy, but it is representational of the major quotations or allusions.
Firstly, Paul calls out the false teachers who were, "desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions" (1 Timothy 1:7). Following this, Paul lays out the true purpose of the Law, which is to convict law-breakers! The vice list in vv. 9-10 contains a general list, but also mentions several sins which are expressly condemned in the Law. For example, the Law is for those who "strike their fathers and mothers" (Exodus 20:12, 21:15), murderers (Exodus 20:13), "the sexually immoral" and "men who practice homosexuality" (Leviticus 18:1-30), enslavers (Exodus 21:16), and liars and perjurers (Exodus 20:16).
In chapters 2 and 3, Paul instructs Timothy on matters of church order, selecting qualified leaders, and especially how believers should behave as members of the "household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15). Chapter 2 contains the extremely controversial passage on men and women in the covenant community. Whether or not Paul, in chapter 2, is describing the gathered assembly is beside the point here. But when Paul does instruct that women should not assume teaching and/or leadership in the church, but are to remain submissive and tend to their roles as wives/mothers, he grounds his reasons in the Genesis accounts of creation and fall in Genesis 2-3 (1 Timothy 2:11-15).
In chapter 4, Paul again goes on the offensive against false teaching. Again, he appeals to the Law of Moses - especially to the Genesis creation account. The heretics were apparently those who, "forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth" (1 Timothy 4:3). Paul, however, will have none of it, and responds by pointing out from the Law that "everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving" (1 Timothy 4:4). Both marriage (Genesis 2:24) and the foods which people eat (Genesis 1:25, 9:3) were given by God's institution in the beginning; as Moses had recorded.
In chapter 5, Paul instructs Timothy on proper treatment of widows (5:3-16). While this section does not explicitly quote or allude to the Old Testament or the Law specifically, there are echoes of the fifth commandment, to "honor your father and mother" (Exodus 20:12) in the honor which is to be given to true widows by their children and grandchildren. The believer is to care for his/her aging mother if she is a widow and to repay her for having raised them. Verse 8 is a pointed rebuke for those who fail to do so, "But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever" (1 Timothy 5:8). In fact, this passage does resemble the Lord's own scathing denunciation of the pharisees for their "corban" rule, which was effectively abused as a loophole to allow people to violate the fifth commandment by escaping caring for their aged parents with a pious-sounding excuse (Mark 7:9-13).
Paul then goes on in chapter 5 to quote from Deuteronomy 25:4 and to apply the principle from that passage to exhort Timothy to make sure that faithful elders, especially those who shoulder the responsibility to preach and teach, receive appropriate financial remuneration (1 Timothy 5:17-18). Again, it seems that Paul is correcting the false teachers' abuse of the Law of Moses by giving the true interpretation and application of it.
It is possible to see potential echoes of the Law of Moses in other places in 1 Timothy, though these are less certain. When Paul speaks of the "unholy and profane," in 1:9, he may be obliquely referring to the sin of Nadab and Abihu, who were killed by God for offering up "profane fire" and failed to honor the Lord as holy (Leviticus 10:1-3). Perhaps also, Paul's description of God as the one "whom no one has ever seen or can see" (1 Timothy 6:16) is an echo of Exodus 33:20, where God declares that "man shall not see me and live." Even if not, it is evident that in 1 Timothy Paul is looking to the Law of Moses itself to combat the false teachers who utilize the Law erroneously to become wealthy (1 Timothy 6:3-5). For Paul, the antidote for the improper use of Scripture is the correct use of Scripture.
So, what can we learn today from Paul's example? I can think of two things. Firstly, Christians in the New Covenant age should be careful in how they utilize the Law of Moses. On the one hand, Christians are not under the Law, but under grace (Romans 6:14). We should not view the Law as a means of attaining a right standing before God. But we must also avoid the opposite error of neglecting or rejecting the Law altogether. Paul elsewhere states that, "the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good" (Romans 7:12). The Law is a good thing, even though it has been superseded by the gospel. As can be demonstrated by my short survey above, much of the ethical and moral teaching of the New Covenant has its basis in the Law of Moses. Christians today read the Old Covenant Law through the lens of Christ and the New Covenant. But we should honor the Law as God-breathed Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Secondly, as already briefly noted, the correct use of Scripture is vitally important. Heretics and even Satan himself (Matthew 4:5-6) know how to twist Scripture. Often, their misuse of Scripture will sound like truth, thus deceiving those without discernment. For discerning believers, however, hearing Scripture twisted will seem off; the Spirit of God will alert them to it (John 10:3-5). It becomes most important then, to learn how to correctly interpret and apply the Bible. This is the best defense against false teaching and false prophecy.
Timothy faced an uphill battle in Ephesus, just as we do today against a multitude of errors. But Timothy had a mentor in the person of Paul, who gave him, through his letters, the ammunition he needed to "fight the good fight of the faith" (1 Timothy 6:12). While Paul has long since passed on to be with the Lord, we, too can be equipped to fight the good fight by heeding his instructions to Timothy along with the rest of the canon of the Bible. Even in our post-industrial Western cultural location, we today can find wisdom through the Law of Moses, the Prophets, the Writings, and the New Testament to live godly and productive lives in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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