This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare; Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. 1 Timothy 1:18-20

Being a Christian is not for the faint of heart, as the Apostle Paul is preparing Timothy “that you may “wage the good warfare” or “fight the battle well” The Apostle Paul is preparing Timothy for spiritual warfare to come. To fight the good fight of faith, to stand strong in the face of evil opposition. This is the message we can take away also, fight the good fight of faith in the face of blasphemy and evil that is invading our Churches today, stand your ground, don’t compromise!

Now to back up a little, the interesting thing is it was a prophecy to Paul that TImothy would take over as leader of the Church. As Paul says “I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies made concerning you” Timothy wasn’t selected because of his credentials or because of social favor, Timothy was chosen by God to continue the work Paul had started. When selecting leadership in the Church, do we ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance? 

This next verse I think is very relevant to state of the Church today “holding faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and concerning the faith some have suffered shipwreck” If we are to describe the current state of the Church today, I think a shipwreck might be a good description. Many Christians have not held to the faith in good conscience, they have compromised the true gospel, they have compromised the foundational doctrines of the Church, the have compromised their own souls for the sake of unity , money, and power. In return, their faith has become shipwrecked, can you in good conscience stand before The Lord and say I fought the good fight of faith?

Now next the Apostle Paul has called out some false teachers in the Church by name, Hymenaeus and Alexander, now the Church today would say “thats not Christian” But Paul being a shepherd of the Church is protecting the flock from the wolves, its very Biblical and Christian to call out and rebuke false teachers that have invaded the Church. To stand by and allow wolves to devour the Church is blasphemy and the blood is on your hands also. Remember this is a spiritual warfare, this is not a country club, this is a battle you have agreed to enter.

These false teachers have “been delivered unto Satan so that they may learn not to blaspheme” they are apostates , driven by their own lusts and greed, and have been handed over to Satan to be tormented for their wickedness. As the Apostle James taught “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.” (James 3:1)

Fight the good fight of faith, stand strong in the face of blasphemy and wickedness, remain in good conscience with our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, Amen!

And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. 1 Timothy 1:12-17

Have you shared your personal testimony with anyone recently? Have you told people what Jesus Christ has done for you? Our personal testimonies are the most powerful evidence of Gods power and salvation. People can refute the existence of God, however they can’t refute your personal testimony. They can’t deny the evidence of Gods salvation presented before them. 

This is what the Apostle Paul is sharing with us, he is a walking testimony for Christ. As Paul said “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry” Notice God is the one who qualifies and calls us for ministry, its not man. There are many people in the pulpit today, with seminary degrees, that its clear God has never called to be there. God is the one who calls and qualifies us, if your calling is not supported by scripture, then your calling was not from God

And as the Apostle Paul states, God can use and transform anyone who wants for his service. The Apostle Paul humbly admits “who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor,and a injurious or violent man, but I obtained mercy” The Apostle Paul went from persecuting the Church to planting Churches all throughout Asia Minor. People looked at Paul as a wicked and depraved man, who hated and killed Christians, but he became Born Again in Christ, Paul became a New Creation in Christ, on the Road to Damascus, he literally had a “Come to Jesus” moment, and Paul was transformed by the Holy Spirit.

Some would say “Paul doesn’t deserve mercy” but as Paul says here “the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant” none of us deserve mercy, however this is the grace of God, that through Jesus Christ we can be forgiven and saved. “With faith and love which is in Christ Jesus”. We are saved by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8) Its not by our own works or our own power, its by the power of God through our Lord Jesus Christ

As the Apostle Paul ends “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”, Christ came into this world to save you and me, just like he came for Paul, and not only saved us , but transformed us to be Born Again, Amen!

But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, 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, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust. 1 Timothy 1:8-11

When people think about the Ten Commandments, or the Moral Law of God, they often view it in a negative perspective. However as the Apostle Paul says here “The Law is good if one uses it lawfully” So what does the Apostle mean by this? How can The Law be “good” when The Law brings death (2 Corinthians 3:6) Well as the Apostle said “if one uses it lawfully”

Without The Law of God nobody would ever know that they are sinners in need of a Savior. As the Bible defines Sin is Lawlessness (1 John 3:4) You are a sinner because you break the moral laws of God. And ultimately this impacts everyones as the Bible says “We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) 

When Jesus was speaking with the Rich Young Ruler (Mark 10:17-27), he asked Jesus “How may I inherit eternal life”? Jesus first made the statement, “Nobody is Good (Morally excellent, sinless) except God” (Mark 10:18) Revealing we are all sinners, but also revealing Jesus Deity as God incarnate. And then Jesus goes on to list some of the Ten Commandments, why? Because the Moral Law of God (Ten Commandments) is a mirror that reflects our sinful nature and our desperate need for a Savior

As the Apostle Paul says here “The Law is not made for a righteous person, but for the Lawless” The purpose of The Law is not to make yourself righteous, its to show you the nature of God and how much you need Jesus Christ. There were false teachers during the time of Paul that would use The Law to preach a false gospel, there are many still today who do the same thing. They basically were teaching Jesus wasn’t enough to be saved, you needed circumcision plus Jesus then you could be saved. Anytime we add something because Christ, it becomes a false gospel

The Apostle Paul then goes on to list sins of the lawless, and since we are in “Pride Month” I just want to point out Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit mentions sodomites, which our modern word would be homosexuals. I’m bringing this to your attention because many false teachers today claim, The Bible never forbids homosexuality. It’s clear here and other passages such as Romans 1 and 1 Corinthians 6.

However we have a living hope, Jesus Christ, as the Apostle Paul also said “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) Amen!