OUR FATHER WHO PROVIDES GRACE MERCY AND PEACE

1 Timothy chapter 1 is a personal letter which begins with a greeting from the Apostle Paul to his protege, Timothy, who was in the town of Ephesus. Paul starts with a formal introduction of himself and his role as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ and a blessing of grace mercy and peace from God. 

He also calls Timothy a ˋtrue son of the faithˋ  who he had appointed to be an overseer of the doctrines being prescibed among the Ephesians because Paul had learned that false doctrine were infiltrating the body of believers and wanted a strong believer to steer the doctrinal beliefs of the Ephesians in the right direction which was where conduct was governed by love rather than governed by the law and its enforcement.

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope,

2 To Timothy, a true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia—remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, 4 nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith. 5 Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, 6 from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.

8 But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, 9 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, 10 for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, 11 according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.

The apostle instructed Timothy to help the Ephesians understand that their fellow believers were not to be subjected to the law but rather the people in the world needed the law to instruct them of their need for Christ.

Amen.

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