Insights on 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus

Charles R. Swindoll

• Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781414393735
• eBook ISBN: 9781496400758

Insights on 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus explores Paul's Pastoral Epistles as a part of the 15-volume Swindoll's Living Insights New Testament Commentary series. This newly revised and expanded edition draws on Gold Medallion Award–winner Chuck Swindoll's 50 years of experience with studying and preaching God's Word. His deep insight, signature easygoing style, and humor bring a warmth and practical accessibility not often found in commentaries.

Each volume combines verse-by-verse commentary, charts, maps, photos, key terms, and background articles with practical application. The newly updated volumes now include parallel presentations of the NLT and NASB before each section. This series is a must-have for pastors, teachers, and anyone else who is seeking a deeply practical resource for exploring God's Word.

INSIGHTS ON 1 TIMOTHY

Throughout his letter, Paul kept Timothy’s eye focused on the ultimate prize of a shepherd: a godly congregation. Paul “labored and strived” for godliness in every church he established and strengthened. In this letter, the apostle laid his shepherd’s mantle across the shoulders of his pupil, Timothy. If you serve today as a pastor or spiritual leader, this mantle has passed to you as well.

1 TIMOTHY

INTRODUCTION

It had been a long five years. At least half a decade on the sidelines, forbidden to travel, unable to conduct ministry among the churches. Five years of lawyers, courts, politics . . . and the hardest of all, waiting. For a man of action like Paul, the waiting must have felt unbearable.

Paul’s ability to travel freely came to a sudden end with his arrest in Jerusalem. Religious enemies accused him of—among other things—bringing an uncircumcised, unconverted Gentile into an area restricted to Hebrew men. After Paul’s initial arrest, a plot to kill him prompted his relocation to Caesarea Maritima for his own protection. For at least two years, Paul waited in Caesarea as Governor Felix teased Jewish officials with the prospect of his execution (Acts 24:27). Further trials under Governor Festus forced an appeal to Caesar in Rome (Acts 25:1-12), leading to a treacherous journey and two more years of house arrest in the seat of Roman power (Acts 27–28, AD 60–62).

Despite the long months of waiting, the time didn’t go to waste. In fact, everything occurred to fulfill God’s plan (see Acts 9:15-16; 23:11). At the very least, the hiatus gave the tireless apostle a much-needed rest after three missionary journeys. Having logged more than ten years and twenty thousand miles—some by sea, mostly on foot—any traveler would be weary and need time to recharge. Robbers, exposure, stoning, flogging, prison, riots, murderous plots, renegade disciples, and fickle congregations had taken their toll (see 2 Cor. 11:23-28). More importantly, Paul’s captivity in the governor’s palace gave him plenty of time to receive visitors and to reflect on his experiences, which he described freely to Israel’s rulers (Acts 24–26). Then a relatively comfortable sojourn in Rome allowed him unprecedented access to the political elite in Nero’s court (Phil. 1:13). And, of course, he used this five-year respite from itinerant ministry to write. He celebrated the supremacy of Christ in his letter to the Colossians. He praised the Philippians for their constant prayers and generosity. He reasoned with Philemon to welcome his runaway slave, Onesimus, as a new brother in Christ. And he urged the Ephesians to affirm their unity in the love of Christ as well as stand firm against the adversary’s attacks.

Before the Jewish officials in Jerusalem had forced him into protective custody, Paul planned to visit Rome and then spearhead an evangelistic tour of the western part of the Roman Empire, as far as Spain (Acts 19:21; Rom. 15:28). During his absence, however, false teachers had filled the vacuum he left in Macedonia and Asia, polluting the gospel with a variety of false teachings (Rom. 16:17; 2 Cor. 11:4; Gal. 1:6; 1 Tim. 1:3-4; 6:3; Rev. 2:6, 15). Moreover, his brief visit to Crete on the way to Rome revealed a great need for structure (Titus 1:5), as leaderless congregations had fallen prey to the Judaizers’ legalism and Greek dissipation (Titus 1:10-14). Upon his release from imprisonment in Rome, Paul would have to stabilize these troubled churches before launching anything westward.

CLUES TO PAUL’S WHEREABOUTS BETWEEN FIRST AND SECOND ROMAN IMPRISONMENTS

After Release from His First Roman Imprisonment, Paul wrote:	What This Tells Us:
“As I urged you [Timothy] upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus” (1 Tim. 1:3).	At some point, Timothy was in Ephesus as Paul set out for Macedonia.
“I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long” (1 Tim. 3:14).	Paul intended to join Timothy in Ephesus.
“Until I come . . .” (1 Tim. 4:13).
“For this reason I left you [Titus] in Crete” (Titus 1:5).	At some point, Paul ministered on Crete with Titus, and then left him there.
“When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you [Titus], make every effort to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there” (Titus 3:12).	After leaving Titus on Crete, Paul’s itinerary would take him to Nicopolis.
During His Second Roman Imprisonment, Paul wrote:
“When you come bring the cloak which I left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, especially the parchments” (2 Tim. 4:13).	During his second imprisonment, Paul indicates that he spent time in Troas after his first release.
“Erastus remained at Corinth, but Trophimus I left sick at Miletus” (2 Tim. 4:20).	Paul’s itinerary between imprisonments took him through Corinth and Miletus.

The time between Paul’s first and second imprisonments in Rome remains a mystery. We can arrange only tidbits from his letters to Timothy and Titus to form a hypothetical timeline. He most likely departed Rome for a kind of farewell tour (refer to the map, “Paul’s Planned Farewell Tour”), during which he deployed his assistants for long-term assignments. After several weeks on Crete, he left Titus (Titus 1:5), taking the rest of his entourage with him to Miletus, where he left a sick Trophimus in the care of friends (2 Tim. 4:20). Before departing, Paul probably sent for Timothy, whom he had sent from Rome to serve in Ephesus. He most likely avoided visiting the city to reduce the possibility of becoming entangled in local affairs (cf. Acts 20:16). Regardless, he “urged” Timothy to remain on in Ephesus. Paul then sailed from Miletus to Troas, where he probably spent the winter of AD 63–64, taking time to write his letter to Titus. As soon as weather permitted, he departed for Macedonia (Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea), leaving his cloak and books behind (2 Tim. 4:13), perhaps with instructions for Carpus to send his belongings to Rome via ship after the apostle himself arrived there.

After a brief visit with the churches he had established during his third missionary journey, Paul intended to turn south for Corinth and then over to Nicopolis, where he planned to spend the winter with Titus (Titus 3:12) before setting sail for Rome again. But something interrupted his plans. Troubling news arrived from Ephesus. During his brief visit with Timothy in Miletus, he implored the younger minister to remain at his post, but the difficulties Timothy faced required a letter of support and then a personal visit by the apostle (1 Tim. 3:14-15; 4:13). He probably cut short his visit to Macedonia and then retraced his steps through Troas and over to Ephesus.

After stabilizing the church in Ephesus, Paul left Timothy in charge and then resumed his original plan to winter in Nicopolis with Titus. The following spring (AD 65), he departed for Rome, intending to launch his mission westward, but tensions between Nero and Christians escalated out of control, and Paul landed in prison again, where an executioner took his life at the whim of a crazed emperor—the same fate as befell many believers during that awful time.

“A TRUE CHILD IN THE FAITH”

Paul first encountered Timothy in the first months of his second missionary journey (AD 50; see Acts 16:1-2). He arrived in Lystra to hear the elders speak with such glowing praise of the young man that the apostle felt compelled to meet him. Born of a believing Jewish mother and a Greek father (presumably an unbeliever), Paul found in Timothy an ideal pupil, an individual much like himself: a devout follower of Christ with one foot in the Jewish world and the other in the Gentile. As the years passed, he also found in Timothy a kindred spirit—studious (2 Tim. 3:14-15), emotional (2 Tim. 1:4), dedicated (Phil. 2:22), and resolute (1 Tim. 1:18). From his youth, Timothy had been steeped in the Scriptures of the Old Testament, thanks to his mother, Lois, and grandmother, Eunice (2 Tim. 1:5; 3:15). In return, Timothy found Paul to be a worthy model, a man gifted in many ways, but called to fulfill a mission ill-suited for his natural inclinations. He had not been trained to speak publicly, his appearance and demeanor apparently lacked polish, and his poor health made traveling a burden (1 Cor. 1:17; 2:3; 2 Cor. 10:10; 11:6; 12:7; Gal 4:13-14). Both men would have to carry out their ministry through a shared dependence upon God to equip and direct them.

TIMOTHY IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

Acts 16:1-3 Acts 17:14-15 Acts 18:1-5 Acts 19:21-22 Acts 20:1-5 Romans 16:21 1 Corinthians 4:16-17 1 Corinthians 16:10-11 2 Corinthians 1:1

2 Corinthians 1:19 Philippians 1:1 Philippians 2:19-24 Colossians 1:1-2 1 Thessalonians 1:1-2 1 Thessalonians 3:1-6 2 Thessalonians 1:1 Philemon 1:1 Hebrews 13:22-24

For Timothy to become a part of Paul’s ministry, he had to be circumcised (Acts 16:3), not for spiritual reasons, but for practical ones. While Paul considered himself an apostle to the Gentiles (Eph. 3:1), he always first took the gospel to the synagogue when entering a new region (Acts 13:46; 17:2-3), and only then to the marketplace. Paul preached to Jews firs...

Table of contents

• Cover Image
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Author?s Preface
• The Strong?s Numbering System
• Insights on 1?Timothy
• Introduction to 1 Timothy
• Apostle Paul to Pastor Timothy (1?Timothy 1:1-20)
• The Work of Ministry (1?Timothy 2:1?3:16)
• The One Who Ministers (1?Timothy 4:1?6:21)
• Insights on 2?Timothy
• Introduction to 2 Timothy
• Tender Words from a?Mentor
• The Past and Present (2?Timothy 1:8?2:26)
• The Future (2?Timothy 3:1?4:22)
• Insights on Titus
• Introduction to Titus
• A Leader Worth Following
• The Leadership of the Church (Titus 1:5?2:10)
• The Mission of the Church (Titus 2:11?3:11)
• Notes