“All honor and glory to God forever and ever! He is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies; he alone is God. Amen.” 1 Timothy 1:17. 

Footsteps #410. The false teachers that Paul admonishes Timothy to confront are described in vs3-7. He even names some of them. They were dividing the church and causing controversy. When genuine Christian teaching is done it is faithful to the way of Jesus and it results in love and genuine faith. He says the purpose of the Torah is not to fuel speculation. Rather, its purpose is to expose the truth about the human condition, as it did for him. Correct teaching about the Torah will lead people to see the grace of God revealed in the Messiah who came to save sinful, broken people. So Paul closes chapter 1 with a poem that Honours King Jesus over all (1:17) and he calls Timothy to shut these men and their false teaching down. 

Paul then addresses very specific problems in this church caused by the false teachers. First of all, he calls Timothy to hold regular church prayer gatherings to pray for the governing leaders of Rome and for peace. (2:1-7). Peace creates the setting for Jesus’ followers to keep spreading their message about the God of peace who wants all people to be saved, the God who sent Jesus as the only mediator to give his life as a ransom for all, in contrast to the false teachers. Prayer is going to keep this at the forefront of their minds.  

Paul then addresses problems related to men and women (2:8-15) who are being influenced by these corrupt leaders in Ephesus. He first shuts down a group of men who were getting drawn into angry theological disputes started by the false teachers. He says these men should learn how to pray. Then he confronts a group of wealthy women in the church who were treating church gatherings like a fashion show (2:9). They were dressing so upscale that they would shame most of the other people who could not afford such a wardrobe. But not only that, but some of these women were also usurping leadership positions in the church and they were teaching others the bad theology of the corrupt teachers. So Paul shuts these women down! He says that they should not teach or lead in the church (2:12). This is one of those sections in Paul’s letters where, like Peter said (2Peter 3:16), he is hard to understand. Local historical applications of this discussion are limited and should not be universally applied. However, we can take the principles of the discussion and apply them to our day.  Historically and locally, some Ephesian women were strongly captivated by these false teachers and should therefore not be allowed to teach. They were rejecting the culturally accepted norms of their day. This was detrimental to the church’s witness in the wider community.