A traditional view of this text is that it outlines the qualifications for elders in the church. As if it were a manual for a local church to use when considering those who should be chosen for leadership. Or perhaps, more accurately it has been used to examine the lives of those who are in the candidacy stage of moving toward leadership and, if qualified in the ranges of the provisions, they then are presented for ordination by the local church. These are good uses for the text, but very probably this was not in the Apostle Paul’s mind as he wrote to Timothy.
From prison, Paul is writing to Timothy regarding a breach of trust by “some of the brothers” who have drifted into dangerous territory spiritually and are teaching false doctrines. This poison is quickly spreading through the church at Ephesus, and Paul is giving instruction to Timothy on how to stop it.
We will discover today that the false teachers are not coming from the outside, but are within the church and very likely elders who have gone astray in Paul’s absence. Let us look closer at who these false teachers are and find some very helpful points of instructing for our lives today.
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March 18, 2012 | John Bayles | Calling False Teachers To Faithfulness, Part 1 (1 Timothy 3:1-16)
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