The Letters to Timothy, Titus and Philemon THE LETTERS TO TIMOTHY, TITUS AND PHILEMON An Explanation of these Four Letters Especially for You Rock Solid #8 Ger de Koning The original Dutch version is available at Webshop: www.uitgeverijdaniel.nl Orders: [email protected] Translation: Ursula Moestapa Cover design: Jan Paul Spoor / Sjon Heijenga Layout: Piet Versteeg © 2016 by Ger de Koning. All rights preserved. No part of this publication may be – other than for personal use – reproduced in any form without written permission of the author. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. 4 Contents Foreword 9 Abbreviations of the Names of the Books of the Bible 11 Old Testament 11 New Testament 12 Explanation of general format 13 The First Letter to Timothy 15 Introduction 15 1 Timothy 1 19 Blessing and Exhortation | verses 1-4 19 The Purpose of the Commandment | verses 5-7 24 The Law and the Gospel | verses 8-11 28 The Past and Now | verses 12-14 33 Honor and Glory To God | verses 15-17 37 Prophecies and the Good Fight | verses 18-20 42 1 Timothy 2 47 A House of Prayer | verses 1-4 47 The Mediator – The Praying of Men | verses 5-8 52 Women | verses 9-15 56 1 Timothy 3 61 The Overseer | verses 1-5 61 Overseers (continuation) and Deacons | verses 6-11 67 The House of God | verses 12-16 71 1 Timothy 4 76 Apostasy In Later Times | verses 1-5 76 Discipline For the Purpose of Godliness | verses 6-11 81 Exhortations For the Servant | verses 12-16 86 5 1 Timothy 5 91 Obligations Towards Others | verses 1-6 91 Several Groups of Widows | verses 7-13 96 Sins, Sickness and Infirmities |verses 20-25 105 1 Timothy 6 110 Workers and Sound Words | verses 1-5 110 Want To Get Rich and the Man of God | verses 6-11a 115 Pursue, Fight, Take Hold Of, Confess | verses 11b-13 120 Worship and Final Exhortations | verses 14-21 124 The Second Letter to Timothy 129 Introduction 129 2 Timothy 1 132 The Promise of Life and Blessing | verses 1-2 132 Thanks, Power, Love and Discipline | verses 3-8 135 God’s Own Purpose | verses 9-12 140 Word, Spirit and Mercy | verses 13-18 145 2 Timothy 2 151 A Good Servant | verses 1-6 151 Understanding In Everything | verses 7-12a 157 The Solid Foundation of God | verses 12b-19 162 A Vessel For Honor | verses 20-21 168 Flee, Pursue, Correct | verses 22-26 173 2 Timothy 3 177 Last Days and Difficult Times | verses 1-7 177 You, However | verses 8-15 181 All Scripture | verses 16-17 187 2 Timothy 4 192 Preach the Word | verses 1-6 192 Personal Circumstances | verses 7-15 198 Assistance from the Lord and Salutations | verses 16-22 203 6 The Letter to Titus 209 Introduction 209 Titus 1 211 Sender, Faith and Knowledge | verse 1 211 The Promise of Eternal Life | verses 2-4 214 Elders | verses 5-9 218 False Teachers | verses 10-16 224 Titus 2 229 Older Men, Older Women | verses 1-3 229 Young Women, Young Men, Bondslaves | verses 4-10 234 A People For His Own Possession | verses 11-15 239 Titus 3 244 Once and Now | verses 1-6 244 Heirs, Instructions and Greetings | verses 7-15 249 The Letter to Philemon 255 Introduction 255 Senders, Recipients and Blessing | verses 1-3 260 Love and Faith and a Plea | verses 4-10 265 Put That On My Account | verses 11-25 271 Other Publications 277 7 8 Foreword Dear friend, I am glad to present this new volume of the ‘Rock Solid series’. These studies are meant for your spiritual edification. If you have read the previous parts of this series, I trust that you have become fascinated by the riches of God’s Word. In this book I want to read four letters with you that Paul wrote. These four letters have in common that they are written to indi- vidual believers, namely Timothy (two letters), Titus and Phile- mon. I will try to tell you why he wrote these letters and what is the benefit for you. You will find that God’s Spirit has inspired these letters, which means that He is their Author. That is the guarantee that they are fully up to date for you, believer of the twenty-first century. Therefore they are in the Bible. I would like to repeat the practical tips that I suggested in my previous books: 1. Provide yourself with a good translation of the Bible. Some good translations are the New American Standard Bible (NASB), the New King James Version (NKJV), the New Translation by J.N. Darby (JND) and the King James Version (KJV), preferably with the New Scofield word updates. I will be using the NASB, with permission granted by The Lockman Foundation on Feb- ruary 10, 2016 when referencing and quoting Scripture unless I note otherwise. 2. I tried to write this book in a way that encourages you to use the Bible. At the beginning and end of each section, I have list- ed the Bible verses pertaining to that section. I encourage you to read those verses before and after reading the section. It 9 would be a good idea to keep your Bible open to those verses so you can easily refer to them. 3. Self-discipline is very important. You have to be willing to dis- cipline yourself to take time to understand the Bible better. I suggest that you read the Bible at a set time that’s best for you. To help you with this, I have divided this book into fifty-one sec- tions. I also noted with a ‘V’ which verse is explained. Read every day one section. If you do that, over a bit more than seven weeks you have got a good impression of four appealing letters from the Bible. The whole Bible indeed is a great book. It is my prayer that you will be convinced of that more and more. I wish you God’s blessing! Middelburg, Netherlands, English edition 2016 ✆ Tel. (0031) 0118 638458 @ E-mail: [email protected] 10 Abbreviations of the Names of the Books of the Bible Old Testament Gen - Genesis Exo - Exodus Lev - Leviticus Num - Numbers Deu - Deuteronomy Jos - Joshua Jdg - Judges Rth - Ruth 1Sam - First Samuel 2Sam - Second Samuel 1Kgs - First Kings 2Kgs - Second Kings 1Chr - First Chronicles 2Chr - Second Chronicles Ezra - Ezra Neh - Nehemiah Est - Esther Job - Job Psa - Psalms Pro - Proverbs Ecc - Ecclesiastes Song - Song of Songs Isa - Isaiah Jer - Jeremiah Lam - Lamentations Eze - Ezekiel Dan - Daniel Hos - Hosea Joel - Joel Amos - Amos Oba - Obadiah Jona - Jonah 11 Mic - Micah Nah - Nahum Hab - Habakkuk Zep - Zephaniah Hag - Haggai Zec - Zechariah Mal - Malachi New Testament Mt - Gospel of Matthew Mk - Gospel of Mark Lk - Gospel of Luke Jn - Gospel of John Acts - Acts of the Apostles Rom - Letter to the Romans 1Cor - First Letter to the Corinthians 2Cor - Second Letter to the Corinthians Gal - Letter to the Galatians Eph - Letter to the Ephesians Phil - Letter to the Philippians Col - Letter to the Colossians 1Thes - First Letter to the Thessalonians 2Thes - Second Letter to the Thessalonians 1Tim - First Letter to Timothy 2Tim - Second Letter to Timothy Tit - Letter to Titus Phlm - Letter to Philemon Heb - Letter to the Hebrews Jam - Letter of James 1Pet - First Letter of Peter 2Pet - Second Letter of Peter 1Jn - First Letter of John 2Jn - Second Letter of John 3Jn - Third Letter of John Jude - Letter of Jude Rev - Revelation 12 Explanation of general format PERSONAL PRONOUNS are capitalized when pertaining to Deity. BRACKETS [ ] are used in this commentary in the Bible text to indicate words which are not found in the original Hebrew, Ara- maic, or Greek but implied by it. SHARP BRACKETS < > are used in this commentary in the Bible text to indicate words possibly not in the original writings. ALL CAPS in the New Testament are used in the text to indicate Old Testament quotations or obvious references to Old Testament texts. 13 14 The First Letter to Timothy Introduction First carefully read this letter to the end and try to imagine that it is personally addressed to you. I suggest you to ask the Lord, while reading it, what His intention is with it for your life. Open yourself for His directions whether or not to do something or what to change. Read also Acts 16:1-3; Philippians 2:19-23; 2 Timothy 1:5 Up till now we have dealt with letters that were addressed to churches. The first letter to Timothy is addressed to one single per- son. That means that you, even more than in other letters, will find directions for your personal life of faith. You will be able to identify yourself with Timothy, with quite some exceptions. At least, that’s the intention. When you notice that you deviate at certain points, you may correct them. In this letter you have a model in front of you that helps you to live to God’s honor. We will first look at the person to whom Paul addresses this letter. By examining the ‘personal details’ of Timothy (his name means ‘God’s fear’ or ‘honored by God’) we get a picture of this young believer. Relatives: Father > Greek (Acts 16:1) Mother > a believing Jewish woman with a “sincere faith” (Acts 16:1; 2Tim 1:5) Grandmother > had a sincere faith (2Tim 1:5) Was brought up in the faith: Grandmother > mother > Timothy (2Tim 1:5).