About This Book

1 Timothy is Paul’s letter to his younger co worker, written to help him strengthen a local church that is being troubled by false teaching and unhealthy leadership. Paul is not writing a timeless manual of church administration detached from the gospel. He is safeguarding the message of Christ and shaping a church culture that matches that message. For preachers and teachers, this book is a sober reminder that doctrine and discipleship belong together, and that the church’s public witness is bound up with its inner health.

The letter begins with the urgent task of confronting false teachers and restoring sound doctrine, where the law is used rightly and the gospel is cherished as mercy for sinners (ch.1). Paul then turns to the church’s gathered life, prayer, and worship, and to the kind of men and women the gospel forms (ch.2). He sets out qualifications for overseers and deacons and explains why the church must be ordered and protected, because it belongs to the living God (ch.3). From there he warns against later departures from the faith, calls Timothy to be a faithful minister of Christ, and gives concrete instruction for caring for widows, honouring elders, and handling money and contentment (chs.4 to 6). The burden is clear, guard the gospel, appoint godly leaders, and pursue true godliness that is rooted in grace.

1 Timothy trains the church to treasure the gospel, to appoint qualified shepherds, and to pursue visible godliness as the household of God.

Preach 1 Timothy with the gospel always in view. Keep returning to the aim of love from a pure heart and the glory of Christ, so that church order serves worship and witness, not mere tidiness.

Structure of the Book

This outline keeps the letter’s pastoral flow, moving from guarding doctrine to shaping worship, leadership, and congregational life.

1. Guarding the gospel against false teaching
   The charge to protect sound doctrine, the right use of the law, and Paul’s testimony of mercy, ch.1
2. Prayer and a church life that commends the gospel
   Public prayer and instructions for gathered life shaped by godliness, ch.2
3. Qualifications for church leaders
   Overseers and deacons, with a vision of the church as God’s household, ch.3
4. A faithful minister and a guarded church
   Warnings about error, nourishment in the truth, and training in godliness, ch.4
5. Pastoral care within the household of God
   How Timothy should treat different groups, especially widows and elders, ch.5
6. Integrity, contentment, and finishing well
   Teaching on work, money, false desires, and the charge to keep the faith, ch.6

Key Themes

• Sound doctrine and healthy discipleship, teaching that is true produces love, purity, and a clear conscience.
• False teaching and its fruit, error is not merely intellectual, it breeds pride, quarrels, and spiritual harm.
• The gospel of mercy, Paul’s own story shows Christ saving sinners and appointing servants by grace.
• The church as God’s household, the congregation belongs to the living God and must be ordered for his glory.
• Qualified leadership, elders and deacons must be tested and shaped by character, not charisma.
• Godliness, visible holiness is the proper response to the gospel and must be trained and pursued.
• Prayer and worship, gathered life is to be marked by reverence, peace, and gospel shaped conduct.
• Pastoral care and honour, the church cares for the vulnerable, honours faithful labourers, and corrects sin wisely.
• Money, contentment, and eternal perspective, love of money ruins, but godly contentment frees believers for generosity.

Recommended Commentaries

1 Timothy often sits at the centre of difficult modern conversations about church leadership, gathered worship, and ministry practice. A clear main commentary will help you trace Paul’s argument and keep applications anchored in the gospel and the church’s identity as God’s household, while an additional voice can be helpful in ch.2 to ch.3 where interpretive questions and pastoral sensitivity are especially concentrated.

• 1 Timothyby Philip G. Ryken, Score: 9.0

  A richly pastoral, Christ-centred exposition of 1 Timothy that serves preachers and church leaders exceptionally well.

• The Message of 1 Timothy & Titusby John R.W. Stott, Score: 8.8

  A dependable, gospel-rooted guide to the Pastoral Epistles that combines faithful exposition with pastoral insight.

• Thessalonians, Timothy, and Titusby Simon J. Kistemaker, William Hendrickson, Score: 8.4

  A richly informed and pastorally sensitive volume that blends sound exegesis with practical guidance for ministry.

Browse all 1 Timothy reviews

Extra help is often most valuable in ch.2 on prayer and gathered life, and in ch.3 to ch.5 where leadership qualifications, church discipline, and the care of widows and elders require both clear exegesis and wise pastoral application.

Preaching and Teaching Helps

1 Timothy is intensely practical, but its practical instruction must be preached as gospel shaped wisdom, not as a detached list of policies.

• Keep doctrine and life together, show how false teaching damages love and godliness, and how truth produces health.
• Preach church order as worship, emphasise that structure exists for the good of the flock and the honour of Christ.
• Handle contested passages carefully, especially in ch.2 and ch.3, with clarity, humility, and careful attention to context.
• Teach leadership positively, qualifications are not hurdles for the ambitious but protection for the church and a call to maturity.
• Apply pastoral care concretely, ch.5 gives rich material for teaching how the church treats people with dignity and truth.
• Preach money and contentment searchingly, ch.6 exposes heart desires and sets generosity and eternity in view.

This Book in the Story of Scripture

1 Timothy stands in the story of the risen Christ building his church through the apostolic gospel. The same Lord who saved Paul by mercy now shapes congregations by truth, appoints shepherds for the flock, and calls the church to be a pillar and support of the truth in the world. The letter is not about institutional survival, it is about the living God gathering a holy people who display the gospel.

The book shapes assurance by holding the gospel steady and by reminding believers that salvation rests on Christ’s mercy, not on human achievement. It shapes holiness by calling the church to pursue godliness, to renounce corrupt desires, and to live with integrity in public worship and private conduct. It shapes mission and witness by ordering the church as a credible, loving household, so that the truth is adorned rather than obscured.

Because Christ has shown mercy to sinners and gathers them into God’s household, the church can guard the truth, pursue godliness, and live in a way that adorns the gospel with hope.