1 Timothy 1: What Makes a True Church

Introduction

The preacher once served in a church that met in a school on Sunday afternoons at 4 p.m. One day someone asked him whether he ever thought about having "a proper church" one day. In that person's mind, a proper church had a pointed spire, stained glass windows and wooden pews. "Good news," he smiled, "at Dundonald we have a few stained glass windows, five of them. So we're well on our way to being a proper church."

The real question remains: what does a true church look like? This message opens a new series at Dundonald Church (Raynes Park, London) in the first letter to Timothy, a letter "entirely about Jesus' plan for his church." The pastor's answer: a true church is not a building, an institution, or a service you attend. It is the place "where God's Word is faithfully taught and where lives are being transformed to look more and more like Jesus."

The church in Ephesus that we meet in this letter is a true church, but a true church in the middle of a mess: false teaching, friction, controversies, quarrels, people drifting away from the faith. And yet the letter paints a very beautiful picture of the church as God wants it. One question runs through the whole series: how does your church measure up to that picture?

Outline of the message

1. The context: "I told you so"

Paul had founded the church in Ephesus in Acts 19 and stayed there for a few years to strengthen the believers.
In his farewell speech to the elders, he had warned them: "For I know that after my departure, vicious wolves will enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Men will arise from among your own selves, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them" (Acts 20:29-30).
The danger did not come from the outside world but from within. In 1 Timothy 1:3, the wolves have arrived: the "certain men" Timothy must correct are among the leaders.
These elders had wept when Paul left, had probably hugged him, and had approved of his speech. But they had not heeded his warning. Timothy is given the task of repairing the damage.

2. The structure and purpose of the letter

Chapters 1 and 6 deal with false teaching and its dangers: about the law in chapter 1, about money in chapter 6.
Chapters 2 and 5 deal with conduct in the family of the church: men and women in chapter 2, widows and elders in chapter 5.
Chapters 3 and 4 deal with godly leadership: the qualifications of leaders in chapter 3, the instructions to Timothy in chapter 4.
In the middle of the central section stands the key verse: Paul writes so that Timothy will know "how men ought to behave themselves in God's house, which is the assembly of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:14-15).
A fitness coach once told him: if you put junk food into your body, you reap the effects. You can live on burgers and fizzy drinks, but don't expect to run a marathon in under three hours. The same goes for the church: if false doctrines are taught, don't expect believers to flourish. The church in Ephesus was being fed spiritual junk food.
The pastor adds a qualification: it is not an automatic equation. You can see godly conduct where the Bible is not faithfully taught, and ungodly behavior where it is. But as a general rule, what you put in determines what you get out.
His summary of the letter: "the proclamation of the gospel for godly conduct in the household of God." Teaching the Bible is not an end in itself: proclaiming the gospel leads to a transformed life, not just to theological knowledge or interesting discussions.

3. An opening that announces the gospel

Paul introduces himself as an apostle "according to the commandment of God" (verse 1). This is the only time in his letters that he uses this term: he usually speaks of a calling or the will of God. So he sends Timothy with God's authority.
"God our Savior" and "Christ Jesus our hope" are not phrases thrown in at random. The false teachers seemed to see God as a lawgiver, "a sort of giant schoolmaster in the sky" handing out rules to good people. Paul calls God the Father "our Savior" three times in the letter.
"The gospel is not God rewarding good people who keep the law. The gospel is God saving bad people who break the law."
Timothy is called "my true child in faith" (verse 2). He had learned the faith from his grandmother and his mother (2 Timothy 1:5), but Paul had played a major role in shaping him. Timothy co-wrote six letters of the New Testament and had already been sent to Corinth.
The letter is personal, but meant to be read publicly: it ends with "Grace be with you" in the plural (1 Timothy 6:21). The whole church needs to know what Timothy has to do, and what the church itself has to do.
"Grace, mercy and peace": grace is the source of the gospel, God's scandalous, undeserved kindness. Mercy is its content: God treats sinners differently from what they deserve, on the basis of what Jesus has done. Peace is its result, with God and with one another.

4. False teaching is dangerous (verses 3 to 7)

A few years earlier, the church in Ephesus had been known for its Bible teaching: the apostle Paul was its founder and pastor. Soon after he left, those in charge were teaching "different doctrines," literally "other things."
Instead of devoting themselves to preaching the gospel (chapter 4), they were occupied with "fables and endless genealogies" (verse 4): made-up stories and family trees.
There is nothing wrong with reading myths in a novel, but there is a real problem with preaching them every week. There is nothing wrong with genealogies, the New Testament opens with one, but it is odd to talk about nothing else. It is like a pastor who, passionate about the meaning of numbers in the Bible, preached only on that subject for a whole term.
These teachers did not necessarily deny the gospel. They had simply pushed it to one side to put something else center stage. The result: lively discussions, but people who were not growing and a gospel that no longer went out. "Lives are transformed by the proclamation of the gospel, not by controversial speculation."
Stopping this false teaching may seem harsh. But "the goal of this command is love" (verse 5): love for God, for the church members who need sound teaching, for outsiders who need to hear the gospel, and even for the false teachers.
Teaching faithfully and loving are not opposed: faithful teaching helps us love. This love comes "from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith," the fruit of the gospel taught and lived.
Without it, some turn aside to meaningless talk (verse 6) and speak about things they do not understand (verse 7).

5. Sound teaching is essential (verses 8 to 11)

Against the false teachers who did not know what they were talking about, Paul affirms: "we know." They had forgotten who the law was given for.
First legitimate use: the law exposes our sin. When Jesus sums up the law with "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind" and "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37-39), he does not expect us to answer: "Fine, I passed, give me another one." He expects us to say: "I'm far short, I break it every day, Lord, I need help."
"The law was never for the righteous, it was always for the rebel." Every other religion says: keep the law and God will reward you. Christianity says: you cannot keep it, it is not for you to climb up, it is God who comes down.
The list in verses 9 and 10 shows that lawbreakers are not a handful of great criminals: it includes murderers, but also liars and perjurers, as well as all who live out their sexuality outside God's plan, marriage between a man and a woman, whether the attraction is to the same sex or to the opposite sex. "Every one of us breaks God's law," and Paul adds "whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine."
Second legitimate use: the law shines a light on the Savior. The law must be fulfilled, and Jesus is the only one who has kept it perfectly. Lawbreakers deserve judgment, and Jesus bore it on the cross. After he ascended to heaven, he sent his Spirit so that his children would want to obey and receive the strength to do so.
Well taught, the law convinces us of sin and throws us into the arms of the Savior's mercy. Sound teaching is essential for salvation, for transformed lives and for growing as a true church.

6. Two implications for the church

Bible teachers, teach the truth. This concerns elders and preachers, but also group leaders, those who teach children and young people, those who read the Bible one-to-one with someone, and every Christian who tells the truth to another. Keep the main thing at the center and lead people to Jesus. Pray for those who preach every week.
Church members, listen carefully. Be discerning, without being a "Bible police officer" who writes a ticket at the slightest mistake. Open your Bible, read the passage ahead of time, talk about it afterwards, meditate on it, pray about it. As you walk into church, ask: "Help me, Lord, to listen carefully."
Don't settle for saying "very interesting": put it into practice. Truly listening means listening in order to do what the Bible says.
Normally, we do not listen to the Word "as critics, but as Christians," with a humble and discerning heart.
If you move to another city, look for a church that teaches the Bible faithfully and clearly, and where you can see the fruit of godly conduct.

Key takeaways

A true church is not a building: it is a place where the Word is faithfully taught and where lives look more and more like Jesus.
The danger can come from within: pushing the gospel to one side is enough to make a church sick.
Correcting false teaching is an act of love, toward God, the church, outsiders and the false teachers themselves.
The law exposes our sin and leads us to the Savior: the gospel is God saving those who have broken it.
Those who teach must tell the truth, and those who listen must listen carefully in order to put it into practice.

Personal application

What makes a "proper church" for you: the building, the style of worship, or the Word faithfully taught and lives being transformed?
Are there secondary subjects that have taken the central place of the gospel in your conversations or your reading?
Do you read God's law to congratulate yourself on your progress, or to recognize your need of the Savior?
How can you prepare this week to listen to the sermon carefully: read the passage beforehand, talk about it afterwards, pray?
Where do you have the opportunity to tell someone the truth of the Word, and how can you keep Jesus at the center?

Verses cited

Frequently asked questions

What is a true church according to 1 Timothy?

For the preacher, a true church is defined neither by its building, nor by an institution, nor by a service you attend. It is a place where God's Word is faithfully taught and where lives are being transformed to look more and more like Jesus. He sums up the letter this way: the proclamation of the gospel for godly conduct in the household of God.

Isn't it harsh to ask some people to stop teaching?

Paul answers in verse 5: the goal of this command is love. Love for God, because we put at the center what he has put at the center. Love for church members, who need sound teaching to grow. Love for outsiders, who need to hear the gospel. And love for the false teachers themselves, because leading others astray does them no good.

How do you make good use of the law according to 1 Timothy 1:8-11?

The law is good if it is used legitimately. It was not given to the righteous but to sinners. It has two purposes: to expose our sin, since all of us have broken it, and to shine a light on the Savior, Jesus, the only one who has kept it perfectly and who bore on the cross the judgment that lawbreakers deserved.