Paul begins his letter to Timothy with a polite greeting in verse 1, and then gets right down to business. He reminds Timothy why Paul wanted him to remain in Ephesus: To put a stop to false teaching and endless disputes. There will be no more myths, genealogies and poor teaching, for these all create wild speculations and arguments which take the people away from their calling which is to advance God’s work which is by faith, not by philosophy and silliness.

The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.

1Timothy 1:5-7

That seems pretty clear to me: Enough of this fooling around, we have real work to do!

We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.

1Timothy 1:8-11

Paul’s reference here to the law being used “properly” is an important one, for he means that the law is to be used to bring people to an understanding of what is pleasing in God’s sight, to bring them into repentance if necessary. I highly doubt that he is suggesting to Timothy that he use the law as a hammer to force people to do whatever he wants them to do; that is what these false teachers are doing. They had been using the law to make the gentile Christians become Jews, and Paul is forever fighting against such false teaching.

In verses 12-17, Paul sets out his rationale for what he has just said. His point is simple: He was the worst of sinners, and God saved Him through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Since God saw fit to bring Paul to repentance and forgiveness, any of these other people mentioned above can also be brought to repentance and the grace of our Lord; this is the proper way to use the law.

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.

1Timothy 1:15

This is Paul’s bottom line with Timothy and his mission in Ephesus, his reason for being there. He is charged with putting false teaching, debates and speculations to bed, so that the real work of saving the lost and making disciples can get underway in earnest.