1. The Pastoral Epistles - Introduction

As the new year begins, I promised that I would begin a new series on this site. So today, I will begin to share with you what God has been teaching me in the first 5 days of 2009. My devotion that I have begun for the new year is my own study through the Pastoral Epistles. 2 Timothy has been one of my favorite books in the Bible for several years now, and I am wanting to not only understand that short letter better, but also study the 2 letters surrounding it that have been historically known as the Pastoral Epistles.

Over the course of the next few months, I will take my time and go through each letter verse by verse. This is not a study that I am wanting to rush through. I am going to take it at a steady pace and consult others who have written on this topic. I am currently using 5 commentaries to aid my studying: 3 of the 5 are John MacArthur's 3 books on the Pastoral Epistles, 1 is the NIV Application Commentary - written by Walter L.Liefeld, and 1 is the New American Commentary - written by Thomas D. Lea and Hayne P. Griffin, Jr.

So today I will begin with a quick introduction to the Pastoral Epistles, and in the coming weeks I will share some of the things that I have learned about the passages themselves. But do not worry, this will not be the only thing that I write on in the coming weeks. I will continue to post my thoughts on a variety of topics and issues throughout the new year.

The Author:
For the common student of the Bible, it would seem ridiculous to ask if Paul wrote the Pastoral Epistles. Knowing that the majority of the New Testament books and letters were written by Paul, one would immediately turn to him as the author of these three short letters. But for some reason, people began to suggest that maybe Paul really is not the author of 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus. And to be quite honest, they seemed to back up their assumption with pretty good evidence. For instance, they speak on his choice of words and comment on how it is different from his other letters. They also disagree with his authorship because Acts does not cover this portion of Paul's life. Others claim that the author speaks heresy in these letters, thus refusing Paul's authorship.

But I must disagree with these claims. Does our basis on Paul's life have to come from Acts? Just because it neglects to mention his latter years and death, are we to believe that he ceased to continue to preach God's Word? Acts is a great history book on the early church, but it does have an end, and the Pastoral Epistles help fill in those missing last years of Paul's life. As for the "heresy," what is heretical about the doctrine of the Trinity, doctrine of salvation, the importance of sound doctrine, the need for Godly leaders in the church? Is this what they claim as heresy? The Pastoral Epistles do speak on different topics, but they are just as important as the topics that Paul mentioned in his other letters. Finally, one reason that all the commentators point out for Paul's shift in vocabulary is that he was writing to individuals and not cities or large groups of people. Also, his subject matter was different in these letters.

The Recipients:
These letters are not written to large groups of people such as the Ephesians or Galatians. Instead they are written to 2 of Paul's "spiritual sons" who were leaders in local churches. They were on missions, sent by Paul to help some churches grow stronger. But they needed some guidance as well in how to combat the growing problems in the churches in which they were serving. For Timothy, he needed to stand his ground, conquer his timidity, and preach against the rising heresies in Ephesus. That was Paul's mission for Timothy, and he gave him practical help in this task. He discusses the importance of knowing what you believe, thus leading to a bold statement of faith before the heretics. Also, if there were any current leaders in the church preaching heretical teachings or living immoral lives apart from God, Paul wanted them replaced. This would provide the congregation with a positive, human, example by which to live.

The Message:
Mentioned above in the previous two sections, Paul's main message was to help in church growth. He was combating heresy. He wanted to help churches in their leadership problems. He wanted to establish good foundations for these churches before persecution really set in for them all. He knew that he would soon be gone, and he was in one sense passing his message on to 2 of his trusted "sons."

The Location:
Timothy - Ephesus
Titus - Island of Crete

Those are some of the things that we are going to look at over the next few months as we take a journey back to the 1st Century and look at the teachings that Paul left with Timothy and Titus.

Matt