1 Timothy 1:3-11 - Sound Biblical Teaching
If you have your Bibles, open to 1 Timothy chapter 1. If you are a guest with us, our MO is to open a book of the Bible and crank our way through it verse by verse. We’re going to continue in that journey today. First Timothy has had an interesting setup because it’s taken us a little while to actually get moving. Week one was Paul, the author. Week two was the recipient, Timothy. Week three was the context of Ephesus. Today, we’re going to cover verses 3 through 11.
The Plumb Line of God’s Word
One of the primary things Paul brings up early in this book is the concept of false teaching and false doctrine. All throughout 1 and 2 Timothy, and even in the letter to the Ephesians, Paul challenges Timothy to hold fast to the Word of God.
When we laid out the context of Ephesus—this perverse, ungodly city—we noted three things that we need to be mindful of as the people of God living in a similar culture:
First, we need to embrace the gospel—recognizing what Jesus did and is still doing in our lives.
Second, we need to surround ourselves with others who also embrace the gospel. Paul said, “Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character.” Or, as I like to say: if you hang out with knuckleheads, you’re going to act like a knucklehead. Both are true.
1 Corinthians 15:33 (NASB)
Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals.’
Third, we need to hold to the Word of God. The Word of God is like a plumb line. A plumb line tells you what true vertical is. If you build your house according to what is plumb, the structure stands. But if things are off plumb, even just a little bit, you might not notice it early on when building a simple shed. But as you build higher and get vertical, it is only a matter of time before the entire structure collapses.
The Word of God is our plumb line. The Bible claims of itself that all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness.
2 Timothy 3:16 (NASB)
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
Peter reminds us that no prophecy of Scripture came by the prophet’s own initiative, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
2 Peter 1:21 (NASB)
for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
Psalm 19 describes the Word of God with absolute clarity.
Psalms 19:7-9 (NASB)
The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether.
The Bible is not a normal book. This is not Narnia; this is not fiction; this is not the local morning news. The Bible is an integrated message system written by multiple authors over a 1,500-year period across three continents in three languages, yet it possesses one unified theme: you are a mess, and you need a Savior. We all need the gospel.
Paul tells the church in Rome not to be conformed to the patterns of this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of their minds.
Romans 12:2 (NASB)
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
The Word of God recalibrates how we think, reprioritizes what is important, and reveals who our God is. This is the God who spoke the world into existence, who fearfully and wonderfully knit us together in our mother’s wombs. You are not an accident. You are not an amoeba that randomly evolved through genetic mutations into what you are today. You are an image bearer of Almighty God, created with inherent value, worth, and dignity.
God created the universe with ridiculous specificity—the exact tilt of the earth’s axis, the speed of its rotation, its precise orbit around the sun to give us seasons, the intricate design of the human ear. A universe this intentional is no accident. And this same God gave us His authoritative, infallible, inspired Word so that we wouldn’t have to guess how to live. His Word provides the plumb line: this is right, this is wrong; this is godly, this is ungodly; this reflects our God, and this does not.
The Competing Voices: Culture and Flesh
Ephesus, much like our world today, had many competing voices. The culture in Ephesus was a loud, chaotic cacophony pulling believers away from a pure devotion to Christ. Culture was whispering in their ears that what was once considered abnormal is actually normal, that biblical morality is prudish, and that since everyone else is indulging, they should too.
Just because the culture says something is right doesn’t make it right. People can easily be wooed by nonsense. I spent several years in a fraternity during college, so I know firsthand what it looks like to be wooed into thinking foolishness is normative. In Ephesus, they wrestled with pagan worship, the dehumanization of slavery, and hedonistic sexual practices. We haven’t learned much throughout history. If we listed everything our culture normalizes today that Scripture calls sin, we would be here all week.
The second competing voice comes from our own flesh—what theologians sometimes call the “traitor at the gates.” Even though you have been redeemed by Jesus Christ, your sinful nature is still present, whispering desires, passions, and longings that rarely align with God. The flesh is fickle; it craves one thing, and moments later it craves another, often in direct opposition to God’s Word.
The flesh invites us to participate in things contrary to reason and contrary to the character of God. Have you ever done something your flesh told you would be fantastic, only to finish and immediately think, What have I done? In that moment, you realize you not only dishonored yourself, but you dishonored the God who created you.
The flesh does not submit to God; in fact, it cannot. That is why trying to clean up your life apart from the power of the gospel is so exhausting and frustrating.
Romans 7:18 (NASB)
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good [is] not.
You say, “I’m done drinking; I’m getting sober,” and two seconds later you fall right back into old habits. But through the Holy Spirit, we are called and empowered to live according to a higher standard.
Romans 8:12-13 (NASB)
So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh– for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
The Real-Life Danger of False Teaching
There is an active battle for our souls. Paul writes to Timothy with an urgent command.
1 Timothy 1:3 (NASB)
As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines,
Paul tells Timothy to stay in Ephesus, drop the plumb line, and teach sound doctrine—even if people look at him like he has lost his mind. Why? Because false doctrine carries massive, real-life consequences.
Just this past week, a man I consider a friend—someone who walked faithfully with Jesus for over a decade—decided to leave his wife. I received the call and couldn’t believe it. I texted him; no reply. I called him; no reply. So what did I do? I drove to his house and knocked on his door. That is the loving thing to do. I told him, “Brother, I come in peace. Help me understand what is going on.”
Here is what happened: he stumbled across content on Instagram deconstructing the Bible. He thought it sounded interesting. He kept listening as it stripped away the divine authority of Scripture, making God’s Word irrelevant in his life. False teaching has real-life consequences. He ingested that teaching until he concluded, “I don’t think the Bible is true. I don’t believe Jesus is God. I don’t believe sin is real. And because of that, I don’t have to stay married.” He walked away from his wife and two young children.
This is why Paul repeatedly warns us to hold fast to true doctrine and avoid empty speculation.
1 Timothy 1:4 (NASB)
nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than [furthering] the administration of God which is by faith.
Paul urges Timothy not to get lost in controversies, genealogies, or cultural conspiracies, but to anchor himself in the gospel. We live in an age where people are one podcast away from losing their minds over every new controversy. We have to come back to the proclamation of Jesus.
Colossians 1:28-29 (NASB)
We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.
The Goal of Sound Instruction: Love
Not all teaching is created equal. Some teaching sounds good on the surface, but when you examine it closely, it departs from the gospel. Good biblical teaching balances both grace and truth. If teaching is all grace and no truth, it leads to license—the idea that God forgives everything, so how you live doesn’t matter. If it is all truth and no grace, it leads to crushing legalism.
Paul defines the true objective of biblical instruction in verse 5.
1 Timothy 1:5 (NASB)
But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
The goal of sound doctrine is love. Sound biblical teaching opens our hearts to understand the character of God, who is love. Biblical love is not passive tolerance that ignores destructive behavior. The goal of instruction is that we would know God, become like God, and reflect His character to the world.
What is the highest expression of love when you see a brother or sister living in destructive foolishness? It isn’t gossiping about them under the guise of a prayer request in your small group, nor is it posting about them on social media. The highest expression of love is to go to them privately, open the Word, and say, “You know what the plumb line says. What are you doing? I love you enough to ask.”
Matthew 18:15-17 (NASB)
’If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. ’But if he does not listen [to you], take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. ’If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
If they listen, you have won your brother. If not, you take others with you. After my friend turned me away at his door, I gathered three brothers, and we went back together. We weren’t trying to ambush him; we wanted him to see that this wasn’t a personal disagreement, but a community of believers pleading with him to turn back.
James 5:19-20 (NASB)
My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
Galatians 6:1 (NASB)
Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; [each one] looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.
Matthew 7:3-5 (NASB)
’Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ’Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? ’You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
Love from sound instruction flows from three things:
- A pure heart: None of us has an inherently pure heart, but through faith in Christ, our hearts are cleansed and made new.
- A good conscience: We possess a clean conscience because of the finished work of Jesus, knowing we are fully forgiven and fully accepted, despite our unworthiness apart from Him.
- A sincere faith: The word “sincere” historically refers to something that is sun-tested. In antiquity, cracked pottery was sometimes patched with wax and sold as whole. A careful buyer held the vessel up to the sunlight to expose the cracks. Sincere faith is genuine, without hypocrisy, and tested in the light of truth.
Fruitless Discussions and the Purpose of the Law
Paul warns that some have abandoned this genuine faith.
1 Timothy 1:6-7 (NASB)
For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.
These false teachers turned aside to meaningless debates and straw-man arguments aimed at eroding the authority of Scripture. If the Bible is divinely inspired, we must adjust our lives to it. But if it is flawed, it becomes nothing more than an ancient book of moral suggestions.
We hear this all the time: “I know the Bible says that’s sin, but that’s not what it really means for us today,” or “Culture has evolved beyond that.” People soften the edge of Scripture. But if you read your Bible and never feel convicted, you aren’t reading the Scriptures honestly.
Today, false teachers don’t even need a physical platform; they just need an internet connection to spread distortions of God’s Word. They claim to speak with authority about things they do not understand. I once had a conversation with my own mother regarding biblical authority. She kept saying, “Well, my God wouldn’t say that.” But if God is merely who we define Him to be, then He is a pocket-sized god of our own making, and the plumb line is gone.
Paul explains the proper purpose of God’s law.
1 Timothy 1:8 (NASB)
But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully,
The law was not made for the righteous, but for the lawless. The person who claims to be righteous on their own merits is claiming they have no need for Jesus. The law exists for people who recognize their brokenness and need for a Savior. God is the Lord of creation; when we come to Him, we submit to His authority rather than dictating our own terms.
The law acts as a tutor that exposes our sin and leads us to Christ.
Galatians 3:24 (NASB)
Therefore the Law has become our tutor [to lead us] to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.
Romans 7:7 (NASB)
What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COVET.’
When you read God’s Word, it reveals your need for grace. When Scripture tells husbands to honor their wives, it holds up a mirror and convicts us where we fall short.
1 Peter 3:7 (NASB)
You husbands in the same way, live with [your wives] in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.
Paul lists those for whom the law is intended.
1 Timothy 1:9-10 (NASB)
realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching,
This list covers the lawless, the rebellious, the ungodly, murderers, kidnappers (which includes modern and ancient human trafficking), liars, and those who practice sexual immorality. The Greek term pornos encompasses any sexual activity outside of God’s design: one man and one woman in a lifelong covenant of marriage.
Paul makes it clear that practicing such things separates one from the kingdom of God.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NASB)
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor [the] covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
Paul concludes verse 10 with a sweeping statement: “and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching.” He draws the target wide so that every single one of us recognizes our guilt and our absolute need for the gospel.
The Consequences of Rejecting God’s Design
What happens when a culture or an individual rejects God’s authority? Paul describes the downward progression in Romans 1.
Romans 1:21-32 (NASB)
For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; [they are] gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
When we discard the plumb line and attempt to build our lives on our own terms, the foundation crumbles. Our culture calls biblical morality archaic, but removing God’s plumb line leads only to brokenness. There is no lasting joy outside of God’s design.
Delighting in the Word
How should we respond? Consider two passages this week.
First, God’s charge to Joshua:
Joshua 1:8 (NASB)
’This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.
Make the Bible your daily guide. You may not know how to pronounce every name or locate every ancient city, but as you spend time in the Scriptures, God drops a plumb line into your heart. Like a tuning fork, the Holy Spirit will prompt you whenever your life gets out of tune.
Second, the opening of the Psalms:
Psalms 1:1-3 (NASB)
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree [firmly] planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.
Blessed is the person who does not conform to the world’s counsel, but delights in the Word of the Lord. When Scripture convicts you, do not view it as an annoyance. View it as God’s gracious invitation to realign your life with His will.
Moses told Israel, “This is no idle word for you; it is your very life.”
Deuteronomy 32:47 (NASB)
‘For it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life. And by this word you will prolong your days in the land, which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.’
We are not playing games. Satan would love nothing more than for us to abandon God’s Word. When I confronted my friend, he insisted, “I’m good.” But true joy is never found in self-absorbed rebellion. Joy is found in living according to the design of our Creator.
John 10:10 (NASB)
’The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have [it] abundantly.
Living in God’s design is not a burden; it is a blessing. Soft preaching produces hard hearts, but faithful, hard preaching produces soft hearts. May we continue to teach the Scriptures in grace and in truth, that our lives may be anchored in the love of God.
Let’s pray.
Father, thank You for Your Word. As we close our Bibles today, teach us what it means to be people of the Book—men and women who study, practice, and proclaim Your truth. Let the plumb line of Scripture shape our hearts and our church. In Jesus’ name, amen.