1 Timothy 1:18 - Meaning and Application

Here Paul gives Timothy a charge to carry on his work with courage and firmness (1 Timothy 1:18). The gospel is a trust given to ministers. They are responsible for handling it rightly, according to its true meaning and the purpose of its great Author, Jesus Christ. It seems that prophecies had already been spoken about Timothy, saying he would be set apart for the ministry and become useful and respected in it. Paul uses those words to encourage him and place this charge in his hands.

The ministry is a warfare, a good fight against sin and Satan. Ministers serve under the banner of the Lord Jesus, who is the Captain of our salvation (Hebrews 2:10). They are in a special way enlisted in his cause and against his enemies. So they must fight this good fight with diligence and courage, even when they face opposition and discouragement. The good hopes others have for us should also stir us up to faithful service, just as Timothy was urged to do by the prophecies about him.

Paul also reminds Timothy to hold on to both faith and a good conscience, because these belong together (1 Timothy 1:19). If someone puts away a good conscience, he will soon wreck his faith. We should live by the guidance of a renewed and enlightened conscience, and keep our conscience clear of offense (Acts 24:16). A conscience that is not corrupted by vice or sin helps keep us sound in the faith. We must guard both, because the mystery of the faith must be held with a pure conscience (1 Timothy 3:9).

Paul then names two men, Hymeneus and Alexander, who had made a profession of Christian faith but later abandoned it. He says he delivered them to Satan, meaning he treated them as belonging to Satan’s kingdom, and, as some think, he even used a special apostolic power to let Satan trouble them so they might learn not to blaspheme, that is, not to speak against Christ’s truth and ways. The main purpose of the church’s strongest discipline in the early church was to stop more sin and bring the sinner back. In this case, it was for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus (1 Corinthians 5:5).

Those who love Satan’s service are rightly handed over to Satan’s power. God can also use opposite means to reach his ends. Hymeneus and Alexander were given over to Satan so that they might learn not to blaspheme, though we might expect Satan to teach them to blaspheme even more. People who have cast off a good conscience and wrecked their faith will not shrink from anything, not even blasphemy. Therefore, if we want to stay clear of blasphemy, we must hold fast to faith and a good conscience, because once we loosen our grip on these, we cannot tell where we will stop.