Paul's Closing Exhortation & Blessing to Timothy.

Paul brought this letter to a close with one final charge to Timothy, once again set within the context of dealing with the false teachers. Paul spoke of what had been entrusted to Timothy's care, that is, the sound doctrine of the gospel (1 Tim. 1:10-11; cf. 2 Tim. 1:14). This issue is of major importance, even in today's age of relativism and post modernity. Hughes drives the above point home, saying:

In the fifth century St. Leo gave Timothy's charge [Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care] classic expression:

What is meant by the deposit? That which is committed to thee, not that which is invented by thee; that which thou hast received, not that which thou hast devised; a thing not of wit, but of learning; not of private assumption, but of public tradition; a thing brought to thee, not brought forth of thee; wherein thou must not be an author, but a keeper; not a leader but a follower. Keep the deposit [Sermon LXXXV.3, NPNF 2 XI, 198, in Oden, First and Second Timothy and Titus, p. 127.]

This defines the essential work of the church and its leadership today. It is not responsible to do new theology but to guard and exposit the apostolic deposit. As William Barclay has suggested, an elder and preacher does well to remember that his duty is not to himself but to the truth and to his children and his children's children. If in our day the church is weakened and enfeebled by inattention to the deposit, if in our day Christian ethics are more and more melded into the world because of neglect of the deposit, if in our day the Christian faith is distorted by attempts to make it culturally relevant, we would not be the only losers, but also our children and their children. We must guard the deposit. The apostolic urgency has not diminished.

Paul ends rather abruptly, saying "Grace be with you." This suggests that Paul saw the situation in Ephesus as quite serious. Note that the Greek word translated "you" is plural. Paul intended the letter to be read to the entire Church (2 Tim. 4:22; Tit 3:15). He intended it for us today! Doctrine and holy living are just as serious an issue in today's Church it was in the early Church. See WLC 113.

Once again, in this book we have seen magnificent scriptural truths that are consistent with the great cry of the Reformation:

Sola Fide (by faith alone)
Sola Scriptura (by Scripture alone)
Solus Christus (through Christ alone)
Sola Gratia (by grace alone)
Soli Deo Gloria (glory to God alone)

As he had in 1:18 (see note), and as he will again in his farewell letter (see note 2 Tim 1:14), Paul exhorts Timothy to 'guard what has been entrusted' to him for delivery to others. Like Paul, Timothy is a go-between, a representative of Jesus Christ and his gospel. The gospel or 'healthy words' or 'healthy teaching' about Jesus Christ (see notes 1:10-11 and 6:3) is set against the 'foolish talk' and 'conflicting ideas' of the 'false teachers,' who wrongly label their teachings 'knowledge.' Many commentators, who have held a later date for the Pastoral epistles, have identified this knowledge with the Gnostic teachings of the second century. As we have seen, however, the 'false teachers' at Ephesus are Jewish, who disputed aspects of the Law, and drew from a mix of Jewish and pagan wisdom traditions to oppose the gospel (cf. 1 Cor 1:10-4:21; 8:1-13; Col 2:1-10)