Paul, writing to his young assistance in Ephesus, urges pastor Timothy to oppose false teachers who teach false doctrine, worldview, and lifestyle. There is only one standard of Christianity, and it is the New Testament. It is not to be added to or taken from, redefined, twisted by interpretation, or rejected. God has settled it.
My translation and notes of 1 Timothy 1:1-11
1 Timothy Chapter 1
Salutation
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hopeN3,
2 To Timothy, my true son in the faith. May grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord [be yourss].
Oppose false teachers
3 Just as I encouraged yous when I was going to Macedonia, stay in Ephesus so you might tell certain [individuals] not to teach any other doctrine,
[The true doctrine (teaching) as taught by the Lord Jesus, His Apostles, and prophets/prophetesses was the standard. It was not to be altered by addition, redefinition, expansion, etc. Systematic theology, creeds, and confessions needed to be brought about, but the teaching itself, the foundation was complete. Compare Romans 16:17-18, 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, and 2 Peter 2:1. Anyone adding or subtracting from the foundation doctrine was to be exposed and stopped. Compare Revelation 22:18-19. A list of examples is found in Manser (DICTIONARY OF BIBLE THEMES): Matthew 16:23 pp Mark 8:33; 2 Timothy 4:2 See also 1 Samuel 2:29; 13:13; 15:22; 2 Samuel 12:9 Nathan rebukes David; 1 Kings 18:18 Elijah rebukes Ahab; 2 Chronicles 16:9; 24:20; 26:18; Ezra 10:10; Psalm 141:5; Daniel 4:27; 5:22; Matthew 14:4 pp Mark 6:18 John the Baptist rebukes Herod; Luke 23:40; Acts 5:3-4 Peter rebukes Ananias; Acts 5:9 Peter rebukes Sapphira; 1 Timothy 1:3; 5:20; Titus 1:13; 2:15].
4 Nor pay attention to fables and endless genealogies, which leads to controversy instead of godly growth in faith.
[There are consequences of elevating fables and genealogies—controversy, arguments, debates, etc. What is important in the Christian life is godly growth in faith. BARCLAY DAILY STUDY BIBLES (beware) writes:
[I]dle tales. One of the characteristics of the ancient world was that the poets and even the historians loved to work out romantic and fictitious tales about the foundation of cities and of families. They would tell how some god came to earth and founded the city or took in marriage some mortal maid and founded a family. The ancient world was full of stories like that….
It would be the easiest thing in the world for Christianity to get lost in endless and fabulous stories about origins and in elaborate and imaginary genealogies. That was a danger which was inherent in the situation in which Christian thought was developing.
5 Now the goal of this command is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.
[The goal of godly growth in faith is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. A ‘pure heart’ is a heart that is not double minded, nor one that believes false doctrine and true doctrine at the same time. Some do, for privately they believe some false things but publicly teach true. See Psalm 24:4, 2 Timothy 2:22, and 1 Peter 1:22. A good conscience refers to a heart that strives with the assisting grace of God to live a life pleasing to God according to His standards. We must train our conscience. We do this by filling it with truth—the Scriptures. The more truth we have; the more these principles can be prompted by the Holy Spirit by His bringing these truths to our memories in order to guide our thinking and life. See (Acts 24:16, Ephesians 4:17, 23, 1 Timothy 1:5, 19; 2 Timothy 1:3). This heart confesses its sins and asks for strength. A sincere faith is belief in truth concerning God—all that He is and teaches. Don Fleming writes (BRIDGEWAY BIBLE DICTIONARY): They must act sincerely and display right attitudes, even when they feel no natural affection for the person concerned (Exodus 23:4-5, Leviticus 19:17-18, Romans 12:9, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, and 1 Timothy 1:5). Good deeds may be worthless in God’s sight if they do not arise out of sincere love (1 Corinthians 13:1-3 and Revelation 2:2-4)].
6 Some having swerved from this have turned aside to meaningless discussions.
7 Wanting to be teachers of the law they don’t even understand what they are talking about or what they strongly assert.
[This refers to the Judaizers who know human interpretations and additions to Mosaic Law. Compare Matthew 15:3 and Mark 7:3-4. Paul, trained by Gamaliel (Acts 22:3), knows better, for now he has also been trained by the Holy Spirit (Galatians 1:16-17].
8 But we know that the law is good, if one uses it as it should be used.
9 We understand that the law was not laid down for a righteous person but for the lawless, for disobedient, for the ungodly, for sinners, for the unholy, for those with no reverence for what is sacred, for murderers of fathers, for murderers of mothers, for killers,
10 For people who are sexually immoral, for sodomites, for slave traders, for liars, for perjurers, and for whatever else is contrary to sound teaching,
11 On the authority of the glorious Good News about the blessed God, which was entrusted to me.
[The purpose of the Law was to awaken the truth that we are sinners, guilty before God, deserving punishment, and stirring us up to trust in God alone for forgiveness of sins. Compare Psalm 51].