Wenstrom Bible Ministries Marion, Iowa Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom wenstrom

1. Wenstrom Bible MinistriesMarion, IowaPastor-Teacher Bill Wenstromwww.wenstrom.org

2. Tuesday June 14, 20111 Timothy: 1 Timothy 4:7-Paul Commands Timothy To Continue Rejecting Worldly Myths Which Are Like Old Wives Tales But Instead Continue Training Himself For GodlinessLesson # 81

3. Please turn in your Bibles to 1 Timothy 4:1.

4. In 1 Timothy 4:7, the apostle Paul issues Timothy two commands with the first requiring that Timothy continue rejecting worldly myths, which are like old wives tales whereas the second requires him to continue training himself for godliness.

5. 1 Timothy 4:1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,

6. 2 by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron,

7. 3 men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.

8. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude;

9. 5 for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.

10. 6 In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following.

11. 7 But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. (NASU)

12. “But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women” is composed of the conjunction de (δέ) (theh), “but” and the articular accusative masculine plural form of the adjective bebelos (βέβηλος) (vev-ee-loce), “worldly”

13. and the conjunction kai (καί) (keh), which is followed by the accusative masculine plural form of the adjective graodes (γραώδης) (grah-owe-theese), “fit only for old women”

14. and the accusative masculine plural form of the noun muthos (μῦθος) (me-those), “fables” and the second person singular present middle imperative form of the verb paraiteomai (παραιτέομαι) (pahdah-tay-owe-meh), “have nothing to do with.”

15. The conjunction de introduces a command that stands in contrast with 1 Timothy 4:6, which reminds Timothy of his responsibility to regularly instruct the Ephesians with regards to Paul’s teaching pertaining to marriage and food in order to protect them from the demonically inspired teaching of the Judaizers.

16. In 1 Timothy 4:7, Paul issues Timothy a command to continue rejecting worldly myths, which are like old wives tales and this is followed by a command for Timothy to continue training himself for godliness.

17. Therefore, the contrast is between Timothy fulfilling his responsibilities with respect to the gospel and not doing so because of being occupied with irreverent, silly myths or in other words he is to avoid the false doctrine of the Judaizers.

18. The verb paraiteomai means “to reject” the myths of the Judaizers and denotes that Timothy was to refuse to accept or consider these myths of the Judaizers.

19. It also indicates that he was to refuse to listen to the false teachings being taught.

20. This verb also denotes that Paul wants Timothy to refute these myths as well which is indicated by Paul’s urgent request in 1 Timothy 1:3-5 that Timothy command certain pastors in Ephesus from being occupied with these myths that are based upon a erroneous interpretation of the genealogies of Genesis.

21. It is also indicated by Paul’s exhortation in 1 Timothy 1:18-19 that Timothy continue being engaged in spiritual combat by exercising faith in the gospel.

22. The present imperative form of the verb paraiteomai is a “customary present imperative” whose force is for Timothy “to continue making it his habit of” performing this task of rejecting the myths of the Judaizers.

23. The customary present imperative implies that Timothy was already about performing this task when this letter arrived from Paul.

24. The middle voice of the verb is an intensive middle focusing attention on the subject Timothy emphasizing his volitional responsibility as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ to reject the myths of the Judaizers.

25. The noun muthos describes the teaching of the Judaizers from the perspective that it is unhistorical and not based upon truth or fact.

26. The gospel is absolute truth since it is inspired by the Holy Spirit as well as rooted in historical events (crucifixion, death and resurrection of Christ) and an historical individual (Jesus of Nazareth).

27. The adjective bebelos means “worldly” and is modifying the noun muthos, “myths” and is describing these myths as being directly related to Satan’s cosmic system and are not related in any way whatsoever to the gospel and God’s plan for the Christian church.

28. It describes these myths has having no godly purpose whatsoever.

29. The adjective graodes describes the types of stories told by old women that are speculative and non-historical and not truth and thus lack any value to the Christian.

30. Commenting on this word, Fee writes, “a sarcastic expression often used in philosophical polemic comparing an opponent’s position to the tales perpetuated by the older women of those cultures as they would sit around weaving and the like.” (Fee, Gordon, D., New International Biblical Commentary: 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus; page 103; Hendrickson Publishers; Peabody, Massachusetts, 1984, 1988)

31. Therefore, the adjective graodes means “characteristic of the tales told by old women” and is modifying the noun muthos, “myths” and is describing these myths as being like the types of stories told by gossipy old women that are speculative and non-historical and not truth and thus lack any value to the Christian.

32. 1 Timothy 4:7 But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. (NASU)

33. “On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness” is composed of the second person singular present active imperative form of the verb gumnazo (γυμνάζω) (yim-nah-zoe), “discipline” and the conjunction de (δέ) (theh), “on the other hand”

34. and the accusative second person masculine singular form of the reflexive pronoun seautou (σεαυτοῦ) (say-owf-too), “yourself” and the preposition pros (πρός) (proce), “for the purpose of” and its object is the accusative feminine singular form of the noun eusebeia (εὐσέβεια) (ef-sev-ee-ah), “godliness.”

35. The conjunction de is introducing a command that stands in contrast with the previous command.

36. Therefore, the contrast is between rejecting the myths of the Judaizers with that of obeying the gospel, which produces godliness.

37. The verb gumnazo was used in secular Greek literature to refer to an athlete training in the nude, as was done in the Greek games.

38. In 1 Timothy 4:7, the verb gumnazo means “to train oneself” or “discipline oneself” and is an athletic metaphor referring to Timothy training himself in a spiritual sense by being obedient to the teaching of the gospel, which will produce in him a godly life.

39. The word describes Timothy as actively and vigorously pursing the goal of godliness just as an athlete in the Greek athletic games would vigorously pursue the goal of reaching the stone pillar first, which marked the finish line in the ancient games.

40. By using the verb gumnazo in 1 Timothy 4:7, Paul is using track and field imagery in order to describe to Timothy pursing Christ-likeness or spiritual maturity.

41. He has in mind a runner sprinting for the tape at the finish line and winning the prize (brebeion).

42. The verb denotes Timothy’s zealous pursuit of Christ-likeness for the execution of the Father’s plan for his life.

43. He is in effect saying here with this verb that Timothy is to pursue the objective of executing the Father’s plan for his life, which is the attainment of Christ-likeness by experiencing identification with Christ in His death and resurrection.

44. The present imperative form of the verb gumnazo is a “customary present imperative” whose force is for Timothy to continue making it his habit of disciplining himself for the purpose of godliness.

45. The customary present imperative implies that Timothy was already doing this when this letter arrived from Paul.

46. The reflexive pronoun seautou indicates that Timothy as the subject is also the object of this verb gumnazo and is used to highlight or emphasize his responsibility in obeying this command.

47. The noun eusebeia refers to proper Christian attitude and conduct that is produced by the Holy Spirit as a result of exercising faith in the Word of God resulting in obedience to the Word of God.

48. It means “godliness” in the sense that by the power of the Holy Spirit the Christian is conforming their thinking and conduct according to the Father’s will, which is revealed by the Holy Spirit in the Word of God.

49. It means that the Christian is conforming their attitude and conduct to the will of the Father as a result of faith in the Spirit’s teaching in the Word of God resulting in obedience to the Father’s will.

50. The Christian’s faith in the Word of God appropriates the power of the Holy Spirit resulting in conformity of their attitude and conduct to the will of the Father, which is revealed by the Spirit in the Word of God.