1 Tim. 1:18-20 - Timothy reminded of his calling

18 Timothy, my son, I am giving you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies previously made about you, so that by them you may strongly engage in battle,
19 having faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and have suffered the shipwreck of their faith.
20 Hymenaeus and Alexander are among them, and I have delivered them to Satan, so that they may be taught not to blaspheme.

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vs. 18 “Timothy, my son, I am giving you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies previously made about you, so that by them you may strongly engage in battle,“

“Timothy, my son” - See verse 2, this chapter. This is a personal letter of exhortation and instruction to a close friend rather than to churches in towns or regions.

"prophecies previously made" - These are not recorded in the Scripture, nor by whom. Paul knows Timothy was called to be a leader of the church. A “Calling” is much more than being appointed to serve. God places a “need to be there” in the heart. Mature fellow believers can confirm the person “called” is ready and willing. Secular examples are authors who are compelled to write by an inner drive, or musicians who are compelled to play and perform music. God places this same type of desire and drive in the spirit of those called to serve.

"strongly engage in battle," - Some translations read “fight the good fight.” We are in a spiritual war. (See Eph. 6:12, and other verses.) Satan hates God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Because of that enmity, he hates Christians. Not all non-believers feel animosity toward believers. Some do. Jesus said, "If the world hates you, it is because it hated me first.” (John 15:18) Why does the world hate Jesus? He said, “... because I am testifying about it that its deeds are evil." (John 7:7) The Apostle John also wrote “See what sort of love the Father has given to us: that we should be called God's children - and indeed we are! For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know him.“ (1 John 3:1) Jesus will be with us and protect so ”that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us." (See: Luke 1:71; Psa. 106:10)

vs. 19 “having faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and have suffered the shipwreck of their faith.“

"having faith and good conscience" - See also 1 Tim. 1:5. Some translations read “keeping faith...” Paul is encouraging Timothy about two things - stay true to the gospel, and do not do things for which you will have to rationalize. Paul is reminding Timothy that the “ends do not justify the means.” Remain faithful in this spiritual battle.
This would seem obvious - do not do morally questionable things to defend the gospel. For example: Do not tell lies in order to defeat enemies of the gospel. Do not spread malicious gossip in order to denigrate the character of people who oppose the message of Christ. We do not need to defend Jesus Christ’s reputation. Our reputation is to be spotless as we spread the Gospel. Let our consciences be clear! “Clear” or “good” means no conflict with the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit is convicting us, it is sin, and no amount of negotiation will make it not sin. We must operate in the power and control of Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.

“Which some have rejected” - What an interesting turn of phrase! Think about this. There are people in the church whose motivation will use any means available to blunt the message of salvation and abundant life. They do not want to keep to the gospel - Jesus came to seek and save the lost. They don’t mind leading people away from Jesus into a religion of “works”. I have heard a comment, “Christianity is not a belief in a system, but a belief in a person.”
I have been watching “The Crown” (on Netflix) which is about Queen Elizabeth II. The queen and her cadre of advisors continually worry about the behavior of the royal family and the damage scandals would do to the reputation of the queen and the government. They KNOW that damage to the reputation of the royal family can damage the ability to rule, and therefore to the nation. In the same way, our behavior supports or harms the reputation of the church, and therefore of the Lord.

"suffered the shipwreck of their faith" - You may crash your ship of life into rocks and be lost if you stray from the gospel. (Jesus crucified. Jesus resurrected! Jesus saves!) See: 1 Cor. 15:3-4. Good navigation requires the correct information. Whether you're in a car driving through Los Angeles or Seattle, or on an ocean ship you need to know where you are and where you need to be. A wrong turn can cause you to enter the wrong harbor. A wrong turn can put you in a neighborhood you have no business visiting.
I read a book about the development of accurate portable clocks for ships. Sailors had been able to determine their latitude for centuries by sighting on stars thanks to the development of the astrolabe. Knowing where you were longitudinally was much more difficult. It required precise knowledge of the time of day. Being a few minutes off meant you would miss the harbor entrance, or river entrance. An Englishman made a clock that would work on a ship. Pendulum clocks - the most accurate clocks at that time - don't perform well on pitching, rolling ships!). The British Admiralty required a demonstration. During the ‘field’ test run, the timepiece saved the fleet from crashing into a false harbor. This amazing instrument, adopted for use, was one of the reasons the British Navy became dominant on the seas. (See Note 1)
One time I was in Los Angeles for a seminar, and driving from the airport to the hotel, I misunderstood the instruction from the GPS unit, and took the wrong off-ramp. The GPS was able to guide me back to the correct freeway and to the motel.
In another incident, a co-worker and I were in Philadelphia without a GPS. We got lost on the way to Valley Forge. We ended up in an area (I think it was called Strawberry Hill). It was Sunday morning and there was almost no one on the streets except a few people going to church. We stopped at a gas station to buy a map. When we turned in the rental car at the airport, the agent asked if we had a nice stay and where had we gone. We described our adventure. She was appalled and asked, "What were white boys like you doing in that area?" We had no idea we were in a ghetto until she explained it to us.
If you do not have the correct information you can end up where you don't want to be. This is true in your spiritual life as well as travels.

vs. 20 “Hymenaeus and Alexander are among them, and I have delivered them to Satan, so that they may be taught not to blaspheme.”

- "Hymanaeus and Alexander" - Almost nothing is known about these guys - other than they strayed from the gospel preached by the Apostles. They are also noted in 2 Tim. 2:17, 18. Almost nothing is known about their heresy. The best guess by some scholars is that these were among the first of the Gnostics. From Second Timothy they may have been telling people there was no hope for their resurrection from the dead, because it had already happened and they missed it! This is serious - no resurrection, no eternal life! This background information is pretty sketchy. The problem was serious, and Paul knew enough to censure them.

"delivered them to Satan..." This can't be good. There's no good way to look at this. It is not at all clear what this means. Several commentaries indicated this means 'excommunication' - expelling them from the church (See also: 1 Cor. 5:5). Putting them out of the church into the world - the domain of Satan - may be the meaning. I am not sure how kicking them out 'teaches' them not to blaspheme. How do they learn the truth when they are not where they can hear or learn the truth? Some indicated the delivering might also mean physical illnesses imposed upon them. (Again, this is supposition, with no information to buttress that.)
I can understand not wanting them in the church, teaching false doctrine. Asking them to leave until they get it right also makes sense. "I'm kicking you out of the church until you come to your senses" sounds a lot less scary than "I'm giving you to Satan." The purpose of this action is not just punishment for their actions, but to get them to repent - to “save their souls” (Again, 1 Cor. 5:5) By the way, this has been a troublesome turn of phrase since it was written and discussed by Christian scholars. I checked Ungers Bible Dictionary and Matthew Henry's Commentary, and a couple other commentaries - and it still isn't clear to me.

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Note 1: Sobel, Dava. Longitude. Walker Books. 2005.
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END OF CHAPTER

1 Tim. 1:12-17 - God's mercy shown to Paul

12 I give thanks to Christ Jesus our Lord who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, appointing me to the ministry —
13 one who was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an arrogant man. But I received mercy because I acted out of ignorance in unbelief.
14 And the grace of our Lord overflowed, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
15 This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” — and I am the worst of them.
16 But I received mercy for this reason, so that in me, the worst of them, Christ Jesus might demonstrate His extraordinary patience as an example to those who would believe in Him for eternal life.
17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

vs. 12 - "I give thanks..." - In these next few verses, 12-17, Paul gives his personal testimony. Paul doesn't usually spend much time on himself in his letters. 1 Cor. 5:19 and Gal. 1:13-2:10 are about the only places he mentions his past. Of course, Luke did a pretty decent job of telling of Paul's conversion and his work as a missionary. See: Acts 9:1-22.

"appointing me to the ministry" - Paul had done nothing (NOTHING!) that would make anyone think he would be a good apostle. Yet, Jesus plucked him off the road to Damascus. As God said about selecting a king for Israel: 1 Sam. 16:7 "Don't be impressed by his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. God does not view things the way men do. People look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." God rejected David's good looking brothers, and chose David while he was still a shepherd. God showed His mercy to Paul. God recognized that Paul, when his heart was given to Jesus would be a faithful worker. God gave him the strength he needed to do the work of an apostle. Paul was thankful that God's mercy was greater than his (Paul’s) sin.

vs. 13 - "blasphemer... persecutor... arrogant..." - Paul's self-analysis. He is honest about himself before he became a follower of Jesus. He did not see himself as a blasphemer, before Christ. In fact, he saw himself as upholding God's word, defending God from blasphemers. Paul thought of Jesus as the 'enemy' of God. He believed the disciples of Jesus were turning their backs on Judaism, rebelling against the Jewish authorities, Jewish Law, and religion. 'They' were the blasphemers! We want to think we are so different from the Jews. They were protective of their religion, defending against all enemies, 'foreign and domestic'. Paul stepped up to do his part in defending his Jewish faith.
He did not hold back, arresting people and executing them for blasphemy. That's where the 'persecutor' comes from.
Paul knew what was right - that is arrogant! I think Paul was seeing himself in the statement, "If someone thinks he knows something, he does not yet know to the degree that he needs to know." 1 Cor. 8:2. Jesus knew that the zeal in Paul, if properly directed, would be good for the church. When he understood rightly, he would work as hard for the church as he did to destroy it.

"... out of ignorance and unbelief" - On the road to Damascus, the blinding light surrounded Paul. He knew it was God talking to him, but he was confused. Acts 9:1-7 The question, "Why are you persecuting me?", was met with confusion. "Who?" Paul asked, since he KNEW he had been apprehended by God. (Who else shows up in a blinding cloud of light?) Paul was hunting down blasphemers. How could he possibly be persecuting God himself? Wasn't he defending God against all comers?
What a shock to his system to have the answer, "Jesus." Notice Paul did not argue with God on this point. He did not try to rationalize his position. One could easily see a "Yeah, but..." coming from Paul. On the other hand, believing intensely in God, and being surrounded by light and having a voice challenge him from that light, he knew and understood he had been wrong, completely and totally wrong. He did not understand because he was ignorant of the facts and truth.

"mercy" - Had Paul known and understood who Jesus was, the Son of God, the Messiah, and still fought against Him, the outcome may have been different. Because Paul did not know, did not understand, he was given another chance. The mercy rather than judgment meant that Paul would become one of the most important missionaries of the first century of the church. His knowledge of the Law and Prophets would make it possible for him to clearly explain why Jesus is the Christ the savior of the world.

vs. 14 - "grace... overflowed" - Instead of the punishment he deserved for attacking God, he received faith and love. Paul could see that he had no standing, no accomplishments that would absolve him of the crimes he committed in God's name. Even ignorance was no mitigating factor - he was guilty and deserved punishment. Instead, love, grace and mercy saved him. It is the same for us, our sin is greater than our ability to pay, but not greater than Jesus's atoning sacrifice. Titus 3:5 he saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us in full measure through Jesus Christ our Savior.

vs. 15 - "save sinners" - God's plan, since the Fall, has been to save people from their sin. Luke 19:10 "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." See also: Psa. 119:176, Jer. 50:6. God understands that most people do not know the way, and are ignorant of the trouble they face. They are lost and do not know the way. He also knows there are many who have heard the truth and choose not to follow. Isa. 48:18 "If only you had obeyed my commandments, prosperity would have flowed to you like a river, deliverance would have come to you like the waves of the sea." Zech. 7:11 "But they refused to pay attention, turning away stubbornly and stopping their ears so they could not hear." Mercy abounds for them also. Ignorance can be as deadly as rebellion. God calls out to all, to come and receive mercy, grace, and love. See Rom. 10:13 "For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How are they to call on one they have not believed in? And how are they to believe in one they have not heard of? And how are they to hear without someone preaching to them?" How can anyone be saved if they are ignorant of the mercy of Jesus Christ?

"I am the worst of them." - I find this statement astounding. Paul, the missionary, the apostle, the writer of much of the New Testament apologetics - the worst sinner?! Was Paul being aggressively humble? Was he exaggerating for effect? Or did he really believe that his sins of persecuting Jesus were so much worse than the average bloke? I think he did. Paul was such an ardent believer, first in God, and after Damascus, also in Jesus. He was aghast! How he could have been so ignorant as to not have seen that Jesus is the Christ?
Paul was astounded by the grace. He had fought against Jesus, and yet the love and forgiveness overcame his sin and saved him. "Amazing grace. How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me!."

vs. 16 - "for this reason" - Why? Why would God do this? The answer is simple: If God can save me, He can save anyone! That is your personal testimony - for any Christian. We all like to think we are not as bad as we really are (a line from the movie "The Talented Mr. Ripley"). We fool ourselves. If Jesus saves me, all can be saved. My life, my sin, my stubbornness all stand between me and a relationship with God. Christ's death on the cross happened almost 2000 years before I was born. Yet when I was formed in Mom's womb, I was a sinner. Christ’s sacrifice paid the price, all of it. There is nothing I could have done that would change that sacrifice, make it unnecessary.
If you have not acknowledged Jesus, and accept Him as Lord and Savior - stop now, repent, confess, and believe. You will receive love, faith, peace and freedom from sin's control over your life. He offers eternal life - a relationship with the One who knows you best and loves you most. Why delay?

vs. 17 “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” - This is a doxology, a hymn of praise. See also: Rev. 4:11 "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, since you created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created!"

1 Tim. 1:8-11 - Law identifies Sins

8 But we know that the law is good, provided one uses it legitimately.
9 We know that the law is not meant for a righteous person, but for the lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinful, for the unholy and irreverent, for those who kill their fathers and mothers, for murderers,
10 for the sexually immoral and homosexuals, for kidnappers, liars, perjurers, and for whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching
11 based on the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was entrusted to me.

vs. 8 - "the law is good" - Paul has been chiding them for turning back to the Law. Don’t get him wrong. He is not saying the Law is wrong or bad. But emphasis and importance of the Law changed when Christ came. He is trying to help them see there is something (make that someone) better than the Law.

This verse is the first half of an Conditional statement. The law by itself is neither good or bad. The ‘goodness’ of the Law is based on whether or not it fulfills its reason why God gave it to us. The Law’s purpose is to get people to deal with their sins. The Law, as defined in the Bible, is only different from the laws the govern our nation, states, and locales, in that it was given by God. Governments write laws to address a harm that has to someone because of the actions of another. If you do not rob banks, the laws against bank robbing do not apply to you. They are on the books, but will not be used against you. You won't be thrown in prison for drug dealing, if you do not sell illegal drugs. You won't get a traffic ticket if you don't run red lights, or stop signs, or exceed the speed limit. The law is there, but it does not apply. Crimes are the symptoms of criminal behavior.

Our sinful behavior show the symptoms of our sin nature. Just as a runny nose, sneezing, coughing are symptoms of a cold or the flu. Our sins betray that we are controlled by our sin nature. The Law establishes ‘rules’ for relationship with God, relationships with other people. The instructions regarding sacrifices, and offerings, and other rituals were to help us see that it was not our doing that brought us peace with God. It was almost always through an item (lamb, grain, goat, bull, ram, etc.) which God provided. You and I cannot make a sheep. We can raise an animal that God provides. That is the message - it is all God plus our obedience and faith.

"provided one uses it legitimately." The second half of the conditional statement. The next few verses show the behavior the Law addresses.

vs. 9-10 - "not meant for a righteous person..." As noted above the law is good when someone is convicted and turns back, but it does not apply to a righteous person (i.e., someone who is not breaking the Lew). Paul lists fourteen or fifteen behaviors as examples to which the Law applies. There are eight listed in verse 9 and five or six in verse 10.

The list:

1. Lawless and Rebellious - (9)
2. Ungodly and Sinful - (9)
3. Unholy and Irreverent - (9)
4. Killers of mothers and fathers - (9)
5. Murderers - (9)
6. Sexually immoral and Homosexuals - (10)
7. Kidnappers - (10)
8. Liars and Perjurers - (10)
9. Whatever else is contrary - (10)

Lawless and Rebellious - Those who break the moral Law of the 10 commandments. Also, those who break the civil law of the country in which they live. Paul is not referring to the Law of the OT which includes sacrifices, offerings, and holy days. Christ, our Savior fulfilled all the law and prophets. Matt. 5:17. - There are those who defy authority just because it is there. I worked with a fellow who was a contrarian - whatever was said, he disagreed with it. It was frustrating to try to work with this guy. There are people who want to defy the government, the church, their moms and dads. There is a little of that in each one of us. When someone says, "Do this; or, do it this way" we bristle just a little. "Who is this guy to tell me what to do?" This is the spirit of Satan that is in our old unsaved nature. It is the remnant of the Fall. Setting your hearts and minds on Christ Jesus mitigates that tendency to rebel against Jesus.

Ungodly and Sinful - Those who keep God out of their lives. He is not part of any thing they do through the day. This is not about whether or not they go the church. They rely totally upon themselves. They are the "masters of their fate", they are the "captains of their souls" - from the old poem "Invictus" by W. E. Henley. - I don't think this means ‘people who commit sin’. We all do that - 'We sin because we are sinners - we are not sinners because we sin.' Again this is part and parcel of our fallen nature. Sinful people are those who refuse to acknowledge they offend God, and refuse to accept His solution - His Son Jesus Christ. In the book of Job, Elihu sarcastically notes that no one admits they deserve the judgement and punishment, but want God to deal with them on their terms not His. (Job 34:21-33). The Psalmist ponders whether it is worth holding on tho God’s way, when the evil-doers seem to prosper. Then he “enters the sanctuary of God, and perceives their end.” (Psa. 73:11-17) Only when our conscience is led by the Holy Spirit will we readily confess our sins, repent and turn away. The prophet Micah noted that it was God who pleads his case, and executes the justice for him when he has sinned against the Lord. (Mic. 7:9-10)

Unholy and Irreverent - These two have to do with refusing to be 'set apart' and not taking God seriously. To be holy is to be different spiritually from the world. God said, "You are to be Holy, for I am Holy." (Lev. 20:7) Think of the times that Jesus commanded His disciples to be different - in love, and compassion, behavior - because if we are just like the non-believers, how would they know we are His? We are his holy temple, so we cannot live unholy lives.
The term 'irreverent' implies being flippant about God. From a dictionary: “Critical of what is generally accepted or respected; satirical; without due respect or veneration; disrespectful.” It is slightly different than living unholy lives. This is not to say we must go around 'straight-laced, sober, and sad' if we are believers.

I think the rest of the list - from here to the end of the list — is more about behavior than attitude. Paul starts with a biggy: murdering your mother and father.

Killers of mothers and fathers - This seems like a big jump - from flippancy to killing. In some ways, the list from unholy to irreverent is about attitude - defiance that drives the behavior. The early part of the list identifies no particular activity. Jesus told us that it is what is in our hearts that causes us to sin. (Matt. 15:19) Acts of sin are the manifestation, or proof, that our condition is lost and hopeless. I am not sure Paul is actually talking about grabbing an axe, or a shotgun and 'doing in' our parents. He may be using a figure of speech, as did Jesus. Matt. 5:20-22. Dishonoring your father and mother is a sin that is clearly spelled out in the Ten Commandments Deut. 5:16.

Murderers - Sin separates us from God. It does not matter if it is murder, or hate, or anger, or jealousy. Sin is a condition of rebellion against God - and its reward is death, consignment to Hell for eternity. Only the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, saves us from that penalty. In human terms, there is no sin greater than murder. Murder cuts someone off from life itself. It is also part of the original 'Law' given to Moses on Mt. Sinai - See Deut. 5:17.

vs. 10 - The list continues:
Sexually immoral - See Ten Commandments - Deut. 5:18. - Most sins (at least those that involve interaction with other people) is 'outside your body' - something you do to or with them. Sex is different - yes, I know that you are doing it 'with' another person - but God has determined, decided that the sexual union of man and woman is more. It is not just an act no different than animals, but a giving of yourself intimately to another, and it becomes more - perhaps spiritual is a better way to put it. Pornography, adultery, prostitution, fornication, rape - all of these activities, sexual sin activities, are a perversion of the original God-given purpose. Sexual intercourse is not just for procreation, but is part of the spiritual bond between man-and-woman. God has given us sex to enjoy, as well as procreate. We are not animals, who mate only when it is possible to make babies. Like any human activity, sex can be perverted, removed from the marriage relationship.

Paul makes it clear in First Corinthians, that since we are now part of the Body of Christ, we are the vessels in which the Holy Spirit dwells and therefore where the Holy God of the universe also dwells, sexual sins are not just you 'having a little fun'. Sinning against your own body (sexual sins) involves God! See: 1 Cor. 6:13b-19 - "The body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body... Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that anyone who is united with a prostitute is one body with her? For it is said, ‘The two will become one flesh.’ But the one united with the Lord is one spirit with him. Flee sexual immorality! Every sin a person commits is outside of the body, but the immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?",
Does that not scare you - defiling the home of the Most High God? You may be able to convince yourself that it isn't that big of deal. If that isn't enough, you are also part of the church body (Rom. 12:5 ...”so we who are many are one body in Christ, and individually we are members who belong to one another”.) so your sexual sins affect the other members of the church. It is not just you screwing around.

Homosexuals - Another form of sexual sin. See the Ten Commandments - Deut. 5:18. It is more in the news in the U.S. The modern secular culture wants Christians to accept, (not just tolerate, but approve of) homosexual sin. To quote from an article in The Weekly Standard - "The attack is on religion itself - the freedom of faith to assert itself in public... Freedom of faith, perhaps: Believe what you want, in private. But freedom of religion, absolutely not: Everyone must conform in public." Prepare yourself - we will be asked, nudged, maybe even forced to change how we live our lives, rather than according to the scriptures. Prepare yourself - you must not be surprised when this happens, and must be ready to know how you will respond.

The following are some notes from a November 2015 sermon "What is the Church response to gay or lesbian people?" - part of a series on the church in the community:

The question for the church, "How does a person who is made to feel overwhelming shame be able to seek God?" Often Church's attitude is that homosexuals should feel shame.

The Bible is clear - homosexual sex is not in God's plan. Saying the Bible does not teach homosexual is a sin is a modern interpretation that is wrong. A survey indicates 91% young people say the church as 'anti-gay'. (We should not try to attach it pedophilia - note: most pedophiles are heterosexual).

What does it look like to love our gay neighbors? Our primary goal should not be to get the gays to agree with us about homosexuality, but about the love of God who sent his Son to save.

We need to apologize about the way the church has treated homosexuals. Note: most gays think we are all Westbury Baptist Church. We need to listen to them. We can begin to understand.

Separate orientation from behavior. Attraction is not the sin, what you do with it is sin. We are all tempted, it's what we do with it. We cannot get rid of our temptations. If you tell a person they must get rid of their same sex attraction before they can be a Christian, how can they respond to that? Telling a homosexual that you love the sinner, but hate the sin - is saying to them you hate them. (Part of the protests are fighting for their behavior!).

Need to get over being disgusted with homosexuals. Need to change our definition of defending the faith. "Would you let a gay couple come into your house?" God does not need us to defend Him. Need to be vulnerable towards the gays. (Side Note: I am not sure what this means, or how this accomplished.) It is brutal what we ask them to do - in order for you to be in the church, you must be celibate for the rest of your life.

This puts a interesting light on how we react to homosexuals, and how we react reflects on the church, on Christ.

Kidnappers - See Ten Commandments - Deut. 5:19. Kidnapping is a rather extreme form of theft. It is a violation of "Do not steal."

Liars - See Ten Commandments - Deut. 5:20. Is there any thing you dislike as much as having someone lie to you? Doesn't this mean to you the person can no longer be trusted? A loss of faith in that person?

Perjurers - See Ten Commandments - Deut. 5:20. From the dictionary, "The crime of willfully and knowingly making a false statement about a material fact while under oath." False statement is a nice way of saying, "You Lie!", in a legal sense.

Whatever else is contrary - Other stuff - See Ten Commandments - Deut. 5:21. - Things "contrary to the gospel..." There are very few commandments in the new covenant - not at all like the Old Covenant. The two greatest commandments - Love God. Love your neighbor. John writes in his first letter that we all know the 'old commandment' and also the 'new commandment'.

vs. 11 - "based on the glorious gospel" - From verse 10, the "sound teaching" is based on the gospel - the information Paul is imparting is based on the gospel. Christ Jesus, and Him crucified, resurrected - that is the glorious gospel. The Holy Spirit, the Helper, living in you.- that is the glorious gospel. The world will know we are Christians by our love - that is the glorious gospel.

End of Paragraph

1 Timothy 1:6-7 - They do not understand the law

6 Some have deviated from these and turned aside to fruitless discussion.
7 They want to be teachers of the law, although they don’t understand what they are saying or what they are insisting on.

vs. 6 - "deviated from these" - Some have moved away from sincere faith, good conscience, pureness of heart, (See: verse 1:5 from previous notes) and the doctrines Paul has been teaching. Instead of living for Christ they become a debating society - arguing about - whatever. "Is smoking worse than dancing?" "Is playing cards worse than going to movies?" “Should we have loud music in our worship service?” “Should believers drink alcoholic beverages?” These all seem relevant and important at the time. This is not bashing clean, moral living. There is nothing at all wrong living a pure life. Arguing about rules for living is no more profitable than is arguing about what is ‘work’ on Sabbath.

vs. 7 - "They want to be teachers" - All the discussion and arguments are to gather information, to marshal their rebuttals so as to convince others they are correct. The arguments are not always to bring people to God, or to faith, and to help in discipleship.
However, and this is BIG: they don't know what they are talking about. Like some of our politicians, they talk even though they are ignorant. "Having nothing to say, they say it anyway."
Is Paul referring to the Jews, to Pharisees or Sadducees? I am not sure. (Many of the early churches had converted Jews in the majority of their congregations.) But he is saying there are 'teachers' who do not understand why the Law was given, its purpose. If they are teaching the Law as a means of salvation or growing in maturity in the faith - they do not know what they are ill informed. If the festivals and holy days and sacrifices are necessary for salvation - they don't understand.

The leaders in Israel did not understand the Scriptures or the power of God. These were best and the brightest of the day! Jesus called them out. See Matt. 22:29 They didn't know! How could they not know? I am not picking on the Jews, because Christians today can suffer from the same malady. In Luke (Also: Matt. 17:14-18; Mark 9:14-27), a father appeals to Jesus to rid his son of a demon (probably epileptic-type seizures), because the disciples failed. See: Luke 9:37-43 Jesus expresses frustration (at least that's the way it appears) saying, "You unbelieving and perverse generation..." (This is also found in Matt. 17:17). He is not talking to the father. The father had just appealed to Jesus when other attempts failed. Jesus is addressing the disciples and the crowd of people who sought Him out as he came down from the mountain after the Transfiguration. The disciples only had an inkling of what Jesus was doing, or what He would accomplish that fateful Passover day and three days later.

Why did Jesus chastise the Jewish leaders? They had drifted away from God. (A recurring theme in scripture - for example read the book of Judges.) In another confrontation, Jesus was asked to heal a paralytic. He told the supplicant his sins were forgiven. (Mark 2:2-12) The religious leaders were upset. How could he forgive sins? Only God can forgive sins, right? Jesus asks them which is easier: forgiving sins or healing a cripple? Don't both require God's power, God's grace, and God working through Jesus? They have no answer. So Jesus heals the man. They are astounded! That’s what I mean in saying the Jews had drifted. How could they be so far away?

In 1 Tim. 1:7-8 Paul is warning that those who want to add The Law to the Gospel are leading the church stray. They don't understand what they believe. The Jews had drifted from the purpose for the Law, and the festivals, and the holy days, and sacrifices - they had lost their way. The Law, including the dietary rules and instructions to worship the Lord were given to set the Jews apart from the heathen, Gentile nations that would surround them in the promised land. If they followed these rules they would be totally different from all the nations, tribes and cultures around them. This difference was to be a beacon, a light to those around them.

Why be a light? To draw people to God so they could experience His grace, His love. Instead, their way of life became a shield, a bulwark against other cultures. The Jews became so insular that it became a 'sin' to touch a non-Jew - just touching a Gentile caused the Jew to be unclean - just like touching a leper! This was a perversion of the Law. Instead of drawing people to God, the Jew's behavior drove them away. In Jesus's time, the Greeks hated the Jews because of their belligerence. The Romans despised and hated the Jews for the same reasons. The Romans finally had enough, so 30 or 40 years later flattened Jerusalem. Rome crushed the Jews as perhaps they had never been crushed before (maybe the Assyrians did a similar job on the Northern Kingdom. Babylon did something similar in Daniel’s time.). There was no sign of God's grace and love here! God tells the Jews they are honoring Him with their lips, but not with their heart or actions. The prophets warned the Jews their hearts were hard, (Ezek. 11:19) not softened by God's grace. They followed their wicked hearts (Jer. 11:8); their idolatry controls their hearts (Hos. 5:4). See also: Ezek. 16:30, 33:31. In Malachi, God recounts in conversational style how the Jews have dishonored Him. The Jews were no longer a tower of light drawing people to God.

That is the danger we face as believers. That the Jews were to be different from nations around them was to remind the Jews it is was God that saved them, not themselves. The Jews were to be able to bring others to salvation. We are to be different from the non-believers all around us. How will people know we are His people? By our love. The greatest commandments: Love God, and love your neighbor. (Matt. 22:37-39; Mark 12:30-33) Jesus appeals to God the Father in prayer that we will love as He loves us, as the Father loves Jesus. (John 15:12,17; 17:26) This message of love, for each other, for non-believers is repeated through all of the letters of Paul, or John, or Peter and others. See Gal. 5:6. People will not be drawn to belief if we hide in our churches, hiding behind stone hearts. We do not need stone castles with moats and drawbridges to hide from the world, to be protected from the world. Hiding will only make us weaker. We need to be in the field of battle. We need to be out there where the people live to show them God's love. How will they come to know Jesus if we don't share Him? No one will want to come Jesus if they look at us and are repulsed. We must not lose our way.

That the Gentiles are to be part of God's kingdom has been known almost from the beginning. Go read God's response to Adam and Eve after the fall, or his Covenant with Abraham. The whole world is to be blessed. Here are a few of the verses: Psa. 22:27, 66:4; Isa. 2:2-5, 9:2, 66:1, 12, 23; Jer. 16:19; Dan. 2:35, 7:13-14; Amos 9:11-12; Zech. 8:20-23; Mal. 1:11. That Gentiles are going to be God's own possession is clearly stated in Hos. 2:23 - “those who are not my people shall be my people“. Our response is, “You are our God!” And in the New Testament, Paul writes in Eph. 3:3-5 and Col. 1:26-27 that Jews and Gentiles shall be co-heirs of the Kingdom of God. However, HOW the Gentiles become co-heirs was a 'mystery' - something revealed to us now, but was hidden from old - See Eph. 2:12-16 "remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenant of promise... you who formerly were far off have been brought near..." Also remember that Jesus told his disciples that they would not be able to see His kingdom, as they saw Rome, or the kingdom of David and Solomon. They would not see it because it was within in them - Luke 17:20-21.

1 Tim. 1:3-5 - Urging correct instruction

3 As I urged you when I went to Macedonia, remain in Ephesus so that you may instruct certain people not to teach different doctrine
4 or to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies. These promote empty speculations rather than God’s plan, which operates by faith.
5 Now the goal of our instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.

vs. 3 - "Macedonia" - An area (now a country) located East and North of Greece. The Aegean Sea is east of Greece and separates Greece from the Turkish peninsula (and actually is part of the Mediterranean Sea). Macedonia, sometimes part of Greece, sometimes autonomous, was a significant part of the Grecian history - think of Alexander the Great, and his father Philip.

"Ephesus" - A city on the west edge of the Turkish peninsula. Turkey, Macedonia and Greece were major areas of emphasis of Paul's evangelism. Many of the cities listed in the discussion in verse 2 above are mostly located in what is now known as Turkey. There is no easy way to get from Ephesus to Macedonia, especially without airplanes. There is no land route, unless you wanted to go several hundred miles east, past the Straits of Bosporus, around the Black Sea, and back along the coast line. The trip had to be by boat, across the Aegean Sea to the Macedonian coastline.

Identifying Erroneous Teaching

"not to teach a different doctrine" - The church (universal, not the local body) is but a few years old - about 30-35 years. It has grown from about 12-20 people cowering in Jerusalem to being spread throughout the Roman Empire, at least the part of the Empire located in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. That is fairly amazing, since everything was word-of-mouth - no telephones, no television, no radio, Twitter, Facebook, or blogs. This was up-close and personal - one-on-one talking about Jesus, small group evangelizing. This is cold-turkey witnessing.
In any endeavor in which information is passed from one person to another and spread this way, there is bound to be errors of understanding, resulting in dilution and minor changes to the message, or in some cases major changes. This is what Paul is writing about - to correct the misunderstanding or deliberate errors in the gospel message being taught.

vs. 4 - "myths and endless geneologies" - I think Paul takes a swipe at both pagan religions and Judaism in this phrase. I don't know how many other religions were as obsessed with genealogy as the Jews. Even in modern times, second and third world cultures are quite cognizant of their tribes or groups. See Sunni and Shia in middle east - these are religious sects of Islam. This is their source of belonging. The Spartans and Athenians were more political, or power oriented than spiritual in their tribal connections.
The Roman and Greek gods were the most familiar of non-Judaic religions at that time. But the Jews would not have forgotten the problems caused by turning to the gods of the Canaanites, Midianites, Philistines, or any other of the cultures of the lands of and around Israel. God spoke through Isaiah and asked if a god made by human hands could answer the human prayer, or save them in times of need. See Isa. 44:13-20. This was not a rhetorical question! “Can these gods save you?” The answer was “No!” It will always be no.The Greek mythical gods cannot save you from your sins, any better than Dagon (Jud. 16:23; 1 Sam. 5:2-7), Baal (Jud.2:3; 1 Kings 18:21-40), or Ashtar.

God’s Plan is Best

"...God's plan, which operates by faith." - Jesus was asked what needed to be done to do the works of God. His answer - believe! That belief has a specific object - the person sent by the Father, i.e., Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God. (John 6:29)
Anything else leads to wasted time and effort - dreaming up stuff to do, things to believe, secrets to know, or specialized knowledge. All of those efforts take our attention off Jesus. We are saved by faith in Jesus. We must live out our salvation in the same way.
Are there rules to follow? A few. Are there formulas and rituals that will put us right with God? Not exactly. Formulas and rituals devolve into a 'works' religion: that is, what we do is what makes us acceptable. This is not living by faith. However, in Col. 2:6 We read, "Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed."

vs. 5 - "the goal of our instruction...' - There is more to the instructions Paul has given than just salvation. It sounds wrong somehow to say "just salvation" - because salvation is so amazing, so divine. It cost so much, and yet is freely given to you and me. Paul is referring to discipleship - learning how to live the Christian life, beyond becoming a born again Christian.

"...pure heart, clear conscience, and sincere faith." The instruction (discipleship training) produces these three in the believer:

1. A pure heart - Jesus Christ indwells the believer. (John 14:20, 21, 23)
2. A clear conscience - the believer confesses and repents of sin and is forgiven and cleansed of all unrighteousness (1 Jn. 1:8,9).
3. A sincere faith - a full commitment of the believer to Christ, no half-measures. (1 Cor. 15:58; Col. 1:23; Heb. 6:19)

These three discipled traits - pure heart, clear conscience, and sincere faith - produce an outpouring of love in us, and through us. (Gal. 5:22,23)
A pure heart and a good conscience are all founded in a sincere faith - believing that Jesus is the Son of God who died for your sins and was resurrected in righteousness signifying the whole penalty was paid in full. When living empowered by the Holy Spirit your conscience is guided by the Holy Spirit - this is the only path to purity and goodness. Our personal consciences, without the Holy Spirit, are too easily nudged off course with rationalizations. This is how people can come to call evil as good, and good as evil. (Need proof? Look at the political milieu in our present culture. Or look at how killing babies can be described as a good thing; or how adultery will enhance a marriage relationship; or how sexual abuse depends on how politically powerful, or wealthy the person.)

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