The Second Epistle to Timothy was clearly the last of the extant epistles of Paul; but the order of First Timothy and Titus cannot be certainly determined. The difficulty of reconstructing the history implied by the Pastoral Epistles reveals anew the supreme value of The Acts. After the conclusion of the Lucan narrative the historian is almost helpless. From about A. D. 63 on into the second century, the history of the Church is shrouded in profound darkness, with gleams of light only here and there.
At the time when First Timothy was written, Paul had recently made a journey to Macedonia. I Tim. 1:3. Perhaps he had gone thither from Ephesus, though the words do not make that perfectly clear. At any rate, he had directed Timothy to remain in Ephesus, where he hoped to join him before long. In case of delay, however, he writes the epistle. Chs. 3:14,15; 4:13.
On a previous occasion, perhaps by word of mouth when he had been in Ephesus, he had warned Timothy to put a stop to certain false teaching in the Church, and the warning is now reiterated in the epistle. The exact nature of this teaching is somewhat difficult to determine. Apparently it had been concerned with the Jewish law. Ch. 1:7-11. Compare Titus 1:10,14. Like the false teaching at Colossæ, it seems not to have been directly subversive of the truth of the gospel. At least, however, it diverted attention from the great things of the faith to useless questionings. I Tim. 6:4. The myths and endless genealogies, ch. 1:4, compare 4:7, were perhaps elaborations of the Old Testament history. Whether the ascetic tendency which is combated in ch. 4:3,8, is connected with this same teaching, is not certain, but is on the whole perhaps probable.
The first reference to the false teaching, ch. 1:3-10, leads Paul to speak of the norm by which it could be combated. Vs. 11-20. That norm was the gospel with which he had been intrusted. The bestowal of the gospel had changed him from a blasphemer and persecutor into an apostle. The gospel had been bestowed purely by the free grace of Christ, and its content was the salvation which Christ offers. A doxology to God, v. 17, is natural whenever that gospel is mentioned. That gospel will overcome all error, and if attended to diligently will prevent disasters like that which has befallen Hymenæus and Alexander.