First Timothy is a letter from the apostle Paul to his pastoral protégé and disciple, Timothy. The bulk of the letter consists of instructions on how Timothy is to structure and manage his local congregation in Ephesus. Sandwiched between these instructions on church management, however, is a section in which Paul addresses Timothy’s pastoral methodology. In 4:6-16, the apostle explains how Timothy should approach his ministerial labors, with a focus on Timothy’s own spiritual well-being.
Pervading this entire section are instructions that will enable Timothy to care for his own soul, as well as the souls of those in the church at Ephesus. A foundational instruction to this end is found in verse 6:
If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of faith and the good doctrine you have followed.
The ESV says, “If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus.” Technically, there is no “if” in the original. You could also translate it as, “By putting these things before the brothers.” In other words, Paul is not implying that Timothy may or may not put these things before the brothers; he is assuming that he has been and will continue to do just that, and by doing so, prove himself to be a good servant of Christ Jesus.
What are “These Things?”
What are the “these things” that Paul just referred to? The simplest solution is see the “these things” as referring to all that Paul has written up to this point in the letter. In other words, Timothy will prove himself to be a good servant of Christ Jesus as he teaches the congregation everything that Paul has taught him.
Timothy needs to teach the congregation of the central importance of sound doctrine and keeping a good conscience (1:3-11; 18-20). Timothy must remind the saints in Ephesus of Jesus’ willingness to save the worst of sinners (1:12-17) and of God’s desire for the church to pray for the salvation of unbelievers (2:1-7). The Christians in Ephesus must understand the biblical pattern for men and women in the church and church leadership (2:8-15) and the qualifications for elders and deacons (3:1-13). Timothy must teach the people about the role of the church as the pillar and buttress of the truth (3:14-15), the centrality of Jesus Christ (3:16), and the reality of false teachers and how to spot them (4:1-5).
Timothy must teach the congregation all of these things, which were nothing less than divine revelation, given to Paul by Jesus and now delivered to Paul’s disciple, Timothy. The obvious application for pastors today is this: it is our primary responsibility to teach divine revelation to the people of God, which means that it is our primary responsibility to teach the Bible to God’s people. As pastors, we are chiefly ministers of the Word.
But this is not the only condition to being a good servant of Christ Jesus. Looking again at verse 6, consider the connection between the first and section part of the verse.
If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.
The phrase “being trained” in the ESV or “nourished” in the NASB, LSB, and CSB translates a Greek participle, which indicates the sentence following the participle is connected to the previous sentence as an essential part of the whole. In other words, it is not just teaching divine revelation that makes you a good servant of Christ Jesus; it is also being trained by that divine revelation as you teach it.
Trained by Good Doctrine
Paul expects that Timothy will be trained in the words of faith and of the good doctrine that he had followed. The phrase “word of faith” most likely refers to the gospel proper—the good news of Jesus’ death on the cross for sin and his resurrection. The phrase “good doctrine” would then refer to the broader doctrinal teachings that supported and flowed from the gospel that Timothy had learned from Paul and other apostolic associates.
Bottom line: Timothy was to be trained by this truth as he proclaimed it to the church.
Here’s the pattern that Timothy needed to develop in his pastoral labors: Teach the whole truth to God’s people, and, prior to and as you teach that truth, take it into your own soul, believe it, and be changed by it. Be instructed by the very doctrine that you teach to the people of God.
This pattern is essential in pastoral ministry. Jesus severely rebuked the Pharisees precisely because they were teaching God’s people while not believing and obeying the very truth they taught.
The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice (Matt 23:2-3).
In the same section of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus declares woes of judgment over the Pharisees because of their inward corruption and lack of genuine love for God (Matt 23:27-28). Although they had the Scriptures and were diligent to study them, they were not taking the truth into their hearts (see also John 5:39-44).
Paul, addressing that same group of Jewish religious leaders and their commitment to Old Testament Scripture, noted that they had a habit of teaching others and not teaching themselves and, for that reason, were falling into scandalous sins that caused even the Gentiles to blaspheme God (Rom 2:17-23). These religious leaders were acting as mere dispensers of the truth.
Feeding on the Truth
A dispenser is a device that conveniently produces items for consumers. A vending machine, for example, is a kind of dispenser. But the machine itself only delivers the goods—it has no other connection to the goods themselves. The job of the vending machine is to provide the selected item to the customer. That’s it.
But God never intended for his teachers and leaders to be mere dispensers of truth. God’s design is that his teachers would live off the very truth they taught. An excellent Old Testament example of this is Ezra the priest:
For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel (Ezra 7:10).
This is the pattern of authentic, enduring, powerful pastoral ministry. Yes, a man must teach the whole counsel of God, but he must also labor to take that truth into his own soul and to do what it says. Then and only then will he be a good servant of Christ Jesus.
Why is this second requirement essential? Because our teaching and preaching will be largely ineffective if we are merely teaching others and not teaching ourselves. If we fail to take the truth into our own hearts, there will be a kind of hollowness to our preaching—we will stand up and speak of truths that we aren’t really believing, and the Spirit’s power will be muffled because we are not preaching and teaching from faith.
When it comes to pastoral ministry, the Spirit’s normal operation is to bless preaching and teaching that is conducted by a man who believes and loves the truth of what he is preaching and teaching. John Owen aptly put it like this:
A minister must experience the power of the truth which they preach in and upon their own souls. Without this they will themselves be lifeless and heartless in their own work, and their labor for the most part will be unprofitable towards others…If the Word does not dwell with power in us, it will not pass with power from us (Works, 16:76).
Sadly, not every man who fills the pastoral role today is a good servant of Christ Jesus precisely because they fail to take the truth into their souls as they teach it. They may see it as their primary task to minister the Word to God’s people. They may hold the pulpit in high esteem. But when they preach and teach the Scripture, something is missing—they are not really affected by the truth. The Word does not dwell in power in him, so the Word does not pass in power from him. Given the NASB, LSB, and CSB’s translations’ use of the word “nourish,” a culinary illustration may be useful.
Love the Food You Serve
While my wife and I were in Louisville for seminary, among other jobs, I worked for about eighteen months as a server at a nearby restaurant. Whenever the district manager would stop by, he regularly encouraged us to eat the restaurant’s food so that we could better describe the entrees and appetizers to our patrons.
But more than that: the manager wanted us to love the food because he knew that if we could describe the individual dishes from the level of experience and personal enjoyment, our pleasure would inevitably stoke the appetites of the customers.
When people hear their server describe with delight how a pan-seared filet mignon has been delicately crusted with French Roquefort blue cheese, paired with garlic mashed potatoes, and laid alongside a lightly roasted assortment of fresh seasonal vegetables, they can’t help but raise their hand and blurt out, “I’ll take it!” The server’s description of the dish stirred the customer’s appetite because the server spoke from experience.
It should be the same for pastoral ministry. A man must labor not only to fill his mind with the truth, but to get that truth into his heart, so that he preaches from experience. He needs to believe and delight in the truth he proclaims so that the people’s spiritual appetite will be stirred and they will be eager to take that truth into their own souls.
Conclusion: Pastoral Authenticity
Beyond this, a pastor who makes a habit of enjoying the truth he preaches will also protect himself from the hollowing influence of hypocrisy. In verse 7, Paul instructs Timothy to train himself in godliness. In verse 16, Paul tells Timothy to watch his life and doctrine carefully. Training oneself in godliness and watching one’s life and teaching must include the discipline of taking the truth into one’s soul as he teaches it—to be trained on the good doctrine that we’ve been charged to teach others.
This is the path to a fruitful ministry and an authentic Christian life. It takes hard work, discipline, and much prayer, but God is faithful to hear the prayers of pastors who desire to live off the truth they teach.