1 & 2 Timothy, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, Titus, Philemon

It is time to get your whole bible back! If you want to know what God is saying – go read all the verses in your bible that are NOT underlined. Author Russ Walden expounds on the books of 1 & 2 Timothy, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, Titus and Philemon with prophetic insight and revelatory understanding. In church culture today it is more common to hear topical messages than an expositional study of the bible, yet in 1 Timothy 4:13 Paul exhorts young Timothy to “give attention to reading…” The revelatory reading and verse by verse exposition of scripture is very much needed in Christianity today. In this study Prophet Russ brings a dynamic, inspirational and anointed insight to the scriptures examined with an anointed perspective and powerful style that will impact your life.

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1 Timothy is written to Paul’s most recognizable protege. Timothy was born to a Jewish woman and Greek father and began traveling with Paul at an early age. His mother and his grandmother’s name are known to us, establishing Timothy as one of the earliest converts born under a multi-generational Christian influence. By the time this letter is written, Timothy is established in a ministry of his own, serving as an apostle in training in the city of Ephesus.

This letter of Paul to Timothy is classified as one of three pastoral epistles that Paul had written along with Titus and 2 Timothy. The letter contains general instructions to Timothy regarding the conduct of his ministry, his personal life, and church order. The time of writing for this letter is believed to be between 59 and 70 AD, depending on different scholar’s determinations concerning authorship. Because other early figures in the church do not widely mention 1st and 2nd Timothy, there is much dispute as to whether it may have been written a century later by a writer unknown to us. The question of authorship is common regarding many New Testament texts as a ploy devised to undermine the suggestion of divine inspiration and infallibility of the scripture.

2 Timothy This second letter of Paul to Timothy was written from Rome while Paul was imprisoned there around 60 AD. There is a dispute among scholars regarding the authorship and dating of all three of Paul’s pastoral epistles because they address a church that seems to be more organized and structured than they believe it actually was at the time. For this reason, they contend that the letter was written under a pseudonym around 140 AD. This is held suspect by more conservative theologians, that of questioning the dating and authorship of these books and see this as one part of an overall strategy to question the infallibility of the whole of the scriptures.

1 Thessalonians We now come to Paul’s letter to the believers at Thessalonica, a port city on the northern banks of the Aegean sea. Located in ancient Greece, this city was founded some 400 years before Paul’s visit and was named after its queen, who was the half-sister of Alexander the Great. When Paul ministered here, there was fierce opposition from the Jewish community. The resistance among the Jews was so strong that when he left the city, a Jewish contingency followed him to two more destinations to continue their persecution against him and his traveling companions.

2 Thessalonians The second letter of Paul to the Thessalonians was written by the apostle from the city of Corinth just a few years after his first communication with them. Scholarship is divided on the authenticity of this letter for several reasons. Those who disagree with Paul’s authorship contend that the theology of this letter and its historical references indicate a composition by an unknown writer during the reign of Caligula. The more widely accepted view, however, is that Paul indeed is the author as indicated by reference to his signature attached to it, as was his custom in all of his letters as stated in the last chapter.

Titus The book of Titus is addressed to a Gentile co-worker of Paul by the same name. Titus is not mentioned in the book of Acts but is referred to in Galatians and is known to have been instrumental in helping mend relationships between Paul and the Corinthian church. In the opening lines of the letter, Paul refers to the plan of salvation made known to men by the preaching of the gospel and then greets Titus as “his own son in the faith.” Titus is in Crete, where this letter finds him being appointed there by Paul at some point before writing his first letter to Timothy. The dating of the letter is around 65 AD, although once again, the majority of scholars debate both the dating and authorship of the letter suggesting it came forth much later in the second century.

Philemon The book of Philemon is the shortest of the letters attributed to the apostle Paul. It is written to Philemon, a house church leader in the church at Colossae. This letter addresses a controversy concerning a runaway slave by the name of Onesimus. Paul is writing from prison along with Timothy, and the opening verses are directed both to Philemon, his wife Apphia, and a secondary elder in the church named Archippus, as well as the church in general. Paul is addressing the letter in this way as an oblique means of bringing Philemon into accountability regarding the issue at hand and the request for clemency that Paul will make on behalf of Onesimus.