Even as I begged thee to remain in Ephesus, [when I was] going to Macedonia, that thou mightest enjoin some not to teach other doctrines,
Paul opens this letter by reminding Timothy why he is still in Ephesus: to guard what gets taught there. Behind that short appeal stand an old warning and one hard question — can a church with the best teaching still go wrong?
The warning behind the verse
Paul had warned the Ephesian elders years before. Gaebelein traces what happened next.
Timothy was to remain behind to charge some that they teach no other doctrine. When Paul had met the elders of Ephesus at Miletus he had made this prediction: "For I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them" (Acts 20:29-30). Then he went to Jerusalem, where he was taken prisoner and sent to Rome. After his release he must have visited Ephesus once more. There he found the very things the Holy Spirit had warned against. Timothy was with him on that visit, between his first and second imprisonment.
The tone of "I urged you"
Paul urged Timothy to stay. He did not order him.
We see the love that even an apostle adopts towards his child in faith. It was not at all a domineering word, though full of earnest desire for the work of the Lord.
What "no other doctrine" means
Kelly explains what makes someone a strange teacher, and where the line runs.
To teach things different from the word of God is to be a strange teacher. What guesses are to a scientist, speculations are to the teacher: traps that pull us away from the revealed truth God has entrusted to us. True science bows to facts. It looks for the general principles or connections behind them, and calls these laws. The believer and the teacher do the same. To go beyond the written word is to stray and mislead.
Rich in truth, still at risk
Ephesus sat under the highest ministry. The danger came from inside anyway.
The Apostle realised that "some" were ready to teach "other doctrines". This was true even among those who had the greatest light. The natural pride of the heart may think that much light is a safeguard against error. The Ephesian assembly teaches us a lesson worth learning. A company rich in truth, enjoying the highest ministry, still has no guarantee against false doctrine. Timothy, then, was to charge some that they teach no other doctrine than the great doctrines of the grace of God.
What the job required
The remedy was not cleverness, and not fresh material.
Paul was sure that the state of the Ephesians' souls needed Timothy's ministry to work against the sad drift away from the truth that was already there. There were "some" at least who leaned toward teaching doctrine other than the truth of God. Countering this did not need superior intellect. It needed the faithfulness that honours God. It did not need new truth either, but the truth already given, pressed home to heart and conscience.
Timothy's position
Timothy's stay at Ephesus has raised a question about his standing there.
From this some have thought that Timothy was a bishop, left there to appoint elders. But in Acts 20 we see all the elders already doing their work at Ephesus, five years before Paul wrote to Timothy. So that theory will not hold good.
How the story ended
The later record of Ephesus shows how this danger played out.
In 2 Timothy 1:15 comes the sad news that "all who are in Asia" (which must have included Ephesus) had "turned away from" Paul. This surely means they gave up the truth as Paul taught it, and settled down with a lower standard... Revelation 2:1-7 gives the address to this church. Much in it speaks in their favour. Yet it also had to bring the solemn charge that they had left their first love, and the warning that if they did not repent their lampstand would be removed.
Summary
- Occasion — Paul had predicted wolves from outside and twisted teaching from inside. He came back to Ephesus, found it starting, and left Timothy there.
- Tone — He does not command his younger co-worker. He urges him, and authority speaks in the language of love.
- Charge — "No other doctrine" means no teaching beyond the written word. To add speculation is to mislead.
- Danger — Even the best-taught church had "some" who wanted to teach otherwise. Rich truth is no immunity.
- Outcome — Timothy needed faithfulness, not brilliance. Where that guard slipped, Asia turned away, and the warning came that Ephesus could lose its lampstand.