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Avoiding Spiritual Shipwreck

1 Timothy 1:18-19

No one entering the Christian life should think it is anything less than a battle. Paul says as much when he exhorts Timothy to "wage the good warfare" (or "fight the good fight, NASB—1 Timothy 1:18). In Ephesians 6:12 Paul compares the Christian life to a wrestling match, reminiscent of the Greek games. And in 2 Corinthians 10:3 he calls it a "war."

Timothy had been commissioned by prophets in the Church to a leadership role, Paul having appointed him to lead the church in Ephesus (1 Timothy 1:3). But it was a spiritually-dangerous situation—some were teaching false doctrines and causing disputes in the church (verse 3) just as Paul had predicted would happen (Acts 20:17, 29-31). He had previously warned the Ephesian elders to be on their guard, and now he was warning Timothy of the same thing as the new "pastor" of the church.

Paul's warning to Timothy was serious—the young pastor's spiritual life hung in the balance. If he did not guard himself and his spiritual life carefully, he could end up suffering spiritual "shipwreck" like two others had—Hymenaeus and Alexander (1 Timothy 1:20). Paul had put them out of the church ("delivered [them] to Satan"—verse 20) in order that they might be taught "not to blaspheme" (verse 20).

Paul exhorted Timothy to hold to "faith and a good conscience" (verse 19), Hymenaeus and Alexander having rejected them both. Faith refers to apostolic doctrine and "good conscience" refers to a conscience—sense of duty and morality—shaped by that same doctrine. Spiritual shipwreck rarely happens at once; it is the culmination of smaller compromises that have violated faith and conscience.

Every small battle lost is a step toward losing the whole war. Staying firmly grounded in biblical truth is the way to shape one's conscience. Then obeying the dictates of conscience is the way to win the battles and the war.

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