1Ti 2:1-7 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for 1Tim 2:1-3:13: 2:1–3:13 Paul moves to the areas of conduct in God’s household that were affected by the false teachers (3:15 ). Community life had been corrupted in worship and gender roles (2:1-15 ) and leadership (3:1-13 ). Summary for 1Tim 2:1-15: 2:1-15 This unit deals first with prayer (2:1-7 ) and with the deportment of men and women (2:8-10 ). It closes with the question of women and teaching (2:11-15 ). Summary for 1Tim 2:1-7: 2:1-7 Here, prayer focuses on the church’s mission, which suggests that the false teachers had brought the church into disrepute in the wider society (cp. 3:6-7 ; 6:1 ; Titus 2:5 ) and hampered its mission to the Gentiles . 2:1 all people: The prayers of the false teachers and their disciples were evidently not consonant with God’s will to save all kinds of people (2:3-4 ).

Summary for 1Tim 2:1-3:13: 2:1–3:13 ^a Paul moves to the areas of conduct in God’s household that were affected by the false teachers (3:15 ^b). Community life had been corrupted in worship and gender roles (2:1-15 ^c) and leadership (3:1-13 ^d).
Summary for 1Tim 2:1-15: 2:1-15 ^e This unit deals first with prayer (2:1-7 ^f) and with the deportment of men and women (2:8-10 ^g). It closes with the question of women and teaching (2:11-15 ^h).
Summary for 1Tim 2:1-7: 2:1-7 ⁱ Here, prayer focuses on the church’s mission, which suggests that the false teachers had brought the church into disrepute in the wider society (cp. 3:6-7 ^j; 6:1 ^k; Titus 2:5 ^l) and hampered its mission to the Gentiles. 2:1 ^m all people: The prayers of the false teachers and their disciples were evidently not consonant with God’s will to save all kinds of people (2:3-4 ⁿ).
2:2 ^o all who are in authority: Those who had the power to persecute or to protect the church (see also Rom 13:1-7 ^p; 1 Pet 2:13-17 ^q).

• live peaceful and quiet lives: The point was not for Christians to blend in and be unnoticed, but to display the beauty of the Good News and allow the church’s mission to proceed without unnecessary complications (cp. 2 Tim 3:12 ^r; 1 Pet 3:13-17 ^s).

• The word godliness and its cognates (also at 1 Tim 3:16 ^t; 4:7-8 ^u; 5:4 ^v; 6:3 ^w, 5-6 ^x, 11 ^y) sum up the beliefs, attitudes, and lifestyles that accord with right and reverential knowledge of God, obedience, and authentic worship.
Summary for 1Tim 2:5-6: 2:5-6 ^z Compact teachings, as in this passage, occur throughout the letters to Timothy and Titus (see also 1 Tim 3:16 ^aa; 2 Tim 1:9-10 ^ab; 2:8 ^ac, 11-13 ^ad; Titus 3:4-7 ^ae). They might be adapted bits of creeds, hymns, or prayers that were known to the churches. The doctrines referenced probably relate to Paul’s trouble with the false teachers; it appears that their teaching undercut the universal appeal of the Good News and the effectiveness of the Gentile mission. The false teachers also had a deficient understanding of Jesus and his salvation. 2:5 ^af There is one God and therefore one mission encompassing all people (Rom 3:29-30 ^ag; Gal 3:26-29 ^ah). Using the phrase one God suggests a fundamental declaration of Christian faith, analogous to the basics of Jewish faith (Deut 6:4 ^ai).

• There is one Mediator of God’s covenant, the man Christ Jesus. He is fully human and fully God, and thus able to reconcile God and humanity (see 1 Cor 8:6 ^aj; Eph 4:5-6 ^ak).