Hey-Diddly-Ho!
- Hi, everyone! Paul here! This time he's writing to his pal, Timothy.
- Paul wants Timothy to hang out in Ephesus and help the people figure out what is what with this whole following Jesus thing.
- Basically, Christians need to start behaving a lot better. If they really want to be loving they need to have "a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith." Easy, right?
- But (surprise, surprise) there are folks out there that aren't living that way.
- There are a bunch of guys who really want to be "teachers of the law," but who don't have a clue what they're talking about.
- See, says Paul, Jewish law is basically good. It was given to us by God to let everyone know that stuff like murdering, fornicating, sodomizing, slave trading, and lying are wrong.
- Paul goes on to explain that he's been appointed by Jesus himself to spread this message. Yup, he got hired by the big boss.
- Even though Paul used to persecute other Christians, God went easy on him because, really, Paul just didn't fully understand what he was doing. Oops.
- Paul was a huge sinner, but that's why Jesus came to Earth—to save sinners. So now he's not just a huge sinner; he's a hugely important apostle. God really digs irony.
- Paul continues: Timothy, it's up to you to get these sinners in line. Lots of people are falling by the wayside (like Hymenaeus and Alexander. Yup, Paul's naming names). There are people there who've started going down the path toward Satan. Good luck fixing that one, Timothy.