“Having faith and good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck” (1. Tim. 1:19).
Various verses in the first letter to Timothy are cited as evidence of the possibility of apostasy of believers. In chapter 1:19 there is mention of the “good conscience; which last some having put away, have made shipwreck as to faith”, in chapter 4:1 it says “that in later times some will apostatise (depart from – KJV) from the faith”, and in chapter 6:21 Paul states that some “have missed (strayed from – KJV) the faith”.
Here it depends on what is meant by the word, “faith”. We need to distinguish two main meanings that are important in the New Testament. Firstly, faith is the conviction of faith, of personal trust in God. The eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews in particular gives us examples of this, where the heroes of faith in the Old Testament are characterized by the words: “by faith”. Secondly, faith is what we believe, the truth of salvation, the Christian faith. In Greek, in these cases the article (“the faith”) is usually given, as for example in Jude 20: “building yourselves up on your most holy faith”, but this is not always evident in English (cf. Gal 1:23; Col 2:7).
In the three passages from the first letter of Timothy, it is the second meaning, the good deposit of the faith, that is intended. The people of whom Paul speaks have not thrown their personal faith overboard, but have given up Christian truth partly or completely. Whether such people are saved or lost is another question. To be “shipwrecked” is not the same as being lost. It is the visible result of a journey through life without the right compass. ‘Straying from the faith’ can be understood in a similar way. Here, too, it is about a failure in practical responsibility, with the question remaining open as to whether such a person is saved or not. The issue here is not salvation but walk. The Holy Scriptures never confuse responsibility and grace, as we unfortunately often do to our own detriment.
‘Departing from the faith’, on the other hand, means giving up all Christian truth. There are people who have embraced Christianity as a philosophy or ideology without their conscience having come into the light of God. By professing faith and changing their lives, they have externally embraced Christian truth, but without having repented and without believing in the redemptive work of Christ. One day they turn away again and deny everything. They were never born again as children of God,
“for if they had been of us they would have surely remained with us, but that they might be made manifest that none are of us.”
This is how John judges people whom he calls “antichrists” (1 John 2:19). In this case too, then, we are dealing with unbelieving professors who turn away from biblical truth, not with children of God.
Shipwreck, depart from, stray (1. Tim. 1:19; 4:1; 6:21)
“Having faith and good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck” (1. Tim. 1:19).
Various verses in the first letter to Timothy are cited as evidence of the possibility of apostasy of believers. In chapter 1:19 there is mention of the “good conscience; which last some having put away, have made shipwreck as to faith”, in chapter 4:1 it says “that in later times some will apostatise (depart from – KJV) from the faith”, and in chapter 6:21 Paul states that some “have missed (strayed from – KJV) the faith”.
Here it depends on what is meant by the word, “faith”. We need to distinguish two main meanings that are important in the New Testament. Firstly, faith is the conviction of faith, of personal trust in God. The eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews in particular gives us examples of this, where the heroes of faith in the Old Testament are characterized by the words: “by faith”. Secondly, faith is what we believe, the truth of salvation, the Christian faith. In Greek, in these cases the article (“the faith”) is usually given, as for example in Jude 20: “building yourselves up on your most holy faith”, but this is not always evident in English (cf. Gal 1:23; Col 2:7).
In the three passages from the first letter of Timothy, it is the second meaning, the good deposit of the faith, that is intended. The people of whom Paul speaks have not thrown their personal faith overboard, but have given up Christian truth partly or completely. Whether such people are saved or lost is another question. To be “shipwrecked” is not the same as being lost. It is the visible result of a journey through life without the right compass. ‘Straying from the faith’ can be understood in a similar way. Here, too, it is about a failure in practical responsibility, with the question remaining open as to whether such a person is saved or not. The issue here is not salvation but walk. The Holy Scriptures never confuse responsibility and grace, as we unfortunately often do to our own detriment.
‘Departing from the faith’, on the other hand, means giving up all Christian truth. There are people who have embraced Christianity as a philosophy or ideology without their conscience having come into the light of God. By professing faith and changing their lives, they have externally embraced Christian truth, but without having repented and without believing in the redemptive work of Christ. One day they turn away again and deny everything. They were never born again as children of God,
“for if they had been of us they would have surely remained with us, but that they might be made manifest that none are of us.”
This is how John judges people whom he calls “antichrists” (1 John 2:19). In this case too, then, we are dealing with unbelieving professors who turn away from biblical truth, not with children of God.
Table of content: