Paul seems to have had four main purposes in writing to Timothy: To encourage him to oppose the false teachers (1:3-7, 18-20; 6:3-5, 20, 21); to furnish him with these written credentials of his authorization by Paul (1:3, 4); to instruct him as to the manner in which men ought to conduct themselves in the Church (3:14, 15); and to exhort him to be diligent in the performance of all his ministerial duties (4:6-6:2). A fuller idea of Paul's purpose and plan in 1 Timothy may be gathered from this study of the Epistle.
