Paul begins this letter by asserting his God-given authority. He describes himself as “an apostle of Christ by command of God our saviour.” Paul opens his letter with a statement of his credentials because he’s sending Timothy to kick some false teachers out and to call the congregation out and he wants the church to know that there is DIVINE AUTHORITY behind this shakeup!
When the leadership of a church has succumbed to corruption – when there are people with hands on the steering wheel who are fighting for the wrong team – change doesn’t come easy. Paul commissioned Timothy with Apostolic authority to confront and rebuke the corrupt Ephesian leaders and then to rebuild the church that they had been tearing down.
1 Timothy 1:1-7