Some Have Made Shipwreck of Their Faith – 1 Timothy 1:8-10

Ravi Zacharias made a shipwreck of the faith, using his reputation and income as a Christian defender of the faith, to engage in repetitive and abusive sexual behavior.  In so doing he, in effect, blasphemed God, putting God’s reputation to shame.  You can make shipwreck of the faith by heretical doctrine as well as sinful practice.

This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.  (1 Timothy 1:18-20 ESV)

In verse 3 Paul reminded Timothy of the charge he had given him to correct false teaching that distracts from the gospel and he had highlighted the pure gospel in his own experience.  Now he reminds Timothy that this charge is entrusted to Timothy in accordance with prophecies about him.  Those with prophetic gifts, perhaps even Paul himself, had received words from God concerning Timothy and how God wanted him to minister.  God wanted him to wage the good warfare by holding true to the true gospel and doing so from a pure conscience, being an example of what it means to live for Christ.

Paul mentions two men who have failed in this regard.  We may presume that Hymenaeus and Alexander were connected to the church in Ephesus and had departed from the faith in either doctrine or practice or both.  Paul has taken a disciplinary role in their lives, handing them over to Satan, that is, putting them out of the church and into the realm of Satan in hopes that they would repent.  What they have been teaching has been blasphemous, a serious infraction against the truth of who Christ is.  We don’t know the content of their teaching but their influence is such that Paul must mention them.

Would Paul not have mentioned them privately to Timothy before sending him there?  Surely he would have.  But this buttresses the belief that this letter was intended to be read in the congregations of Ephesus and not just a private note for Timothy.  This would strengthen Timothy’s ability to carry out his charge.