saving ourselves / saving others ?

I Command and teach these things. Don’t let anyone despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity. Until I come, give your attention to public reading, exhortation, and teaching. Don’t neglect the gift that is in you; it was given to you through prophecy, with the laying on of hands by the council of elders. Practice these things; be committed to them, so that your progress may be evident to all. Pay close attention to your life and your teaching; persevere in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers. 1Timothy 4:11-16.

I'm genuinely interested in others' take on the passage specifically with regard to how Paul instructs Timothy to "save himself" and Timothy's role or contribution in "saving" other believers.

You might find the phrasing in the NKJV to be helpful:

"Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you." (1 Timothy 4:16)

The Greek also seems to suggest "the doctrine/teaching" to be a more accurate translation than "your doctrine/teaching" (check out https://biblehub.com/interlinear/1_timothy/4-16.htm ).

I believe Paul is telling Timothy here to pay attention to gospel doctrine and hold fast to it ”“ for that is the only means by which man can be saved.

I have found that gospel doctrine - soteriology - is often not well explored in contemporary Christianity. In fact, many Christian communities tend to view soteriology as a "non-essential doctrine" over which people can have differing views. This passage suggests that such attitudes are not aligned with the heart of God.

But the sentence says pay close attention to your life in addition to teaching referring back to being committed to, practicing and be a clear example to the believers in faith, love and purity. ??

If you examine the original Greek for 1 Tim 4:16, the NKJV translation seems to be more accurate in capturing the verse.

The exhortations about taking heed to "THE doctrine", and continuing in "THE doctrine" - I believe this is a reference to the gospel (c.f. Jude 1:3, John 7:17). Anything that has to do with "saving (oneself) and saving others" must be connected to gospel doctrine, which is the foundation of all fruitfulness.

"Take heed to yourself" - be watchful of your own soul, that you may not be deceived (c.f. Luke 21:8, 1 Tim 4:1-5), especially concerning "THE doctrine".

That's my take.

Do you think this passage is dovetailing with the wording in 1 Timothy about progress in the life of faith, love and purity and the connection to salvation ?

2 Peter:3

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Reading the passage, I get the impression that the "saving" spoken of here is not really dealing with obtaining eternal life but rather, more like preserving the life you have in Christ. Just my thoughts...

-Daniel

Hey Robert,

I suppose you take a broader view of what "taking heed to yourself and the doctrine" means. I've certainly used that 1 Tim 4:16 verse in like manner before, so I'm personally okay with that view too.

I probably need more time to think about the verse... I do believe that the word "save" (in "you will save both yourself and those who hear you") is a reference to the salvation message. After all, just a few verses up is the mention of "the Saviour of all men", and "those who hear you" resonates with Romans 10:14.

Fruit-bearing is fundamentally connected to our grasp of the gospel at any rate (Titus 2:11-14). The more we understand the gospel's provisions for justification and sanctification, the more our lives will display the "godliness" which we already have in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21).