The three pastoral letters or epistles are books of the canonical New Testament: the First Epistle to Timothy (1 Timothy) the Second Epistle to Timothy (2 Timothy) and the Epistle to Titus. They are letters from Paul the Apostle to Timothy and to Titus. They are generally discussed as a group (sometimes with the addition of the Epistle to Philemon) and are given the title pastoral because they are addressed to individuals with pastoral oversight of churches and discuss issues of Christian living, doctrine and leadership. While the title is not technically quite correct in that the Epistles do not deal with pastoral duties in the sense of the cure of souls, yet it is popularly appropriate as denoting the essentially practical nature of the subject matter as distinguished from the other Epistles attributed to Paul. The term "pastorals" was popularised in 1703 by D. N. Berdot and in 1726 by Paul Anton.

1 Timothy 6:19, 20 Guard, Reject

1 Timothy 6:19, 20 Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith. Grace be with you all.
The very last words of the first letter to Timothy are final words of exhortation to the young pastor followed by a general final blessing. Timothy is told to guard what has been entrusted to his care. He is like a person who has been entrusted with a very valuable gift that he must pass on to the next generation. In particular, Paul wants him to Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge. He must reject babbling and opposition of people with their pseudo knowledge. This is what some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith. The problem of false teachers is every bit as much of a problem today as then and the guarding of the gospel by faithful pastors is so very important. The need of all of us to know the grace of God is a constant one.

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