Paul ended his first chapter in his letter to Timothy with a charge to his young ward — to wage spiritual war against evil. In this charge he called for Timothy to maintain his faith and purity in conscience.
Such an admonition was necessary. Paul had left Timothy in Ephesus (1:3), and there was a need not only to edify, but to defend the truth against false teachers. This is true today as well. The work of an evangelist is not done well unless spiritual warfare is waged as soldiers in Christ’s army. Conviction and sincerity was and is needed that truth be allowed its victory against the wiles of the devil.
Paul named two men: Hymenaeus and Alexander. They had departed from the faith and were condemned. They were examples of men who had to be withstood and fought against, lest we be “children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men…” (Ephesians 4:14).
