Paul closed his letter with a final exhortation to urge Timothy again to avoid going astray in his ministry.
"What is most remarkable about this conclusion is the lack of any final greetings. All the Pauline letters, including this one, sign off with a final grace, or benediction. But only 1 Timothy and Galatians have no greetings from Paul and friends to the recipient and friends (cf. 2 Tim. 4:19-21; Titus 3:15). To the very end this letter is characteristically all business,' and except for some new language, this final charge merely summarizes that business."230
"O Timothy"gives a personal emotional touch to Paul's charge. He loved his son in the faith and wanted to spare him pain and failure.
Timothy should guard the truth of the Christian faith that God had committed to his stewardship by proclaiming it accurately and faithfully (cf. 4:12-14; 6:2; 2 Tim. 2:2). Another possibility is that what had been entrusted to Timothy refers particularly to his responsibility to oppose the false teachers and to keep his own life pure (cf. 4:11-13; 5:22-23; 6:11-12). Specifically he should avoid the controversies and false teaching that Paul referred to previously that characterize the world system and are valueless, as well as the opposition of those who claimed superior knowledge. This last warning is apparently a reference to gnostic influence that was increasing in Ephesus. Gnostics taught that there was a higher knowledge available only to the initiates of their cult. Paul had already set forth his full rebuttal to their contention in his epistle to the Colossians. The appeal of these false teachers had seduced some in Ephesus who had wandered from the path of truth.
In closing Paul wished God's grace for Timothy and the other saints in Ephesus. The "you"is plural in the Greek text.
