We have no certain knowledge of how many years elapsed between the
writing of the 1st and 2nd epistles to Timothy but evidently there had
been sufficient time for the development of a big down-grade movement
in the church of God. The diverse characters stamped upon the two
Epistles make this quite plain. In the first epistle Timothy is
instructed as to good order in the church and exhorted to maintain it
in the presence of disorders that threatened it. In the second we find
that, while there is still disorder, serious defection has developed
and that in some quarters even the foundations of the faith are in
danger; consequently that which is official is not mentioned and the
appeal is to individual faithfulness. This we shall see as we pursue
our way through the epistle.