This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.
Reject sound doctrine and fail to wage a strong war for holiness and you will make shipwreck your faith. In the book of 1 Timothy, Paul is instructing the young pastor to stand for firm and sound doctrine, based upon the gospel. Paul tells Timothy that false teachers are sneaking into the church to speak about another doctrine, a doctrine based upon myths and genealogies and speculation, all coming from a misrepresentation of the Law. Paul is not only warning Timothy to avoid them and fight them, he wants Timothy to hold to sound doctrine. He wants him to hold to a doctrine that will impart holiness. To further his argument, Paul points out two teachers in the church who have not done what Timothy is instructed to do. Paul believes that Hymenaeus and Alexander have made “shipwreck” their faith by “rejecting” these very instructions Paul is giving to Timothy. Note what this word, “rejecting,” means in this passage:
apōtheō; or ἀπωθέομαι apōtheomai; to push off, figuratively, to reject: — cast away, put away (from), thrust away (from).
When you leave the dock on a boat you “apōtheō,” you cast away. You are leaving something. These two are examples of those who had no real faith, but rejected it when things got tough and they saw something better in their lives. Paul is wearing Timothy to NOT do that. He wants him to stay tied to the dock of sound doctrine and hold tight to those trues. But, if your reject sound doctrine you will make shipwreck your faith.
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