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The Gospel Observer
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them
to observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age" (Matt. 28:19,20).
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December 23, 2012
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Contents:
1) 1 Timothy 1:3-7 (Tom Edwards)
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1 Timothy 1:3-7
by Tom Edwards
In 1 Timothy 1:3,4, Paul gives a reminder to Timothy as to why he
was to continue on in Ephesus: "As I urged you upon my departure for
Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men
not to teach strange doctrines, nor to pay attention to myths and
endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than
furthering the administration of God which is by faith."
Though these men are not personally named, they are generally
supposed to have been Judaizing teachers. We noted last week
that in Acts 20:29,30, Paul had earlier warned the Ephesian elders
of false teachers that would be among them in Ephesus.
This charge that Paul gives to Timothy also reminds us of the one
given to Titus: "This testimony is true. For this reason reprove
them severely so that they may be sound in the faith, not paying
attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from
the truth" (Titus 1:13,14).
Paul refers to the teaching of these "certain men" as being "strange
doctrines" (1 Tim. 1:3). Actually, this entire phrase "teach
strange doctrines" is from just one compound Greek word
(heterodidaskaleo), which Thayer defines as, "to teach other or
different doctrine...deviating from the truth." The danger in
doing this can be clearly seen in Galatians 1:6-9: "I am amazed that
you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of
Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only
there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel
of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should
preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he
is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now,
if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you
received, he is to be accursed!" Paul also speaks of this in 1
Timothy 6:3-5: "If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does
not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with
the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and
understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial
questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife,
abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men
of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that
godliness is a means of gain."
By the time of Paul's writing 1 Timothy, the church in Ephesus had
been in existence for at least 10 years.
The instruction to not pay attention to "myths" is rendered as
"fables" in various other Bible versions. David Lipscomb
points out that these myths "constituted a part of the traditions of
the elders handed down from generation to generation. The
Targums, the Jewish sacred books written by the rabbis, are largely
composed of these."
Along with the myths were also the "endless genealogies," which
Timothy was to instruct others not to give themselves to.
Perhaps to no other people, lineal records had been more important
than to the Jews -- and for various reasons: 1) to trace their roots
back to Abraham. 2) to be able to keep land of different
tribes in the families. For the promised land was to be for the
descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and that land was then to
be divided among the specific tribes of Israel. 3) for the
purpose of the Levitical priesthood. For notice how essential
those records were, according to Ezra 2:62: "These searched among
their ancestral registration, but they could not be located;
therefore they were considered unclean and excluded from the
priesthood." And 4) the genealogical records were also important to
show the lineage of the Messiah -- who was the "seed" promise, in
whom all nations of the world would be blessed, that was given to
Abraham and seen fulfilled in Jesus Christ (Gen. 22:18; Gal.
3:16,19). But since the time of the Lord's crucifixion and His
establishment of the New Covenant, this need of the genealogical
records no longer exists, which much of had been tied in with the
Law of Moses. For in the Gospel Age, regardless of whom one
has descended from, Jesus shows the need for a person to be "born
again...of water and the Spirit" in order to "enter into the kingdom
of God" (Jn. 3:3- 5). In addition, it has also been said that
many of the Jews even "ran off into some vague notions of an
immaterial or mystic ancestry" and "in their wild speculations upon
such a line of genealogy, though still professing much interest in
their relation to Abraham, such unreasonable mixtures of genealogies
would cause persons to become unsettled. As a result, the
patriarch Abraham was left behind as the speculations went on and on
into the dim past without any certain conclusions. This is why
Paul calls them 'endless genealogies'" (E.M. Zerr). Therefore,
consider what Paul also says in Titus 3:9: "But avoid foolish
controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law,
for they are unprofitable and worthless."
Paul then shows a purpose for the commandments of God in 1 Timothy
1:5: "But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and
a good conscience and a sincere faith" (NASB). The KJV uses
the phrase "the end of the commandments" instead of "the goal of our
instruction." For the Greek word for "end" (telos) not only
means "termination" or "the limit at which a thing ceases to be,"
but can also signify "the aim" or "purpose" (Thayer) or the "result"
(James Strong). In Romans 6:22, it is translated as "outcome,"
in pertaining to the outcome of eternal life for those who have been
set free from sin and have dedicated themselves to the Lord.
So what is the purpose or goal for God's commandments? That we
will develop "love from a pure heart," "a good conscience," and "a
sincere faith." Therefore, sincerely submitting to the Lord's
instructions will change one's life for the better.
The Bible shows our love for God to be more than merely an emotional
thing. Rather, it includes a compliance to His word, which
becomes a way of life for the Christian -- and a life that is rich
in spiritual blessings. Consider, for instance, what Jesus
teaches in John 14:15: "If you love Me, you will keep My
commandments." And in verse 21: "He who has My commandments
and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be
loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to
him."
So from this we can infer that true love involves many things.
Notice, for example, how Paul speaks of this in Romans 13:8-10: "Owe
nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his
neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, 'YOU SHALL NOT
COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU
SHALL NOT COVET,' and if there is any other commandment, it is
summed up in this saying, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS
YOURSELF.' Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is
the fulfillment of the law." So just as saving "faith" and
phrases such as "abide in Me" (Jn. 15:4), "walk by faith" (2 Cor.
5:7), and "walk in the Light" (1 Jn. 1:7) are being used
comprehensively to sum up many things, even so, the same is seen
about love in this passage. It, too, also comprises a
multiplicity of commands. Paul also says a similar thing about
it in Galatians 5:14: "For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word,
in the statement, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'"
So if one truly loves his neighbor, he will not steal from him,
injure him, gossip about him, or commit any other wrong against him.
Plus, there are not only those bad things that love will not do, but
also the good things that love will do, such as in helping a
neighbor in need. True love, therefore, does involve many
things.
Love that is based on God's word will make the heart pure, and the
importance of that can be seen in the Old and New Testaments.
For example: "Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? And who may
stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure
heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood And has not sworn
deceitfully" (Psa. 24:3,4). "...Surely God is good to Israel,
To those who are pure in heart!" (Psa. 73:1). Notice, too,
Jeremiah's warning: "Wash your heart from evil, O Jerusalem, That
you may be saved. How long will your wicked thoughts Lodge within
you?" (Jer. 4:14). In one of the Lord's beatitudes, He
states, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see
God." And from what the gospel shows, we have the
responsibility toward making our hearts pure with God's help.
For this is also commanded of us today, just as it was in Old
Testament times. James instructs the Christians to "Draw near
to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you
sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded" (Jms. 4:8).
The Bible also shows the importance of having a good conscience in
this same chapter in which Paul speaks of it as being one of the
goals of the commandments. For after exhorting Timothy to
"fight the good fight" (1 Tim. 1:18), Paul then includes "keeping
faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered
shipwreck in regard to their faith" (v. 19). So a good
conscience is needful for all of us and not merely as one of the
qualifications for a deacon (1 Tim. 3:8,9).
Of course, just having a good conscience isn't all that is
necessary. Compare, for instance, what Paul declares in Acts
23:1: "Paul, looking intently at the Council, said, 'Brethren, I
have lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to
this day.'" This also includes the time before Paul's
conversion when he was persecuting Christians and consenting to
their death. For he, at that time, had done that in good
conscience, thinking he truly was offering service to God; but how
wrong he had been (cf. Acts 26:9-11).
As Lipscomb writes, "It takes all three of these conditions [the
love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith] to
make service acceptable to God." So the good conscience we
need is one that has been formed by the word of the Lord.
Compare Hebrews 13:18: "Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a
good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all
things." Coupled with their good conscience is their desire to
live right. Paul certainly had that kind of desire and strove
to keep his conscience clean: "In view of this, I also do my best to
maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before
men" (Acts 24:16). Just as a vehicle must be tended to in
order to keep running, a good conscience must also be maintained
because it can otherwise become ruined or destroyed, as Paul makes
mention of in 1 Timothy 4:1-3, concerning those who would "fall away
from the faith" by "paying attention to deceitful spirits and
doctrines of demons" and of those who were "seared in their own
conscience as with a branding iron." And Peter also instructs
the brethren to "keep a good conscience," which is preceded by their
need to "sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts" (1 Pet.
3:15,16). People might sometimes try to make you feel guilty
about things you shouldn't feel guilty about. Our conscience,
however, can be free of guilt, when we truly know that we are doing
the things that are right. According to 1 Peter 3:21, a good
conscience for the sinner begins in his obedience to the gospel:
"Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you--not the removal of
dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good
conscience--through the resurrection of Jesus Christ."
Paul also shows that our faith is to be "sincere" (NASB). The
KJV renders this as "unfeigned," from the Greek word "anupokritos,"
which Thayer defines as "unfeigned, undisguised, sincere." A
sincere faith, as Jamison, Fausset, and Brown write, is "not a
hypocritical, dead, and unfruitful faith, but faith working by love
(Gal. 5:6)." In 2 Timothy 1:5, Paul refers to Timothy's faith,
as well as his mother's and grandmother's, as being a "sincere
faith."
Unfortunately, not all were content to strive for the goal of Paul's
instruction. Notice what is said of them in 1 Timothy 1:6,7:
"For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to
fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though
they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters
about which they make confident assertions."
These men were at one time on the right path, but now they were
straying from it. Notice Paul's final warning to Timothy in this
epistle: "O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding
worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is
falsely called 'knowledge' -- which some have professed and thus
gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you" (1 Tim. 6:20,21).
Paul shows one of the ways in which some had gone astray in 2
Timothy 2:16-18: "But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will
lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like
gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who have gone
astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken
place, and they upset the faith of some."
So instead of following the truth, these Paul refers to in 1 Timothy
1:6 had "turned aside to fruitless discussion." Paul also
could foresee more people doing this: "For the time will come when
they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears
tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance
to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth
and will turn aside to myths" (2 Tim. 4:3,4).
These Judaizing teachers wanted to be teachers of the Law, but even
that which they boldly affirmed was based on what they really didn't
understand. This might remind you of what Jesus said about
some Jews during His time on earth: "You search the Scriptures,
because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is
these that bear witness of Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me,
that you may have life" (Jn. 5:39,40). How blind they had been
-- and even when the truth was standing right before them!
Jesus was the fulfillment of the promised Messiah that the Old
Testament pointed to.
False teachers are a danger to the Lord's church; and they, along
with their followers, actually out-number the true church of the
Lord. Therefore, more people today are teaching a false plan
of salvation than a true one. May we, however, always be
diligent to study God's word for ourselves, to not be gullible; but,
rather, to be like those noble Bereans who had been "examining the
Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so" (Acts
17:11). As the psalmist declares, "Thy word is a lamp to my
feet, and a light to my path" (Psa. 119:105). God's word will
show us the way, if we will take the time to look.
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The Steps That Lead to Eternal Salvation
1) Hear the gospel,
for that is how faith comes (Rom. 10:17; John 20:30,31).
2) Believe in the
deity of Christ (John 8:24; John 3:18).
3) Repent of sins
(Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30).
4) Confess faith in
Christ (Rom. 10:9,10; Acts 8:36-38).
5) Be baptized in water
for the remission of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3,4;
Gal. 3:26,27; 1 Pet. 3:21).
6) Continue in the faith;
for, if not, salvation can be lost (Heb. 10:36-39; Rev. 2:10; 2 Pet.
2:20-22).
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Park Forest
CHURCH OF CHRIST
9923 Sunny Cline Dr., Baton Rouge, LA 70817
Sunday services: 9:00 AM (Bible class); 10 AM & 6 PM (worship)
Tuesday: 7 PM (Bible class)
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (225) 667-4520
Tom@ThomasTEdwards.com
http://ThomasTEdwards.com/go (Gospel Observer website)
http://ThomasTEdwards.com/audioser.html (audio sermons)