1 Timothy 1:1-2
The early church accepted Paul as the author of this letter (along with 2 Timothy & Titus) while some ‘modern’ scholarship has challenged it due to some different vocabulary. We’ll set this aside till they answer their own questions and we’ll stick with the early church and what the scriptures say.
The greeting is pretty standard for Paul; stating his office and authority as an apostle. He didn’t set himself in that position, but was commanded by God. Therefore, the message he brought had the backing of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. This authority and backing might have been important if Timothy used this letter to deal with those who were apostate or disobedient there in Ephesus.
This letter was addressed to Timothy. Paul looks at him as a true son in the faith. He was true because Paul saw him come to Christ and he also saw that his life was changed and there is fruit coming from his life. Timothy is a true son in the faith because his entire life revolved around Jesus Christ. Jesus is at the center of everything.
Paul granted Timothy grace, mercy and peace. Paul was about to deal with tough topics with Timothy and those in Ephesus. While he does this, it's important they remember that the letter was written and delivered in love, with the most honorable of intent, with grace, mercy and peace.
1 Timothy 1:3a
Was Timothy wanting out of Ephesus? Were things in Ephesus getting bad? Was there a temptation to run away, to find somewhere easier, to find people who wanted the message? I imagine every pastor, deacon, elder or anyone else serving in the church has had those moments when running away seems like a good idea. I think we'll see that ministry in Ephesus was difficult. Ministry anywhere is difficult because sinful people are involved. It's easy to start thinking the grass is greener somewhere else. No matter what ministry you are called to, there will be a time when it will seem easier to just walk away. But, walk away to what?
In John chapter 6 Jesus had just fed the five thousand. He had a great throng of people following him because he is feeding the hungry and healing the lame and sick. Jesus had risen to rockstar status among the people. They wanted to make Him king and make Him rule over them. Then Jesus brought some reality to their world. The people were seeking after Jesus because of what he did for them; instead of accepting these accolades, Jesus responded by giving them some teaching.
They chased after him because he gave them bread. But He said, they should believe in Him because He is the bread sent from the father. Jesus said He is the bread of life. This was difficult for them and many Jews were offended at that. This great throng of people who wanted to name him king one minute now began to walk away one by one, two by two, in small groups everywhere.
From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”
But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
(NKJV: John 6:67-69; 1982, Thomas Nelson)
Isn't it amazing how quickly people turned their backs and walked away? That's our sinful nature, that's our natural reaction. We're all in when things are good and God is feeding us and healing us. But when He gives us a hard lesson, when He stretches us, we quickly look for a way out. When we feel pain or pressure or discomfort, we withdraw from it. We're looking for somewhere to run.
A man named Sir Ernest Shackleton was an explorer bound for the Antarctica. In 1914 he ran an add in the London paper in an effort to assemble his team. The add read:
"MEN WANTED: FOR HAZARDOUS JOURNEY. SMALL WAGES, BITTER COLD, LONG MONTHS OF COMPLETE DARKNESS, CONSTANT DANGER, SAFE RETURN DOUBTFUL. HONOUR AND RECOGNITION IN CASE OF SUCCESS.
Thousands of men answered this ad. Of the thousands, Shackleton picked 27 men for his team. Shackleton's story is pretty amazing. It was an adventure of being near death and in hopeless situations and grave conditions for months. I imagine these men, left to themselves would have bailed out on their adventure, given the chance. But they weren't left to themselves. They were under the leadership of Shackleton. He held his team together, there was no mutiny, no desertion. In a situation where every man could have easily become selfish and looked out for himself because of the cloud of hopelessness they lived under, they instead were committed to survival as a team. They were driven to succeed and survive. Men answered a difficult challenge because they were asked to do so by a leader.
Now, imagine Paul, while looking for someone to work with him in the ministry decided to run an ad.
Man wanted, willing to walk away from his life, wealth, family and home to spread a message no one wants to hear. Applicant must be healthy to withstand exposure to the elements, beatings, imprisonments, floggings and stonings; must not have a problem with being poor and half naked. Will be constantly exposed to the leper, diseased, lame, blind and afflicted. No pay, but the rewards will be heavenly.
Do you think Timothy would have answered the ad? I think so, not because it was appealing in any way, but God called Timothy and the desire of his heart was to serve the Lord and spread the gospel message. No mere man would answer the call; but the regenerate man has the Spirit of God guiding him. So, with that God-given desire, what else could he do?
God brought Timothy under the leadership of Paul to encourage him and guide him. When things were bad, Paul encouraged Timothy to hang in there. Ephesus was where God put him, that's where he was needed. Yes, it's frustrating and uncomfortable to the flesh.
Each of us have a calling on our life. Each of us are given a gift and we're expected to use it. Many people say, “Well I don't know what my gift is. As soon as God shows it to me, I'll work in it.” Meanwhile, a couple different things at work. They either get pretty good at ignoring or running away due to fear or they're found operating in their gift without realizing it. The gift that God has given you is that thing that is the passion in your life. God gave us the gift and desire to use it. When it is ignored it's like having a pink elephant in the room and we walk around the house saying, “What pink elephant?” At some point though we have to answer the call. It's not appealing by any measure of man. If we say we are servants of the Lord then what else can we do but acknowledge what God has called us to? Our temptation is to run, to hide, but that's a good way to end up in the belly of a fish.
And some point we relent, and like Peter we say, “Lord, to whom shall we go?" There's nowhere to run. If we are going to be sold out to the Lord, we have to answer the call on our life. It feels a little like throwing caution to the wind but in reality, it is simply trusting that the Lord has a purpose in every step you take in your life.
1 Timothy 1:3-4
The word 'charge' is a military word. It’s the strict order from a commanding officer. Timothy wasn't to go to these false teachers and suggest they change or give them any options. He was to command them as a commander giving strict orders. They were to teach no other doctrine.
Sometimes we get this impression that being a pastor is somehow this mamby pamby job for the weak and wimpy. Yet, we see Paul talking to Timothy as a pastor issuing military type commands. Paul is saying, son, you have a job to do there, you need to stay there and do it. This was important work.
Doctrine is important. Doctrine is our set of beliefs. These are the truths that form our faith. These are the principals that guide our life. It's the lens through which we see all things and understand all things and look at all things. Everyone has a doctrine; disciples of Jesus are to have His doctrine and not their own.
We live in a postmodern world that says you have your truth and I have my truth and we can all be tolerant and loving and just get along. But that postmodern thinking offers only a false sense of security and a squishy emotion or feeling that we're all getting along. Truth is truth, the sky is blue, gravity works, the stove will burn you, you can't breathe underwater, these are physical truths and no postmodern would argue against these truths. Why then do many people waffle on spiritual truth? They say, well that may be what you believe but my god wouldn't send anyone to hell. And they say, well I don't care what the bible says, I believe God forgives everyone for everything.
Our truths must come from somewhere. That's why we need to live in the bible. This is where our doctrine comes from. Our doctrine is truth as outlined from God. It says, Jesus died to pay the sins of all men. But forgiveness only comes to those who repent and trust in Jesus and accept that gift. Then God forgives them. From that forgiveness we are given a new heart with new desires. It's a new life and it's lived for the Lord. A postmodern would tell us we are arrogant to think we possess the truth. But we do, and we don't hold onto it arrogantly but humbly, with the testimony of "I was once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see."
That's why doctrine is so important. While it’s always been under some attack, we see it under attack all around us today. Doctrine is the bricks that we build a wall of belief around us. Brick by doctrinal brick, we build our faith that encompasses our entire life. This is having our entire life built up and controlled by the Lord. Our doctrine is our hope, our promises, our salvation, these things become our place of defense. The Lord is our strong tower and he says he will never leave us or forsake us. He said we can cast our cares on Him. He said if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us. He is never changing, ever present and all powerful.
These types of things are what we stand on when challenged or attacked in some way. These doctrines give us hope this world and life offers none. These doctrines show us the love of an amazing God when the love of the world disappoints. When we are in Christ, these doctrines become our life because they define and describe a holy God.
Paul encouraged Timothy to stay put and help the Ephesians establish a pure set of beliefs. They needed him to help them build their system of beliefs that would put Christ at the center of their lives.
***
Continuing on in verse 4 Paul instructed Timothy to teach no other doctrine.
Godly edification is by faith. This says, I'm saved by grace, it's not about me, what I know, who I am, my ancestry, my money, wisdom, my past, present or future or anything else. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in God alone. It's not about us or anything we've done or will do. Not by works lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:9). We bring nothing into the deal. We receive our salvation when we are humbled, brought low and stripped down of everything we rely on. We come to Christ with nothing of our own.
The problem at Ephesus was that after salvation these false doctrines started sneaking in. Gnosticism was sneaking in and it said there was a secret knowledge that only special people can obtain. There were fanciful fables or myths built around endless genealogies.
“Although there were many fables among the heathen, yet the Apostle has in special view the Jewish traditiones; for it was asserted that Moses had not written down all the mysteries revealed by God, but had given much orally to the elders, by whom they were handed down as a traditional law, or Kabbala, although these Jewish notions were mostly of their own invention, and in part, too, drawn from heathen philosophy;” Starke.
Lange, J. P., Schaff, P., & van Oosterzee, J. J. (2008). A commentary on the Holy Scriptures: 1 & 2 Timothy (E. A. Washburn & E. Harwood, Trans.; p. 17). Logos Bible Software.
One of the characteristics of the ancient world was that the poets and even the historians loved to work out romantic and fictitious tales about the foundation of cities and of families. They would tell how some god came to earth and founded the city or took in marriage a mortal woman and founded a family. The ancient world was full of stories like that.
Barclay, W. (2003). The Letters to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon
(3rd ed. fully rev. and updated, p. 29). Westminster John Knox Press.
In the Old Testament, many chapters and many sections are long genealogies; and one of the favourite occupations of the Jewish scholars was to construct an imaginary and inspiring biography for every name in the list.
Barclay, W. (2003). The Letters to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon
(3rd ed. fully rev. and updated, p. 30). Westminster John Knox Press.
The Ephesians were probing Gnosticism, genealogies and fables looking for an angle or something special. When, in reality, these things were only causing disputes and had become a distraction. It doesn't matter if Moses was your great, great, great grandfather. It doesn't matter if some fable of a fountain of youth promised eternal life. Paul is saying, forget all that stuff. All those things do is detract from the real issue. Godly edification comes through faith. You want something special, give God every hour of every day of your life and watch what he does with it. All that other stuff is of the world and just becomes a distraction.
1 Timothy 1:5-7
Paul wanted Timothy to stay there and show some of the Ephesians their error. If he left, their error would become more prevalent and embedded. Timothy was to hold fast to the truth and teach them to do the same.
The purpose of the law and commandments was to show us our need for a savior. The law is to lead us to repentance. It is to show us we can't measure up to God's high and holy standard. Our only hope, then, is in Jesus Christ. The law breaks our pride, our self-sufficiency is shattered. And we come humbly before the Lord knowing we are nothing and we have no ability to save ourselves. Humble and broken, we come to Christ on His merit, not ours. And He saves us because He is amazing. God's love for us is beyond our understanding.
Timothy needed to stay and teach others this because there were men trying to teach other things. These men were trying to appease God with religion. This is doing a list of things without a change of heart. We can see this in Psalm 78. The people came to God, they knew who He was. They knew the truth. Yet they turned from it and grumbled and they sought other Gods. They tried flattery, making proclamation of how awesome God is with their mouth but they didn't believe it with their heart. And God dealt with them. And it says: their days He consumed in futility, and their years in fear. As their days and years were consumed in lostness, their life drew closer to the end. As they continued to deny the true nature of their creator and what he wanted of them their appointment before Him grew closer.
These men in Ephesus were lost and confused and that's all they ended up teaching was lostness and confusion. Yet people were drawn to it instead of the truth. And when they embraced this wrong teaching and believed the false word their lives too would be consumed in futility and fear. Paul said the law leads us to love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith. The law leads us to Christ and to a renewed heart not lostness.
As we spend time in God's word this is what we should look like. We are loving and of a good conscience and a sincere faith. Not a list of rules and laws. It's not obedience to a list of laws in order to be saved. It's being saved, dirt and all, in all our filth. Then, with a new heart, we desire the things of God because He saved a wretch like me. The old dirt we used to play in will suddenly become more than we can stand. With our new heart, we'll desire the things of God.
1 Timothy 1:8-11
What is a lawful use of the law? The law wasn't made for the righteous person. The righteous person is the one who is in right standing with God. However, the bible tells us that none of us have a right standing with God. Our righteousness, our very best, is filth in His eyes. We are completely incapable of coming to a right standing with God by our own power, strength or understanding. There is only one way that we can be seen righteous in God's eyes, that is by Jesus. He is THE WAY.
We are only seen righteous by God when we put our trust in Jesus. When we do that the righteousness of Jesus has been imputed to us. "Imputed" is the big word of the day. Imputed means something one individual possesses based upon their actions is accounted to another individual that the first is responsible for. So, in our case, Jesus not only paid our fine, He credited our account with His righteousness.
And we need to be clear, this doesn't happen automatically. This is a one-time transaction. It happens when a person comes to the end of themselves, when they deny themselves, and then trust in Jesus, that His blood was shed for the remission of their sins.
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
NKJV; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1982, Thomas Nelson
Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
NKJV; Philippians 3:8-11; 1982, Thomas Nelson
What was an unlawful use of the law? These men in Corinth were attempting to teach the law as a means to righteousness. They said if you kept the law and did all the prescribed things then God would see you as righteous. In Philippians, Paul referred to these teachers as evil workers (also dogs and mutilators). It was evil and antichrist to teach righteousness by works. It still happens today. The fact is, if we could just be good enough, then Jesus was nailed to a cross for no reason.
I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”
NKJV; Galatians 2:21; 1982, Thomas Nelson
Are you a good citizen? To be a good citizen you must obey every speed limit, every time. You must never run a red light. Every stop sign requires you to come to a complete stop. You must never to have allowed your parking meter to expire. You can never park in a "no parking" zone. And I hope you've never parked in a handicap space. At every turn you must put on your turn signal at least five seconds prior to executing said turn. Your light must always be on before dark. Your brights must never affect oncoming vehicles or those in front of you. And you must never have signaled or gestured to another person no matter how stupid they are or how bad a driver they may be.
How would you do? Are you a good citizen? You don't get to be mostly good. You are either a good citizen or not. If you haven't done all these things perfectly, every time, you're a bad citizen. Our desire to make our own rules and be Lord of our own life cries out, It's not fair!! Who Made these rules? The lawmakers made them and these laws set the standard for what is expected of a citizen. It doesn't matter if you agree or not. A just judge is the one who upholds the standards. You can stand before a judge and say I don't agree with driving 45 through town, I'm always late and need to drive faster. But the Judge is going to say, it doesn't matter if you believe as a long as you pay your fine.
Let's take another test. Are you a good person? Most answer, well yes, but we answer even before knowing the standard because by our individual standards we think we are pretty good. After all, I give money to the poor, I help little old ladies across the street, I go to church every Sunday and I buy girl scout cookies. Most of the time mankind thinks so highly of themselves because of pride driven by our sinful nature that we think that heaven was made just for us. Even unbelievers when pressed will say, if there was a heaven, I would be there for sure. Left to ourselves, we think God has our picture on His refrigerator and that we just a shiny prize for God.
The bad news for the unchanged heart is; it's not your standard that counts. You don't get to measure yourself. The just judge will judge you. The just judge holds the standard. He doesn't grade on a curve. You don't get points for trying really hard or years of service. Honor badges don't help, scars get you nowhere.
Someday it will be just you, standing before that judge. Will God see you as a good person? Let's take the test.
- God said you shall have no other gods before Him. Your question, has God always been first and foremost in your life? Have you ever, even just once, put anything above God?
- God said you shall not make for yourself any idol or graven image. Your question, have you worshiped anything other than God? Have you set up idols, things that replace God, things you trusted in instead of God?
- God said you shall not take the name of the Lord in vain. Our question, have you used God's name as a curse word or used it flippantly. I think this could also be identifying yourself with God and then doing things that bring shame to His name.
- God said remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Your question, have you always set aside that day to honor God, to find your rest in Him?
- God says, Honor your father and mother. Have you ever disappointed or disobeyed them?
- God says, you shall not murder. But Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. So murder is not just taking a life but it is an attitude that starts in our heart. Our question then is, have you ever been angry at anyone without a just cause?
- God says, you shall not commit adultery. And then Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Our question then is, are any of us guilty of Lust?
- God says, you shall not steal. Our question, have you ever stolen anything? Even one time, of any value? Not even one piece of penny candy when you were kid in the market when mom wasn't looking?
- God says, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Have you ever lied for your advantage or for the advantage of someone else?
- God says, you shall not covet. Have you ever coveted? Flat screen TV's, Corvettes, Money, property, husband/wife and the list goes on.
So, how'd you do? That's a picture of God's standard of righteousness. Anyone get a perfect score? Does anyone feel more righteous being exposed to the law? If we are honest, we know not one of us is able to keep the law. And if you have broken even one, one time, you are a lawbreaker. And we know we've all broken those laws many times.
This is the lawful use of the law. It's bringing you to the knowledge that you're unable to meet God's standard. It is used to examine us and our heart, it pricks our conscience. It leaves us stripped bare of any righteousness we thought we had. It leads us to the knowledge of the punishment we deserve. It humbles us and breaks us. We are brought to a place where we understand our eternity is hopeless in our own strength. At this point we understand that if nothing else happens when we stand before God we will receive His judgment. When we understand how sick we are, we will also appreciate the value of the remedy. When we fully and completely understand our depravity, we appreciate the value of the remedy found in Jesus Christ.
The law shows us why we need Jesus. We each have fallen short of being perfect. As sinners we deserve the punishment of a lawbreaker. Because the judge is just, he can't just look the other way at a crime. Without Jesus, we will be declared guilty. The punishment of sin is death. But Jesus was perfect in the keeping of the law. He was the perfect, sinless sacrifice. He owed no penalty, but He offered himself to pay our penalty. In our sin we are declared guilty and He stepped in and paid our penalty.
Jesus suffered and died to pay the penalty for your sin so you didn't have to. Our account was in the red with sin and Jesus paid for all that, but He also credited His righteousness to our account. When we come to Jesus and say, “Lord, you are right, I'm a sinner, I have no ability to save myself; I have no righteousness, You are the son of God, I know you came and died for my sins.” It is then we are born again. We turn from our sins and desire to be obedient to Him.
We said all that because we need to understand the law. It is perfect in its purpose to show the unrighteous that they don't meet God's perfect standard. Paul said it was for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine. That's a list of nasty people. That list is us. That list represents all who failed the good person test. The law was for all of us before we came to the knowledge of our sin and were saved by grace. When the law has done that work in us, we are no longer under the law. Instead, we love the law, it represents God's righteousness and we desire to be obedient to God but we are no longer condemned when we fail because our fine was already paid and we are already clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
Paul said all these sins he listed are contrary to sound doctrine. Now we all fall in sin from time to time. But falling to sin is one thing, jumping in and swimming in it is another. To live in a constant and habitual state of sin is an indication that something is wrong. That's what Paul is telling Timothy. If the saints of Ephesus were bringing these sins into the church and mixing them with sound doctrine, there was a serious problem. Sin is contrary to sound doctrine. They were to oppose it.
This is like saying, I'm a good citizen, even though I ran over 3 people in the parking lot and gestured to a 4th on my way to double park in a handicap space. Just like the standards of good citizenship are broken down if this is allowed. Faith is damaged when unrighteousness is mixed with sound doctrine.
The church should be filled with righteous people but they must understand they were made righteous by Jesus. In reality, there will be unrighteous among us at church. And the law will do its work on us because the law still convicts.
There is no gray area where people are declared righteous and are still convicted by the law and live in a state of habitual sin. The righteous are free from the law, forgiven from sin and are declared righteous by Jesus.
1 Timothy 1:12-17
Before Paul came to Christ, he was a blasphemer. He persecuted the church. He was full of hate. He was arrogant in his religiosity. Paul was Pharisee who thought he was a good person because he was a legalist. He fooled himself into believing he earned his righteousness by the law. But he had a good excuse for relying on the law because he was ignorant of grace. This is kind of a smack upside the head to the legalist in Ephesus. They heard the gospel message and had experienced grace and they were reverting back to the law. They had no excuse.
Because of all those things Paul did out of ignorance he said he was the worst sinner of all. And even at that Christ saved Him by grace.
If you looked back on Paul's life and what he did you might think he was beyond being saved. You might think it was more likely that God would strike him down than save him from his sins. Paul said anyone can look to him to see an example of the long-suffering; the patience of and amazing God. If God can save Paul, He can save anyone.
And with that thought, Paul praised God.
1 Timothy 1:18-20
Anyone can have the knowledge of doctrine. Anyone can list a set of beliefs. Anyone can start a church. Anyone can have beliefs and try to teach them. And they can be really, really sincere about their beliefs. But that doesn't make their beliefs true nor do those beliefs bring about change. God gave us a foundation and then He gave us sound doctrine. This is the whole of scripture, full of who God is and His promises to us. Then He gives us the faith to take these doctrines and embrace them to build them up on our foundation. God gives us all the tools to build our faith and faith then changes your life.
When we have faith it affects our thinking, our actions, our words and deeds. Every part of our life is changed. There will always be those who reject faith and good conscience. They are headed for a shipwreck. Paul charged Timothy to fight the good fight. He reminded him of the prophecies regarding his call (2 Timothy 4:14; 6:12). Paul was convinced this was the course of Timothy's life at that particular time. Paul charged him to stay in the fight.
The word 'charge' is the same word used in the beginning of the chapter when Paul charged some at Ephesus to teach no other doctrine. Now, Paul charges Timothy to hang in there and stay in the fight. This is a military command, yet, it was given in love when Paul calls him 'son Timothy'. Paul's use of military words continues as he takes it to the water. The good ship Timothy was to wage the good fight with faith and good conscience. Timothy's life was set on a course with a purpose. He needed to continue in that purpose. To reject that purpose was to reject the faith, this was a shipwreck, it was off course and run aground.
Paul gave the example of two such people and he set them out of the church. He delivered them to Satan because they rejected sound doctrine. They were blaspheming. They were heading for the rocks and Paul hoped they would repent and return before it was too late (2 Timothy 2:17).
There were only two things reflected here; a life that was on course, in the fight, in good conscience and faith; or a life that was shipwrecked because they went off course. When sin runs our life we end up out of faith without a good conscience. We're not in the good fight the Lord would have us in.
In Ephesus there was a battle that was being fought to bring the truth of God's word to people. It was a battle fought for the souls of men and women. Those battles had eternal consequences. That same war rages on today, right here. That fight goes on in each of us. You only have to look as far as the TV and internet to know that many men have sided with Satan. There are so many teaching things that are contrary to sound biblical teaching.
False teachers are sincere, they really believe what they teach. They sound like they know scripture but they know just enough to sound authentic. In reality, their use of scripture is disjointed, out of context and twisted to fit their need. But sadly enough, most people who profess to be Christian know so little about the bible they don't recognize the poor use of scripture.
There are 3 ways to spot a false teacher. First, they promote controversy. False teachers promote controversy among believers. In some cases they know this and are proud of that fact. They'll say it's because they are right and everyone else is wrong. But promoting controversy is not God’s work. Second, false teachers are out to make a name for themselves. They seek that rock star status. It's about them, their ministry and what they are doing. The focus isn't on God and what He is doing. In most cases, you can follow the money. In every case you can look for the imbalance. If the imbalance isn't money then it's on the Holy Spirit or works or some other thing. The imbalance is a focus so hard on one thing at the cost of everything else. Last, what they teach is contrary to scripture. They may carry a bible. Maybe they can quote a thousand bible verses but that doesn't mean what they teach is biblical. To protect ourselves we should test all teaching against the word.
Two final points before you leave this chapter. Timothy apparently needed these things pointed out to him. He may not have realized how much God was using him to minister to the people around him. This is many times the case. God is using us in ways we hadn't imagined; meanwhile we stand there with a quizzical look on our face wondering if God is going to do anything. Other people see it and know it. Maybe the reason it isn't always revealed to us is so we aren't tempted to take the glory.
And the last thing, the battle rages on in the heart of every man and woman. While we tend to look at these bible characters as great saints of God we should remember they were just men and women like you and me. They were sinners saved by Grace. Don't sell yourself short. Don't think that you somehow aren't good enough to be in the faith, to fight the good fight, to be used mightily by God. Stay in the battle; fight the good fight in the adventure set before you. The war was already won on the cross but the battles of today are fought by average people like you and I and they turn when average people incline their heart to God with an unwavering commitment.
©2011, 2023 DOUG FORD
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