This letter is
from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, appointed by the command of God our
Savior and Christ Jesus, who gives us hope.
I am writing to Timothy, my true son in the faith. May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord
give you grace, mercy, and peace. When I
left for Macedonia, I urged you to stay there in Ephesus and stop those whose
teaching is contrary to the truth. Don’t let them waste their
time in endless discussion of myths and spiritual pedigrees. These things only lead to meaningless speculations,
which don’t help people live a life of faith in God. The purpose of my instruction is that
all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear
conscience, and genuine faith. But some people have missed
this whole point. They have turned away
from these things and spend their time in meaningless discussions. They
want to be known as teachers of the law of Moses, but they don’t know what they
are talking about, even though they speak so confidently. We know that the law is good when used
correctly. For the law was not intended for people who do what
is right. It is for people who are
lawless and rebellious, who are ungodly and sinful, who consider nothing sacred
and defile what is holy, who kill their father or mother or commit other
murders. The law is for people who are sexually immoral, or
who practice homosexuality, or are slave traders, liars, promise breakers, or
who do anything else that contradicts the wholesome teaching that
comes from the glorious Good News entrusted to me by our blessed God.
1 Timothy 1:1-11
A 2nd grader explained what false
doctrine is...he said: false docter-in is what happens
when sick people get the wrong medicine! That's pretty close to the result of false
doctrine. When people are wrongly taught
in spiritual matters they get morally sick.
The best medicine is to study God’s Word; right doctrine is like an immunization
or cure against disease.
The epistles of Paul are full of great spiritual medicine to
help us. In Paul's day there were plenty
of false teachers to go around. The Gnostics
were steeped in false belief, just a hair removed from truth. They believed in God, and even Jesus, but saw
God as so far removed from man that there could never be a relationship. And since God wouldn't touch or create
anything bad (like material things, or humans), the creation happened when an
emanation, slightly lesser in deity, went out from God. From that emanation, another, lesser
emanation flowed – and another – until the deity of God was far enough removed
to dabble in things of the evil flesh.
According to gnostic thinking, Jesus was one of those lesser
emanations; he was better and more holy than the average bear,
but a lot less than God. Since they
considered our fleshly bodies evil, they also dismissed resurrection of the
physical body. Paul knew such teachers
were always on the prowl for converts:
I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in
among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. Even some men
from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a
following. Acts 20:29-30
In our day we have Mormonism, which is a
rebirth of the error of gnosticism; they do not believe in the deity of Jesus
Christ.
We also have the New Age teachers who
would rather study the emanations than accept the revealed Word of God.
Among the worst of false teachers are those who teach the prosperity
gospel, diverting our attention from the riches of faith, which God
said was much more important than worrying about material things or wealth.[2]
False teachers abound, so we need what truth brings.
Truth brings encouragement
Paul left Timothy in Ephesus as a pastor, so Paul could
continue on to Philippi to check on the church there. This first letter to Timothy is filled with
encouraging, strengthening help. Paul
called Timothy his true son in the ministry. I don't know what could be more encouraging
for a timid young pastor than to have the affirmation of the seasoned elder statesman
of the faith.
God's people need to know how to live like God's people. That means knowing how to recognize and deal
with false teaching. The question
becomes, How can I be safe from false teachers? The answer centers around what Paul revealed
to Timothy as the reason he was writing:
The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be
filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine
faith. 1 Timothy 1:5
Simply stated, the "bullseye" of Christianity is
love. The things which help keep a
believer on track, and safe from every twit who has a new way of freeing
your spirit or being at one with the cosmic presence,
are the trinity of pure heart,
good conscience and sincere faith. From these, genuine Christian love sprouts
like a redwood. The best way to avoid a
counterfeit anything is to constantly handle the real thing.
Notice the rings of the bullseye Paul laid-out for Timothy...
The Bullseye's Outer Ring: A Pure Heart
The (spiritual) heart is the center of your will, emotions
and mind. This is where all of your
decisions are made.
Our physical heart makes biological life possible. The spiritual heart makes a relationship with
God possible.
What makes a
heart pure?
The only way for a heart to be clean is for God to clean
it. Isaiah said that all of our attmepts
to clean up our own spiritual lives are like "filthy rags"
The special promise of God is that we can come to Him through
Jesus' unique act of salvation. Jesus
died on the cross for our sins, and, if we confess our sins he forgive us our
sins and purifies us from all
unrighteousness.(1 John 1:9)
The Bullseye's Middle Ring: A Good Conscience
Conscience is a moral barometer; it tells us whether we are
doing right or wrong. Responding to that
Biblically is what we call integrity, or doing what you say you'll do. It is also called a pure heart,
or a heart of integrity.
Today even integrity is a relative matter. Politicians, (even Presidents) are judged on
their ability to govern
and integrity seems to have nothing to do with the job. Preachers discovered in extra-marital affairs
go right on with their programs. This is
so different than what the Bible calls for in believers.
A pure heart is the only place to start in the Christian
life...But it is only a start! Any conversion experience that still leaves
you living a sinful life, without a deep desire to change, like a drowning man
wants a boat, is not a conversion at all.
Love grows in a pure heart, where right actions allow good conscience.
The Bullseye's Center: Sincere Faith
Faith is most often thought as being that quality of
believing. We say, we have faith in
Jesus. That is a verbal sense of the
word faith. But here Paul uses
faith as a noun. It is the object of
belief, or what you believe.
Simply put, a sincere faith is something worth believing in!
In Paul's context of opposing the false teachers, he was
holding up THE FAITH, his doctrine of Christ. He was saying that there is a time to be
saved (pure heart) and a Godly way to live life (good
conscience), and a
sincere, or genuine doctrine to guide them both. We move from the outer edge of the target to
the middle!
Paul gave this concept to the Hebrews as well:
Facing the truth we have to admit that just because a person
is saved does not guarantee he is immediately wise. Many come to Christ with very little
knowledge of the doctrines of the faith.
Unfortunately, too many believers never make a serious effort to move
past the basics of the faith. It’s not a
matter of getting degrees in seminary or a certificate to hang on the
wall. Getting a deeper understanding of
Christ, and how He expects us to live is a matter of obedience and coming to
the point of being a strong witness to honor Christ.
Once past that point of salvation we have a responsibility to
understand our faith.
There are two primary reasons for growing deeper in
understanding faith in Christ:
Freedom for me
So many believers live defeated lives because they have so
little knowledge of the liberating reality of Christ.
Paul says many have missed
this whole point which means missing the mark,
which is one of the textbook definitions of the word sin.
Christ came that you might have liberty, an abundant life of joy and
peace.
When I begin to understand the doctrines of salvation and the
joy of my inheritance in Christ, I am set free from worry and defeat…not just
to feel the winds of freedom blowing in my hair as I do whatever I want…but to
experience just how wonderful the relationship to Christ becomes when I know
how to please and honor my Lord, and act like it too!
Freedom for you.
Paul also says that those who missed the mark had turned to meaningless talk; that implies an empty result. Whenever the subject of spiritual things
comes up, folks who don't know any better want to debate empty issues that end
in fruitless controversy.
That has kept more people out of the kingdom than all the
bars and brothels in the world.
There is a right and wrong purpose of doctrine. To discuss interesting, but surface issues of
Christianity, while countless thousands in our own neighborhood perish without
Jesus is wrong! To allow years of learning the faith to
perfect our witness so we may lead souls to the throne is right!
Some things are just not debatable.
So, let’s review the progression of a babe in Christ to a
strong disciple:
· A person on the outer ring of the bullseye receives a pure
heart from God when he confesses his sins;
· a person hitting the next closest ring to the bullseye is
living his life in a holy manner, obedient, a person of good conscience;
· but the one who takes the time to know Christ in an ever
increasingly intimate way -- His fellowship, His doctrines,
His power,
His suffering...that
is a person who has HIT the center of the bullseye!
Beloved, none of us can afford to be ignorant of the
faith. People are more informed than
ever, and have a myriad of choices concerning religion. If we are to remain strong as a witness for
Christ, leading people out of darkness, we will have to go…
· past the elementary doctrine of salvation, and
· past the simple honest life of good conscience;
· we must go on to maturity in the faith.
The bullseye in Christian discipleship is to be a strong
believer, grounded in Christ and His word.
All the rest is passing away.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…Amen!
[3]Barclay,
William,
The Daily Study Bible, (Philadelphia,
The Westminster Press, 1975), 34
