"I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. "
Paul is thanking Jesus who is the source of Paul’s, and yours any my strength because Jesus judged Paul to be reliable and trustworthy with the Gospel message and set him aside in order to use him for his ministry even though Paul had been slanderous, a persecutor, and one who was constantly insulting and assaulting Christians. Despite all this, Paul received mercy because he didn’t understand what he was doing or who he was doing it against. God’s grace overflowed in Paul with the faith and love that is in Jesus.
None of us like to think of ourselves in the way Paul describes himself here. He is weak, needy, subject to a higher authority, a blasphemer, persecutor, opponent of God, and ignorant. The truth is that we are all those things and more. It is important that we understand this about ourselves. Until we understand and accept that we are sick we will not go looking for help. I love the way John Stott puts it in his book Basic Christianity: “Only when we have had the malady accurately diagnosed, shall we be willing to take the medicine” (Stott). Only when we realize we have a sickness (sin) will we be willing to take the appropriate medicine (Jesus).
So how is Jesus the cure to our condition? In contrast to what we know about ourselves we know that from this verse alone Jesus is the source of strength for us, Lord, a just judge, merciful, faithful, and love. Jesus is everything we are not. It is only in our complete reliance on him that we can ever be made well. We must see ourselves as weak and Jesus as strong. In 2 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul models this for us: “But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” This is so contrary to our nature isn’t it? We love to boast about the areas we excel in and hide the areas in which we are weak. But notice that when we do that we receive the glory for how strong and capable we are. If instead we choose to boast about our weaknesses and how Jesus is helping us overcome them, he receives the glory, which is the point of our entire lives.
I want to add something here. I write a lot about how we are "scumbags", sinners, and all around bad people. The point of this is not to make you feel bad about yourself or throw you into a depression. There are two reasons I constantly point this out. This first reason is that it's true. The second and most important is that only when we come to realize just how bad and undeserving we are of God's love, grace, and mercy can we begin to understand just how loving, gracious, and merciful he truly is. If you read these blogs and and go away only thinking about how bad of a person you are then I would say two things. First, I'm sorry that I have not stressed enough how amazing and loving God is. Second, it's not about you, it's about Jesus. Stop being selfish by focusing on yourself and what a bad person you are and start focusing on just how wonderful a God we have that he would die for scumbags like you and me.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Thoughts on 1 Timothy 1:9-10
When we read this verse we have to understand that we are among the group called “lawless and disobedient, ungodly and sinners, unholy and profane, striking our fathers and mothers, murderers, sexually immoral, homosexual, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and doing whatever else is against sound doctrine.” Do not make the mistake of thinking yourself included with the “just” because there is only one person who has ever lived who can be put into that category. It is precisely because he is in that group that Jesus has the ability to save us. In going to the cross and becoming our substitutionary atonement Jesus swapped places with us by becoming all the sinful things listed above and taking our deserved punishment on the cross. Conversely we get to take the place of Jesus and be seen by the Father as just and righteous and get to spend eternity in heaven with God. (2 Cor 5:21).
Monday, May 18, 2009
Thoughts on 1 Timothy 1:8
The law is good and is given for a purpose. However, we can and do abuse it. We must always understand that righteousness is not through the law but through faith (Gal 2:21) and we must never use the law to try and attain salvation. If we do that it will only reveal more sin in us (Gal 2:18). We must also never use the law as a measure of righteousness but instead as a tool to show us where sin exists in our lives. If we make the mistake of using the law to measure righteousness we will inevitably fall into the trap of putting ourselves on a scale of goodness in comparison with the rest of mankind. That will cause us to lose sight of our need for a Savior because inevitably we will compare ourselves with those not as “righteous” as we are and pat ourselves on the back because of our goodness. The truth is that we are all sinners, guilty before God, and that none of us, apart from God, does good (Rom 3:10-12).
We are to use the law and not the other way around. We should understand the law’s role in our lives and use it accordingly. When we let the law control us and use us we become legalistic. We find ourselves trying to obey 613 laws daily and have no freedom to worship Christ. We become shut off to the culture around us, which Jesus actually prayed we would not do (John 15:17).
We are to use the law and not the other way around. We should understand the law’s role in our lives and use it accordingly. When we let the law control us and use us we become legalistic. We find ourselves trying to obey 613 laws daily and have no freedom to worship Christ. We become shut off to the culture around us, which Jesus actually prayed we would not do (John 15:17).
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Thoughts on 1 Timothy 1:6-7
"Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions."
Certain people who, because their aim is not love, have turned away from the truth and turned towards pointless babbling. They wish that they were true teachers of the Gospel but they can’t even comprehend the truth of their babbling much less the Gospel message.
As a people we like pointless babbling. We don’t like to talk about the important issues. We don’t like to even think about God, his purpose for our lives, how we can better carry out His mission, or where we are going when we die. We would much rather talk about issues that have little importance like celebrity gossip or reality television. Don’t think that this is only an issue for non-Christians. This is especially true for Christians. Of the top 10 books in the “Religion & Spirituality” category on Amazon.com #’s 1, 3, 4, 5 , 7, and 10 are fiction, and #’s 2, 7, 8, and 9 are completely non-Christian. That means the only non-fiction, Christian book in the top ten is “The Five Love Languages” and it’s not even about Jesus! The same holds true for our beloved podcasts. Three of the top five podcasts in the “Religion & Spirituality” category are held by Joel Osteen, a self-help expert who claims to be a Christian but who denies the exclusivity of the Gospel (watch here), and Oprah who’s lineup of shows this week have nothing to do with religion or spirituality and who has also denied that Jesus is the only way to heaven (watch here). The proof is in front of us. We like pointless babble. We don’t like the truth but instead we only like to listen to that which makes us feel good about ourselves. Paul wrote Timothy about this in his second letter: “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2 Tim. 4:3-4).
As Christians we should be focused on completing the mission Jesus gave to us. He sent us on a mission with the specific message of the Gospel. I’ve been watching a lot of the TV show “24” lately. As I’ve been watching I’ve noticed something about Jack Bauer: he is always focused on the mission at hand. He doesn’t allow anything to distract him from the job he has been given to do. I wonder if the Apostle Paul was anything like Jack. In our sermon this morning at Church of the Cross (listen here), Brent talked to us about being on mission with Gospel intentionality. Think about these numbers: There are seven billion people on the earth today. If two people were successful in winning two other people per year with the Gospel message and that number grew exponentially each year, in only thirty-four years every person on earth would be a Christian. We need to keep that in mind as we seek to love people with Jack Bauer like intensity and focus. As Christians we need to stay focused on the mission at hand which is to reach lost people with the Gospel message. We cannot let ourselves be sidetracked by vain discussion and useless arguments. I am as much guilty of this as anyone. We each have a topic we love to debate and even enjoy a good argument with someone about our pet topic or doctrine. But we have to recognize when those discussions start to get us off track and distract us from the mission we have been called to. When we become more concerned about being right than seeing people saved we have wandered too far and would do well to listen to Paul’s exhortation.
I’m afraid that too often my aim is not love. I’m afraid that most of the time my goal is not to see people saved but to show the little knowledge that I posses. Too often I have been distracted by various things and taken my focus off the mission at hand. It is especially important in times like these to focus on the cross. It is because of my sin, which is turning my back on God and turning toward sin, that Jesus came to die. It is because of Jesus’ death on the cross that I can repent of my sin and be forgiven. Repentance means turning my back to sin, in this case allowing myself to let things other than love motivate my actions, and turning again towards God. It means I get my nose in Scripture and allow God’s word to focus my heart and mind on the mission. It means daily prayer asking God to keep me from being distracted from the mission and keep love as the motivating factor behind my actions. And as always it means looking to Jesus and modeling my life and behavior after his.
Certain people who, because their aim is not love, have turned away from the truth and turned towards pointless babbling. They wish that they were true teachers of the Gospel but they can’t even comprehend the truth of their babbling much less the Gospel message.
As a people we like pointless babbling. We don’t like to talk about the important issues. We don’t like to even think about God, his purpose for our lives, how we can better carry out His mission, or where we are going when we die. We would much rather talk about issues that have little importance like celebrity gossip or reality television. Don’t think that this is only an issue for non-Christians. This is especially true for Christians. Of the top 10 books in the “Religion & Spirituality” category on Amazon.com #’s 1, 3, 4, 5 , 7, and 10 are fiction, and #’s 2, 7, 8, and 9 are completely non-Christian. That means the only non-fiction, Christian book in the top ten is “The Five Love Languages” and it’s not even about Jesus! The same holds true for our beloved podcasts. Three of the top five podcasts in the “Religion & Spirituality” category are held by Joel Osteen, a self-help expert who claims to be a Christian but who denies the exclusivity of the Gospel (watch here), and Oprah who’s lineup of shows this week have nothing to do with religion or spirituality and who has also denied that Jesus is the only way to heaven (watch here). The proof is in front of us. We like pointless babble. We don’t like the truth but instead we only like to listen to that which makes us feel good about ourselves. Paul wrote Timothy about this in his second letter: “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2 Tim. 4:3-4).
As Christians we should be focused on completing the mission Jesus gave to us. He sent us on a mission with the specific message of the Gospel. I’ve been watching a lot of the TV show “24” lately. As I’ve been watching I’ve noticed something about Jack Bauer: he is always focused on the mission at hand. He doesn’t allow anything to distract him from the job he has been given to do. I wonder if the Apostle Paul was anything like Jack. In our sermon this morning at Church of the Cross (listen here), Brent talked to us about being on mission with Gospel intentionality. Think about these numbers: There are seven billion people on the earth today. If two people were successful in winning two other people per year with the Gospel message and that number grew exponentially each year, in only thirty-four years every person on earth would be a Christian. We need to keep that in mind as we seek to love people with Jack Bauer like intensity and focus. As Christians we need to stay focused on the mission at hand which is to reach lost people with the Gospel message. We cannot let ourselves be sidetracked by vain discussion and useless arguments. I am as much guilty of this as anyone. We each have a topic we love to debate and even enjoy a good argument with someone about our pet topic or doctrine. But we have to recognize when those discussions start to get us off track and distract us from the mission we have been called to. When we become more concerned about being right than seeing people saved we have wandered too far and would do well to listen to Paul’s exhortation.
I’m afraid that too often my aim is not love. I’m afraid that most of the time my goal is not to see people saved but to show the little knowledge that I posses. Too often I have been distracted by various things and taken my focus off the mission at hand. It is especially important in times like these to focus on the cross. It is because of my sin, which is turning my back on God and turning toward sin, that Jesus came to die. It is because of Jesus’ death on the cross that I can repent of my sin and be forgiven. Repentance means turning my back to sin, in this case allowing myself to let things other than love motivate my actions, and turning again towards God. It means I get my nose in Scripture and allow God’s word to focus my heart and mind on the mission. It means daily prayer asking God to keep me from being distracted from the mission and keep love as the motivating factor behind my actions. And as always it means looking to Jesus and modeling my life and behavior after his.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Thoughts on 1 Timothy 1:5
"The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith."
Paul tells Timothy here that the goal of correcting these false teachers is not simply to get them to stop leading people astray but to show the false teachers the love that has been shown to them by Christ. This love should come from a pure heart with the other persons best interest in mind and without a desire for selfish gain or ulterior motives. This verse is central throughout the entire letter.
It’s interesting that Paul included this in his letter to Timothy. I think it says a lot about our nature. Often times when we see another person in error where we are not, we get puffed up and conceited. We may take the time to go and correct them but we should ask ourselves what our motive is for doing so. I think a lot of times we do it, not to help the other person, but because it makes us feel superior. Are we approaching them in a crowd with the intention of winning an argument so we look good in front of others or are we approaching them in private with their best interest in mind and doing it with an unselfish heart? Paul says we should correct with a pure heart rather than one filled with sinful desires, with a good conscience rather than one filled with guilt because of our motives, and with a sincere faith rather than with hypocrisy and selfish gain in mind.
The goal of correction is to show the person in error the love that has been shown to us. However, love is not only the goal but also the motivation behind correction. We have to love our brothers and sisters enough to confront them when we see them in error or sin. It is the easy thing to turn a blind eye to another Christian in sin but it is not the loving thing. This means being part of a community that is open and honest with each other about struggles and sins. This means caring enough to take a couple of hours out of your day to go and talk with a brother or sister about what is going on in their life and how you can help. This means loving your brothers and sisters enough to tell them what they need to hear, not what they want to hear. This means not only giving correction when needed but acknowledging when you are in need of correction.
This is much easier said than done and to be honest I have never seen it actually lived out in a Christian community. However I am a part of a growing community of believers where I do see these types of relationships developing and am very excited about it. So how do we learn how to have these types of relationships? The answer is always the same when we have questions like these: Jesus.
We are a people who are in error and sin every single day of our lives. We constantly turn our backs on God and make mistake after mistake. How does God deal with our errors and sins? Jesus. Jesus saw that we were in error and did not ignore it. He did not take the easy road. He left heaven and came to earth to confront us about our sin. Jesus is the ultimate model of correction by love. He spent his time correcting, rebuking, teaching, preaching, and confronting sin and sinners. He never excused it and never said it was ok. He called us to repent and follow him and then he did the unthinkable. He took our sin upon himself and bore our punishment on the cross. Jesus went where we deserved to go: the cross. Because of that we get to go where he deserved to be: heaven. He loved us enough to confront us in our sin and gave his life so that we could be free of it.
Paul tells Timothy here that the goal of correcting these false teachers is not simply to get them to stop leading people astray but to show the false teachers the love that has been shown to them by Christ. This love should come from a pure heart with the other persons best interest in mind and without a desire for selfish gain or ulterior motives. This verse is central throughout the entire letter.
It’s interesting that Paul included this in his letter to Timothy. I think it says a lot about our nature. Often times when we see another person in error where we are not, we get puffed up and conceited. We may take the time to go and correct them but we should ask ourselves what our motive is for doing so. I think a lot of times we do it, not to help the other person, but because it makes us feel superior. Are we approaching them in a crowd with the intention of winning an argument so we look good in front of others or are we approaching them in private with their best interest in mind and doing it with an unselfish heart? Paul says we should correct with a pure heart rather than one filled with sinful desires, with a good conscience rather than one filled with guilt because of our motives, and with a sincere faith rather than with hypocrisy and selfish gain in mind.
The goal of correction is to show the person in error the love that has been shown to us. However, love is not only the goal but also the motivation behind correction. We have to love our brothers and sisters enough to confront them when we see them in error or sin. It is the easy thing to turn a blind eye to another Christian in sin but it is not the loving thing. This means being part of a community that is open and honest with each other about struggles and sins. This means caring enough to take a couple of hours out of your day to go and talk with a brother or sister about what is going on in their life and how you can help. This means loving your brothers and sisters enough to tell them what they need to hear, not what they want to hear. This means not only giving correction when needed but acknowledging when you are in need of correction.
This is much easier said than done and to be honest I have never seen it actually lived out in a Christian community. However I am a part of a growing community of believers where I do see these types of relationships developing and am very excited about it. So how do we learn how to have these types of relationships? The answer is always the same when we have questions like these: Jesus.
We are a people who are in error and sin every single day of our lives. We constantly turn our backs on God and make mistake after mistake. How does God deal with our errors and sins? Jesus. Jesus saw that we were in error and did not ignore it. He did not take the easy road. He left heaven and came to earth to confront us about our sin. Jesus is the ultimate model of correction by love. He spent his time correcting, rebuking, teaching, preaching, and confronting sin and sinners. He never excused it and never said it was ok. He called us to repent and follow him and then he did the unthinkable. He took our sin upon himself and bore our punishment on the cross. Jesus went where we deserved to go: the cross. Because of that we get to go where he deserved to be: heaven. He loved us enough to confront us in our sin and gave his life so that we could be free of it.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Extraordinary
I posted this a couple of months back but just needed to remind myself of it...
I realize that life is made up of each individual decision in each individual moment. We are the sum of our decisions. An extraordinary man is made one decision at a time. An extraordinary man does not happen by chance. He is the result of small everyday decisions added up over days and weeks and months and years. He is conscious that his legacy is built on the foundations of these everyday decisions and he is constantly asking himself important questions before he makes his decisions. Questions like “will this glorify God?”, “if I really knew that Jesus was right here with me would I still be doing this, saying this, looking a this etc…?”, “am I being a good steward of my time, money, resources by doing this?”, “will this bring me closer to my wife?”, “what does Scripture say about this?”, “by doing this or saying this am I setting a good example for my wife, kids, friends, coworkers etc…?” An extraordinary man needs to have a plan for each area of his life including God, family, ministry, work, and recreation. He should ask himself questions like “where am I going?”, “how will I get there?”, “will this decision get me closer to my goal or set me back?”, “is my goal in line with the plans God has for my life?”, “what things do I need to do today, tomorrow, over the next year to reach my goal?”, “is my pursuit of this goal negatively affecting my relationship with God, family, friends?”
I realize that life is made up of each individual decision in each individual moment. We are the sum of our decisions. An extraordinary man is made one decision at a time. An extraordinary man does not happen by chance. He is the result of small everyday decisions added up over days and weeks and months and years. He is conscious that his legacy is built on the foundations of these everyday decisions and he is constantly asking himself important questions before he makes his decisions. Questions like “will this glorify God?”, “if I really knew that Jesus was right here with me would I still be doing this, saying this, looking a this etc…?”, “am I being a good steward of my time, money, resources by doing this?”, “will this bring me closer to my wife?”, “what does Scripture say about this?”, “by doing this or saying this am I setting a good example for my wife, kids, friends, coworkers etc…?” An extraordinary man needs to have a plan for each area of his life including God, family, ministry, work, and recreation. He should ask himself questions like “where am I going?”, “how will I get there?”, “will this decision get me closer to my goal or set me back?”, “is my goal in line with the plans God has for my life?”, “what things do I need to do today, tomorrow, over the next year to reach my goal?”, “is my pursuit of this goal negatively affecting my relationship with God, family, friends?”
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Thoughts on 1 Timothy 1:3-4
"As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith."
In these verses Paul is telling Timothy to stay in Ephesus (modern day Turkey) and tell the people there not to deviate from the truth of the Gospel, not to spend their time telling and listening to fictitious fables about the faith, or spend their time talking about whose family line was more righteous and noble. These things will do nothing but cause needless debate and keep the churches focus off the business God had given them to do.
As we read these verses it is important that we are not self-righteous and identify ourselves with Paul or Timothy. If we are honest with ourselves we see that we are the ones in need of the correction Paul is calling for.
We are the people who deviate from the truth. This charge not to deviate from the truth is just as crucial today as it was when Paul wrote this letter. Today we live in a post-modern, morally relativistic culture where there is no absolute truth. What is true for one person may not be true for another. The church has not been immune from this post-modern thinking as we have seen numerous main-stream churches call into question things such as the virgin birth of Jesus and the inerrancy of Scripture. The saying goes “the truth hurts” and this is especially the case when examining ourselves through the lens of the Gospel. Scripture clearly calls us out and charges us as being one whose heart is only evil continually (Gen 6:3), impure (Prov 20:9), not righteous or good (Ecc 7:20), full of evil and madness (Ecc 9:3), wicked and estranged (Ps 58:3), gone my own way (Is 53:6), rebellious (Is 65:2), lover of darkness (John 3:19), a slave to sin (John 8:34), and the list goes on. People do not like to hear these things about themselves so culture has softened the truth and told us that we are basically good people who do good things. It makes us feel warm and fuzzy to think that we are good, nice people. It is a lie. Clearly, scripture indicates our true character apart from God. The truth does hurt sometimes but we are charged not to deviate from it.
We are the people who like to listen to and tell fictitious fables so as to make Christianity seem more mysterious and interesting. Books such as “The Bible Code” and “The DaVinci Code” are fables told by modern-day storytellers seeking to make Christianity seem more alluring, mysterious, or exciting. As I was watching the news today a story came on about a woman who believes God was speaking to her through her breakfast sausage. As she was frying the sausage the word “GOD” was spelled out in the sausage patties. I’m serious. People, God speaks to us through the Bible, not through breakfast sausage. God reveals himself to us through the Gospel and through his Son Jesus: “In the beginning was the Word, and he Word was with God, and the Word was God. ; And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1; 14)
We are the people who don’t feel like we live up to God’s expectations for us so we brag about our family member who we see as very faithful or our grandpa who was a pastor. We brag about the church we go to because we think because we attend there and they have a good children’s program somehow that will make us more faithful. We seek our righteousness through our faithful family members, friends, or church. I have news for you: you are correct in your thinking that you don’t measure up to God’s expectations for you but you are incorrect in thinking that your faithful counterparts do. Nobody lives up to perfection. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Stop thinking that righteousness can be found through relationships with anyone you know or any organization you belong to. Righteousness is only found in Jesus. “He made him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him you might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21)
If you are reading this and you are a Christian, know that God has put you here for a mission. He sums it up in Matthew 28:18-20: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” That is our mission. Paul is telling Timothy that if the church at Ephesus and by extension the church as a whole (us) deviates from the truth, gets caught up in fables, and argues about who is more righteous we will be distracted from our true mission of spreading the Gospel.
There is good news for us though and his name is Jesus.
Because of Jesus we don’t have to soften the painful truth that we are depraved, dirtbag sinners but can instead rejoice in the truth because we know that he will give us “a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” (Ezek. 36:26-27) Because of Jesus we are no longer spiritually dead but instead “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Cor. 5:17) Jesus referred to himself as “the truth” and said “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32).
Because of Jesus we don’t need to tell fables to make Christianity seem more mysterious or exciting. Think about the story of Jesus. He is God. He made everything that has ever been made. He sees the condition of man’s heart and loves him anyway. He leaves paradise in heaven and is born to a virgin teenager in a barn. He grows up as a union carpenter until it’s time to start his ministry. He turns the world upside down by challenging the leaders and rulers of his day. He tells the world that he is the Son of God and ironically being a carpenter, he is nailed to a piece of wood. His followers bury him in a tomb and three days later he rises from the dead and spends forty days walking around with holes in his hands preaching and teaching. He then ascends into heaven and sends the Holy Spirit who manifests himself in tounges of fire on the disciples who are then able to speak languages they have probably never even heard. His disciples are then eventually one by one killed for their undying faith in him. Fast forward two thousand years and I am here writing about the Jewish carpenter born in a barn. Like I said we don’t need fables. We need to actually read our Bibles.
Because of Jesus we don’t need to look to our family, friends, or church to justify our entry into heaven. We don’t need to appeal to any earthly relationship to gain righteousness. Righteousness is through Jesus and Jesus alone. “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood.”
Keep your attention off of useless arguments and stories and focus your attention on the mission that you have been given. Go.
In these verses Paul is telling Timothy to stay in Ephesus (modern day Turkey) and tell the people there not to deviate from the truth of the Gospel, not to spend their time telling and listening to fictitious fables about the faith, or spend their time talking about whose family line was more righteous and noble. These things will do nothing but cause needless debate and keep the churches focus off the business God had given them to do.
As we read these verses it is important that we are not self-righteous and identify ourselves with Paul or Timothy. If we are honest with ourselves we see that we are the ones in need of the correction Paul is calling for.
We are the people who deviate from the truth. This charge not to deviate from the truth is just as crucial today as it was when Paul wrote this letter. Today we live in a post-modern, morally relativistic culture where there is no absolute truth. What is true for one person may not be true for another. The church has not been immune from this post-modern thinking as we have seen numerous main-stream churches call into question things such as the virgin birth of Jesus and the inerrancy of Scripture. The saying goes “the truth hurts” and this is especially the case when examining ourselves through the lens of the Gospel. Scripture clearly calls us out and charges us as being one whose heart is only evil continually (Gen 6:3), impure (Prov 20:9), not righteous or good (Ecc 7:20), full of evil and madness (Ecc 9:3), wicked and estranged (Ps 58:3), gone my own way (Is 53:6), rebellious (Is 65:2), lover of darkness (John 3:19), a slave to sin (John 8:34), and the list goes on. People do not like to hear these things about themselves so culture has softened the truth and told us that we are basically good people who do good things. It makes us feel warm and fuzzy to think that we are good, nice people. It is a lie. Clearly, scripture indicates our true character apart from God. The truth does hurt sometimes but we are charged not to deviate from it.
We are the people who like to listen to and tell fictitious fables so as to make Christianity seem more mysterious and interesting. Books such as “The Bible Code” and “The DaVinci Code” are fables told by modern-day storytellers seeking to make Christianity seem more alluring, mysterious, or exciting. As I was watching the news today a story came on about a woman who believes God was speaking to her through her breakfast sausage. As she was frying the sausage the word “GOD” was spelled out in the sausage patties. I’m serious. People, God speaks to us through the Bible, not through breakfast sausage. God reveals himself to us through the Gospel and through his Son Jesus: “In the beginning was the Word, and he Word was with God, and the Word was God. ; And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1; 14)
We are the people who don’t feel like we live up to God’s expectations for us so we brag about our family member who we see as very faithful or our grandpa who was a pastor. We brag about the church we go to because we think because we attend there and they have a good children’s program somehow that will make us more faithful. We seek our righteousness through our faithful family members, friends, or church. I have news for you: you are correct in your thinking that you don’t measure up to God’s expectations for you but you are incorrect in thinking that your faithful counterparts do. Nobody lives up to perfection. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Stop thinking that righteousness can be found through relationships with anyone you know or any organization you belong to. Righteousness is only found in Jesus. “He made him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him you might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21)
If you are reading this and you are a Christian, know that God has put you here for a mission. He sums it up in Matthew 28:18-20: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” That is our mission. Paul is telling Timothy that if the church at Ephesus and by extension the church as a whole (us) deviates from the truth, gets caught up in fables, and argues about who is more righteous we will be distracted from our true mission of spreading the Gospel.
There is good news for us though and his name is Jesus.
Because of Jesus we don’t have to soften the painful truth that we are depraved, dirtbag sinners but can instead rejoice in the truth because we know that he will give us “a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” (Ezek. 36:26-27) Because of Jesus we are no longer spiritually dead but instead “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Cor. 5:17) Jesus referred to himself as “the truth” and said “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32).
Because of Jesus we don’t need to tell fables to make Christianity seem more mysterious or exciting. Think about the story of Jesus. He is God. He made everything that has ever been made. He sees the condition of man’s heart and loves him anyway. He leaves paradise in heaven and is born to a virgin teenager in a barn. He grows up as a union carpenter until it’s time to start his ministry. He turns the world upside down by challenging the leaders and rulers of his day. He tells the world that he is the Son of God and ironically being a carpenter, he is nailed to a piece of wood. His followers bury him in a tomb and three days later he rises from the dead and spends forty days walking around with holes in his hands preaching and teaching. He then ascends into heaven and sends the Holy Spirit who manifests himself in tounges of fire on the disciples who are then able to speak languages they have probably never even heard. His disciples are then eventually one by one killed for their undying faith in him. Fast forward two thousand years and I am here writing about the Jewish carpenter born in a barn. Like I said we don’t need fables. We need to actually read our Bibles.
Because of Jesus we don’t need to look to our family, friends, or church to justify our entry into heaven. We don’t need to appeal to any earthly relationship to gain righteousness. Righteousness is through Jesus and Jesus alone. “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood.”
Keep your attention off of useless arguments and stories and focus your attention on the mission that you have been given. Go.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Thoughts on 1 Timothy 1:1-2: Timothy
Yesterday I wrote about the author of 1 Timothy, the Apostle Paul. Today I'll write a little bit about the recipient of Paul's letter, Timothy.
Timothy first shows up in Acts 16:
“Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, a the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek.”
So Timothy was the son of a Christian and a non-Christian. In God’s sovereignty Timothy became a believer as he is described as a disciple. Luke, the author of Acts, also goes on to note that Timothy was “well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium” and that “Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.” There are two big points in these verses.
First, to the men who want to serve God and be used for his work (myself included): we must live our lives in a way that we will have a good reputation among other believers. When Paul showed up in Derbe and Lystra he was looking for a guy to accompany him on his missionary journeys. He undoubtedly showed up and asked “Who is your best guy?” Because Timothy had no doubt lived his Christian life in accordance with the teachings of Jesus he had gained a good reputation among the brothers there and was given the opportunity to serve in a much greater way. Men, do not expect to live lives of repetitive unrepentant sin and be used by God in a great way. As it is written:
“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.”
Granted there are exceptions such as the Apostle Paul, but as a general rule, if you want God to trust you with big things, you must be trustworthy with the most basic things first: reading your Bible daily, setting aside time for prayer, leading and providing for your families, and being an example to your friends and co-workers.
Second, do not let your ego get in the way of your service to God. All men like to be and think they are “the man”. Men like to be the Alpha male, the dominant one, the leader among leaders. As men we need to understand and accept that being “the man among men” may not be the role God has for us in terms of ministry. Please understand that in our own families we had better be “the man among men”. I am speaking in terms of ministry here. Notice that in Acts 16:3 Luke writes “Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him”. Timothy was to play Robin to Paul’s Batman. Timothy was the sidekick. He was not “the man” but he was undoubtedly crucial to the success of Paul’s ministry. Timothy did not let his ego get in the way of God’s calling on his life. Timothy could have easily said, as I’m sure many men probably do, “No thanks, Paul. I don’t want to play second fiddle. I’m going to start my own ministry over here. I want to be ‘the man’.” But that was not the role that God had for Timothy at that time. Men need to understand that in this world there are not many Paul’s out there and for every Paul, God has set aside a number of Timothy’s. Do not let your ego fool you into thinking you are a Paul when you are a Timothy. With prayer, ask God to reveal to you what role He would have you play and thankfully and humbly accept it.
Lastly, (I know I said there were two major points to these verses but as I was writing I thought of a third) we should recognize that Paul chose Timothy because he was called by God, not trained by seminary. Too often today churches call the trained men instead of training the called men. Paul recognized that Timothy was called by God. He did not say to Timothy “Go to Bible school for four years, then seminary for four years and eight years from now I’ll be back to pick you up and we can start doing ministry together.” What did happen? Luke writes that “Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him”. Timothy learned by following Paul, watching Paul, and getting his hands dirty with Paul just as the disciples learned by following, watching, and working with Jesus. Please understand I’m not saying anything negative about seminary or Bible school. I think they are amazing tools for learning and would love to go to seminary one day. I just think churches and pastors need to do a better job of recognizing the call on young people’s lives and training them instead of only calling on men who have already been scholastically trained.
As always we should do a better job of following the examples set for us by Jesus.
Timothy first shows up in Acts 16:
“Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, a the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek.”
So Timothy was the son of a Christian and a non-Christian. In God’s sovereignty Timothy became a believer as he is described as a disciple. Luke, the author of Acts, also goes on to note that Timothy was “well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium” and that “Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.” There are two big points in these verses.
First, to the men who want to serve God and be used for his work (myself included): we must live our lives in a way that we will have a good reputation among other believers. When Paul showed up in Derbe and Lystra he was looking for a guy to accompany him on his missionary journeys. He undoubtedly showed up and asked “Who is your best guy?” Because Timothy had no doubt lived his Christian life in accordance with the teachings of Jesus he had gained a good reputation among the brothers there and was given the opportunity to serve in a much greater way. Men, do not expect to live lives of repetitive unrepentant sin and be used by God in a great way. As it is written:
“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.”
Granted there are exceptions such as the Apostle Paul, but as a general rule, if you want God to trust you with big things, you must be trustworthy with the most basic things first: reading your Bible daily, setting aside time for prayer, leading and providing for your families, and being an example to your friends and co-workers.
Second, do not let your ego get in the way of your service to God. All men like to be and think they are “the man”. Men like to be the Alpha male, the dominant one, the leader among leaders. As men we need to understand and accept that being “the man among men” may not be the role God has for us in terms of ministry. Please understand that in our own families we had better be “the man among men”. I am speaking in terms of ministry here. Notice that in Acts 16:3 Luke writes “Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him”. Timothy was to play Robin to Paul’s Batman. Timothy was the sidekick. He was not “the man” but he was undoubtedly crucial to the success of Paul’s ministry. Timothy did not let his ego get in the way of God’s calling on his life. Timothy could have easily said, as I’m sure many men probably do, “No thanks, Paul. I don’t want to play second fiddle. I’m going to start my own ministry over here. I want to be ‘the man’.” But that was not the role that God had for Timothy at that time. Men need to understand that in this world there are not many Paul’s out there and for every Paul, God has set aside a number of Timothy’s. Do not let your ego fool you into thinking you are a Paul when you are a Timothy. With prayer, ask God to reveal to you what role He would have you play and thankfully and humbly accept it.
Lastly, (I know I said there were two major points to these verses but as I was writing I thought of a third) we should recognize that Paul chose Timothy because he was called by God, not trained by seminary. Too often today churches call the trained men instead of training the called men. Paul recognized that Timothy was called by God. He did not say to Timothy “Go to Bible school for four years, then seminary for four years and eight years from now I’ll be back to pick you up and we can start doing ministry together.” What did happen? Luke writes that “Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him”. Timothy learned by following Paul, watching Paul, and getting his hands dirty with Paul just as the disciples learned by following, watching, and working with Jesus. Please understand I’m not saying anything negative about seminary or Bible school. I think they are amazing tools for learning and would love to go to seminary one day. I just think churches and pastors need to do a better job of recognizing the call on young people’s lives and training them instead of only calling on men who have already been scholastically trained.
As always we should do a better job of following the examples set for us by Jesus.
Thoughts on 1 Timothy 1:1-2: The Apostle Paul
There is so much to write about even in these first two verses. Today I'll give a little background of the author of 1 Timothy, the Apostle Paul.
Paul is the author of 13 of the 27 books of the New Testament. He was an apostle of Jesus having been discipled and taught by Jesus himself. Paul started out as Saul, and in his own words he was “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.” Saul was a righteous Pharisee who was among the most vicious persecutors of the Christian faith. In the book of Galatians Paul says of his life: “I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it.” Saul was feared among Christians being notorious for persecution and murder of anyone following “the Way”. But Jesus had another plan for Saul. Acts Chapter 9 tells the story of Saul’s conversion:
“But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”
After Saul is visited by Jesus he begins telling people about his Savior:
“And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.”
Saul is then renamed Paul and goes on to become the greatest missionary in the history of the church, preaching and teaching for the remainder of his life. This is such an amazing account of God’s graciousness and sovereignty. Today this would be akin to Osama Bin Laden showing up in America, announcing his conversion to Christianity, proclaiming Jesus as Lord, and planting Christian churches all over the country. Only by the power of God could such a thing happen.
Tomorrow I'll write a little bit about the recipient of Paul's letter mentioned in verse two, Timothy.
Paul is the author of 13 of the 27 books of the New Testament. He was an apostle of Jesus having been discipled and taught by Jesus himself. Paul started out as Saul, and in his own words he was “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.” Saul was a righteous Pharisee who was among the most vicious persecutors of the Christian faith. In the book of Galatians Paul says of his life: “I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it.” Saul was feared among Christians being notorious for persecution and murder of anyone following “the Way”. But Jesus had another plan for Saul. Acts Chapter 9 tells the story of Saul’s conversion:
“But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”
After Saul is visited by Jesus he begins telling people about his Savior:
“And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.”
Saul is then renamed Paul and goes on to become the greatest missionary in the history of the church, preaching and teaching for the remainder of his life. This is such an amazing account of God’s graciousness and sovereignty. Today this would be akin to Osama Bin Laden showing up in America, announcing his conversion to Christianity, proclaiming Jesus as Lord, and planting Christian churches all over the country. Only by the power of God could such a thing happen.
Tomorrow I'll write a little bit about the recipient of Paul's letter mentioned in verse two, Timothy.
Intro to 1 Timothy
Here is some background to 1 Timothy. I took it directly from the ESV Study Bible:
Theme
The theme of 1 Timothy is that the gospel leads to practical, visible change in the lives of those who believe it. It is often thought that the theme is church order, but the discussion of church offices is simply a piece of the larger argument that the true gospel, in contrast to false teaching, will always lead to godliness in its adherents.
Purpose, Occasion, and Background
Paul wrote 1 Timothy in order to advise his young coworker Timothy concerning issues that were arising at the church in Ephesus. When Paul left Timothy in Ephesus, he had specifically charged him to deal with some false teachers in the church (1:3). Since Paul was then separated from Timothy and the church, he wrote back to him with further instructions. He hoped to return for a visit but wrote in the meantime to address the way in which Christians should behave (3:14–15). Throughout the letter Paul grounds Christian behavior in the gospel.
The false teachers are the primary occasion for the letter. The letter as a whole is bracketed by discussion of the false teaching (see Outline), and the positive instruction is crafted in direct contrast to the false teachers. The exact nature of the false teaching is unclear. It apparently involved speculation about the law (1:7–11) and asceticism (4:1–5). Paul's real concern is with the results of the false teaching—for example, promoting speculations (1:4; 6:4), arrogance (6:4), and greed (6:5–10). Paul addresses the content of the false teaching only in passing but focuses on the fact that true Christianity is evidenced by lifestyles shaped by the gospel. Those whose lives are not shaped by the gospel show that they have turned away from the faith (1:6, 19–20; 4:1; 5:6, 8, 11–12, 15; 6:9–10).
Theme
The theme of 1 Timothy is that the gospel leads to practical, visible change in the lives of those who believe it. It is often thought that the theme is church order, but the discussion of church offices is simply a piece of the larger argument that the true gospel, in contrast to false teaching, will always lead to godliness in its adherents.
Purpose, Occasion, and Background
Paul wrote 1 Timothy in order to advise his young coworker Timothy concerning issues that were arising at the church in Ephesus. When Paul left Timothy in Ephesus, he had specifically charged him to deal with some false teachers in the church (1:3). Since Paul was then separated from Timothy and the church, he wrote back to him with further instructions. He hoped to return for a visit but wrote in the meantime to address the way in which Christians should behave (3:14–15). Throughout the letter Paul grounds Christian behavior in the gospel.
The false teachers are the primary occasion for the letter. The letter as a whole is bracketed by discussion of the false teaching (see Outline), and the positive instruction is crafted in direct contrast to the false teachers. The exact nature of the false teaching is unclear. It apparently involved speculation about the law (1:7–11) and asceticism (4:1–5). Paul's real concern is with the results of the false teaching—for example, promoting speculations (1:4; 6:4), arrogance (6:4), and greed (6:5–10). Paul addresses the content of the false teaching only in passing but focuses on the fact that true Christianity is evidenced by lifestyles shaped by the gospel. Those whose lives are not shaped by the gospel show that they have turned away from the faith (1:6, 19–20; 4:1; 5:6, 8, 11–12, 15; 6:9–10).
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