A Devotional Thought From 1 Timothy
Now the end of the
commandment is love out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith
unfeigned: 1 Timothy 1:5
When I first read commandment I thought of the Old
Testament law. After consulting with commentaries, the Greek text, and the
Greek lexicon (basically a dictionary of koine Greek [the Greek of the New
Testament writers]), and rereading the text I agreed with both Harry A. Ironside
and William Barclay that Paul was referring to the commandment that he had just given to Timothy (1:3) that he charge
some of the teachers, those who were teaching false doctrine to stop it.
Then Paul says the purpose of that
command was to engender love, Christian love which is the identification
behavior of true Christians. Paul wants sincere love coming out of a pure
heart, a good conscience, and an unfaked faith. I liken it to (if you are
living in love) wearing your Christian heart, Christian conscience, and
Christian faith on your sleeve.
So a command that orders preachers
to teach true doctrine is designed to bring forth true Christian love, which
comes only out of true Christian doctrine. The true Christian doctrine, of
course, is what God has given in the Bible. And, as Paul says in another place
we are supposed to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), indicating that
when we share with others that what they are teaching, or believing, or
spreading, is false doctrine and should not be taught, it is an act of love
intended to engender Christian love between the two people involved, and in the
church as a whole. Naturally, there are differences of opinion and
interpretation with regard to the teaching of Scripture, but the foundational
truths are indisputable, and while Christians may differ upon a style of worship
or a style of baptism or some interpretation, the major foundational truths of
Christian faith are stated with absolute clarity in the word of God. For
example: the Bible being the inspired word of God; the virgin birth of Jesus;
His vicarious death upon the cross of Calvary where our sins were carried in
His own body: the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
conquering death forever; the forgiveness of sins and salvation of the soul;
the promised second coming of Jesus. That’s what teachers of the word of God
should be preaching, not, as Paul says in verse four, fables and endless genealogies which minister questions (1 Timothy
1:4). Not only the six doctrines I have listed here are to be preached, there
is so much in the word of God, but preachers today should be preaching the
Bible in its fullness because that’s where the doctrine is. That’s where we
discover God’s truth. That’s where we discover the doctrines that should be coming
forth from our pulpits and our churches. And when we preach God’s truth that
preaching will produce and promote real Christian love, even in those areas
where we might have family (we Christians of every make and model who trust in
Jesus Christ as personal savior and Lord really are one family in Him) family disagreements
regarding interpretation.
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