By: Dale Weckbacher
1 Timothy 1:5-7
The aim of our charge
is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience
and a sincere faith. 6 Certain persons,
by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion,7 desiring
to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are
saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.
(ESV)
Biblical truth sets believers free and why Satan relies on
deception and false teaching as a means of holding people hostage to sin (John
8:32). The Apostle Paul is in jail
facing death for his faith and during his absence from Ephesus, false teaching
is trying to infiltrate the Ephesian church.
To prevent their enslavement to deceptive and false teaching, the
Apostle Paul charges Timothy with the task of calling out those bringing false
teaching to the Ephesians. There are
three tactics of deceptive teaching believers in Christ must avoid,
1)
Doctrine is unimportant for only the grace of
God matters in the New Covenant (Ephesians
2:8) – When interpreting Scripture it is vital to consider the audience as
well as the context. The letter to the
Ephesians addresses believers in the church.
These individuals have already devoted their lives to Jesus as their
savior and now find themselves inundated with teaching saying they must now find
salvation through obedience to Jewish laws and customs. Not wanting to see these believers enslaved
to the false teaching that salvation is through works of obedience to the law
and not a result of God’s grace, Paul makes the proclamation of Ephesians
2:8. Paul’s statement is not a
stand-alone doctrine that works or doctrine are unimportant but a statement to
provide comfort to those doubting their standing with God due to false and
deceptive teaching.
2)
Doctrine is all that matters (John
4:24) – Those bringing false teaching to the Church at Ephesus come from a
belief that adherence to doctrine is all that matters. During Jesus’ discourse with the Samaritan
woman at the well, the discussion turned to where one is to worship God (John
4:19-20). At that time God’s
presence on earth resided in Jerusalem in the most Holy Place in the
Temple. However, after Jesus said, “it
is finished,” the curtain separating sinful humanity from the presence of God
was torn in two from the top to the bottom (Matthew
27:51). The fact that the curtain
was torn from top to bottom means God has opened the possibility for one to enter
the presence of God from any location.
This is the fulfillment of Jesus words to the woman from Samaria for now
the Spirit of God can dwell in the hearts of men and woman choosing to make Jesus
their savior. While sound doctrine
remains important, leading to a closer relationship with God, the spiritual
component of one having the Spirit of God within their heart is important for
it leads to Godly interpretation of Biblical truth.
3)
Only Jesus matters (John
14:6) – While Jesus did proclaim Himself as the only way to salvation, He
was not subsequently saying that sound doctrine was unimportant. This resembles the deception that only God’s
grace matters with no need to seek sound doctrine. Jesus did not come to overthrow the Law or
sound doctrine but to fulfill it (Matthew
5:17-20). Jesus magnifies sound
doctrine by living in perfect obedience to it in human form (Isaiah
42:21). Yes, Jesus is the only way
to salvation, but the path is not one of the abolishment of the Old Covenant
law but a living doctrine demonstrating a sinless life in human form. The grace of God is God making salvation
available to sinful humanity through Jesus death on the cross (Romans
5:6-11).
In 1
Timothy 1:3-11, the Apostle Paul is giving Timothy instruction on how to
apply the Law in light of the Gospel of Grace.
These instructions apply to the Church today as it has a calling to point
out the sinful state of humanity while lovingly pointing people to salvation
through the Grace of God demonstrated on the cross. The fact is we have all sinned and deserve
death (Romans
3:23; Romans 6:23) but through Jesus’ death on the cross, we can live free
of the condemnation of the law and find eternal life (John
3:16-17). However, failure to accept
this gift results in one remaining in the state of condemnation (John
3:18). If you have not done so,
please pray with me now to receive this gift of salvation.
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans
3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans
6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my
sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1
John 1:9). I believe you died, was
buried, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord of my life.
Next Saturday we will go deeper in our study of 1 Timothy,
looking at Jesus’ purpose for coming, to save sinners (1
Timothy 1:12-20). Please invite your
friends and family to join in by sharing this post on social media or by
email. May God bless everyone.
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