1 Timothy

Wednesday, 3 January 2018

For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. 1 Timothy 4:8

Paul now makes a metaphor for his reader to consider. He brings in the thought of “bodily exercise.” The words are sōmatikē gymnasia. We could think of “gymnastics for the body.” It means the same today as it did then – physical training, physical exercise, boxing, racing, and so on. He says that it “profits a little.” The Greek word can mean “a small amount,” or “for a short period of time,” and both are probably on Paul’s mind. What he is referring to is the ascetic practices referred to in verse 3, meaning abstention from certain foods, and forbidding to marry.

Just as physical exercise profits for a very short amount of time, and then man ages, sags, weakens, and dies (think of the once strong and robust Arnold Schwarzenegger), so these practices – which seem to promise abundant spiritual health – will prove to be vain and pointless. They will be swept away in due time. Further, they actually put up a barrier between God and man. It is God who has done all of the work needed to reconcile us to Himself through Jesus Christ. In pursuing these “gymnastics,” we feel that we are meriting His favor on our own. Thus, it is a slap in His face concerning what He has accomplished. “That’s OK God, You did Your best in Jesus, but I will improve upon that.”

Paul then says, “but godliness is profitable for all things.” The ascetics profit themselves (or so they think), but their supposed piety does nothing for anyone or anything outside of themselves. There is no true gain of any kind to be realized in anything they do. However, godliness (see the “mystery of godliness in 1 Timothy 3:16) is profitable for all, and in all ways. Anyone who hears of Christ is profited when he acts upon the words. Anyone who tells of Christ is profited when he speaks the words. The world is made safer through those who come to Christ. The world is brought closer to the day when Christ comes for His church when godliness is shared. On and on, there is only benefit (great gain) to be found in godliness. It is not a self-centered thing, but an outwardly-directed thing.

It is godliness which Paul then says is the message, “having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.” True and purposeful life in this earthly existence is found in knowing Christ. The nations of the world which are truly Christ-centered will pursue peace. The kings in authority who have bowed to Christ will bring about peace in their kingdoms. The benefits are to be found in all ways in the life that now is. And they are also to be found in the life “which is to come.”

Heaven’s doors are opened through the godliness that Paul has written about. Peace with God is restored through it. Eternal abundance, broadness of space, joy to its fullest extent, and on and on and on, will be realized for all of eternity for those who receive the godliness which is the Person of Jesus Christ – His life, and His work. This is what is “profitable for all things.”

Life application: Do you want to be profited in all ways? Do you want the highest joy, the greatest reward, and the fullest measure of blessing? Then come to Christ. Put away your gymnastics of faith, and come to the godliness of faith, formed and perfected, in the Person and work of Jesus Christ the Lord.

Glorious God Almighty! You have shown us what is truly profitable. We can exercise our bodies, but we will grow old and we will sag and weaken. Eventually we will die. We can also abstain from certain foods in order to hopefully be “more holy” in the eyes of others, but this helps no one other than ourselves. What Your words ask us to do is to seek true godliness by pursuing Christ, sharing Christ, and living for Christ. In this, there is great gain, both now in this temporary world and in the ages to come as well. Help us to be wise, and to pursue this true godliness with all of our hearts and minds. Amen.

Tuesday, 2 January 2018

But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. 1 Timothy 4:7

Paul had just exhorted Timothy to be “nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine” which he had already carefully followed. In contrast to this, he now implores his young protege to “reject profane and old wives fables.” The word “profane” is used only by Paul in the pastorals, and once in Hebrews. It is derived from words which together mean, “crossing a threshold.” Thus it gives the sense of improper entrance. The idea is that instead of that which is spiritually proper, it is worldly and godless – one has entered into the realm of unreasonable, or even goofy.

There are two Greek words for “old wives’ fables.”The first is graódés. This is its only use in the Bible. It bears the sense of “belonging to an old woman.” The second is muthos (from which we derive our modern word “myth”). It signifies an idle tale or a fanciful story. Just as an aged grandmother might say to her granddaughter, “Don’t eat the watermelon seeds, or you will get pregnant,” so it is a silly or ridiculous explanation of a matter. The idea is that of something which is completely without merit, but appears religious and geared towards explaining a doctrine. In Titus 1:14, Paul explicitly ties these “myths” in with Jewish culture, demonstrating that this is what is on his mind. The Jewish society had inculcated countless such things into its religious life in order to culturally explain things. They had also adapted many such things to explain, or add to, what Scripture taught.

Timothy was warned against such things. There is sound interpretation of Scripture, and then there is that which is completely irrelevant to it. The same is true in the church today. Countless fables have been made up about what the Jews believed in the first century, and then those things are used to explain what Christ meant in His words. One of countless examples of this concerns the folded handkerchief referred to in John 20:7. There have been several totally unscriptural explanations of why this was included by John. The stories have been circulated to the point that they are taken as factual by hosts of believers. And yet, they are based on “old wives’ fables” which are completely bogus. This is but one of countless examples of very poor handling of biblical doctrine because people are unwilling to stick to the facts, letting Scripture interpret Scripture.

Paul implores Timothy to reject such things. Instead, he is instructed to “exercise yourself toward godliness.” Just as he was to “nourish” himself in the words of faith and good doctrine, he is also to “exercise” himself towards godliness. To nourish is to feed upon. To exercise is to take that substance and work it out into that which is productive. One cannot do this when pursuing old wives’ fables. Instead, he must take the sound doctrine, and then use it to rightly divide the word of God. In doing this, he would then be exercising himself towards godliness.

Life application: Have you ever been told that Rosh Hoshana is a day known to the Jews as the time of the year that they say, “Of this day and hour no one knows”? In saying this, the implication is that Rosh Hoshana is the day that Jesus was speaking about concerning the timing of the rapture. This is an old wives’ fable that has no bearing at all on the truth. It is a lie made up by someone in order to justify their prediction concerning the rapture. Be sound in your theology, know your Bible, and don’t believe everything you read. Unless something is grounded in Scripture, it is suspect and should be considered as such.

Lord God, it is so sad that there are so many fables attached to interpreting Your word. When they are included in our study, they can only harm our knowledge of what You actually intended for us to know and understand. Help us to be able to discern that which is biblically sound and that which is just plain goofy. In this, we will be sound in our doctrine and pleasing to You. And thank You that Your word is sufficient for what You desire us to know! Amen.

Monday, 1 January 2018

If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. 1 Timothy 4:6

The words “If you instruct the brethren in these things,” is referring to that which was just stated by Paul in verses 1-5, but specifically the details provided in verses 3-5. There is sound doctrine concerning what foods are acceptable, and there is bondage in teaching anything else concerning dietary restrictions. Timothy was being warned against any such teaching which stood contrary to that which the Bible proclaims. Ascetics, with their brand of dietary restrictions, and Judaizers with theirs, both had the same end goal. When you control the diet of an individual, you have a means of controlling him. The same is true with imposed vegetarianism as well.

In teaching what is proper, and in teaching what is improper, concerning these things, Paul tells Timothy that, “you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ.” Who could desire a more noble title than that which Paul names here! But it is only to be obtained through right doctrine. Thus any teaching which is contrary to what is said concerning the imposition of unscriptural dietary restrictions means that the teacher is not a good minister of Jesus Christ. Think of how many sects and cults are immediately excluded because of Paul’s words here! Any minister who imposes dietary restrictions beyond what Scripture allows is, by default, a crummy minister.

But in teaching right doctrine, the minister will be “nourished.” The verb here is a present participle, “being nourished.” It signifies, “to be trained up” or “to be educated in.” Paul is making a distinction between being improperly nourished by foods, and being properly nourished by spiritual truth. Being a present participle, it indicates a process which is continuous and permanent. Timothy (and thus all ministers) are to be constantly training themselves, and they are to stand fast on their training. And this training is to be “in the words of faith.”

There is actually an article in front of “faith” in the Greek. It reads, “in the words of the faith.” It is speaking specifically of right teaching (the contents of belief) of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. In addition to this, he is to be nourished in “the good doctrine.” This is used almost synonymously with “the faith.” Paul implores Timothy to never stop training himself in sound and proper doctrine. To let down his guard would eventually lead to falling away from that, and towards that which is improper. For the minister of Christ today, our doctrine is to come from Scripture, and it is to be taken in the proper context of what is being said concerning New Covenant theology in relation to Christ’s fulfillment of the Old Covenant.

Paul finishes his thought to Timothy with the words, “which you have carefully followed.” The words are well translated. Timothy had carefully followed the faith and the good doctrine thus far. He was being commended for this, and was being implored by Paul to continue to follow these things always. In doing this, he would not stray away from what is right, sound, and proper.

Life application: Just because a minister is a minister, it does not mean that he cannot get derailed from the sound tracks of right doctrine. The minister of Jesus Christ is to constantly be aware of the devil’s tricks, stand firm on the truth of the word, and never allow himself to be misguided. Reading and studying the word, remaining in close prayer with God concerning right doctrine, and being faithful to the word once delivered to the saints, are necessary steps for the minister of the Lord at all times.

Lord God, we pray that our ministers of the faith are kept safe from being derailed from right and proper doctrine. Give them the desire to continuously study Your word, to remain in close contact with You concerning their doctrine, and to be kept safe from those who have poor doctrine and evil intent towards the truth. Be with them and protect them as they defend the truth of the doctrine of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Sunday, 31 December 2017

…for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. 1 Timothy 4:5

Paul said in the previous verse that “every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving.” Any person who reads that without a presupposition would obviously conclude that there are no dietary restrictions of any kind levied upon the believer in Christ. No other conclusion could be made. Paul now explains why this is so. He says, “for it is sanctified by the word of God.”

These words are not without debate as to their intended meaning, but what is certain is that Paul uses the exact term “word of God” about ten times when speaking of the Bible. He also calls it “the word of the Lord,” and “the word of truth.” Though the term “word of God” is not limited to the Bible, it encompasses what we would now call “the Bible.” If God has spoken, and if it is recorded in the Bible, then what is said is “sanctified” or “made holy” through His proclamation.

In Genesis 1:29, God gave all the herbs which yield seed, and every tree whose fruit yields seed, to man to eat. Thus all plant life of this kind is sanctified for food. In Genesis 9:2, 3, every beast of the earth, every bird of the air, and every fish of the sea – indeed, “every moving thing that lives” was granted as food to man. The only restriction at that time was consuming the blood. Thus every creature of God is sanctified through His proclamation.

The dietary laws of the Law of Moses were given to Israel alone. They were given for a set period of time, and for specific purposes (as explained in the previous verse). The set period ended at Christ’s fulfillment of the law, as did the set purposes. The proclamation of God in Acts 10 to Peter concerning the annulling of these dietary laws, along with Paul’s explanation of these things in the epistles (including this verse), show that God’s proclamation has sanctified all creatures for food.

There are now no dietary restrictions to be placed upon any people, because the word of God has spoken. To say that dietary laws are still in force, is to deny the word of God. It is to call unclean that which God has purified. It is to reject the word of God, and it is to bring condemnation upon oneself.

But Paul does continue by saying that every creature is acceptable, having been sanctified by God “and prayer.” What God has authorized is to be accepted with thanks and praise. Prayer itself has a sanctifying power in our lives, because it shows that our consciences accept what God has allowed, and that we are grateful for it. If we have a defiled conscience and eat, we sin. As Paul says in Romans 14:23 (in a passage speaking about that which is clean and acceptable for eating and drinking, meaning all things), “he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.”

As a final point concerning the words of this verse, though they are speaking of food, the precept surely stands for any precept of our lives. Quite often people ask, “How do I know if I should accept this job?” or “How do I know if I should marry this woman?”. The answer is found in the precept laid out by Paul here. If something is not forbidden in the word of God (meaning Scripture), then it is – by default – something that one can participate in with a clear conscience. If it is something they desire, they should sanctify that decision with prayer, and they should then trust the Lord with a clear conscience. God is not going to give us a sign in heaven over such things, and he does not expect us to ask approval from our pastor if it is OK to do such things. Rather, He gives us free will to direct our lives, and expects us to do what is lawful, but to sanctify what we choose through prayer.

Life application: The more you speak to the Lord about the affairs of your life, the closer You will be to always being in God’s will. But You must know first what the word of God allows, and what it forbids. If your words to the Lord are in accord with His will (meaning His word), then speak to Him about it, asking Him to bless or inhibit your desire according to His will, and then proceed on with what You have raised to Him in faith.

Lord God, may we understand that those things which are not forbidden for us are acceptable for us. And so if we have a life-decision to make, and it is not contrary to Your word, help us to remember to sanctify our desire through prayer, and then to go forward with a clear conscience, and in faith, with our decision. If it is meant to be, it will come to pass, and if it is not Your will, then surely you will inhibit its happening. But help us always to first check if what we desire is allowed, and then we shall move forward in faith. Amen.