“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. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” 1 Timothy 1:3-5 -> me: At the encouragement of one of our pastors at church, I am taking a small break from Jeremiah to make my way through 1st and 2nd Timothy as well as Titus. Today was 1 Timothy 1:1-7. Here is my takeaway from today -> False teachers are more interested in their own intellectual satisfaction than what they should know by faith. The gospel and obedience to God’s work are all about FAITH. Most importantly, LOVE springs from faith. This love comes about through a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith itself. Just like Timothy, I have a duty to protect my church from false teaching. By losing their Christian bearings, these false teachers drifted into a trackless waste. Without love they produce meaningless chatter…their focus is on their own people pleasing perception. The irrelevance of the content of a message is a hallmark of a false teacher. So what does this tell me – I must watch my own motives; first and foremost my heart is made pure by the word of God (John 15:3) and not only that but Jesus said that there is a special reward for those pure of heart —> They get to see God! My faith must be sincere, not just a pretense without a solid foundation. I must check my conscience (by listening to the Holy Spirit) that it is clear. Finally, I must act by ‘charging’ or ‘commanding’ those who are false teaching to cease. This is huge…and scary.
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