- The theme
- Titus and Timothy are Pastoral letters
- These letters expound on church order not church doctrine
- The greeting 1:1-2
- Not personal but rather formal -- emphasizes Paul's authority
- Timothy's Mission 1:3-20
- The task Timothy faced 1:3-11
- Exhortations 1:12-20
- Instructions concerning the life of the local church -- "order" (2:1-4:5)
- The priority of prayer 2:1-7 -- It is good to pray -- we need prayer
- The primary responsibilities (roles) of the men and women in church meetings (2:8-15)
- The men have failed to take a spiritual leadership role
- There is no argument on the capability of women, only where she should teach and lead
- The qualifications for Church leaders -- Elders and Deacons 3:1-13
- The nature of the local Church 3:14-16
- The problem of apostasy in the Church 4:1-5
- Instructions concerning leadership of the local Church 4:6-5:25
- Instructions for groups within the church 6:1-19
- Concluding charge and benediction 6:20-21
- So is this a danger to believers or unbelievers?
- The context certainly seems to indicate believers
- If we do a little cross-reference work:
- I want to make one distinction -- Falling away does not lose your salvation. But the scripture is clear that there are consequences
- Some die
- Most, lose their opportunity to glorify God on earth
- During the great throne judgment, there are rewards based on how you lived your life
- Just to be clear, you cannot lose your salvation because that is God's work, not yours
- How can that happen?
- The Luke 8:13 passage suggests they give up during hard times
- That same parable suggests that some fall in love with the world and let God get pushed out (regular to no quiet times where God speaks through his word)
- In 1 Timothy 4, depart from the faith, Grk afphistemi, can also mean to abandon or distance oneself
- Believing that not everything about Christian doctrine fits with the world
- So people start to mix their beliefs with Christian doctrine -- in essence they create their own god or religion (but the fact is they have abandoned the one true faith)
- What are the signs of falling away?
- Deceitful spirits -- that is when you call lies the truth (and we are not referring to politics)
- Teachings of demons -- sin is called not sin; carnality is not a sin (sexual, buying, eating, drinking, anything to excess)
- Insincerity of liars -- they know it is wrong, but don't care. Insincerity is the Grk word for hypocrisy (what they say to someone else does not apply to them)
- Consciences are seared -- they show no guilt -- they have convinced themselves in what is true
- New rules: forbid marriage
- Require abstinence form certain foods -- this is most likely a form of Judaism where it is required for holiness or closeness to God that you abstain from non-kosher food
- If we fall away, then we can also return. How do we return?
- The Hebrews were falling away because of persecution. The writer challenges to three things:
- Strive to obey -- Return to obedience
- Seek God in his Word and Prayer -- it will transform our mind
- Repent -- Confess to God the things he has revealed to you. We cannot hide from God
- In relationship to the theme of this book, I believe that order in the church is one of the areas where we have abandoned God's word in favor of the world view. Why?
- One, we don't understand that God's roles don't constrain us but free us
- Two, we don't see spiritual things as any different than worldly things
- Women are certainly leaders / business owners throughout scripture
- But, husbands cannot shirk their responsibility -- they need to lead spiritually
- Three, we don't see the importance of God's word
- We pay lip service to God's word -- but we act as if it is out-dated
- We accept the latest things or views or discoveries
- APPLICATION:
- First step on the way back: Repentance
- Second step is to accept the authority of the bible for my life
- Third step is to strive for obedience
- Start with a quiet time in God's word each morning
1 Timothy 4:1–5 (ESV) —
1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart
from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of
demons, 2 through the insincerity of liars whose consciences
are seared, 3 who forbid marriage and require abstinence from
foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe
and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing
is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.
Luke 8:13 (ESV) — 13 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they
hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a
while, and in time of testing fall away.
Mark 13:22 (ESV) — 22 For false christs and false prophets will arise and
perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.
Acts 20:29 (ESV) — 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will
come in among you, not sparing the flock;
1 Timothy 1:18–20 (ESV) — 18 This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in
accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may
wage the good warfare, 19 holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting
this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, 20 among whom
are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may
learn not to blaspheme.
Hebrews 3:12 (ESV) — 12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an
evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.
John 10:28–29 (ESV) — 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never
perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one
is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
2 Timothy 2:13 (ESV) — 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he
cannot deny himself.
1 John 5:11–13 (ESV) — 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal
life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the
Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of
God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
John 6:40 (ESV) — 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone
who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will
raise him up on the last day.”
Acts 10:15 (ESV) — 15 And the voice came to him again a second time,
“What God has made clean, do not call common.”
1 Corinthians 10:23–25 (ESV) — 23 “All things are lawful,” but not all things are
helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. 24 Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. 25 Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question
on the ground of conscience.
1 Corinthians 10:28–29 (ESV) — 28 But if someone says to you, “This has been offered
in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you,
and for the sake of conscience— 29 I do not mean
your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone
else’s conscience?
1 Corinthians 10:31–33 (ESV) — 31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do,
do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense to Jews or
to Greeks or to the church of God, 33 just as I try to
please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of
many, that they may be saved.
Hebrews 4:11–13 (ESV) — 11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that
no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged
sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of
marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and
exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Romans 12:2 (ESV) — 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be
transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what
is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
1 John 1:9 (ESV) — 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Proverbs 6:23 (ESV) — 23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a
light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
Psalm 119:105 (ESV) — 105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my
path.
Mark 1:35 (ESV) — 35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was
still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
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