Deurpost

A small excerpt from Matt Chandler’s teaching called “A Shepherd and His Ungenerate Sheep” from Desiring God’s 2009 Pastors Conference.

The full teaching can be found here.

“You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra — which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” (2 Timothy 3:10 – 4:8)

Don’t you think it’s ironic that I that present seven topics that are on my list for possible next series, and then introduce something completely different? I think it is, but such is life. It is full of surprises! Yet don’t think it’s the end of that list… Please comment still on your favorite topic here.

Anyways, the reason for this series may not be so apparent, but I used the “famous” 2 Timothy 3:16 verse this last Saturday during a meeting, and spoke on Sunday with my good friend and participant of that meeting, Patricia about this verse. She wondered about the deeper meaning of this verse and its application. We did not have much time then to go deep into it, but I must admit that I too am intrigued about the depth of it. Hence, this short series.

The verse of 2 Timothy 3:16 is pretty consistent across the different translations. Let me try to summarize it: “All Scripture is [God-breathed (NIV), inspired by God (NASB), breathed out by God (ESV), given by inspiration of God (KJV)] [and is useful for (NIV), and profitable for (NASB, ESV, KJV)], [teaching (NIV, NASB, ESV), doctrine (KJV)], [rebuking (NIV), reproof (NASB, ESV, KJV)], [correcting (NIV), correction (NASB, ESV, KJV)], and [training in righteousness (NIV, NASB, ESV), instruction in righteousness (KJV)]

I prefer a combination of the ESV and KJV, which ends up like this: “All Scripture is breathed out by God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.” The apparent consistency in the different translations seems to indicate that it is clear how to translate it, but what does the verse actually mean? And how and where does it apply to our lives? This introductory post will attempt to take a look at the verse as a whole, and the first half of. And then subsequent posts will deal with the four individual aspects it is useful or profitable for.

The Big Picture
As with most, if not all, verses in the Bible, this verse should be looked at within the context it is written. Although the verse itself, apart from the context, holds true and should be adhered to, it is the context which gives insights into the reason why. The verse is pretty much right in the center of a section of Scripture going from 2 Timothy 3:10 through 2 Timothy 4:8, and deals with an exhortation from the apostle Paul to his beloved son in the faith, Timothy, in contrast to the false teachers which Paul warns Timothy against in the first nine verses of chapter three. It addresses directly on how Timothy must resist the opponents and remain faithful to the gospel. It is an exhortation based on Timothy’s already established faithfulness (verse 10: “you, however, have followed my teaching…“).

So in order to fully understand this verse we need to take a look at the whole picture it is part of. In 2 Timothy 2:14-26 Paul introduces the false teaching (irreverent babble) and explains how Timothy should respond to it and be different from the false teachers. In 3:1–9 Paul describes the false teachers more extensively. Having exhorted Timothy to steadfast endurance, Paul now begins to address the problem directly. He speaks of “the last days” which according to Acts 2:17 are the days after the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and are thus also still the present day, and the false teachers are the people who “will be lovers of self, a lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, b disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power” for they will “creep into households” and lead people “astray by various passions“. Paul commands Timothy to avoid such people (verse 5), which most likely most involves excommunication if it pertains to those who remain obstinate. Paul then goes on to explain that Scripture is “able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” and that “all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.“

We first need to realize that Paul is writing this letter to Timothy. Paul sent Timothy to the church in Ephesus to deal with false teachers. Both letters from Paul to Timothy deal with this aspect in various form, although the second letter seem to focus more on exhorting Timothy to persevere. False teaching is corrected by correct teaching (next to church discipline and possible excommunication), and so Paul’s exhortation to Timothy is to persevere in teaching. We should in any case combine verse 16 with 17 in order to get the actual full sentence. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” So for who is Scripture profitable? So that the man of God may be competent and equipped. Who is the man of God? This is an Old Testament phrase. For instance, Moses is called a man of God (Deuteronomy 33:1, Joshua 14:6), angels of the LORD are called a man of God (Judges 13:6;8), and prophets like Elijah (1 Kings 17, 2 Kings 1) and Elisha (2 Kings 4 – 7) are called a man of God . Overall, we can say that the “man of God” is indicating a messenger of God. Both the background of the Old Testament and the context show that Paul sees Timothy as his delegate and a leader over the church. A shepherd/pastor. A preacher. Paul provides a basic framework for Timothy on how to preach. Sinclair B. Ferguson, distinguished visiting professor of systematic theology at Westminister Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas says of 2 Timothy 3:16, “Thus informed, we come to see that preaching to the heart will give expression to four things: instruction in the truth, conviction of conscience, restoration and transformation of life, and equipping for service [...] Preaching, therefore, involves teaching – imparting doctrine in order to renew and transform the mind. It implies the inevitable rebuke of sin, and brings with it the healing of divine correction.” If the man of God approached the Scripture with humility, he himself will be instructed, convinced, restored, transformed and equipped in the process of preparing. If that happens, and it should, then in turn he will be able, by the Holy Spirit, to do the same when he is preaching.

Of course this is not the only application of this verse as a whole, for the Holy Spirit does not need a preacher to accomplish His work (although John 14:26 does say that the Holy Spirit will bring to remembrance all that Jesus said, hence Jesus’ words must be proclaimed first), but Paul, a preacher, is charging Timothy as a preacher, to “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” (2 Tim 4:2) in order to overcome or correct false teaching.

All Scripture
What is considered all Scripture? First off, it seems evident that the Old Testament books are implied, but there are references in the New Testament which refer to itself as Scripture as well in two occasions. First, in 1 Timothy 5:18, Paul says, “For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,’ and, ‘The laborer deserves his wages.’” Although the command to not muzzle an ox is a quote from Deuteronomy 25:4, the command that a laborer deserves his wages is a direct quote from Luke 10:7, and Paul refers to it as Scripture. Secondly, in 2 Peter 3:15-16, Peter says, “And count l the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.” And so it seems that both Paul and Peter refer to the NT writings to be inspired by God at a very early date, considering that Paul wrote his second letter to Timothy around 64–65 AD, and Peter wrote his second letter around 64-67 AD.

Breathed Out By God
Paul is using a Greek word here (theopneustos) which does not occur anywhere else in the Bible. I actually read that this word did not occur anywhere in Greek texts outside the Bible prior to this letter. That is quite remarkable to say the least! The word is a combination of “theos” (meaning: God) and “pneō” (meaning: to breath). In any case, Paul is clearly pointing to the fact that God breathed out the Scriptures, and does not point to the human authors of Scripture as inspired people.

In the next session I will attempt to unravel the word “teaching,” its implications and its applications.

I was asked to study 1 Timothy chapter three and give a 15-minute teaching on it. I figured it wouldn’t hurt putting my thoughts on my blog as well…

Chapter three of 1 Timothy is the familiar and famous chapter listing the qualifications of an elder and a deacon. Complete libraries have been written on this topic and so it seemed like a daunting task to actually do some exegesis on this text which was not done before, and at the same time making sure I don’t fall into the category of people discussed in 1 Timothy chapter 1 (if you get my point). I don’t know how often I read this chapter before, but for some reason I never really noticed the last couple of verses. Maybe because the focus of the chapter is so evidently on the qualifications that these go unnoticed. Yet Paul is never accidental in his writings and so I believe that the fact these verses directly follow the qualifications is deliberate and intentional.

“I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:14-15)
Keeping in mind that Paul did not write this letter with chapters in mind, we could still say that Paul gives the outline for the qualifications without tell why these qualifications are important. Yet he does so at the end. In verse 14-15 Paul he tells us that these instructions for qualifying elders are so that we will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God. In other words, how you should behave in church. What I think is interesting is that Paul then gives a description of the household of God nowhere else mentioned in Scripture, and in a way that emphasizes his previous point. He says that the household of God is the church of the living God is the pillar and support of the truth. Paul is making a direct relation between the qualifications of an elders and deacons (church leadership) and the fact that the church is the pillar and support of the truth. I think this is interesting. And so it seems worthwhile to further explore the theme of the church being a pillar.

The pillar and the foundation of the church is truth. It isn’t that the church is the foundation of the truth, but that the church holds up the truth so that the world can see it. In ancient days pillars where often used to fasten upon edicts or declarations for all the public to see. In the Bible pillars are mentioned on a couple of times.

The Pillars of Solomon’s Temple
In 1 Kings 7:15-21 we read about the two pillars on the porch of Solomon’s temple. These enormous pillars (8.3 meters tall, 5.5 meters in circumference, with a 2.3 meters high bronze capitals) were named Jachin, which means “he establishes,” and Boaz, which means “in him is strength.” Some believe that these pillars were to remind Israel of the twin pillars from the Exodus, the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. Constant reminders and God’s presence. You could also say that the house of God itself was Jachin and Boaz. The temple was established by God and built by the strength of God, or “In strength shall My House be established.” You could also say that in the temple, the house of God, people experienced what the pillars were all about: people were established in their relationship with God, and people were given strength from God.

Jeremiah was made like a pillar by God
In Jeremiah 1:17-19 we read that God says to Jeremiah to prepare for action, to go out and proclaim the truth. In order to do that God makes Jeremiah strong like a fortified city and like an iron pillar. “‘Get up and prepare for action. Go out and tell them everything I tell you to say. Do not be afraid of them, or I will make you look foolish in front of them. For see, today I have made you strong like a fortified city that cannot be captured, like an iron pillar or a bronze wall. You will stand against the whole land – the kings, officials, priests, and people of Judah. They will fight you, but they will fail. For I am with you, and I will take care of you. I, the Lord, have spoken!’” (Jeremiah 1:17-19). In order for Jeremiah to hold up the truth, God made him like an iron pillar.

Peter, James and John were known as the pillars of the church
In Galatians 2:9 we read that the inner circle of Jesus, Peter, James and John, were known as the pillars of the church, meaning not only that they were the pillars on which the church was built, but also that they held up the truth for all the world to see. They were, in a way, like Jeremiah, made like a pillar by God.

Here is where the qualifications of an elder come in, because in order to be a pillar, to be like a fortified city that cannot be captured, to hold up the truth, you have to be above reproach. Being above reproach (blameless, well-thought-of, give no grounds for accusations, to be without any character defect) is in a sense the only qualification of an elder. Paul does the same thing here as he does in Galatians 5:22-23 when discussing the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love, and an elder must be above reproach. In both cases Paul is so kind to give us some more insight into what this means practically, and he does so in four ways: First, his relation to God (he has to be a man, he has to be able to teach, he cannot be a recent convert); second, his relation to his family (he has to be faithful to his wife, he has to have respectful and obeying children, he has to be a good steward of his household); third, his relation to himself (he has to be self-controlled, he has to live wisely, he cannot have additions, he has to be able to handle money well); and fourth, his relation to others (he has to be gentle, he has to be not quarrelsome, he has to have a good reputation outside church, he has to be hospitable, he cannot be violent)

All who are victorious will become pillars in the Temple of God
The last reference to pillars can be found in Revelation 3:12, where Jesus says: “‘He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.’” I think this is very interesting. Revelation 3:12 is part of Jesus’ letter to the church of Philadelphia. Historically this ancient city suffered often from earthquakes as it was situated in a highly volcanic region. When a building collapsed in an earthquake often all that remained were the huge pillars. Jesus offers us this same strength, to remain standing in Him when everything around us crumbles. Of all of the churches in Revelation that Jesus sent a letter to, the church of Philadelphia together with the church of Smyrna are the only ones for which Jesus has no concerns. Interestingly enough, the church of Philadelphia is the only church out of the seven which is promised to be kept out of the Great Tribulation (Revelation 3:10) and with the church of Smyrna the only two churches still alive today! It is said to represent the missional church model and era. In any case, it is interesting that it is this church in particular (the missional church with no concerns that is still alive today) that is promised to become pillars in the temple of God.

Application
Pillars are what hold up the building. The only thing supporting the pillar is the foundation. Elders are to be pillars in the church, who support the church, and they should look to Jesus as their support foundation. And so it is of the utmost importance that the church appoints elders (identified by the Holy Spirit) who are above reproach, in order for the church to hold up the truth so the world can see it. The question then remains is how does one become above reproach? And my answer would be to keep Psalm 86:11 close to heart and mind, which says: “Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name.” A proper fear of the LORD will unite your heart with His, because it will convict you of sin you didn’t realize you had, because it will create a desire to see the full glory of God (2 Corinthians 4:4-6) which will keep you on a straight and humble path of desiring to be above reproach. Yet if you think you’re there you are not above reproach anymore.

“Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.” (2 Tim 2:3-4)

Paul is instructing Timothy here to have the attitude of a soldier, and suffer hardship with him. A good soldier doesn’t give up when hardship comes his way. He endures, because he is disciplined and perfected for what he has been trained to do. Paul doesn’t instruct Timothy to be a common or ordinary soldier, but to be a good soldier. There are men who are just soldiers and that’s it. With just enough temptation they give in and become useless for their task. But the good soldier is brave and courageous all the time, and does his duty with heart and earnestness.

Likewise, if a believer is not willing to endure hardship, they will not accomplish much for Jesus Christ. They will give up as soon as something hard is required of them. We need to train hard, be disciplined, so that we will be perfected in unity with Jesus Christ (John 17:23), perfected in holiness (2 Corinthians 7:1), perfected in patience (1 Timothy 1:16), perfected in faith (James 2:22), and perfected in love (1 John 4:12), “for I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6)

A good soldier detaches himself from everyday life, leaves all behind what needs to be left behind, to serve the greater purpose or goal, what he believes in. Jesus said in Matthew 16:14 that “if anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” A good soldier has to be willing to give up many things. Some of them bad (pride, self-will), but also some of them good (his home, his family). This is required of him. He must give up anything that comes in the way of being a good soldier, and serve his commanding officer. A faithful soldier doesn’t have the right to do anything that will entangle him as it will makes him a less effective soldier.

Choosing Christ means that we have to give up our self-will and clothe ourselves with the will of Christ, our commanding officer. He is our drill sergeant, our general. He’s the one that disciplines us, shapes us into the good soldier he needs us to be, to serve for His kingdom, fight for His kingdom. It should be our higher purpose to please Him. To be totally obedient to Him.

Yesterday I went to see “John Rambo” in the cinema, the latest and supposedly last movie in the series. Now John Rambo has lost faith in the greater purpose and prefers not to fight anymore, so in that sense he does not serve as a good example (because we should never lose faith or give up the fight). But what is evident is that he is a trained fighting machine, no matter what. It has become second nature to him. He has been disciplined and perfected to be what he was trained to be. In the movie he says that we should “live for nothing, or die for something”. In this he does serve as an example as it echoes Paul who says “for to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21). We should be willing to give our lives.

I must say that this is challenging. I do like the whole analogy of the good soldier, to be a soldier in Jesus’ army. I think I need to see Jesus more as my drill sergeant, let Him push me more, train me more, mold me more, shape me more into a loving “fighting machine”, so I can serve in His army and fight to advance the kingdom, regain land that has been lost. But in order to do that I also have to let go more of everyday life, disentangle myself from everything that holds me back from giving my complete focus to be good soldier.

Jesus has enlisted me into His army. It’s time to be a soldier in active service!

“For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and of a sound mind” (2 Tim 1:7)

To be timid means to be lacking in self-assurance or courage, to be shy, or to be easily alarmed. But God has given us a spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind. I would say that I can be timid a lot of times. I am an introvert and I am shy, and there are a lot of situations where I am lacking in self-assurance (speaking in front of others, praying out loud, doing something for the first time). I assume everybody has to deal with situations where they feel timid and afraid.

I think it’s important to understand that such fears are not from God! And I do think I realize this. The problem I face is more how to overcome this. Is it an issue of personality, of weakness of the flesh? Is there something that I need to ask forgiveness for, or repent of? How do I deal with such fears? How can I fully embrace that God has given me a spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind.

What does it mean to have a spirit of power? It reminds me of Paul in his letter to the church in Corinth when he says: “I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:3-5). I find it’s comforting to know that even the great Apostle Paul felt weak and afraid, but it shows that when we are doing God’s work and proclaiming His glorious word and being ambassadors of His kingdom that we have all His power at our disposal, and that it is our weakness that is demonstrating the power of God in us and through us.

Many songs are written about the power of love (Celine Dion, Huey Lewis and the News, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, 10CC, Jennifer Rush), but all of these are talking about love between two people. Jesus’ love is expressed in serving others. He gave up His life for us! I am more and more beginning to understand and embrace this. I was actually telling me wife this weekend how wonderful it is to serve her. I love doing this. Doing these, mostly small and simple tasks to serve her really expresses my love for her.

God has given us a sound mind. The Greek word here has the idea of being calm and self-controlled, in contrast to the panic and confusion that rushes in when we are in a fearful situation. I can really recognize this. I am usually quite calm and self-controlled, but when I am in a fearful situation then inwardly all of that goes out the window. I start getting cold and sleepy, and words usually don’t come out the way they sounded in my head. It’s quite annoying!

I think it’s important to realize that we don’t need to accept the spirit of fear as it’s not from God. We need to humbly receive and walk in the spirit that God has given us. Fear and timidity will keep us from using the gifts that God has given us. He wants us to fully embrace His power, His love and His calm thinking so we can be His ambassadors in this world. We’ve got to be bold, for “on the day I called, You answered me; You made me bold with strength in my soul” (Psalm 138:3).

“But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (1 Tim 5:8)

As a husband and a father this verse really stands out to me. It’s one of those verses that should be memorized and fully understood, just in case. Why? Because being called worse than an unbeliever does not sound like a pleasant situation at all.

I see to provide for your own, especially for your own household, as a more specific way of saying “love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31). And like Jesus said, there is no greater command than this (along with “and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30).

The Greek word used here for neighbor is “plesion”, which translates best as “near”, and so we could say: love those near to us as ourselves. In the context of a household this means your spouse and your children. As God has appointed the man to be the head of the family, it’s the man’s responsibility to provide for his wife and his children, his household. And so providing for them means loving them unconditionally, to deny oneself and give oneself up for them (just like Christ gave Himself up for the church).

How do we do that? Well, it will probably be a livelong journey to figure out, but it is my prayer that every day as I mature more in Christ-likeness I understand better what it means to love unconditionally. Why? Because I don’t want to be somebody who’s worse than an unbeliever, as “they profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.” (Titus 1:16). I want to really know God, and be obedient so that God can do good deeds through me.

“But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness;” (1 Tim 4:7)

A fable can be considered a story not founded on fact, an untruth. When I think about stories not founded on fact the first thing that comes to mind is the story of creation. I am always surprised how people can believe that first there was nothing and then there was something. How can nothing create something? I don’t know… It’s a story not founded on fact. And although I don’t think it’s necessary that science has to proof the existence of God, it is interesting to see that more and more scientists (men such as the great scientist Stephen Hawking, an atheist) come to the conclusion that the universe is created by someone, and did not evolve out of nothingness. The beauty is that so many intricacies that only now with modern technology science can conclude, have been described and explained in God’s Word, the Bible, over 2000 years ago!! (If you desire to study “biblical science”, please have a look at the studies of Koinonia House).

Our priority should be on God’s Word, not on the words of men. It’s so easy to get caught up in the thoughts and ideas of the world that it can be difficult to see what God has to say about this. Yet His word is truth, as God cannot lie (Titus 1:2). But this requires study of the Word, dig into Scripture, and this takes discipline. We have to discipline or exercise ourselves towards godliness. “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” (Hebrews 12:11). So discipline leads to peace, righteousness which ultimately leads to love (2 Peter 1:5-7).

We have to always go for the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help us God!

“And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.” (1 Tim 3:7)

In the third chapter of Paul’s first letter to Timothy he primarily focuses on the qualifications of elders (overseers) and deacons. An elder should be the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money, not be a new convert, manage his household well, keep his children under control, and be above reproach. It’s quite a list, but what it ultimately comes down to is that an elder is in terms of character a mature man of Christ who’s preferably married with children. Whether he is an elder depends on if he’s called and appointed to be an elder. Whether or not you’re an elder or aspire to be an elder, we all should aim to mature in Christ, and so most of these qualifications are generic for any Christian. We can summarize this list to only one item: we should be above reproach. We should be above reproach towards God, towards our wife (or husband), towards our children, and towards our community.

As Christians we have been given the task by Jesus to go out into the world and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:20), and in my view this is a two-step process. It is first our character towards those outside the church. The more we mature in Christ, the more we show Christ-likeness, the more we show the character of God to others, the more it becomes apparent to those outside the church that we are different. This should provoke questions and discussion, which leads to the second step. And that is that we then should fully embrace the opportunity to speak about Christ, “for out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Mat 12:34b). Showing God’s character only through our character is not enough, as “faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17). – Just to be sure, I am not saying that we should only start talking about Christ when we are mature Christians. The moment that we give ourselves to Christ is the moment we receive the Holy Spirit, which enables us share to the Gospel. I am only saying that the message we speak through our character is just as important as the message we speak through our words, and that our character should also lead to spreading the Gospel through our words. -

And so our character, or reputation, towards those outside the church should be above approach. Like most people I spend 40 hours of my week at work, being surrounded by unbelievers. You could say that this is an excellent place for mission, and it is (although it could be much more). At work I feel I am constantly tested on my character (not as much by my colleagues, but by myself – or I should say the Holy Spirit who’s convincting me). It’s so easy to get sucked into the world’s way of thinking, of acting, engaging in conversations that you shouldn’t, laughing at jokes that are actually not funny at all, etc. It’s a daily challenge. And I must admit I am often failing more than I would like to or like to admit. And whereas the Holy Spirit convicts me, He also helps me by providing Scripture to either stay focused or refocus. And so I leave you with two verses that I find very encouraging in this aspect: “Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.” (Philippians 2:14-16), and “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.” (Colossians 3:23-24)

“For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.” (1 Timothy 2:5-6)

In today’s world of relativism and spirituality, most people think that many roads lead to God, if followed sincerly or with a good heart. “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12). God is quite specific about this, and there is only one way that leads to God, and that is through Jesus Christ, who in John 14:6 said “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me“. No one!

Why is God so specific about this? Because we are sinful (Romans 3:23) and God is holy, we have no right on our own to enter into His presence. We need a mediator to come between us and God to bring us into God’s presence. Jesus Christ is our mediational high priest (Hebrews 7:26-27), and opened up the way to God when He died and the veil of the temple was torn in two (Hebrews 10:19-21, Matthew 27:50-51). He has gained for us boldness, confidence and access to enter into the holy place and into the holy of holies, the very presence of God Himself!

So our mediator is the man Jesus Christ. This points us to the human form of the Son of God, the Word who became flesh, our Redeemer. It also reminds us that Jesus is still human, even as He is enthroned in heaven right now. His humanity was not only a temporary phase. After His resurrection He said to the disciples in Luke 24:39, “See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And in Revelation 5:6, when John is shown the throne room of God, he said, “And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.” When God the Son added humanity to His deity, He added it forever – not only for 33 years!

“Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” (John 14:13-14). What does it mean to ask in His name? To come in the name of someone means that another person has authorized us to come on his authority. Praying Jesus’ name is therefore prayer made on his authorization.

So one could say that through the human person Jesus Christ, we now have access to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. And we can address either part of the trinity directly, yet as long as we do this by the authority of the man Jesus Christ.

“But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.” (1 Timothy 1:5-7)

We all have something to say. We all want to be heard. We all think we know best. In this Scripture the Apostle Paul instructs young Timothy (who’s pastoring the young church in Ephesus) not only the goal of teaching, but also the method of teaching.

The goal of our instruction (or in other words, the purpose of the commandment) is that the heart is transformed. If spending time in God’s word isn’t producing love from a pure heart, a good conscience, or sincere faith in us, something is wrong. Instead of showing love, we are harsh and judgmental. Instead of having a good conscience, we always feel condemned knowing we don’t measure up. Instead of sincere faith we practically trust in our own ability to please God. These characteristics of love, conscience and sincere faith should be shown in the person who’s teaching, in order for him to be used by God as a conduit to instruct others.

If we stray away from showing love from a pure heart and having a good conscience and a sincere faith, we end up with fruitless discussion. I love this phrase “fruitless discussion”. It echoes the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). A fruitless discussion does not bring forth love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness or self-control. It also echoes John 15:5 where Jesus says: “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” Our discussions should not be fruitless but bear much fruit, only then God the Father will be glorified and we prove to be His disciples (John 15:8).

If we stray away from showing love from a pure heart and having a good conscience and a sincere faith, we end up just wanting to be teachers only, instead of wanting to be learners (disciples) of the Word also. A dangerous position to be in, for every Christian is first and foremost a disciple of God and God is our teacher (Job 36:22) and the goal of a disciple is to be like his teacher, not above him (Matthew 10:24)

Much can be said about the gift of teaching. 1 Corinthians 12:28-30 says that “God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues. All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they? All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they?” And so Scripture says that not everybody is gifted to be a teacher, or should aspire to be a teacher. James mentions “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment” (James 3:1). And so being a teacher of the Word comes with great responsibility.

If we want to be a teacher we must “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.” (2 Timothy 4:2-4). I believe that we are in the times which Paul describes here. A lot of Christians are not interested in sound doctrine. They only hear what they want to hear and conveniently discard the rest. They let culture influence their doctrine, whilst culture should only influence our methodology. Our doctrine is based on Scripture, and Scripture alone. Doctrines, or principles, described in Scripture are not dependent on cultural settings, because God’s truths are from outside of our time domain.

And so being a teacher means we have to be willing and able to reprove, rebuke and exhort with great patience. Even if we speak the truth in love, chances are that we will offend someone (did Jesus ever offend anyone?), because if we do not reprove or rebuke we will offend God.

And so the question is: to teach or not to teach? And my answer would be that if God has gifted you to be a teacher then embrace this, but be aware never to leave your first love (Revelation 2:4) and always be a disciple first and a teacher second, and that it comes with great responsibility and, very likely, great persecution. On the other hand, if God did not lay it on your heart to be a teacher, to embrace what God has gifted you with. This doesn’t take away the fact that by simply being disciples of Jesus, and living out our faith, we are influencers to the world around us, and thus are teachers as well.