The purpose of the commandment is…. Do you have any idea to
which commandment Paul was referring? I think I do. Perhaps Paul was talking
about the Great Commandment which is to love God with all our beings and to
love others as ourselves. You can see how that might be behind all that Paul
said to young Timothy and is kind of self-explanatory. Or perhaps he was
talking about another commandment. Our problem is to decide which one. But
before I tell you what I think was on his mind, let me give you this truth:
Every true doctrine in God’s Word results in love. It is always imperative that
we keep this in our hearts and minds. The entire Word of God is a love letter
from the Creator of the universe to His creation.
So with that in mind, let me tell you what I think Paul was
saying. He had just given Timothy a “charge.” In my last post, I shared with
you that that was Paul authorizing this young minister to command these false
teachers and troublemakers to stop wasting time and leading people down the
wrong path. Paul wanted this church at Ephesus to teach no other doctrine than
that which he had taught them and to stop wasting time on myths and
genealogies. Lots of people don’t take “commands” very well, and they would
certainly question how this behavior results in love, but it does. Here is the
reality. When we focus on the truths of God’s Word, love is always the outcome.
You see, every book, chapter and verse of the Bible points to Who God is: love.
God is love. When we teach the Word, we are teaching love.
But look at how Paul qualified this love. It comes from a
pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith. These three phrases speak of
motivation, actions, and beliefs. Let’s look at each one of these for just a
moment.
If our hearts are pure, our motivations are right. We do
what we do for the right reason – because we love God and want to serve only
Him. It isn’t about doing what we want to do but what He has commanded us to
do. Remember what Jesus said? “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see
God” (Matthew 5:8). Our hearts are made pure by the blood of Christ, but they
remain pure by our choice to please Him.
If our consciences are good, that means our actions have
been right. We have done what we are supposed to do in the way we were supposed
to do it. You know it’s true. When you misbehave, you feel guilty. That is the
evidence that your conscience is working as it leads you back to doing the
right things.
And if your faith is sincere, if we truly are seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, love wins out. If we believe what the Bible says and our faith is in God’s promises, we will live holy lives than not only please God but also demonstrates His love and power. When His love and power are demonstrated, lost people get saved and saved people grow stronger. I’m not sure that anything is more needed today than for God’s people to believe God’s Word without compromise. We are being assaulted by the forces of Satan in an attempt to coerce us to leave the Truth behind, and it is working. Every day we see more and more Christians pushing to accept that which is sinful as acceptable – twisting God’s Word in the process. We must stand firm for the sake of those who need to know the love of Jesus.
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