1 Timothy 1:5: Now the end of the
commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience,
and of faith unfeigned: (AKJV)
Throughout the history of
the people of God, commandments have become the guiding principles of life. As
soon as God created Adam and Eve, God gave them a commandment (Genesis 1:28). Moses
did not only deliver the 10 commandments given through him by God but also
taught God’s people to obey these commandments (Deuteronomy 4:5-8).
The Bible suggests that we
should obey God’s commandments because it would be unwise not to. Furthermore,
God’s commandments are ethical and moral because God is a moral God, and it
explains that the commandments help set for people the true standard of
morality (Psalm 19:8-10).
Jesus Christ, before He
died, left His disciples with compelling commandments (Matthew 28:19-20; Matthew 24:14; Mark 16:15; Mark
13:10; John 20:21).
Paul charged the young
Pastor Timothy to correct teachers in their false doctrines and fables (1
Timothy 1:3-4). As Jesus Christ commanded His
disciples to preach the gospel, Paul urged Timothy to warn and admonish
preachers to preach only the truth gospel. This commandment looks awesome to Timothy
as he can freely lambast the false teachers, point out their wrongdoings in
public, preach about their nonbiblical teachings, and evangelize the unsaved by
putting down the other fake teachers and counterfeit preachers with their fabricated
doctrines, false practices, and pagan practices. After all, Timothy was charged to do so by the greatest leader of his
time, the apostle Paul.
The children of God are so comfortable
to follow this commandment of pointing the wrong doing of our fellowmen or
criticizing the crooked beliefs and practices of other Christian groups, even
using social media to put down and denigrate other people’s beliefs, whether
political or social, or religious.
Paul is very much aware of
what is going on in the church of Ephesus. On his second missionary journey,
Paul visited Ephesus from Corinth. He evidently planted the church there, as he
left Priscilla and Aquila to be in charged (Acts 18:19). On his third
missionary journey, Paul stayed in Ephesus for about 3 years. There he cleaned
the city with false doctrines and pagan practices. When he left Ephesus, he
charged Timothy to remain in Ephesus to continue preaching about false
doctrines and pagan practices (1 Timothy 1:3-4)
Of false
doctrines and pagan practices.
Who are practicing these
false doctrines and fables and genealogies? The scenario of this letter of Paul
is Ephesus, which was an ancient Greek city that later became under Roman rule.
The Ephesians are predominantly Gentiles, and not Jewish. There were also Jews
who already lived in Ephesus (Acts 19:1-2). There was mentioned of the sons of a
Jewish priest (Acts 19:14-15). There were
also itinerant Jews who served as exorcists (Acts 19:13). With this composition
of the population in Ephesus, we can better understand what Paul meant in 1
Timothy 1:3-4 —teaching of other doctrines, fables, and genealogies.
These stray doctrines, according to Paul, has affected the growing
Ephesian church that there are disputes in the church that removed godly
edification among the Ephesian believers.
Teaching
of other doctrines
As the church in Ephesus
grew, the believers were confronted with many questions by Jewish teachers. They had issues on the interpretation
of the Mosaic law as they are Greeks and not Jews. Because of the absence of Paul, the believers became restless in
their beliefs and doctrines.
Fables or
myths
The Ephesians worship the
goddess Diana. She is known as the
goddess of the Amazons, the mother of animals, and the many-breasted Artemis,
the goddess of fertility. She is
Artemis to the Greeks, and Diana to the Romans. There is also the reference of fables (Titus 1:14) and a rampant
practice of magic and sorcery in Ephesus (Acts 19:19-20).
Genealogies
There were Jews who settled
in Ephesus after their dispersion, and captivity. It has been said of an endless struggle among the Jews to prove
what tribe they descended from or to prove to themselves priests and Levites. Paul said that there has been no end to
this struggle that this often resulted to questions and debates among the Jews. Why were the Jews confronted of this
confusion of their genealogies? In
Gill’s Exposition, the reason is said to be the captivity of the Jews and their
dispersion that has led to their inability to distinguish their tribes and
families.
Paul, other than the charge
to preach, correct, and admonish, reminded Timothy to be careful with his
preaching. That is why he wrote this letter to Timothy to remind him that more
than the preaching is the practice of love and compassion (1 Timothy 1:5)
The goal of the commandment
to preach and to correct is love. There is no condemnation, no judgement, no
despising, not belittlement, no depreciation, no deprecation, no derogation, no
disparagement, no vilification, no mockery, no put-downs in evangelism.
As scriptures teach us to
obey commandments, they also teach us to love. Preaching in necessary for
people to understand that the only way God’s purpose and plan can be received
by humankind is through faith. We are encouraged too to share the message of
faith to those who advance false teachings, wrong teachings, and those who live
in darkness.
How then are we able to
preach in love? Paul did not only command Timothy but advised the young
preacher in preparing himself for the capacity to love.
Scriptures teach that love
results from three human experiences.
A pure heart
A pure
heart is a requirement for worship (Psalm 24:3-4). It is a requisite for being
a vessel of God. Timothy was advised to prepare himself for a pure heart (2
Timothy 2:21) to love (2 Timothy 1:13). A pure heart is a result of a real
encounter with God (Ezekiel 36:26; Matthew 5:8) and genuinely repentant heart
(Galatians 5:1). A pure heart results from obeying God commands of purity and
righteousness (1 Peter 22-23; Psalm 119:9) and the pursuit of truth (John
4:24).
This pure
heart we experience when we fully surrender to the truth of God’s word. It is
also a measure of how much we wanted to know Him (Psalm 18:26). And it is this
knowledge of Him that we desire to worship Him, love Him, and live like His
Son, Jesus Christ.
As a pure
heart leads to contentment in life (1 Timothy 6:6), one can love even the
unlovable. As love is exercised in life, this love does not only teach, confront,
and edify; this love also yields maturity in faith (Ephesians 4:15).
A good conscience
We might
wonder where our conscience comes from. Evidently, our conscience is within us
(Romans 1:20). When Paul charged Timothy to love from a good conscience, he
understood it himself. He lived it, he proclaimed this good conscience before
Felix the governor (Acts 24:16).
Love comes
from a clear conscience toward God and men. This prevents us from being judgmental
of other people. I have experienced in my life that the darker my conscience,
the more I become critical and judgmental of other people, the more that I am
not able to love other people.
We often
ask ourselves why we love others. It is because we are happy in our live. The
secret to happiness is having a good conscience, when our conscience is in
lined with God’s righteousness.
A good
conscience does not only teach us to love, it also allows us to enjoy God’s
eternal joy (2 Corinthians 1:12).
A sincere faith
Faith is what matters in our encounter with Jesus Christ
(Galatians 5:6; 2 Timothy 1:13). Faith
is believing in what Jesus died for. We cannot love when we do not see what
prodded Jesus Christ to offer Himself on the Cross. It was love (John 3:16; John 15:13). Unless we
understand and experience this ourselves, we cannot love.
That is why our eloquence and credibility in preaching is
considered as merely sounding brass or clanging cymbal (1 Corinthians 13:1).
Jesus Christ taught his
disciples that love is attached to the commandments (John 14:15). Jesus Christ
even gave his disciples a new commandment (John 13:34) to love one another as He has loved them.
In Gospel Chimes, we can find a story of a little
four-year-old African girl that had been sold as a slave. She had never known
what love was. Even her name, Keodi, meant "Nobody loves me!"
When she grew to be about ten years old, her body became covered with
ugly sores. The natives turned her out and would have nothing to do with her.
But some kind missionaries took Keodi in and cleaned her up, cared for her
sores, and put clothes on her. At first, she could not believe any one loved
her. She went about saying, "I am only Keodi; nobody loves me." The
missionaries told her that Jesus loved her and tried to teach her what love
meant. Then she looked down at her dress, clean body and bandaged sores, and asked,
"Is this love?"
