Skip to main content

1 Timothy 1:3 - How to spot counterfeit doctine

Dear Friends,

What a blessed Sabbath day.  Hearing about the angel's song from Luke in the sermon.  Basking in the light of peace with God, the only peace that really matters.  The only source of peace with fellow creatures (horizontal relationships) is peace with God (the vertical relationship).

Blessings,

Jeff

The top issue that Paul wants Timothy to remember is purity of doctrine.  Paul was aware the "different doctrines" (heterodox) that were being pedaled in the churches.  The key is to know what the "same doctrine" (orthodox) in great detail.  The counterfeit is exposed when compared in every detail to the original.  Timothy is to focus on the original, not all the "different doctrines".  When anything new comes along, just compare it what Paul taught.  If it matches exactly then it is the same.  If it doesn't match, it is a "different doctrine".  

Instruction - What God expects of me - Purity of doctrine.  I once heard the analogy to continental divides.  A drop of rain on the east side of the divide that runs through the Rockies winds up in Gulf of Mexico.  A drop that that lands just a few inches to the left on the west side of the divide winds up in the Pacific Ocean.  Likewise, the boundaries of orthodox Christianity are well defined.  Anything outside of the boundary winds up in a very different place.  The elders at TCCS are committed to historic biblical Christian doctrine.  We can only teach what the Bible teaches.  We cannot and will not compromise with culture on moral issues.  We will always align with what the Bible says.

Thanksgiving - Such a simple statement of the duty of elder.  Know the true in detail and anything false will be obvious.  Waffle on the truth and there is no basis for defense against the false.  Your holy nature is the model for all that we are to know.

Confession - waiting for results of "other doctrine" to become apparent and then saying "That is false".  If it isn't in the Bible, then it cannot have good results.  The standard of teaching to which we are committed is the standard, not the results.  For example Large crowds are not proof of sound doctrine.  

Petition - keep us true to whatsoever you have appointed in Your Word. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2 Chronicles 33:7-9 Thoughts on Davidic covenant - Day 362

Good morning faithful readers, The finish line is in sight!!!  One of the themes of scripture is that God is a covenant keeping God.  There are many between God and man. Adam, Noah, David are examples.  Covenants are more than promises.  They are made between a superior and inferior with conditions for each side and blessing and penalties based on keeping the conditions.  These are covenants of works which fallen man was unable to keep.  Thanks be to God that the Father made a covenant of grace with Christ, the second Adam, which he fully kept. Blessings, Jeff The promise in v8 was made to David when he had planned to build the temple and God promised to build him a house forever. (2 Sam 7:10).  Seems like there are only two possibilities about Manasseh's disobedience.  Either he knew of this covenant that God had made with his 13th great grandfather and chose to disregard it, or he didn't know of it and was unaware of the penalty.  Let's con...
Post a Comment
Read more

2 Chronicles 30:16-20 Hearts set to seek the Lord - Day 359

Good morning fellow members of the household of God, After writing the devotional, I am thinking about the Passover as a household event.  In ancient Israel, the physical household of man was covered by the blood of the lamb.  Now, it is the spiritual household of God that is covered by the blood of the Lamb. Blessings, Jeff The account of the greatest celebration of Passover since time of Solomon (v 26).   Observations: One of the things that made this one great is participation of some of the tribes from the northern kingdom.  Israel was a united kingdom and Solomon and now toward the end of the northern kingdom, there is at least a semblance of being united. God allows some exemptions: Who offers the sacrifice:  The original Passover was a family by family sacrifice of a lamb.  However in  Deuteronomy 16:5-6 this changed to a centralized location once they entered the promised land.  (You may not offer the Passover sacrifice within any of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Revelation 22:3-5 Final and eternal restoration - Day 365

Dear saints in the Lord, Congratulations!  You made it.  We have been through much turmoil in the last year ('20-'21).  But God is faithful to His promises.  I trust that you have been blessed in your reading and have drawn closer to God.   Since we didn't get the blog up and running at the beginning of the challenge, I am going to go back and post entries to cover that first month or so.   Blessings, Jeff Nothing accursed in the city of God, the new Jerusalem.  The presence of sin will be gone.  I am working on memorizing Westminster Shorter Catechism and currently on question 82.  Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God? No mere man since the fall is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God but does daily break them in thought, word and deed. I think our passage today points to the truth of this question.  Do you notice how this answer is not exactly the same as the question. "Any man" bec...
Post a Comment
Read more