Precious Treasure

I started this blog post on Monday. Sometimes it can be a bit of a struggle; not the study or the writing but getting out ahead of God. I can read a passage and become so excited that I become distracted formulating the blog as I study and miss something important. My biggest concern is to get caught up in my thoughts and miss the main point. So, I decided to slow down a bit and listen to the Word. I started in 1 Timothy and thing that caught my eye was talk of a good deposit.

I like the book of 1 Timothy. I ended up reading through all of it. and coming to a passage that touched my heart at the end of the letter. It is 1 Timothy 6:20-21. It is a very powerful passage, so powerful that Paul restates it in his second letter to Timothy – 2 Timothy 1:13-14. Both passages spoke of a deposit entrusted to Timothy; to all that believe.

1 Timothy 6:20-21 (ESV) ²⁰ O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” ²¹ for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.

2 Timothy 1:13-14 (ESV) ¹³ Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴ By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

I read these passages and I went back to the beginning of 1 Timothy and just read through it again. There are a lot of great teachings in this book but as I read it that piece about the deposit held my focus.

Warning Against False Teachers

When Paul left he urged Timothy to stay in Ephesus and make sure that no false doctrine was taught to the people. Paul reaffirmed for Timothy proper teaching and what happened with false teaching.

1 Timothy 1:3-7 (ESV) ³ As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, ⁴ nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. ⁵ The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. ⁶ Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, ⁷ desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.

These false teachers talk about things they do not understand and lead people away from the truth of salvation by heaping tasks upon them rather than teaching faith and living and worshiping in the Spirit.

You know that there are so many places to get information about our Christian faith if you are not grounded in God’s word you can be deceived. Just watching television, you can see a person with a ton of letters after their name professing their high education making “confident assertions” about our faith and they are completely incorrect. But the only way to know of their lie is to know to test it against God’s Word.

After that warning, Paul reminds Timothy why Jesus came.

Christ Jesus Came to Save Sinners

Paul, spoke of His unworthiness and using his example as confirmation that Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Not cleaned and polished sinners living in accordance with the law. There were no minimum or maximum conditions to be saved. He came to save sinners. All we must do is believe in Jesus for eternal life.

1 Timothy 1:12-17 (ESV) ¹² I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, ¹³ though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, ¹⁴ and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. ¹⁶ But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. ¹⁷ To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Paul is a good example to show us that all of us, regardless of our past have hope in Jesus Christ. Our list of specific grievances may differ, but ultimately, they are all sin. And Jesus came to save Sinners. I read this and went back and read John 3 just because. I also looked at the cross references in these passages and spent some time in Romans 3.

I read through the chapter but focused on the section with the heading, “The Righteousness of God Through Faith.”

The Righteousness of God Through Faith

This passage contains one of the verses that helps me stay grounded – “all fall short.” The passage is lengthy, but it is worthwhile.

Romans 3:19-20 (ESV) ¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. ²⁰ For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Through the law comes only knowledge of sin. None of us can be justified by it. We only come to realize the depth of our sin. But salvation comes by faith through Jesus Christ.

Romans 3:21-26 (ESV) ²¹ But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— ²² the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. ²⁶ It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Christ gave up His life for us. No one could have put Him on that cross had He not been willing to go and obedient to the Father. He shed His blood as a free gift to pay my debt. I cannot boast, because it was a gift, not anything I did, except to believe.

Romans 3:27-28 (ESV) ²⁷ Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. ²⁸ For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

I read that passage and I am filled with a feeling of thanksgiving and humility. Words fail me when I consider all this. God’s plan required the blood of His Son Jesus to save me. I am overwhelmed at the price Jesus paid willingly for me.

Reflections

I looked back through these passages and finished reading 1 Timothy again this morning. Paul gives much instruction for the Church and he warns again about false teachers and the need for Timothy to “Fight the Good Fight.”

As I reflected on all the misconceptions, half-truths and outright lies or deceptions about Jesus all I could do was think of how important knowing His Word is. We know the deceiver. Peter defined him well.

1 Peter 5:8 (ESV) ⁸ Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

When I think of sober minded I think of a mind led by the Holy Spirit nourished by the Word of God.

Fight the Good Fight of Faith

We must fight the good fight of faith. But to do that we must flee the selfish things of the world and its deceptions and false teachings. Paul is such a man of passion when he writes. I like this passage that he uses to close this letter to Timothy.

1 Timothy 6:11-16 (ESV) ¹¹ But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ¹³ I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, ¹⁴ to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶ who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

He warns Timothy to flee from its traps. Instead, pursue righteousness. “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses(vs.12).”

Closing Thoughts

Paul tells Timothy and he tells us to fight the good fight of faith. We must not let false teachers twist the truth of God’s Word. The only way I know to do that is to prayerfully study God’s Word and discuss it openly with fellow believers. I am very thankful to belong to a church that believes the Bible is the only source of absolute truth from beginning to end.

And that faith we hold on to we must guard. I will close with the passage that started this.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank you for all that you have given me. Thank you for this precious gift of faith and hope and the promise of eternal life through your Son Jesus Christ. I pray Father for wisdom to guard this precious gift and hold it always in my heart.

Thank you, Lord, for Your Holy Word. The true source of understanding. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen!