Discussion Questions
Question 1
What is the relationship between Paul and Timothy and why does he call him my “child”? Why did Paul write these 3 pastoral letters to Timothy in Ephesus and Titus in Crete? How do you think these letters will be of help to us in FBC?
Answer
Timothy is Paul’s “child in the faith”. Paul refers to him because of his relatively young age probably in his 30’s, and it was on one of his missionary journeys in Asia Minor where he met Timothy and the young man became his protege.
The letters were written to alert the church of the necessity of dealing with the growing problem of false teaching and heresy, to establish the church and its leaders in teaching and behaviour so that the church would function as a pillar and support for the gospel. The letters were to provide Timothy and Titus with the methods or procedures (we call them SOP ) in managing the church as well as to prepare the church for the necessity to preaching the gospel.
Question 2
What was the nature of the false teachings or heresies that were going on in Ephesus at the time?
Answer
Myths and Speculations on the Law (1 Tim 1:3-10; 4:7; 6:3-6; 6:20-2; Titus 1:10, 14; 3:9-10; 2 Tim 2:16, 23; 4:4). Asceticism (1 Tim 4:3; Titus 1:15) Greed (1 Tim 6:5, 6:9-10; Titus 1:11) Denial of a Future Resurrection (2 Tim 2:18).
Question 3
What were the characteristics of the false teachers there? Have you seen examples of some of them in our modern churches today ? What are the common characteristics of these false teachers in our contemporary society?
Answer
They were absolutely “devoted” to their false teachings so much so that they were eagerly spreading their false teachings probably due to their own perceived ideas of its life changing consequences. They were “pseudo-intellectuals” pontificating on complex myths and speculations about the Law. They thought themselves qualified to teach despite lacking a fundamental understanding.
Question 4
What was the consequences of their false teachings? How can false teachings occur in the church today and how can we safeguard against such dangers? If we do discover that we have disagreements over the fundamental doctrines of our church, what should the ethical believer do?
Answer
The consequences are a preoccupation with vain discussions on speculations. This is discussing and arguing over various theories and ideas. The other consequence is a distraction from the actual ministry of the gospel which is to love and serve each other. The false teachings embroil the church in useless discussions, which then cause division and enmity and detracts the church from its main ministry of the gospel.
The issue is “pride” and a lack of ministry means a lack of “love”.
Many churches have often split over the matter. If the church member has discovered that he or she no longer subscribes to the church’s central doctrines, they should speak to the elders about it and be humble enough to be persuaded by Scripture. If they cannot agree, it would be best that they seek to worship and join another church whose doctrinal stand aligns more closely with their personal beliefs. In this way the unity of the church is preserved.
Question 5
Obviously the false teachers were pushing the idea of obedience to the OT laws and using it to gain their own righteousness. What according to Paul is the main function of the law? Why is this important? Look at Romans 1:16-17.
Answer
The main function of the law is to show our own unrighteousness and sin. The law was not mean to be how we can earn our own righteousness which is why Paul wrote “ law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners”.
So Paul is saying the way is not how a person is regarded as “ just” or righteous. It just shows you how far we are from being “just”. The law in its essence points to Jesus and faith in Jesus which is the only way a person can ever be “just”.
Romans 1: 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Paul’s position is that the only way a person can be “just” or righteous is not by obedience to the law as a method of self salvation but by faith ….trusting Jesus which is why he says the righteous shall live by faith. So the law was not written for the “just” or as a means in which we gain standing before God but to show us we are out of step with God’s standard
Question 6
According to Paul what is the aim of the true gospel? How do we actually live this in our daily lives and how do we help each other in this endeavor?
Answer
The aim of the gospel is “ 5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith”. We need to contrast false teaching with the truth of the gospel and we can do this by looking at the aim of the gospel which is an authentic love for God and our fellow man which will be seen in how we care for each other, how we serve each other because His love and grace have transformed our own lives. The false teachers’ focus is not love but an elitist stand of superior knowledge that fills their heads with pride as they alone have the truth. Bible knowledge in the hands of the false teachers is the way in which they elevate their own self esteem and position in the eyes of their fellow church members. True gospel understanding drives people to service and sacrifice.
A good conscience is behaviour that is line with our conscience and a consistent way of living which is in line with our theology. It is not practising a double standard where on the one hand there is religious behaviour on a Sunday and default “normal “ bussiness as usual behaviour for the rest of the week. This hypocrisy plagues all faiths because it is all too easy to discuss the bible as an intellectual exercise, but it is much harder to “walk the talk”.
The last aim of the gospel is a sincere faith which means an authentic trust in the finished work of Christ who guides us with the Spirit. It is a constant trust in His righteousness in what we do, how we see others and how we see ourselves. The opposite to this is we tend to trust in all the good works and ministry service that we have performed as a proxy for our spirituality. Then we trust that we have good standing before God and become like that Pharisee who stands before God at the temple with his head held high because of his sacrifices and religious behaviour rather than the poor tax collector who is there on his knees trusting himself to God’s mercy. We need a sincere faith always trusting His work and not ours
Question 7
Is there a requirement for the Christian today to keep the Old Testament Law in its entirety? Discuss the matter and its implications in the church if you do believe that we must keep the Old Testament law in its entirety.
Answer
The Old Testament law has been entirely fulfilled by the life and sacrifice of our Lord Jesus We no longer keep the law in order to be saved. The OT law is now obsolete as far are we are concerned. All the temple ceremonies and sacrifices for sin that had to be performed for a man to gain standing before God have been replaced by the new Temple who is Jesus. That is why when Jesus died, the curtain that separated the holy of Holies from the rest of the temple was torn from top to bottom. All the food laws are obsolete.
Jesus summarised the law as to love God and love our fellow man. The life we now lead is by the Spirit and the Words of Jesus in the New Testament. The principles underlying the OT law still apply as a guide to us in how we should love our neighbour.
For example, in the OT, farmers were not allow to harvest their crops completely to maximise profits. They leave the harvest at the periphery of their fields to the poor. The principle of social responsibility as an act of love now provides a guide in which we in the contemporary church can use but we are free to express his principle in a manner in which the Spirit will guide us in our situation. If we owned a restaurant we could either have set aside certain free meals for the poor or donate some of our proceeds to a charity.
Certain OT laws mentioned explicitly in the NT continue to apply such as “for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers,” So these draw the boundaries of righteous behaviour and sin and they apply both in the OT and NT as the authors of the bible like Paul specifically apply them.
Case Study 1
Ronald has noticed that the behaviour of one of the members of his worship team called Alfred had changed dramatically. On closer discussion, Alfred related that he has had a life changing experience because he had started abstaining from “unclean” foods like crabs. He celebrates his own Sabbath on Saturday and he no longer celebrates Christmas because he claims that it is a pagan festival. He was formerly a drug addict but once he started being faithful in these areas, his addiction completely disappeared. He enthusiastically started sharing his experience with his team mates on the worship team but he does not force his view down their throats.
What should Ronald do and why? Discuss
Discussion Questions
Question 1
Why is Paul suddenly writing about his personal testimony when he is discussing the topic of false teachings of the law ? What is the prime difference the the false teachers of the law that Paul was trying to demonstrate in his defence of the gospel ? What is the common characteristics of most false teachings?
Answer
The main characteristic of most false teachings invariably focuses on the works and efforts of man in order to ingratiate himself to God or gain standing or merit and this false teaching about the Law will be not different. The law is misused in the sense that it become a manner in which people can gain righteousness with God which Paul has already said it a wrong use of the Law. To contrast the gospel, Paul cites his own testimony as he is the example of a person furthest from righteousness because he was so sinful and evil in that he blasphemed against Jesus, condemned him, persecuted His people which is persecuting Jesus and was totally insolent and proud of himself and counted his own evil as merit. You probably could not find someone as far away from righteousness as Paul was at the time.
Question 2
Did God choose Paul for ministry because he was deemed to be “faithful” explain? Discuss how God chose each one of you and how God gave you strength to His ministry today. Everyone has a calling from God and God enables us to be faithful to that calling.
Answer
God did not choose Paul because he was deemed faithful but God “ who has given me strength”. In order words God does not choose a man because he is faithful but He gives the man the strength to be faithful. We are never saved by merit nor chose for our strengths.
Question 3
The cornerstone of our spiritual warfare according to Paul is keeping “faith and a good conscience “ What is our conscience? (Look at Romans 2) What does Paul mean by this and why is it important ? How is this the key to our progress in our walk of faith? Please explain and discuss.
Answer
Let’s look at the what our conscience is according to Paul when he writes in Romans 2: 14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
So our conscience is that barometers in our mind which is the moral compass instilled in every persons consciousness. It is moral in the sense that it is aligned with what God expects and wants in his creatures ie His Law. That is why Paul says it is written in their hearts which is for the Jew the center of their volition.
When we act out against the alignment of our conscience we sin. To keep a good conscience means to live and act in a manner that is aligned with our conscience.
The cornerstone of our war fare is faith and a good conscience which means keep faith and living and acting in alignment of our conscience. What we believe by faith will determine how we act and live. Our faith determines our works our good works.
The meaning of keeping a good conscience is living or acting in a manner which is consistent with our conscience. If we steal or assault someone we are acting out against our conscience which will condemn us. If we exercise love and reach out to help our fellow man we are acting in line with our conscience. If we hold double standards on the one hand claim to be saints that is believers “set apart” to the Lord and yet on the other hand we act in an unrighteous manner then we are not keeping a good conscience.
This is important because the integrity of our faith is determined by our actions which should be in line with our beliefs hence our faith. This is a constant state of spiritual warfare as Satan will endeavour daily to cause us to give in to temptation and act in a manner contrary to our conscience and once we do that then Satan will pivot on to the other side and start condemning the very actions which we had just committed which he had tempted us into.
Hence we are in a loose ..loose situation that is why it is called warfare and we are fighting with our selves because we have an ingrained sinful nature which the devil exploits each time. It is like we have a loose thread in our shirt and the devil is constantly pulling on it to unravel and expose us for the sinners we are and then he condemns us When we sin against our conscience we are left with only two choices to admit the sin or excuse the sin.
A. When we admit the sin
The Holy Spirit will gently expose our sin by pricking our conscience in order for us to take remedial action. The devil on the other hand will pounce on our sin and pointing out our obvious hypocrisy because we claim to be saints or sets apart ones ..holy unto the Lord and yet this is how we behave? There will be recriminations “You are not a true Christian” “You have betrayed the faith”. The trouble with these condemnations it would seem to imply to us that we are solely responsible for maintaining our faith by our own efforts at ethical behaviour. The aim of the devil is to loosen our grip on our faith. To believe that our constant sinning is so bad that you cannot really rely on Jesus to forgive you for the 50th time can you? Salvation depends on you and your effort. The harder we try the harder we fall and more condemnation comes in so that in the end we go into a tail spin and we feel embarrassed and unworthy to even approach God in prayer and our prayers become more formal and distant and our faith is endangered.
B. When we deny our sin.
The fact of our sin is so strongly condemned by the devil ,will on the other hand trigger a defence mechanism which will automatically suppress our conscience. It is too painful for our conscience because we had bought into the severity of the Devil’s condemnation and it would seem that our well being or self esteem is dependant on our keeping up appearances and being the saint or set apart holy one we claim to be. We suppress our conscience because that is the only way we can justify ourselves and keep on sinning and over time we develop double standards when we condemn others for the very sins we commit but we cannot see it because we have suppressed our conscience. In this case the Devil pivots and changes tactics because further condemnation will be counterproductive for his purposes so he backs off and instead soothes your conscience and says it is all good not need to worry about such “minor sins”. The right strategy in spiritual warfare is to keep faith and a good conscience. The right choice is to listen to the gentle prompting of the Spirit who always points us back to the foot of the cross. Yes you have sinned but your spiritual progress is not dependant on your efforts or work but on how tightly you hold on to the finished work of the cross which is the definition of faith because it is trusting in what Jesus has done for us. Our spiritual progress is dependant not on how hard we try but on whether we are truthful…keeping a good conscience we are which means not suppressing our conscience and recasting our sins are minor, or pretending we did not sin but staying true to our conscience and accepting we have sinned but we throw ourselves at the foot of the cross each time and acknowledge our spiritual bankruptcy and trust in His grace and mercy.
Question 4
What is “justification by faith “ how is the Roman Catholic understanding of this different from the Protestant understanding? What is the danger that Protestants face in their understanding of the justification and compare it to the danger the Roman Catholics face.
Answer
Justification by faith is the position of Protestants on our understanding on how God saves us. It is a declaration by God that we are justified that is in a right relationship with Him. We are not righteous in the truest sense of the word where we are in our own behaviour or intrinsic nature righteous or totally aligned with the Law or our conscience but we are declared righteous on the basis of what Jesus had done for us on the cross as He lived the kind of life we should have lived totally aligned with the Law and died to pay for our sins. Once we have been justified we then live our lives in response to our totally undeserved justification. We live progressively more holy lives but that kind of living does not bring any merit for us to be declared righteous, that is totally Christ at conversion. Our righteous living post conversion is merely a response by faith to what God had already done for us. We are no justified on the basis of how we live. It is all Jesus.
The Roman Catholic view of justification does not stop at conversion it’s concept of justification extends to how we live after we come to faith. For them our categories of justification and sanctification are lumped into one entity considered as justification . God’s Spirit progressively makes us holy in the sense that we begin to live in accordance to the Law and we become righteous. Our sanctification is included in our justification because we are progressively made righteous. The sacraments of the Lords Supper and Baptism and other sacraments in the Catholic Church needs to be received and contribute to our intrinsic righteousness There are dangers in both positions. The Catholics face the danger of depending on the sacraments or their good works to gain intrinsic righteousness that will merit salvation whilst the Prostestant will come into the temptation to focusing on their justification by faith no will conveniently forget that they are to respond to God’s grace by living righteous lives not gain merit but as a reciprocation to the grace of God.
Question 5
Paul warns that abandoning faith and keeping a good conscience poses the danger of making a ship wreck of their faith. What does Paul mean?
Answer
Paul is saying that Christians who neglect to live righteous lives and continue depending on the work of Christ on the cross will eventually come into a place in their lives that they are in danger of loosing their faith.
Question 6
Are these believers like Hymenaeus and Alexander in danger of loosing their salvation? Can a Christian loose his or her salvation ? Look at Heb 10:26-27 and Col 1:21-23 and compare to John 6: 37-40 and 1 Peter 1:3-5. Can you discuss these seemingly contradictory verses and come to some conclusion to answer the question?
Answer
There are in Scripture parallel verses on the one hand we are assured of our election by God and His protection of us until we move into eternity as in John 6: 37-40 and 1 Peter 1:3-5.. On the other hand we are also warned in Heb 10:26-27, Col 1:21-23 that we can loose our salvation if we do not persevere with our faith. Both sets of verses tell the truth but from different vantage points. Both truths run in parallel. The assurance passages tell us we will not loose our salvation. The warning passages are a mechanism by which we are warned to persevere in our faith until the last days. It is like hiking a treacherous mountain trial where we are reassured that we will make it to the summit but the existence of warning signs all along the path to the summit are all placed there so that we will pay attention and reach the summit unscathed.
Question 7
Look at Act 27:22-34 at the prophecy given to Paul when he was in a ship assailed by a huge storm. Were the sailors and Paul ever in danger of loosing their lives and Paul missing his date with destiny to testify for Jesus in Rome? How does this episode described by Acts provide a guide for us in our understanding of how God determines our future and the part we play in it?
Answer
This passage is the best example of divine determinism and human responsibility. There are definite assurances given to Paul that the soldiers and him will be safe although the storm will destroy their ship. There is a purpose that Paul will testify for Jesus to Caesar. On the other hand there is also the warning that the soldiers are not to lower the life boat and abandon the ship in the midst of the storm.
There is divine intention and plan displayed by the prophetic intention for Paul to get to Rome. There is also the warning not to let the soldiers leave the ship before they run aground. The warnings serve as a mechanism by which the people and Paul are all ultimately saved. Was there a danger that if the soldiers life the ship prematurely that they will all not survive the storm? I believe there was a real danger , it was not a hypothetical danger it was a real danger. How can there be a real danger if there has already been a promise of divine intention that Paul and his company will be saved through the storm? There was a real danger and the warning was given as a mechanism by which Paul and his company would be saved. God works our His ultimate divine purpose through human responsibility and their responsibility was to heed Paul’s warning and they did and fulfilled God’s ultimate plan.
What if they had disregarded God’s warning ? They would have all perished there is no doubt. God does not issue empty threats. Yet the warnings do not imply that God will not or cannot achieve His purposes in fact they are the very mechanism through which He fulfills His purposes.
Question 8
What does Paul mean by saying that Hymenaeus and Alexander were handed over to the Devil? Is this type of punishment retributive or redemptive why? Why should the church act against such members look at (1 Cor 5). What right does the church have to act against an errant believer? How shall we correct and help an errant believer even before it comes to this drastic action. Look at Matt 18:15-19 Shall the church take action against every sin? If now what principle should guide us in this regard? Is excommunication effective in today’s society given the multiplicity of churches and much of church cavities now going on line in cyberspace?
Answer
Handing over to the Devil is phrase used to describe ex-communication because the believer is banished from the fellowship of the church and is therefore by default in the territory of the devil who rules the society at large outside the realm of the church. This type of punishment is mainly for redemptive purposes because the purpose stated by Paul was so that learn not to blaspheme or go against God. Hence it is intentioned that once bereft of Christian fellowship both these errant brothers in Christ will feel so alone and anguished by their loss of fellowship that they will feel the pain of loss and alienation from God’s family that they will repent. The reason the church to do this is for the spiritual integrity of the church. Paul mentions the metaphor of the leaven how a little of it leavens the whole loaf and in the OT leaven or yeast is a metaphor for sin. Hence sin from these two will spread and corrupt the entire church whether in Corinth or Ephesus hence it is important that they be excommunicated. Obviously before such drastic steps are taken it is important for others to gently rebuke and speak to these errant believers and pray for them in humility understanding that their role in rebuke is not predicated on their own superiority in holiness but in utter dependance on the grace of God. It is only when repeated efforts have failed then corporate action by the church is required as in Matt 18 : 15-19 when the person is still unrepentant.
For what persisting sins should there be excommunication? There are a whole bunch of sins mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5 11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. The list is not exhaustive but the list seems to focus on the more obvious sins that even in the eyes of society these kinds of behaviour will not be accepted. We are not asked to excommunicate everyone who sins or even who sins persistently in so many areas of our lives. We need to balance love and justice and hold each on dear as a brother and sister in Christ.
Discussion Questions
Question 1
Paul refers to prayer with the use of 4 words, supplications , prayer, intercession and thanksgiving , why does he do this and what nuance does each contribute to our understanding of prayer?
Answer
Supplication is a word that reflects requests stemming from a deep need which is in this case a deep spiritual need not a frivolous desire for wealth or well being. Prayer denotes all kinds of prayers we are to offer to God on behalf of all men.
Intercession is a word used in Hebrews for Christ’s work interceding for us and here it describes our child like intercession asking for the welfare and salvation of all men. Thanksgiving is integral part of prayer as the very ability to come into His presence to even present any request is predicated on His grace and mercy and when we pray we always acknowledge His mercy and grace that has enabled us to be in such an enviable position to pray to the King of Kings.
Paul is using all kinds of descriptions of prayer to indicate the expansiveness of the help that is available to us when we pray to God for all men
Question 2
Why should we pray for all men? How can our puny prayers make any difference to the outcome of history? Why is it that we often forget to pray for all men or even our own nations ? Look at Ezekiel 22: 26-31 and discuss God’s attitude towards our prayerlessness.
Answer
We should pray for all men because we are commanded to do so in this letter. God is a God who desires all men come to a saving knowledge of Him and in this regard only prayer and spiritual conviction by the Spirit will enable this reality. God chooses always in history to work with his people. We as puny helpless sinners are given the tremendous privilege of causality as CS Lewis writes. God is a God who works seamlessly through human agency. God can make a pizza appear magically to fill our stomachs but He does not He almost always chooses the human agency of the farmer who grows the wheat, rears the pigs, tends the vegetable, markets the business , the cooks to bring all the ingredients together and cook the pizza. In His purposes to save all men He has chosen to use us in prayer first and foremost.
Ezekiel 22 looks the evil of the nation of Israel and their kings on how they have behaved but their greed evil pale in comparison to the believers who have failed to pray.
Ezekiel 22: 30 And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. 31 Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord GOD.”
God looked for just a man to stand in the breach “before me” Ezekiel writes and this is not some kind of hero crusader prophet He is look for just a man to stand before God in prayer for the nation and there was none and hence the calamity that struck the nation in judgement could not be averted.
God takes human responsibility very very seriously. There is no point in us always lamenting the greed and corruption of our leaders and at the same time take the attitude of prayerlessness in our daily lives. It needs to start in prayer.
Question 3
What is the difference between a magician and a person who prays to God for a certain outcome? In church settings we often find certain worshiper will always want an elder or pastor to pray for them over a certain need, whilst this is good in the sense that the problem is dealt with corporately as a church family , there is an underlying danger of misunderstanding prayer, what is this danger? Is this the same danger is in the folk going for healing rallies by certain famous “healers”.
Answer
A magicians power comes directly from himself and his own will and if he wills it he can pull a rabbit out of his hat every single time, reliably consistently without fail. The person who prays is a person who brings a request towards someone else. Imagine if we were to bring a request to our local MP , the outcome of the request will depend entirely on the whims and fancies of the particular MP. Some might want to influence the MP with bribes or inducements but lets say we are dealing with an honest politician, then the answer to our request will lie entirely on its merits in the eyes of the MP.
We often have a distorted view of what answers to our prayer must look like. If the answer accords with our request then God is blessing us because we got what we want and our confidence in prayer rises exponentially. If we get a different answer then our confidence in prayer and in God takes a nose dive. Logically speaking this is a ridiculous attitude because we are pitting our puny mind and desires over and against that of an Almighty God who sees all of history as a single instant of time. Since God is far wiser than we ever could imagine then there are going to be plenty of times when His answers will not align with our requests. Imagine sitting for an exam paper in something so complex as quantum physics at the PhD level and comparing our answers with an expert in the field , how often do you think you answers will align with his ? It would have been the height of arrogance to even behind to imagine that we could even match 5% of our answers with his. How then can we expect the Almighty Creator’s answers to our prayers to align with our expectations ?Hence this non alignment should not detract from our confidence in prayer.
Very often people feel that their prayers will not be answered and hence they asked to be prayed over by their elder or pastor and the danger in that is because of their reliance is non the leader as if his prayers will elicit a more favorable response from God. They are not prepared for a different answer in prayer and they turn to the leader as if he is the magician who can pull the rabbit out of his hat. The same attitude extends to healing rallies held by certain healers as if healing alone comes from their hands and prayers and not from God or God is used or trotted out like a performing genie by this powerful healer.
Question 4
Why should we pray for politicians since most of us have very dim views of their motives anyway? (Prov 21:1 and 19:21) How should we practically pray for our national leaders ? Is there a difference between praying for them and voting for them especially if we do not agree with their policies? What is the role of the church as the conscience of society?
Answer
We should pray for them to so that peace will reign in our nations and enable the spread of the gospel and for us to lead godly and peaceful lives. Like it or not they are put in place by God to maintain order.
Romans 13: (ESV) 1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
Hence when Paul wrote this he was referring to that despot Nero but Paul still understood that behind Nero was God’s authority placed there for order in society. Our prayer for political leaders is especially important because of our understanding that it is God who ultimately moves their hearts for His purposes. In Isaiah 10:5 He used the tyrant king of Assyria to punish the sins of Israel. In Daniel the King Nebuchadnezzar, the great king of Babylon, said to himself:
Is not this great Babylon which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty? (Daniel 4:30)
And God took away his reason and made him eat grass like an ox until he learned this lesson (Daniel 4:34, 35):
Proverbs 21:1 says The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will”
(Proverbs 19:21).”Many are the plans of the mind of a man (of a king!), but it is the purpose of the Lord that will be established”
Hence our prayers for the kings is our acknowledgement of the dominion , the power and majesty of our God that He does what He wills and no one can stay His hand. No dictator, no president, no chairman in this world is really going to defy God and when we pray we are in partnership with God governing world affairs.
On the other hand our prayerlessness in this area will only betray our lack of faith in our God. That our God is only a village God who can work things out in our own neck of the woods and is impotent in the span of world events. Hence we must lift up our faith and move God’s hands who holds the hearts of kings.
Praying for those in power is not the same as supporting their policies especially if we live in a free and democratic country. The leaders are judged on their character and their policies. Supporting a corrupt politician with policies that benefit the church is playing into the transactional nature of politics of quid pro quo. The church needs to be the salt of the earth and light of the world. The church needs to call out both policies that are ungodly as well as behaviour that is ungodly and not just sweep them under the carpet just because the argument is made that the politician has policies that benefit the church. If the church remains silent when there are obvious corrupt acts just because the policies are beneficial, sooner of later the corruption will be made public and the silence of the church will highlight its own hypocrisy.
Question 5
When Paul writes that “God desires all men to be saved”, what does he mean? On the other hand there is a doctrine of election based on passages like John 6:44 . If God’s desire to save all men why is it that He winds up only choosing some? Does it not seem unfair? Can determinism co-exist with free will? How does Acts 4: 27-28 and Gen 50:20 help us understand?
Answer
The “all men” should be understood as all men without distinction i.e. of social class or race or ethnicity or economic status. God loves the world even though the world has rebelled against Him. He desires no man to be condemned for ever and yet despite Gods love and desire for all men to be saved, in reality there is moral responsibility from the free will of man. Not everyone will want to repent and believe on Jesus. Those who do are the ones that God has chosen before the foundation of the world hence at the same time the bible speaks of men having the free will to make morally responsible decisions there is also the doctrine of predestination where God chooses those who will respond to Him.
There are two processes that go in parallel. Like Joseph who spoke to his brothers. On one hand they sold him into slavery because they hated him and wanted to do evil to him. This is voluntary and done out of their free will for which they were culpable or morally responsible for.
In the back ground there was a parallel process going on where God had planned all along with His sovereign power that He was going to send Joseph into Egypt as a slave so that in the end he would be elevated to the second highest office in the land and thus enabled to save all of Israel and Egypt from a crushing famine. The same action…poor Joseph led in chains into Egypt is simultaneously the volitional evil perpetrated by his brothers and at the same time the manner in which God had planned all along to save both nations. So determinism can co-exist with free will. The reason why we find it difficult to have both these processes reconciled is because of the way. God is presented to us in the bible and in history.
God is presented in the pages of the bible and in His dealings with Israel and ultimately in the person of His Son Jesus as a personal God. Hence God is presented in time. He chooses Abraham, then Isaac and then Jacob and then the 12 tribes and then David and then Jesus comes as the Messiah. The revelation of God is that of a personal God who lives and acts within the sequence of time and history. However in reality God is not only personal He is also transcendent. He is both transcendent and personal at the same time. When we say God is transcendent we mean that He remains outside of time and space. He is the unchangeable perfect constant God. For Him yesterday, today and tomorrow appear as a single dot because God is timeless which is by Genesis 1 starts of with “In the beginning ..God”. When we are dealing with a transcendent God then predestination which is a function of time therefore no longer bears any meaning. It’s like when we miss a football game and have it taped up in our Astro machine. We do not know the outcome of the match but we can play it out and watch it and when we are watching it we relive the experience and feel the excitement. At the same time we can fast forward it , replay it because in some sense we are metaphorically beyond time. This is like God when He is presented in the bible his personal qualities are experienced like when we are replaying the video of the game. We experience God as a sequence in time like there is a beginning middle and end. However it is also true that God is transcendent and remains outside of time where to Him there is no time and when there is no time, then predestination becomes irrelevant and incomprehensible to us because we can only think in concepts limited by time and space because we are creatures.
What we need to do is to accept that God is revealed to us in both personal terms and in transcendent terms that predestination or determinism and moral responsibility from free will does exist because the bible says it does.
Question 6
How does the statement “God desires all men to be saved” direct or influence the church’s ministry in our nation?
Answer
The ministry of the church of the nation will necessarily take a broad a span as possible and not leave any ethnic or social group out of the reach of the gospel. We take the gospel, God moves in their hearts.
Question 7
Why is there only one way to God and it is through Jesus Christ? How does the fact that there is only one God and all three major religions claim to have exclusive access to Him becomes a cause of divisiveness rather than unity?
Answer
There is only one way to God and the reason is because of the problem of sin. There is no capable human priest or religious leader who is going to be that mediator. To be a mediator one must be acceptable to both parties. Every human priest can only represent one party the human party and he too is beset with sins hence he cannot mediate or pay for our sins.
Only Jesus represents both parties as He is both man and God. The perfect mediator. He paid the ransom living a perfect life and sacrificing his life for the penalty of our sins. The divisiveness arises as all three faiths claim that their particular ideas about the one God are correct. The federal constitution allows the constitutional right for every religion to be practiced. The free practice of religion involves the right to address and pray and worship their God however way this concept of God is perceived in each religion.
This recent move by Dewan Pustaka and Bahasa represents a gross over reach by certain quarters to impose their religious concepts of God upon the followers of other religions. The Bahasa Malaysia language is the national language used by all and as a language is not the exclusive preview of only one race or religion. Hence it is a serious breach of religious freedoms to impose this limitation upon non Muslims by restricting the terms in which they can use to practice their faith. Capitalisation in any written form is meant as a form of respect hence by forcing non Muslims to use the non capitalised spell of Tuhan would be imposing the religious beliefs of one religion over all others and this is unacceptable . If one religious group ensures that only they have the exclusive use of the word for God and relegates the other religions to use a term for God that is obviously less dignified then they are saying their God is the one true God and denying the right of other religions to their own views of who this One God is.
In the same manner the restricting of the use of Allah to only Muslims is a similar breach of the constitutional protections for all religions. The constitutional idea of the freedom of religion means one religion cannot restrict other religions in their practice.
Question 8
What are the impediments to prayer which Paul mentions here, is it a problem specific to only men? Why is this especially important in corporate prayer? Can you discuss ways in which we can help resolve some of this difficulties within our church fellowship?
Answer
The impediments are sin , anger and quarreling and it is not only restricted to men and it is only in this historical context that this was obviously an issue in the Ephesian church. Psalm 24 states this most clearly.
Psalm 24: 3 Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
5 He will receive blessing from the LORD
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah
The psalmist specifies the attitude of those who would come before God in prayer and worship. It is integrity and purity of devotion to God. Hence one cannot in all honesty claim to love God and remain in enmity and strife with our brethren. God will not honour such an attitude. This is especially important in corporate prayer because we pray as the church the body of Christ not as individuals. Look at the Lord’s Prayer it starts with Our Father not my father. The corporate nature of His body is important because it is through His death and resurrection that He had redeemed His church. The cross put to death our alienation from each other and we are now bound by the Spirit in each of us. The unity of the church is the show case of the transforming power of His love hence you can see how inappropriate it would be to come before God corporately in prayer whilst inwardly we betray the very unity that was supposed to be won by Jesus on the cross.
Discussion Questions
Question 1
Janet has a nice necklace with a string of 20 Swarovski crystals worth RM 900. Gillian has the same necklace but made up of real diamonds worth far more. Which woman should be denied entry into the auditorium to participate in the worship by the ushers? Or should the church not interfere at all? Please discuss based on biblical principles established in this chapter.
Question 2
Grandma Pearly has made it a practice to bring one or two extra shawls into the church and whenever a young lady turns up with a rather revealing top she insists they put it on. Some of the young women were outraged at this interference and complained to the elders of the church. What do you think? How should you have handled the situation?
Question 3
What is the evidence that Paul’s prohibition against women teaching and being in leadership might actually just be occasional ( that is meant for the Ephesian church for that time only) and not meant as a global prohibition against all women at all times?
Answer
Paul was writing to Timothy and the Ephesian church to counter false teachers at the time and to give advice to Timothy on how to best conduct his ministry. Hence there will be situations there which we are unaware of and have given rise to this prohibition for in this case the letter is in a sense occasional but on the other hand there is global instructions on church government which will apply to all churches and not specifically to the Ephesian church and their particular problems so this argument is weak.
Some have argues that the word “gynaikas” can be translated as either women or wives depending on the context and in this context they have suggested that the prohibition was only addressed to wives.
There was the famous Artemis cult who was a goddess in Ephesus and people who placed importance on the position of women.
Bible commentator Kroeger and husband have suggested the presence of a fertility cult that pushed the idea that women were the author and originator of men.
The word “authentein “ in Greek is a colloquial term which is very infrequently used as there are only 116 instances of use in ancient literature that we have and the meaning is varied as it can mean even to murder someone. Hence its precise meaning is unclear.
We can there fore translate “ I do not permit women to teach or to “authentein” = dominate men. The infinitive have “authority over “Authentein is translated in a negative nuance as dominate over So Kroeger is suggesting that under the influence of the cults there were women who were using teaching to dominate over the men in the church so if this is the case the prohibition against women in ministry is only applicable to Ephesus at the time and not a timeless prohibition. There is only one instance of this prohibition in the whole of the New Testament and we should not base our doctrine on only one verse.
Question 4
What is the evidence that Paul’s prohibition is not occasional and meant for all women at all time?
Answer
The letter to Timothy is not exclusively occasional (ie driven by local issues) as there was much teaching on how to conduct the church and leadership which is applicable to the church of all time. The women are referred to as “gynaikas” which can mean women or wives. The likelihood is that it is global instructions to women instead of wives as Paul would have included the term” auton” which means “their “ wives. The whole chapter is to do with instruction for men and women in general as it would make no sense that it is only the husbands who were prohibited from raising their hands in anger quarrelling and sin or that only wives were prohibited from wearing expensive clothes and single women could.
There is no concrete historical evidence of the fertility cults that prominently featured the supremacy of women that had prompted Paul to issue this prohibition. It is an interesting idea but we await more historical evidence but until that happens then this reason is deemed weak. The controversy is over the use of the word “authentein”.
The phrase to teach is an infinitive and to have authority is also an infinitive and Kostenberger did an extensive study of phrase in Greek Extra Biblical as well as Biblical literature and found that when there are two infinitives joined by the word “or” (oude) then both infinitives need to be either positive or negative together and not one positive and one negative as suggested by Kroger and the egalitarians who translate “ I do not permit women to teach (positive infinitive) or to Dominate over (negative infinitive) men.
If it is both infinitives are negative means
A. I do not permit women to teach falsely and to domineer over men If both positive.
B. I do not permit women to teach or to have authority over men. Option A is not possible because Paul would have used the word “hetero-didaskalos” which literally means “other” (Hetero) teaching (Didaskalos) which means teach falsely or another gospel which he often uses to refer to false teaching. In 1 Tim 1:3 Paul uses this word “hetero-didaskalos” when referring to the teachers of false doctrine.
1 Tim 1: 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 (hetero-didaskalos).
His use of the word is to teach (didaskalos) is in the positive sense.
Hence option B is more plausible as both teach and authority over are in a positive sense. So not to teach men is the application of the biblical principle of not having authority over men just as not wearing seductive and expensive clothing is the application of the principle of prioritising good works and character.
To answer the question to whether this prohibition should be only taken culturally applicable only to first century churches we need to see how Paul defends his prohibition.
Paul roots the support of his prohibition in Genesis where he states that men were created first implying leadership and therefore women were created for men. This roots the prohibition in the created order and not a cultural value that can change over time.
Eve was deceived not because of any innate creative deficiency in the female gender but because when the serpent approached Eve and she responded then male leadership in the created order was subverted and in this case with the tacit approval of Adam when he abdicated his leadership.
Finally he adds that women shall be saved if they adhered to their original gender role of being a partner in marriage and family in child birth that only she could do and also in faith, love, holiness and self control which are the spiritual characteristics of a gospel transformed life.
Hence there are solid reasons to believe the prohibition of female leadership and authority in church is rooted in a timeless created order and not a one of situation that only applied in Ephesus in the first century.
To be fair there is other evidence that women were extensively used in ministry like Phoebe being a deaconess and the extensive use of women in ministry and training as disciples by Jesus himself which no rabbi would do in those days. The women were the first witnesses of the resurrection. In the OT Deborah as the leader and prophetess which was a role that actually held authority as well.
However even with Jesus the inner circle of Apostles were all exclusively male which aligns with the policy that at the level of the elders it would seem that the leadership should be male. All other else of ministry of the gospel women were involved.
Question 5
Look at Galatians 3:27-28. Some people look at this verse and conclude that since there is no longer any male or female, that we are all one in Christ, this means that there should be no difference in the way we serve and women too can be elders and pastors. Do you agree that this is what the verse is about and in the light of this verse, we can ignore Paul’s prohibitions in 1 Tim 2?
Answer
The problem with this verse is the context in which it was written and in the letter to the Galatians. Paul was countering the Judaisers who wanted Christians to be Jews first submitting to the customs and laws of Israel , circumcising and taking only clean foods. He is arguing that salvation is not inherited by being children of Abraham.
Galatians 3: 16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.
The promise was not made to all of the children of Israel but to Christ and in Christ all will inherit the promises of the covenant.
Galatians 3: (ESV) 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
Hence this passage is talking about salvation and the statement that there is no longer any male or female slave or free needs to be understood in terms of salvation where there are no gender distinctions. Women are also deliberately called “ sons of God” because it is the sons who inherit and not daughters in Jewish culture and Paul’s clear designation of women as sons of God was designed to reassure them that as far as salvation and inheriting the covenant was concerned women were equal to men. For this reason we cannot take this passage and declare everyone is unisex.
Paul’s advice to the Ephesian women to stick to their gender role of child birth clearly indicates that there are gender roles as far as the rest of life and family goes.
There are also gender roles in church where the role of authority especially in teach remains a male domain.
Question 6
Alison was teaching a woman’s bible study when two of her disciples’ husbands turned up to listen and learn too. What should Alison do? Should she stop or chase them out?
Question 7
Bernadette was a church planter in a remote village in Cameron Highlands. She recently started a church amongst the natives in the jungles there. She was teaching the new converts there. There were many, including men. One of her co-workers Anne suggested that she quickly suggest one of the men be chosen as an elder and he could do the teaching instead of her because of the 1 Tim 2 prohibition, what do you think?
Question 7
If a woman has gifts of teaching and preaching, how should she utilise her gift in FBC today?
Discussion Questions
Question 1
What are some of the reasons why adopting Biblical terminology and understanding in our churches would be beneficial?
Question 2
What are the reasons why “Overseers” (Episokopos) and “Elders”(Prebuteros) are the same persons ? (Titus 1: 5-8; Acts 20: 1-17; 1 Peter 5:1-2; 1 Tim 3: 2,5 and 1 Tim 5: 17. What are the different backgrounds of each term? What about the term “Pastor” (poimenon)? How is it related to Overseer or Elder? Each of these terms are interchangeable and give a different nuance of what church leadership is like. Can you comment?
Question 3
What is the difference between the qualifications for Overseer and Deacons? What is the function of Overseers or Elders? Why is it important that the Elders are able to teach? Why are character qualifications important in church leadership? Should all full time workers be automatically entitled to be called “pastors or elders”?
Question 4
Why should there always be a plurality of Elders in your church? What are the advantages of this? Does the bible show any distinction between full time and lay elders or pastors?
Question 5
Why is it that recent converts not be allowed to become elders and what does this tell us about the difference between elders and deacons? Why are only elders tempted by pride and not deacons? Does it mean that a young man cannot be an elder?
Question 6
In what way does church leadership differ from our secular corporate leadership?
Discussion Questions
Question 1
What does the word “Deacon” (Diakonos in Greek) mean ? What is it most used to refer?
Answer
It means servant and that is the main meaning in most occasions in the New Testament. In only 3 instances, it refers to a particular church office. The second of the two tier leadership structure in the early church.
Question 2
Look at Acts 6 : 1- 7 which is the account of the earliest example of Deacons (Proto deacons). What was the issue that had precipitated the need for deacons? What was the effect of the appointment of the deacons?(Acts 6: 7) Looking at the way God used Phillip in Acts 8: 5-6, do you think deacons can also be involved in preaching and teaching the Word.
Answer
There were complaints from the Greek speaking disciples against their Jewish cousins because the Greek speaking widows of the church were being neglected in the daily distribution of aid. This caused the added burden to the apostles having to address the issue, and took up their precious time and effort which caused them to detract from their main ministry of preaching and teaching.
The effect of this move was that the ministry of the Word increased, with many converts and even from the ranks of priest who became obedient to the faith.
Phillip was involved in preaching the gospel, healing and casting out of evil spirits. Hence the ministry of the Word whilst it being the main burden and responsibility for the apostles was not limited to them as even the deacons could minister the Word.
Question 3
What is the primary responsibility of the deacons of the church? What kind of duties do you think deacons should be involved in your church set up?
Answer
From the Acts passage and the fact that the qualifications of the elders must be the ability to teach, it would be safe to assume that the main responsibility of deacons would be to handle every other ministry that would free up the Elders to the main ministry of teaching and preaching the Word.
Question 4
Jack was an elder who was involved in the 2nd Baptist Church and the leadership structure in this church comprised of pastors and elders who mainly did the preaching and teaching but they had to request for funding from the church board of deacons who had the final say in terms of the church budget and its allocation. They were also in charge of the overall church direction and leadership training. Do you think that this is the correct arrangement for a church given what you know about church leadership in the New Testament? (1 Tim 3:5;1 Tim 5: 17 and 1 Peter 5: 2)
Answer
In 1 Tim 3: 5 the elder was supposed to care for the church. In 1 Tim 5: 17 there are “ruling” elders who teach and preach and finally in 1 Peter 5: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you.
Their functions include “shepherding” and “oversight” and both these terms are evidence of leadership function endowed with authority. Hence in this church structure, it would not be biblical for Jack and other elders to leave the final decision for funding to the board of deacons as well as the overall leadership decisions regarding spiritual direction and leadership training as these are all the functions of the elder.
The ideal church structure would be to have the elders lead and do the Word ministry and to care for the flock. The deacons are to provide the main support in arranging for finance, social ministry in caring for the poor, for community service and care of the facilities.
Question 5
Why is it important for them to be tested first? Look at the context of the verse in which this criteria is mentioned? (1-Tim 3: 9 They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. 10 And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless) What are the practical qualities that we should be looking for in our deacons?
Answer
The requirement to be tested is to ensure they have the integrity of motive and faithfulness to serve in the capacity of a servant (deacon). They, as servant of the King must be committed to the gospel and live righteous lives hence the clear conscience. They are given a task to do and we need to see if they carry out their task with commitment, initiative, enthusiasm, with humility and faithfulness. If there is pride, bickering, blame casting, these will be warning signs the person is not ready. Also church work is replete with lots of criticism, valid or unfair which will be a test for whether a deacon serves for his own self esteem or for His Lord. If it is the former motive he or she will give up at criticism. If it is for the Lord, he will persevere.
Question 6
What does it mean that both elders and deacons be literally “ one woman man” translated in most versions as husband of one wife? Some people understand this to mean “one woman at a time”. Do you agree?
Answer
Faithfulness is the important quality in Christian character. Marriage is the template which God has given us as a picture of who He is and how He loves and is committed to us. Christ is the head and the church is the body. The covenantal commitment within a marriage is a vital picture of the love and commitment of Christ and the church. So having a leader who is not faithful will betray this vision.
It cannot mean one woman at a time as the person can be a serial divorcer and always breaking the marital covenant.
Question 7
Look at 1 Tim 3:11 using the English Standard Version where it is translated as “Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded”. There is also very good reason to suggest that this is an interpretation and not an accurate translation. There is also a very good case that this may be used to describe the character of women deacons instead of wives. How should you support your answer? Check out Romans 16:1
Answer
The Greek word used in this case is “gynaikas” which can mean wife or women. It most likely mean women (women deacons) and not wives simply because if it were to be wives, then Paul would have added the word “auton” which means “his”.
Secondly there is the use of the word “likewise” after both the male deacons as well as “women” (gynaikas). Hence it is reasonable to deduce that Paul is referring to two genders of deacons.
Thirdly the characteristics of the male deacons and female are in general, quite similar.
Fourthly, it would be illogical for Paul to specify the moral qualifications for deacon’s wives whilst omitting any mention to the qualifications of the wives of the elders. Hence if we translate “gynaikas” as women deacons, there would be a consistent trend in the passage that the character qualifications of all office bearers were important enough to be stipulated specifically.
Other NT evidence comes from Romans 16: 1 which describes Phoebe, the deacon from Cenchreae. The word used here is “Diakanos” .The Greek term for deaconess actually came into use in 3rd Century. Here we have evidence of women deacons.
Question 8
Can you discuss amongst yourselves how we can all serve in our church?
Discussion Questions
Question 1
Question 1 – What do each of the three metaphors about the church and gospel convey to you? Why does Paul describe the church as the church of the “living” God (Look at Jeremiah 10:5-14). What are the Roman Catholic’s beliefs on the source of all truth and authority in spiritual matters based on and can you compare this with Protestant’s beliefs on the basis of authority. What are the pros and cons of these two differing beliefs?
Answer
Family – -deep bond with love, no choice in siblings, unity Church of the living God: Ekklessia ..called out ones..the focus is on the calling of Jesus Christ on each one , called by the living God to a mission to a purpose to a life lived for Him. It is not a club where we look after each other it is a movement towards a goal. The one who calls us is living in contract to the dead wooden idols who are powerless. God’s movement is alive and always advancing because He is alive and actively leading the movement. He is not like President Donald Trump who infamously called on his supporters to march on the Capitol building and declared that he himself with walk with them but instead he chickened out and watched from the sidelines in the comfort of the White House. Our God sends us out in a mission and walks with us and in us.
Pillar and Buttress: A support and defence of the Truth of the Gospel in a world where everyone makes up their own truth.
Roman Catholics believe that the Church is the pillar of truth hence their basis of authority is threefold
A. Magisterium (Pope and Cardinals)
B. Church Tradition
C. Bible
Protestants …Bible alone
The Roman Catholic position is open to abuse as we have seen in history because if ultimate authority is given to sinful man resulted in heretical doctrines like the purchasing of indulgences for reducing time in purgatory which triggered the Reformation by Martin Luther. There are other dubious beliefs like the veneration of the saints, praying to the saints and to Mary as the mother of God, having a mass just for her called the Novena. Additionally there is controversy over the incorporation of good works as part of the basis of salvation.
The pros are a stable belief system preserved over centuries and less liable to individuals leading break away movements and denominations.
The Protestant position is the authority is on the Bible alone (Sola Scriptura) is must safer as there is only one source of authority which is the Word of God.
However the weakness is that there is no central authority and the independence of leaders to often read and interpret the bible in their own individual ways often ignoring even the basics of accepted interpretive guidelines leaves them open to multiple denominations and disunity.
Question 2
Question 2 – What does Paul mean by the “mystery of godliness” and how does verse 16 give you an idea of what it takes to be enabled to live a godly truly spiritual life ? How is this different from all the other approaches to God in the various religions.
Answer
The word “musterion” in Greek does not mean an enigma or something very difficult to understand that is puzzling and we need secret knowledge like the Gnostics to uncover. It means something hidden in the past but now revealed. The the gospel is the mystery because it is the life( incarnation), death, resurrection of Jesus and the declaration all over the world of this news accepted and taken by faith by His people.
In all other religions it is man striving by himself to be pure and holy and righteous as in Buddhism by meditation and contemplation and other religions there is a set of laws or methods where by a person can draw near to God in hopes god will accept him or her.
In our faith the path to godliness or a God centered life is a life that is responsive to what Jesus had already done for us in his life death and resurrection. We are responding to the action of God we are not seeking or drawing near to God by our own discovery or ethical life style. We acknowledge that we are lost and that God has come to us and provided a way back to Him via His Son. What propels us towards a life lived in godliness is the fear of God and the love of God which was demonstrated on the cross.
The more we take in the cross, the more we understand what it took for God to send His Son, what it took for Jesus to stay on the cross, the more we understand what we were in terms of sin and lostness the more we will experience both awe( fear) and love towards Him. Hence the fear of God and the love of God will drive us to respond appropriately to God by submitting to Him as Lord and Savior and focusing our whole lives to live in obedience and service to Him. The depth and robustness of our response will depend on our increasing knowledge of Him and the beauty of what he did for us. On the contrary other religions instead focus on gleaning wisdom to best improve ourselves and perform rituals in order to ingratiate ourselves to God.
Question 3
Question 3 – What do you understand by “conscience” looking at Romans 2 :15-16. How does the your faith interact with your conscience? What does Paul mean by stating that the consciences of the false teachers were “seared” (for help look at 2 Thess 2:10)
Answer
The conscience is our internal witness to what we already know. There is a semblance of what God expects of us imprinted in our inner thoughts and when we act in a manner that is contrary to this there will be an emotional reaction to what we did. For example if we cheated our neighbor out of his house in a scam our conscience would be triggered to make us uncomfortable that what we did was not the right thing to do. Secular people will interpret this feeling as our innate sense of justice or ethics. Confucius believed men are innately good and filial piety was based on this intrinsic conscience. We believe as Paul states that is is the Law of God imprinted in our souls from the Creator.
The Word of God is direct revelation of God as the more we read it, it will then inform our conscience moving us towards an ethical life, living consistent with our conscience and not against it. The false teacher’s conscience are seared…imprinted by Satan and they have so often ignored the subtle emotions of their conscience that it is no longer active or effective in modulating their behaviour.
The seared conscience is like the one described by Paul in 2 Thess 2:9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Delusion and fake news and deception will alter the conscience once these folk have rejected the truth and given the Devil a foot hold in their lives.
Question 4
Question 4 – Why is it that the false teachers were against marriage and abstinence against certain foods? Do you think there are currently any other religions that hold similar views and why. What is the place of bodily desires and appetites in a Christians life? Can we go for a buffet?
Answer
The thinking at the time was Greek thinking where by the nature of man was two fold where there was a higher self in terms of the soul which was pure and able to take the knowledge of God and the body which was beset with all sorts of base desires. Religion was then configured to suppress the body which was inherently evil to release the soul to the true knowledge of God. Hence ascetics and the whole raft of restrictive food laws was designed to suppress the urgings our our physical body which leads to sin. The purer state is one in which the body is suppressed. Buddhism and to a lesser extent Hinduism still focuses on these where all desire is recognised as evil and prayer and medication and rituals are designed to curse desire.
Biblical faith instead sees desires and the satiation of all bodily desires are wonderful gifts of God showered on us as an expression of His love but to be experienced within the boundaries of His Word. They are given to point us to the ultimate fulfillment of all desires which can only be met by God and God alone. Man too often misinterpret all desires as evil because they only see the horrific consequences of the indulgence of these desires when they are satisfied in behavior that exceeds the boundaries of His Word and His design for us.
Sexual desire is godly and right but expressed within the sanctity of marriage and will point us towards the thrill of ultimate union with God in eternity but the same desire satisfied in extramarital affairs or same sex unions points us to a life away from God, to addiction to spiritual ruin.
A buffet is not wrong in itself, but taken to indulge in gluttony will result in disease and spiritual alienation from God if the focus is just on the food itself but not as the food as a pointer to the ultimate fulfillment in God.
Question 5
How do you think the influence of society and in this case Greek philosophy outlook play a part in the thinking of these false teachers.
Question 6
What rationale did Paul give here against all these prohibitions of these false teachers against marriage and certain foods? Is fasting in today’s church some sort of false teaching?
Answer
The rationale Paul gave against the prohibitions of false teachers was that
A. All food was created by God and what He created is good and to be enjoyed.
B. What God had created for our good is to be received with thanksgiving like when we say grace before the meal and the fact that it’s is to be received with thanksgiving is proof that it is good
C. The freedom with which we enjoy with eating without the restrictions of food laws is a celebration of the efficacy of the work of the Cross on which Jesus died for us. We eat freely demonstrating we are no longer under the law and that Christ has fulfilled every demand of the law on our behalf. If we are still live as if we are bound by certain food laws then we are betraying our trust in the sufficiency of His work.
No fasting in today’s church is not a form of false teaching because fasting is the abstinence of all foods in order to spend a season of focused prayer and contemplation of God for a particular issue or persons in need and is actually endorsed by Jesus in Matthew 6:16-18. It is to say that our desire for God is greater than our natural desire for food. It is the greater desire for God for a period of of lives that displaces all other desires. It is to say that our lives is not consisting on what we eat or the satisfaction of our innate desires or not entirely driven by satisfying our desires not that this is wrong but for a season of fasting our desire for communion with God takes total priority. We demonstrate the in fasting we do not live entirely to fulfill our desires but have an overwhelming driving desire for God that takes center place for a season.
Fasting therefore is not a repudiation of God’s goodness or of our bodily desires but it is a demonstration of a greater desire for which we are willing to forgo for a season of our usual desires.
Question 7
Look at Romans 14 and discuss how we should as a church manage with some folk wanting to abstain from certain foods or keep certain days special or sacred. What principles must we follow? What examples can you give of these areas today? Can you comment on these ? Celebration of Christmas, Abstinence of meat on Fridays, Fasting during Lent, Drinking of Alcohol
Answer
A. Do not condemn or judge the person because whatever restriction the persons is practicing is done to glorify God and consistent with his own conscience. He is accountable to God and not you.
B. What ever restrictions or devotion to special days is a personal matter of faith of each person but the person must act in accordance with his own conscience. He must be fully convinced in his own mind. If he follows others and acts against his own conscience he will be condemned hence it is a serious matter not to act in a manner that will influence the other person to act against his own conscience.
Discussion Questions
Question 1
What does Paul mean by “godliness” (Eusebia Gk )as a goal to which Timothy must train for ? What are the two components that drive us towards godliness (Deut 10:12-13) What is the end result of godliness?
Answer
Godliness is reverence for God as a creature to its Creator. It is supposed to be the natural expected response of a creature created for a specific purpose to fulfil that purpose for which it was made. We are made in the image of God and we are to multiply and live in dominion over the rest of God’s creation as His representative on His behalf and reflect who God is in our lives hence “godliness” or god likeness. That is driven by our encounter with God. In Deuteronomy 10:12-13 Israel has encountered both the miraculous power of God in saving them from their misery in Egypt and His love as they neither deserved nor in many cases wanted His intervention.
The Exodus event and His sustenance of them in the Sinai desert and encounter of glory and power at Mount Sinai with the 10 commandments given to them had established their experience of both his power and His love.
The command to obey Him comes on the heels of that salvation event. Our drive towards living a godly live is driven by our knowledge of Him, fear ..reverence or respect or awe of His power and majesty tinged with a healthy aversion to His punishment as we are sinners fully deserving of that, and love because His grace was shown and we like Israel were not abandoned and destroyed but were saved. That results in our natural reciprocation to our God and this prompts us to genuine obedience based on a whole hearted devotion and love.
Question 2
How is both fear and love compatible when we look at this verse 1 John 4: 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. How is the fear of God and the love of God related to repentance and to godliness?
Answer
The context of Deuteronomy and 1 John is not the same. John is dealing with the issue salvation, which issues from God and the fear in John is the fear of the judgment of God because of our sin.
The passage begins with the challenge to love each other because God loved us
1 John 4: 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God
The challenge is to love each other because even our love comes from God and our love is the outward manifestation of our in ward transformation of God’s loving act in sending his Son to die for us.
1 John 4: 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
God is the source. We are the recipients and we love because we have received His love.
1 John 4: 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love
His love transforms us to love others and gives us confidence in the day of judgment because He loved us and saved us we do not have to fear judgement on the last day we face it with confidence. The perfected love is the love by which God has showered on us by Christ death and so transforms us to love as evidence of that transformation will cast out all fear which is the fear of judgment.
The fear of God in Deuteronomy is reverence and awe of a Holy Majestic and powerful God which drives us to submission because of His power and majesty as well as love because His power comes in love as well as such a magnificent God would consent to suffer and die to save us.
We are driven to live a God centered life because of our overwhelming conviction of His majesty and power and authority and our love for what this God has done for us. Only the full appreciation of this will result in repentance which is changing our mind and direction of our lives to live in submission to Him
Question 3
How do we train for godliness developing both the fear and love of God simultaneously? Why does Paul use the word “train” (gymnazoo gk) which is the same word we use for training in our gymnasiums? Compare the benefits of training in the gym vs training for godliness and discuss the benefits of both. Can you share how this has affected your life here and now ? Why is it that we rarely see our spiritual lives as a process that requires dedicated training and not just drifting alone like in a holding pattern?
Answer
The training is in the gospel (words of faith) and doctrine (teaching) of the Word of God The word gives us the sense of persistence, development of goals, discipline, effort, suffering in our endeavor to immerse ourselves into the Word so much so that it will guide our every thought and action. It takes time, planning and effort and we do it because of our love and fear of Him and not because we believe that it will earn us a place in heaven. Godliness is of benefit of all of life, life here and the hereafter
Question 4
Why is it that we can often quote a bible verse that states a biblical command but yet deep in us we are not convinced and we naturally try to find a way around the verse to explain it away or water its demands down? Can you share how you struggle in this area?
Answer
The Word is not internalised in us and remains as a concept and not an experience. We need to have believed the Word and acted upon it for it to be internalised. Need to share on how the Word is lived out
Question 5
What is the hope upon which we lay our training in godliness? Will we achieve it and why? What promise can we claim from God in this regard?
Answer
The hope upon which we place in our training is unlike natural athletes who hope in their own strength our hope is on God who saves all especially those who believe. Our part must consist on embarking on the training , striving and moving in His direction.
Question 6
What are the three areas in the public worship that we like Timothy need to devote ourselves to ? What do you see in contemporary which worship that actually distracts us from these fundamental pillars of our worship? How can we improve our public worship experience? In the current scenario of the Covid Pandemic how can the church adapt and still keep these three pillars intact?
Answer
The reading of the Word
The preaching of the Word
The teaching of the Word
Question 7
Look at Nehemiah 8:3-8 which is a scene of public worship and discuss if it is appropriate to facilitate this idea of family worship where young children are kept in the main hall with their parents during the worship in an apparent attempt to demonstrate family unity but at what expense? Justify your answer.
Discussion Questions
Question 1
Why is it always better for Timothy to encourage and older man rather than rebuke him? Does this mean that Timothy will ignore the sin that had prompted the rebuke in the first place? How and why do we need to find the balance. What is the biblical principle that underlies the way we treat each other? Discuss the practical ways in which a young person has to treat others in church like in Tim’s cases. How are older folk supposed to treat younger folk if the situation were reversed. Please share amongst yourselves.
Answer
Scolding or rebuking will always provoke a counter productive response thus frustrating the original purpose of the rebuke. One needs to be cognisant of the reason for our rebuke in the first place. The reason for our rebuke is that we are commanded by God to love and care for each other and when one finds that the other person has erred in some way or sinned in such an obvious way then it is the responsibility of the body to intervene in some manner to enable repentance and promote spiritual growth. If one does not accept any rebuke in the body it will mean that one will never learn as one seldom has any insight in ones sin and failures as we are always biased and blind to our own sin. Teachability needs to be the characteristic of each disciple.
In ministering to an older person, a sharp rebuke will impact the persons self esteem and not produce the kind of awareness of sin that will be useful. Approaching him in humility will allow the older person to be aware of the motive of the rebuke that it is out of love and not condescension. Approaching in humility will tell the other person that your rebuke is not from a position of superiority but that of a fellow sinner along the same journey. Done this way the person becomes more open to the truth and allow the Spirit to minister.
The biblical basis upon which we deal with each other is.
1. We are all sinners and the other person’s sin is not a sign of inferiority to you and your rebuke to him or her is not predicated on your own superiority of moral standing. We are not rebuking from the stance of self achieved righteousness. We are sinners and we are helping another sinner walk in holiness.
2. We are to love God and our neighbour and that must be our only motive in rebuke. The aim of rebuke or our interaction with others is not based on what we can get out of them but based on how we can encourage them . If we lash out because he or she has hurt us, that is not love , that is vindictiveness and that assumes we are morally better so we can correct the other person on the basis of our own superior moral standing and that would be a lie. Hence if the rebuke is out of love we speak and treat the person by speaking the truth in love and the way the rebuke is communicated is of utmost importance to convey the motive of love. You can say you love the person and scolding him out of love but our tone speaks louder than our truth or worse still our manner obscures the truth.
3. The way we treat each other is based on the spiritual fact that we are family Mark 3:33-35
Question 2
What does Paul mean honouring widows? How can you support the idea of financial aid from the passage? What did Paul mean to repeated telling Tim that to honour those who are truly widows? Did he mean that there were some fake widows whose husbands were still alive? What did it mean to “enroll” them on a list? Why was there a need to have this list
Answer
Honouring means showing respect and deference as well as financial aid in this context.
Evidence:
1. Vv 4 the widow’s children should “make some return” to their parents.
2. Vv 8 the one who does not “provide for “ his relatives has denied the faith
3. Vv 16b let the church not be “burdened” so that it may care to those who are truly widows
Each of these verses imply financial aid to these widows and not just respect as it cannot mean just respect when Paul says one must “provide for” his relatives.
The issue is no fake widows but “truly widows” are the widow who fit the criteria for being enrolled in a list of candidates that the church will support financially.
The need for this list or criteria was because the resources of the Ephesian church like all churches were limited and hence a prioritization was required to make the endeavour both loving to the giver as well as the recipient.
Question 3
Which widows were eligible for life long financial aid and why are there such criteria? Does it mean that if the widows did not meet this criteria that Timothy was to leave them out in the cold? What principles can we glean from the way Paul deal with these widows that can help us discern aid to the poor amongst our midst? Matthew 25: 31-46, Deut 14: 28-29; 27:19; 24:19.Does our social action and aid extend beyond the church? James 1:27. In this time of pandemic how do you think the church should respond to the increasing needs our our community ? Please share.
Answer
The widows to be put on the list for financial aid must be
1. Truly without any other source of income vv5
2. Too old to be able to earn an income which in this case is over 60 years of age…retirement age vv9
3. Truly without relatives that are willing to provide for her vv5
4. Godly character who serves in the church or community
The biblical mandate for financial and practical support for the poor comes from the Matt passage.
Matt 25: 40 And the King will answer them, Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ The term my brothers implies that the love and aid shown to members of Christ’s family. We are adopted in to His family and our first responsibility to love must be to members of our spiritual family and we will be judged on this.
The aid extends beyond finance it is to emotional psychological social support as there are prison visits and help for the sick.
In the Old Testament God always provides for the poor and marginalised which were widows, orphans and strangers
The financial aid and care is not limited to the family of God but extends outwards to our neighbours as Jesus tells us to love God and neighbour. James writes that the authenticity of our faith is demonstrated by our aid to the poor and marginalised
James 1: 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
The extent of our aid will necessarily be dependant on our resources and hence there will be a need for a hierarchy of priority which will cover folk in need inside and outside the church but the latter taking priority over the latter.
Question 4
What is the difference between the Chinese cultural tradition of filial piety and the biblical command to honour our parents? What are the similarities ? As a Christian son or daughter in a largely non Christian family how do you personally reconcile filial piety and biblical honour? What are the real life challenges and how can we overcome them please share.
Answer
Filial piety is based on personal ethics as Confucius believed in a set of behaviour that is ethical because he believed people are innately good and this is part of the natural conscience.
Biblical honour is based on obedience to God as it is enshrined in the 10 commandments (Deut 5: 16) it is not predicated on the goodness of man but on the character of God (Psalm 68:5) He is the protector of the widows but He does it through His people.
Filial piety involves ancestor worship to provide sacrifices to them after death.
Biblical honour focuses on treating the parents with honour during their life but does not continue after death but there is remembrance of their deeds to spur us on to obedience to God.
Biblical honour believes in honouring the parents in the Lord which means honouring them in a godly manner.
The similarities are that both systems involve honour of parents, both involves financial aid. Filial piety and biblical honour prefers to honour and support in life rather than death.
Question 5
Is the way we treat our parents contingent on how they have treated us? Why should we honour them? How should we honour them? When should we not obey our parents? Or should we always ? Is there an age limit? In this day and age what do you think about nursing or aged care homes are they acceptable as a form of honouring our parents? Discuss
Answer
No there is no where in the bible that gives any justification for retaliatory abandonment of parents who have not been responsible or godly or even loving.
Our honouring of them is because of our obedience to God and not because of the merits of our parents.
Some time ago I had a conversation with one of our lawyers in the community who had a difficult time respecting some of the sitting judges of which he knew were either corrupt of inept. He had to bow before them on presenting to court and treat them with respect and he rationalised to say that when he was bowing to the judge he was doing so out of respect for the position of the judge that represented the authority of the government invested by the people of the country. His deference was not based on the merit of the person sitting on the bench.
In the same way our honour to our parents is because we honour God, we obey Him and the institution of the family and parents which is the way God set up human community. Often times the devastation that sin brings is through evil parent which is no different from Paul’s injunction to submit to governmental authorities not because of the intrinsic merit of the despotic Caesar’s of his time but recognising the institutions of government were set up by God and behind their authority was His authority. The same goes for parents and our honouring of them irregardless of their individual merits is out of our deference to God and the preservation of order in our society.
We honour them with
1. Respect
2. Financial contributions, food and shelter if need be
3. Obedience in accordance to the will of God
4. Evangelism
Question 6
What are the principles involved in the discipline of elders and why must the church do so?
Answer
1. Multiple witnesses
2. Not occasional sin but persistent sin-unrepentant
3. Public rebuke preceded by private personal confrontation
4. Public rebuke must be carried out if personal overturtes rebuffed
5. Purpose is to instill healthy fear
Discussion Questions
Question 1
Question 1 – What is the meaning of bondservant and how is our understanding of it different from our concepts of slaves in the American Deep South ? What do you think would be the problems if both bondservant and master attended the same church? What did Paul advise the bond servants to do and what did Paul advise the Masters to do?
Answer
Bond servant or Doulos is someone who had sold himself into indentured slavery for a period of time to pay off a debt or to work for his passage on a voyage so that he would have the personal resources to pay. He might have been captured in war and became the bond servant of the conquering soldier.
Bond servants could be artisans, physicians, carpenters, cooks and professionals and comprised of a significant proportion of ancient society, at times up to 30-40% of the population. They could pay for their own repatriation by their years of service and for the really destitute, they would rather remain as bondservants because it provides a room and board which they would not have otherwise been able to afford on their own.
The slavery model of the American Deep South is a much much worse scenario where Africans were hunted like animals and captured, crammed into ships under the most inhumane condition to the American continent with great loss of life during the voyage. They were made to work on farms for life and were regarded as sub humans whose only calling in life was to labour for their white masters. Their offspring would be born into slavery as well and any escaping slaves faced the death penalty. If both attended the same church, it would be awkward because the bond servant might have lost respect for the Master. After all, they were both equal under the cross and since the Master was a brother in Christ, the servant would be tempted to slack off his chores and relax simply because brotherhood blurred the distinctions between Master and servant.
The Master on his part would be conflicted on how he should treat his servant because he could not treat him in the same callous and harsh manner as he needed to recognise that his servant was his brother in Christ.
Paul’s advice was for them was to change their perspectives.
For the bondservant
To show respect and not slack off in their work because of the temptation to leverage on their new relationship as brothers in Christ and thus expect special privileges and a lighter work schedule. Their servitude would no longer be fuelled by fear of reprisal or discipline because their Masters were their brothers. Paul instead points out that before, their service might have been fuelled by fear but this time, their service must be fuelled by love and brotherhood instead of fear. Their hard work fuelled by a new love and brotherhood would serve to provide a good witness to the gospel as they would have demonstrated that a Spirit filled life had resulted in even more industrious effort at work because of this new love of Christ. In this way the greater good of the gospel is served rather than any temporary benefit from the insistence of the rights of bond servants leveraging on brotherhood and love.
The masters needed to understand that the service of their Christian bond servants were no longer predicated on fear but on love which resulted in “kind service”, the description of the worker of the bond servants. Not grudging fearful service nor service that the Master was naturally entitled to by virtue of his position but service out of love the in which his bondservants offered because of their new relationship in Christ. Hence their response must be of reciprocal love for the kind service, not over bearing.
Question 2
Question 2 – What are some of the excuses that people in the church have given to justify slavery? How do you counter these arguments? What is the biblical argument against slavery? Why didn’t Paul come right out to condemn slavery and advocate a revolution? Did Paul compromise?
Answer
Excuses to justify slavery
1. Slaves do not have souls;
2. African slaves -the curse on Ham (Gen 9:25);
3. Scripture does not prohibit slavery;
4. God ordains slavery, like marriage, and problems exist only because of poor administration;
5. Slavery is the stabilizing influences on society;
6. Slavery does not violate the spirit of the gospel.
Biblical argument against slavery • Paul never endorses slavery
• Paul hints at its evil, mentioning it as list of sinners – enslavers (1 Tim 1: 10)
• Masters never told to demand submission
• Eph 6:10 Slave and Masters are equal, both have one Master Jesus
• Gospel has broken down social barriers Gal 3:22 …no more slave and free
• Paul encouraged slaves to gain freedom if possible ( 1 Cor 7:21)
Paul did not come right out to condemn slavery and advocate a rebellion of slaves simply because the institution was too entrenched in society. But he laid the seeds that would result in the overthrow of slavery more than a thousand years later.
Early church also viewed Christ return as too imminent to deal with slavery.
Question 3
Question 3 – What are the two main feature of false teaching? How does this help you spot false teaching in the church today? What are the other features of false teachings and false teachers that we need to be aware of and spot? How do these false teachers justify their wealth? Why is it that the prosperity gospel has found so much appeal amongst the churches in our community today? What are the dangers?
Answer
Look at verse 3. It is teaching that is not in line with the gospel or the Word of God, and that results in living an ungodly life. A tree is known by its fruits. Godly truthful teaching results in godly living.
The teachings produce controversy and seem to promote arguments over specific words and concepts. The false teacher is a proud person and in reality does not know any truth even though outwardly he says a lot of clever words but they have no truth.
The teachings promote envy, slander and are designed to induce a kind of paranoia that forces the adherents of these false teachings to stick together in a “us or them mentality”. They only listen to the words of their false teacher and never counter check what he teaches against the bible.
Finally the false teacher is motivated by greed for money. In the end, he will always call for sacrificial giving, not for missions or the gospel but for the maintenance of the false church and its ministries, which in the end wind up in his pocket.
We can look into his lifestyle, his house and the way he spends his money. Private planes, hotels and all the trappings of luxury are justified as proof of God’s blessings. They will teach that if your are faithful, then God is faithful and will bless you and this will include wealth. Their private planes are always to provide a more effective ministry as being so important, they don’t have time to wait around in airports or to line up for their luggage.
One only has to look at Jesus who says foxes have holes, and the Son of Man has no where to lay his head. Prosperity gospel provides the allure that if we are faithful to God, He will bless us with material blessings.
It leverages on our faith which is our commodity the God looks favourably upon and He in turn will give us what we want.
We give Him what He wants, our faith and He gives us what we want, blessings. It has wide appeal because it turns on feeding our egos and desires and self idolatry.
At best, the danger is that life is uncertain and the simplistic one dimensional faith will run aground one day because no matter how much faith one has, disease and disaster will struck any family and then God would have been perceived to have broken the part of the bargain which He never signed up for but gets ultimately blamed for.
At the worse, our apparent blessings of material wealth feeds into our greed and covetousness and distracts from the true meaning of faith which is to discover our beautiful amongst God and worship Him for who He is and not what we can get out of Him.
Question 4
Question 4 – The aim of our lives must be “godliness with contentment”. What does this mean and what is the logic behind it? Does it mean to be unmotivated with little to no ambition other then to earn a pay check and go home to his family? How is the balance struck?
Answer
Our ambition must be to live righteous lives in line with our new nature in the Spirit. The contrast in the passage is living a life motivated entirely by acquiring wealth on the premise that it will bring happiness and contentment.
Godliness with contentment is understanding that we are created with a purpose to be all that God created us to be in order to glorify God. The logic behind this is that first unchecked ambition and greed— love of money where money resides in our hearts and not in our hands, leads to risky endeavours both financially and more importantly to spiritual ruin.
Secondly, one need to realise that at the conclusion of our lives, we can take nothing away with us no matter how rich we have become. Jeff Bezos the CEO of Amazon will leave this world exactly the same way as anyone of us, a decayed shell of our former selves no matter how opulent the casket will be.
Hence it does not make sense to dedicate all our short 70-80 years to accumulate both money and honour amongst men which we cannot take with us.
Material belongings serve a purpose. They sustain us to serve our purpose which is to glorify God. The most ill advised life is lived in service to money and material, the very things that are supposed to serve us now become our masters.
Question 5
Question 5 – Martin Luther says “Money belongs in your hands not your heart” what did he mean and why did he say that? What is the danger of money being in our hearts?
Answer
Money is given to us by God. It’s not bad or evil and it is placed in our hands for us to give away or to provide for our sustenance. It is given with a purpose. To have the love of money in our hearts is for it to take control and morph into our Master instead of our slave. Instead for using money for our purposes to glorify God, we instead take money into our hearts and it becomes our Master and our obsession as we never become content. Having money in our hearts is like drinking sea water. It never quite quenches our thirst and always leaves us more thirsty. We take risks, we are distracted, we lose sight of people. Instead of using money to help people we use people to gain money.
Question 6
Question 6 – What is the advice of Paul for the people who have wealth? And why?
Answer
They are to focus on things of real value in life, good deeds and use their money to effect change and help others in their lives. They are to recognise that their real reward lies on what they give away or use their money for, and not what they accumulate for themselves.
They are not to rely on this wealth as their source of security or pleasure in this life as it is transient. They are not to build their self esteem on what they own or wear but on God. It is foolish to walk around thinking you are better than everyone else who is not as wealthy as you because the wealth blinds you to things in life that are of true value. The wealth builds us our self esteem and pride, the gospel breaks us down in repentance, understanding what true wealth is.
Question 7
Look at verse 11 and 12, we are to “flee” from evil and “pursue” and “fight”. What do these three verbs tell us about our spiritual lives? Does this characterize our own lives? This is a time for sharing. If not, how can we encourage each other to live our lives with this kind of urgency?
Discussion Questions
Question 1
One of the most important reasons of why Paul was so effective as a minister of the gospel was his clear sense of calling and purpose. Discuss how Paul sees his calling in this chapter? Compare that with our modern understanding of salvation which has often been described as just making a decision for Christ in order to go to heaven and avoid hell. And compare that to the way Paul describes our calling ?How is a clear understanding of calling instrumental in determining how you live.
Answer
Paul’s sense of calling comes through in all of his letters, in his initial introduction. He frequently refers to his calling as an apostle and servant of Jesus. His main calling here is to eternal life, a life lived in Jesus, in union with Jesus. Living as how Jesus lived is the quality of life that we are all called to live. In verse 8 Paul states that God saved us and called us to a holy calling for His own purposes.
Our lives then must be lived in reciprocation to God’s gracious salvation for us, to be set apart to live like Jesus. Godly holy living reflecting Him in every way. That is the primary calling that drives Paul and must drive all of us. The modern understanding completely wipes this away and focuses on what God can do for us to wipe the penalty away and give us a clear path to heaven whilst completely ignoring the rest of the course of our lives on earth in the meantime.
God becomes a means to an end and our end is to live our lives in the way we see fit for our comfort and enjoyment, remaining blind to the purposes of His kingdom in our broken world. Our orientation and purpose in life remain unchanged and such a life cannot yield spiritual purpose for the gospel.
Such an understanding of the gospel will result in nominal Christians who only refer to Him in times of trouble and underline verses in the Bible that suit their own agenda and remain deaf to the kingdom’s needs. The concept of suffering and sacrifice for the kingdom as well as ethics and integrity remain distant concepts to which we pay lip service but when the rubber hits the road, it is only our own interests that remain supreme. We need to be clear of our calling in order to best live as true believers and disciples.
Question 2
How are Timothy and Paul related in this letter? How can we foster such mentor ..mentee relationships in our church? Why is it difficult to develop such relationships in our church ? What are the factors that are important for you in choosing a mentor or mentee ? Have you ever had an mentor or someone who was a big influence over your life in faith? Please share
Question 3
Each of us like Timothy have been given a gift for His kingdom how do we metaphorically “fan in to flames” these gifts of God. What are the factors that hinder us from this desire and how can we help each other fan into flames our gifts? How does Paul’s reminder to Timothy of the nature of the Spirit behind the gifts encourage us to use our gifts? Explain what the Spirit of power , love and self control mean to us in practical terms and how can it be misunderstood?
Question 4
What is in essence the gospel message in verses 9-10 What issues in our lives does it address? Which aspect of the message do you think is most easily misunderstood or most regularly forgotten?
Answer
There are 4 features of the gospel that is laid out there.
1. God’s call to holy living and purpose.
2. God’s grace in our rescue.
3. Achieved through Christ Jesus alone.
4. Eternal life.
1. God’s call to holy living and purpose
The issues it addresses are the most important in our lives. Firstly it is meaning and purpose. Unless we have meaning and purpose in our lives, we will never live a meaningful, fulfilling life. We will not be able to cope with the suffering and difficulties of life that come our way. Worst of all, we may live in a manner that contributes negatively to our society.
The most important feature of the gospel is that it is God’s call and command for us to be like Him. That is the vision and that is what the meaning of “holy” set apart means. He has a purpose for every single one of us when He created us and we need to find the sweet spot in life when we live in accordance with that will for us.
Hence the gospel is a radical reorientation of how we should see our lives, to be lived out for our Creator and not hijacked to live any way we feel fit for ourselves and reap the disastrous consequences thereof.
2. God’s grace in our rescue
The second feature of the gospel is that it is wholly by God’s grace. Sin and rebellion have long ago been in our DNA and we were hopelessly lost ever since Adam and Eve sought moral autonomy.
We did not deserve to be saved and yet it is by God’s grace that He reached out to us while we were always facing the other way and we did not listen. The most beautiful feature of the gospel is His grace for the most undeserving creatures. We contributed nothing to our own salvation. We have no moral standing.
We are rescued from the slavery of sin and eternal damnation. We are not rescued to live moral lives as a minimum to escape further retribution only to devote the rest of our lives to our own ambitions and devices. The power of sin is real and eternal punishment in hell is real. The gospel is about life and death which is so often recast in our modern language to focus more on how God ministers to our hurt, loneliness and pain whilst rarely speaking of the awful consequences of eternal punishment and how God saved us from that. Anything that moves us away from this is not the true gospel.
3. Achieved through Christ Jesus alone
The third feature is the primacy of Jesus Christ as He is God’s Son sent to live the kind of life we should have lived and died for us for the penalty of our sin, paying the ransom that redeemed our lives. There is no other way. The gospel way is the way of the cross and the victory of the resurrection in the person of Jesus. If we add moral living or food restrictions or religious rituals to supplement our righteousness in legalism, we essentially detract from the sufficiency of Christ. Salvation is from beginning to end in Jesus Christ.
4. Eternal life
The last feature is God’s calling and salvation brings us eternal life. The quality of life that was originally meant for us. A life lived fully in worship and love of God, growing to be like Him each day and serving Him with all of our hearts. This has been down played because the concept of hell has been relegated to the dustbins. We seldom talk about it or even mention it for fear of a reaction from our peers who regard this as an outdated concept and who will immediately write us off as some crazy unreliable fundamentalist. So the gospel is easily side tracked and recast as the solution for the worlds’ problem of wars or lack of love or loneliness or depression.
The most easily misunderstood aspect is the first one as we often see the gospel as a means by which we can avoid the punishment of our sins and go to heaven to be saved, but our inward disposition, our ambitions and desires still remain firmly entrenched and orientated towards ourselves and our idols. God becomes the means to our own ends instead of being the purpose and meaning of our lives.
Question 5
What metaphors does Paul use to describe the gospel Timothy is to guard? What do they tell us about the gospel? Why does the gospel need to be guarded? How do we guard the gospel?
Answer
There are two metaphors and they are the pattern of “sound words” and the other is a “treasure” or deposit like in a bank to be guarded.
The use of these metaphors indicate that there is a set truth that is immutable that we cannot move away from or alter in any way because the gospel is these pattern of sound words. Add to the pattern or subtract from it and it no longer the gospel. So our responsibility is to maintain its integrity and transmit the exact same pattern of sound words.
The second metaphor tells us of the preciousness of the gospel, how it can be stolen by distortion of sound words. We are cautioned to guard it with all of our resources. We are to guard the gospel because of the constant influx of false teachers who influence the church and lead many astray to eternal damnation because tampering with the gospel will spell disaster when people believe in the wrong truths.
We guard the gospel by studying the Word of God. We need to understand how to read the bible in its context, understand the historical and social backgrounds of the various genres of the bible books and the overall theological intent. We need to read how Jesus our Messiah fits in as we read the Old Testament.
We need to live out the gospel so that the people who hear the gospel can witness its authenticity and power through the lens of our lives. We need to correct those who preach false doctrine and gently pull them back to the bedrock pillars of the gospel. Ultimately it is God who guards the gospel although He does use us as His servants in vv 12 and 14.
Question 6
What are the three reason of why we might be tempted to be ashamed of our faith and the gospel which Paul mentions. Why does the gospel bring with it an intrinsic message of shame to us personally and how does embracing that shame become the key to its transformation of our lives. Why is this aspect of our gospel so threatening to non believers and is often the cause of persecution and shame? How do we overcome this shame?
Answer
There are three main reasons for shame.
The first is the shame of being associated with Jesus because in the eyes of contemporary society, at that time, there was an itinerant Jewish rabbi and rabble rouser who was executed for his troubles in the most humiliating manner on the cross. To say He is your Lord and to promote Him as such would bring such same to the believers.
The second reason for shame is to propose in the gospel that the Saviour of the world is Jesus, the very one who was executed and when we are preaching, we are actually trying to convince others that they will face eternal hell unless they acknowledge and turn away from their sin and embrace the work of Jesus. We face automatic ridicule because we are perceived as having the audacity to accuse our friend of being sinners and they will instantly recoil at the slightest hint that we are better than them as they are sinners. So their reaction is to retaliate and our message would have sounded hollow and seemingly ineffective, tempting us to feel shame as if the message was defective based on the response it got.
When we are sharing some piece of good news that others readily embrace, our stature in the eyes of others immediately is enhanced. When we share something others feel is ridiculous and they reject outright, it causes us to feel shame as if what we shared was actually ridiculous and shameful. Shame is a function in part on how others perceive us. If the majority of the people whom we share the gospel with reject our message, then we will feel the shame as our personal stature and self esteem is fed by the way others look at us. Billy Graham preached to 2.2 billion people in his life time but only 0.1% of them thought the message was coherent and true. The other 99.9% did not think the message was credible enough to believe.
The third reason for shame is our fellow believers. Here the reference is to Paul, the apostle, the one who wrote 13 out of the 27 NT letters we consider Scripture. He is allegedly a common criminal, locked up on death row. Not much of a person to be proud of by any standards of the contemporary world.
The gospel forces us to face the fact that we are sinners who have fallen short of the glory of God and will never ever be righteous enough to stand in the light of His unshielded glory. In the sermon of the mount, Jesus told us that the blessed ones are the ones who are poor in spirit, who mourn. In our eyes and the eyes of our society, to be poor in any manner will detract from our default mode of glorying ourselves. Accepting the gospel is acknowledging our spiritual poverty and admitting we are wrong or have been wrong and that itself bring much shame as we are disavowing our own lives. Yet if we do not embrace our sin and take ownership of it and admit it, we can never receive Jesus in our lives to be our righteousness, instead of living our own intrinsic perceived righteousness. Embracing our sin means accepting the shame and living a life of constant repentance and letting Jesus come into our lives more and more each day. It is dying to self and is the key to living for Christ. If we don’t do this, we will not be transformed.
When we bring the gospel to non believers, we are essentially having the audacity of telling them that they are sinners and destined to hell. This fact alone is terribly confronting and they will inevitably reinterpret the presentation as one coming from a morally superior person (i.e. you) condemning them. We are asking them to embrace the shame of their sin and radically re orientate their lives. This will surely lead to retaliation and persecution. That is why the gospel is so confronting. We are then tempted to water down the gospel and not speak so much of the sin and hell because that will be perceived as being judgmental and we are tempted to focus purely on the joy and peace Jesus brings but we fail to realise that unless they see how they have sinned, they will never feel the grace and full impact of God’s love on the cross.
We overcome this shame by our constant dwelling on the Word of God and as we study it and apply it in our lives, we are more and more convinced of its authenticity.
Question 7
Look at 2 Tim 1:12 But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. How is Paul so convince of the truth of His Saviour? There’s a difference between knowing and being convinced how do we bridge that gap in our own lives and why is that important?
Discussion Questions
Question 1
What does it mean to “be strong in the grace that is in Jesus Christ” (v. 1)? How does a person go about being strong in that way? Can you share how you have been strengthened by His grace in the past.
Answer
Be strong is in the present passive imperative tense which means it is a command and to be continuously carried out on a daily basis. Yet it is not our active action. The passive tense means we receive God’s strength and it’s not given based on our merits of faithfulness but by grace.
The ministry of the gospel is based on a daily relying on God’s strength through the Spirit as we wait on Him in prayer and reading His Word and acting on His Word.
Failure to do this means we are acting on our own strength and that is the reason for discouragement and complaints of burning out. Serving in church will always entail criticism and even slander. It takes the strength of God to persevere. The prime example is Paul chained in prison. Yet look at the impact his ministry has had over the 2000 years that has since elapsed. God gives the strength. God transforms.
Question 2
What is the strategy for gospel transmission that Paul advocates? How does that actually serve to propagate the gospel effectively? What are the qualities of the people whom Paul decides to invest in training and why are these qualities important?
Answer
The ministry of the gospel is a personal one, not one of mass communication. Lives are transformed by both Word and deed. Disciples need to see how faith is modelled in real life. How one confronts certainty and overcomes dangers and temptations up close and personal. So we are to spend time with the few folk around us for them to spend time with others around them and we will see the gospel grow with this geometric progression.
The ones being mentored must have only two qualities i.e faithfulness and ability to teach. The latter is due to the nature of the mission. It involves the gospel and it must be taught carefully and faithfully. The former quality is one of the character of the disciple, that he must be trustworthy to use that which has been passed to him to teach to others and not sit on the message. This strategy worked for Paul and it will work for us.
Question 3
Paul uses three metaphors to describe the Christian life we have been called to: soldier, athlete, and farmer. What does each metaphor tell us about how to suffer hardship as followers of Jesus? What do they have in common and what are the different nuances of each metaphor?
Answer
The three metaphors convey three things common to all three:
1.Single minded devotion to the task
2.Hardship
3.Hope of reward
Each of the three metaphors has a different nuance in the kind of hardship the disciple must endure. The soldier has the hardship of depriving himself of the affairs of civilian life which in our case, the pursuit of the many leisurely things and businesses which others are free to give themselves.
The soldier has to ensure that he is not entangled in them in such a way as to detract from his single minded purpose of pleasing his master and in our case Jesus. Every time we are confronted with a new opportunity, we need to ask ourselves does this opportunity which comes across our desk today in any way contribute to our witness for the gospel? Will it lead to temptation that will compromise our witness?
Will it so entangle us into the worries of debt and concerns of the particular business that will distract us from time with family or with our church ministry?
The athlete has the hardship of immense discipline whereby he must suppress his natural bodily desires for rest, leisure, comfort and enjoyment for the greater goal of winning the prize. This takes denial of his own bodily desires and urges for the greater desire to win the prize. This is discipline and no athlete gets anywhere without it. Hence the disciple has to have self control and live according to his conscience no matter what the cost. So often the ministry requires us to do things the hard way. To pray when we would rather sleep. To reach out to a person in need despite the traffic jam and inconvenience. It takes discipline to step out each time and suppress our own natural desire for comfort.
Paul describes this in 1 Cor 9 how his hardship was to be all things to all men in order to win them for Christ. He had rights to be fully paid for his ministry but he denied himself of these rights in order not to burden the church at Corinth nor give them an occasion to accuse him of milking them of funds when he does his ministry. He ministered the gospel free of charge and earned his own keep by tent making.
Lastly the farmer has the hardship of waiting patiently for results and taking into his stride the many set backs from the uncertainty of the weather and natural disasters. Yet he never gives up. He is always looking forward and when disaster like drought or floods strikes, he picks up his shovel and rebuilds and replants again. Here is a picture of endurance.
Question 4
How do we actually meditate on the Word of God? Why is it important and how do we do it? Please share.
Answer
We should take a passage of Scripture from our daily readings, perhaps once a week to start and meditate on it. This means prayerfully think hard over what it means and how it applies to our daily lives. We begin to look around for the various examples in our lives as we work or the things that we read and see how that piece of Scripture applies in real life and the various situations how this Word fit in and is relevant. Slowly but surely one will gradually see the Word come alive.
Question 5
Why is remembering a very important part of our spiritual growth? Why remember Jesus or Paul?
Answer
Remembering serves a very important function in our lives as it consolidates what we know from our past experiences of who we are. The lessons we have learnt and the things that we value. Remembering in the Old Testament is not merely an intellectual exercise as when Israel was asked to remember the Passover, it was not merely intellectual recall but a call to action. When the Bible expresses so often when Israel sinned and was punished for it twice with exile, after sometime in response to repentance, God then “remembered” His people. This was no intellectual recall as if God forgot about them, but an action God takes to redeem His people and restore them based on the covenant He had made with them. Remembering means recalling the terms of the covenant and acting on behalf of Israel because of God’s prior commitment to them. When we remember Jesus, we remember his death on the cross for us and His resurrection. His death reminds us of the awful consequences of our sins and the depths of our depravity and the enormity of His love. His resurrection reminds us of our hope of eternal life and our future. This remembering inspires us to action. To more enthusiastically share the gospel, to not give up but power on because of the victory that is already in Jesus.
Question 6
How does remembering Paul in v9-10 spur us on to serve God? How have you found these principles to be true in your life?
Answer
Paul reminds us of why he is in prison. He is there because of the ministry of the gospel, that it is necessary for us to preach it because God has chosen His elect before the foundation of time and God’s will is immutable, it cannot change. It will be carried out as those He has chosen will be saved no matter what is thrown, like Paul. His chains will not stop the gospel from saving these lives. It is therefore a privilege and honour to be tasked with such an important and noble task for the King of Kings.
Often we feel discouraged due to persecution and set backs in ministry or when people reject us and the gospel. Paul show us the need to be like the farmer, in it for the long game, willing to endure setbacks fully confident that in the end, God will bring about His will through us. Hence like Paul, alone and in chains, in the most dire situations, God will use this apparent suffering in prison to spur even more people to take up the ministry because Paul’s willingness to suffer for the gospel is evidence of its authenticity and of the relentless progress of the kingdom.
Question 7
We are asked to remember this hymn. What does it communicate? How is it meant to motivate us? Is there a difference between denying God and being faithless? Does it literally mean having no faith at all? If that was the case, how can we be saved? Has there been a time when we too have been faithless like in this context? How does contrasting our faith with His comfort us?
Answer
We are reminded that in Christ we have committed to have Jesus as our Lord. We have died to the idolatry of self and given ourselves over to Him with a new agenda and purpose in life. However tough it gets, we are reminded by this hymn that if we endure to the end, we will reign like kings with Jesus at the full revelation of the kingdom of God. There is a warning too that if we deny God and turn apostate, He will deny us. The last line of the hymn encourages us that there are times when we have less than the perfect faith, when we have failures in our walk with Him because we are still sinful frail creatures. When there are lapses of faith, like David in that early spring morning when he cast his wayward gaze in the direction of a naked woman bathing across the next building, he failed in his faith. When Peter despite all his bravado, recapitulated three times in front of a young girl when he was asked if he knew Jesus. Yet each of these figures repented and Jesus brought them back stronger than before. This is because though we fail, He does not. This brings immense comfort and assurance to us that we can carry on in confidence of His love and grace. We will not shy away from Him in fear when we fail, we shall fall on His feet and cry we need Him and He will restore us. He will not reject us. He will remain faithful.
Discussion Questions
Question 1
In this part of Paul’s challenge to Timothy is to be a good worker for the kingdom. How do we like Timothy rightly handle the truth? What is this truth? Have you come across people who do not handle the truth rightly? Why does Paul imply that even this handling of the truth correctly requires hard labour? What are the steps that each one of you are taking in your lives today even under MCO to prepare to handle the truth correctly?
Answer
The truth in the Pastoral epistles is a word often used by Paul for the “gospel”. We are each called to be a worker for the kingdom and involved in some part of this ministry of the word whether it is teaching and preaching it out like Timothy and for many of us living it out in our lives and sharing the truth of the gospel to our neighbours co-workers and our families. We are each responsible to the extent of our gifting and time God has given to us to rightly discern this truth as its ministry is our offering and service to God. The understanding and more importantly the living out of this truth is hard labour simply because of our sinful nature which tends to distort the truth in a way to indulge our own sinful desires and propensity to live our lives according to our own purposes and not for His.
The handling of truth is hard because the Bible was written 2-3 thousand years ago and the immense chasm of time , language, culture as well as social norms stand between us and its original meaning. The labour involves cross that chasm with the help of bible dictionaries, commentaries, handbooks and church leadership which God has provided over the years. They are available but often we are too disinterested in rightly handling the truth and prefer to be spoon fed rather than learn how to discern the truth. The lazy way out is to accept lock stock and barrel what the meaning of the text is from our BS leader and not inquire of how he or she actually came to that conclusion of what the text said.
The famous example is of the Berean Christians in Acts how actively checked out the Old Testament to see if it was interpreted correctly the way Paul had brought the gospel to them. The handling of the truth is hard because of its application. We can often come to some reasonable conclusion of the meaning of the text but we fail to see how it is applied to our contemporary society of so many different cultures. Take for example the 1 Cor 11 passage on the head veils being used as a symbol of gender differentiation in the service and the submission of wives to their husband. How does it apply today in a Subang Jaya church and family? This will be different in an Indian family vs Chinese family vs Caucasian family. Much needs to be discussed amongst all church members led by the Spirit and it can only be done in a group because on our own our own personal bias ness and sinful nature will tend to skewer the application to suit our own preferences hence it is hard to be accountable to the body and fellow Christians.
The right handling of the word is hard because it is like a dual edged sword and if it is correctly used it will cut to our hearts and expose our sins and this will be uncomfortable and force us to face our own realities and wrestle with our own sinful flesh. The truth when it is received with a repentant spirit and obedient heart will be sweet as honey or bitter if we are unrepentant and stubborn we will find it hard to accept. It is hard simply because in the default mode we do not want to be constantly confronted with our frailities
Question 2
What are the consequences of allowing false teaching to fester in the congregation? How can one inadvertently promote its festering?
Answer
The consequences will be quarrelling and debating about the minute details of the new teaching in such a way as people will be alienated and embittered against each other. The church will be split along their various loyalties to the individual leaders or false teachers and once false teaching sets in the people will be led astray and sin against God and like the Ephesian church people will be led astray. The greatest problem through history that the church had faced was never persecution but false teaching and it is no more relevant than today because there are more than 33k denominations. We avoid it by refusing to engage on controversial quarrels and debates on the new truths these false teachers may have come up with.
Question 3
The mention of Hymenaeus and Philetus “who have swerved from the truth” is a frightening reality in the church however Paul reassured Timothy and the Ephesian church by saying the Lord knows who are His. This is taken from Numbers 16:5 on wards where Korah and some families rebelled against Moses. Can you look at this OT passage and explain how this is relevant and quoted by Paul? How does this verse reassure the Ephesian church? How do we know we belong to Him?
Answer
The reality of life in the church will be that there are as in the parable Jesus told of the wheat and the tares that the enemy will sow into the church and it will only be on the last day of judgment that fake believers will be unveiled for who they really are. However in church life the departure of believers many of whom are good friend and influential leaders into false teachings will always have a devastating effect on the church morale. We tend to ask who is really safe? Will we be led astray too one day?
The OT passage recounts the time where Korah and several families ,Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth rebelled against Moses questioning his leadership. They came with 250 leaders who were influenced as well. In the light of this threat Moses fell on his face and said to Korah and gang “ In the morning the LORD will show who is his, and who is holy, and will bring him near to him” Numb 16:5.
He essentially said God will vindicate his leadership by demonstrating who are truly His. In the morning the opposing factions gathered in front of the tabernacle to offer incense and the glory of God appeared and vindicated Moses by the ground opening up and swallowing up Korah and his rebellious household and fire which destroyed 250 other rebels.
Moses and God’s people the people who are truly His were untouched. When Paul refers to this episode he is reassuring the Ephesian Christians that just as in the rebellion against Moses by Korah, they do not have to be afraid for He truly knows who are His people and who are false believers. They do not have to be afraid but this verse assures them of their eternal security.
In the second part of the verse Paul tells us the distinguishing part feature of true believers is that they live holy lives remaining true to their “holy calling” in 2 Tim 1:8 that is the purpose for which God calls us. Hence God protects His true people from false teaching and apostasy and His people will demonstrate their genuiness by fleeing from sin and remaining true to their holy calling.
Question 4
The democratisation of information by social media has both good and bad impact on the gospel. How are we to practically regard Christian teachings on the web and social media? What are the challenges of accurately discerning the truth when we interact with these media? How can we protect ourselves and our loved ones from false teachings? The deluge of information on social media certainly poses a problem on the proper understanding of the truth. There are several guidelines
Answer
Firstly , doctrinal integrity is entrusted to the leaders of the local church who are responsible for the truth taking root in our lives.
Heb 13: 17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account.
Paul instructed Timothy that the elders must be able to teach in 1 Tim 3:2. He also instructed Titus to appoint elders in Titus 1: 5 and their appointment was on the basis of character and sound teaching.
In Titus 1:9 the criteria given was that they have the ability to teach sound doctrine and refute and correct the false teachers or wrong doctrine which is vital for the survival of the church.
The principle is that one belongs to the local church of ones’ conviction and choice hence the handling of truth will depend on the leaders of that church. If one does not believe in the way doctrine is held by that leadership then one should find the church that holds to the doctrine which one is comfortable with.
Second guideline
There is a standard doctrinal stand in almost all evangelical churches which clearly state the basic tenets of the gospel which Fbc also adheres to. They are also called the tenets of orthodoxy which has been passed down to us over the years which include things like.
1. Belief in the Triuine God
2. Jesus is the incarnate Son of God born of the Virgin Mary.
3. Sin is the rebellion against the rule of God and the punishment of eternal death and torment in hell.
4. Jesus died for our sins and we are saved by his life and death on the cross by grace though faith in Him.
5. Just as Jesus was raised from the dead we too will be raised dead to eternal life.
6. Scripture is the inspired Word of God and it is the sole authority for our faith.
Third guideline
To interact with the bible yourself , learn to be a good workman. One should feel free like the Berean Christians to check out what your leaders are teaching with the Word of God. Ask them why it should be interpreted the way it is. One can read commentaries and Bible dictionaries. Learn how to understand the verse in its context, to appreciate how the social circumstances, historical background, culture and literary structure and grammar play a part in understanding the text.
Fourthly
Read Christian books and websites and get information from reliable evangelical authors which your church leaders will recommend to you. Websites like the Gospel Coalition and renowned biblical scholars who communicate well also add to your knowledge of the truth but when there is a disagreement even within these authors ask your leaders firstly until your exegetical skills and discernment have reached a matured level where you could form your own opinions on the text and defend them on technical basis rather than following a particular author lock stock and barrel.
Fifth guideline
Understand that there are many areas of theology where good Christian teachers may had sincere disagreements which almost never make a difference to the essential tenets of the gospel. Learn to be generous and do not let these disagreement affect the unity of your church. Hold them loosely learn to respect the views of others especially your leaders as they are accountable to God.
Question 5
What is Paul’s purpose in using the metaphor of the two different kinds of vessels used in the “great house” or temple? How can we be a vessel used for honourable use? Doesn’t this concept of vessel used for honourable use and the vessel used for dishonourable use imply that God is totally unfair and discriminatory because He determines in advance which we will be and hence we have no choice and yet he judges us?
Answer
The use of the two different kinds of vessels in the house hold is a metaphor in which Paul is challenging Timothy and the Ephesians to live a holy life ..fleeing from sin but dedicated to good works and holy living. There is no unfairnesss because the choice is given to everyone as Paul writes.
21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.
By living holy lives and deciding to dedicate our lives to service to Him in good works we are deciding that we are going to be the vessels of honour. By indulging in sin and pleasing ourselves we are deciding to be a vessel of dishonour.
Discussion Questions
Question 1
2 Tim 4:1-3
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.
Background information
1) In verse 1, Paul ‘charged’ his disciple Timothy with an oath/vow under God to carry out these 4 duties:
– Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season
– Reprove/Correct (show fault) – Rebuke (strong disapproval)
– Encourage/Exhort (comfort)
We as Christians should do the above ‘with great patience and careful instruction.’
a) Objective question, choose any that applies, can be more than one answer. When we see a Christian brother/sister doing something we consider as sinful, we should:
A. Scold them no matter how small the sin is, God sees all sins as equal no matter how small.
B. Pretend we didn’t see anything, everyone sins anyway. Don’t talk about mine, I won’t talk about yours. I help you, you help me.
C. Consider own sins, the severity and the consequence of the action, then tactfully and prayerfully approach them and have a gentle conversation about it.
D. Reflect if you yourself have committed a similar or even bigger sin and if that sin has been removed in your life so that you are not a hypocrite.
E. Consider the personality differences and the emotional state of the person so you won’t add fuel to fire.
F. Consider if you have any biases in your opinion regarding the situation and reflect on your intention before confronting if it is truly out of love or something else.
G. Talk about the ‘hypothetical’ situation to a mature leader to get feedback and consider all factors and options.
b) This answers in 1(a) isn’t exhaustive, please discuss and list more consideration and factors.
Question 2
Discussion question: Confirmation bias.
In verses 3-5, Paul warns about people who only itch to hear what their heart desires to hear and not the truth. They will fall into false doctrine and false prophecies instead of ‘sound doctrine’. Discussion question: Have you been guilty of wanting to believe in a lie instead of accepting the truth? How can we detect the lie?
Be suspicious if it’s too good to be true.
Question 3
In verse 5, in contrast to people who will fall prey to false doctrines, Paul gave us some guidelines on how to act. In your own words, define or expand on what they mean today.
NIV
ESV
Meaning
keep your head in all situations
always be sober-minded
don’t blur blur, be aware of the situations around you
endure hardship
endure suffering
don’t run away from hardship, train and prepare yourself for it
do the work of an evangelist
do the work of an evangelist
preach the gospel
discharge all the duties of your ministry
fulfill your ministry
minister to others in whatever gifts you have
Question 4
2 Tim 4:6-8
6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store 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 longed for his appearing.
4) Objective question, choose the most appropriate answer. Looking at Paul longing for God/Jesus’ second appearing, Christians should:
A. Give up on earthly life and material pursuits, and just wait for our death to come so we can join God in heaven.
B. Strive to serve God in faith in this life, and when the race finishes, we know our life isn’t wasted if it’s for God’s ministry.
C. Just do what we want, all sins are forgiven anyway and we can get an entry into heaven because we believe in Jesus.
Question 5
Personal Remarks
9 Do your best to come to me quickly, 10 for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. 12 I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments.
14 Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. 15 You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message.
16 At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. 17 But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed, and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Final Greetings
19 Greet Priscilla[a] and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus. 20 Erastus stayed in Corinth, and I left Trophimus sick in Miletus. 21 Do your best to get here before winter. Eubulus greets you, and so do Pudens, Linus, Claudia and all the brothers and sisters.[b]
22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you all.
Open discussion questions: Demas’ betrayal.
In other passages Demas has been mentioned as a fellow worker and a friend of Paul, but he has deserted Paul in verse 10. Do you know of people who have deserted the Christian faith because they ‘he loved this world’? What’s wrong with loving this world?
Question 6
Philemon 1: 24
And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers.
Colossians 4:14
Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings.
6) Reflection questions: Paul’s life
a) In verse 16, Apostle Paul mentions he was totally deserted by everyone. We often think of Apostle Paul as someone looked up upon and will never be alone or rejected, yet even someone as great as him can be rejected with no one supporting him in a difficult time in his life. What should we make of this?
Regardless of gifts and abilities, we may be rejected by society in our ministry for the gospel. Paul depended on the Lord for deliverance and strength in verses 17-18 and in verse 21 asked for Timothy’s companion which shows that he also appreciates his Christian community and requests for support from them.
b) Although Paul was deserted by many people, he wished that ‘May it not be held against them’. Who and where else in the bible also had a similar mentality?
Jesus in Luke 23:34, Stephen in Acts 7:60
c) In verses 13 and 21, Paul requested for his cloak to be brought to him since winter is coming. It seems that Paul and the community are so poor that they do not have spare cloaks to keep him warm in the winter. Yet, his priority in verse 17 is that God can use him to proclaim the gospel to all the Gentiles. Does this make you rethink your priority in life?
Discussion Questions
Question 1
Verses 1-5
Titus 1: 1-5
1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness— 2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, 3 and which now at his appointed season he has brought to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior, 4 To Titus, my true son in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. 5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.
1) Objective question, choose one answer. In verse 5, Paul directed Titus to ‘appoint’ elder in every town, this means:
A. Titus should let the people in the town vote for their favourite leader to be an elder.
B. Titus himself should choose the right person based on the criteria.
Question 2
Verses 6-9
Titus 1: 6-9
6 An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe[b] and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 7 Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 8 Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
2) Objective question, choose one answer. In verse 9, one of the criteria for an elder is to ‘encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it’, so elders that are selected need to be bold and willing to stand their ground to protect the gospel and the church. True or False?
A. True. Each elder selected must have the ability to confront people to protect the gospel.
B. False. Maybe one or two of them can already, no need for all the elders to have the ability to confront people.
Question 3
Verses 10-14
Titus 1: 10-16
10 For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. 11 They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. 12 One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” 13 This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith 14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth.
3) a) Objective question, choose one answer. In verse 13, Paul asked Titus to rebuke false teachers ‘sharply’, which is opposite to the ‘gentle’ instruction against opponents in 2 Timothy 2:24-25. It is because how one reacts will depends on:
A. whether the opponents have financial means to support the church. If they are rich, then a gentler tone should be used.
B. whether the opponents have power to give us bad press or trouble on social media. If they have such power, then a gentler tone should be used.
C. whether the opponents are more mature Christians. If they are more mature, then a sharper tone should be used.
D. the opponents’ character. If a gentle tone will fall on deaf ears in this group of audience, a sharper tone should be used.
b) Objective question, choose one answer. The rebuke is sharp, so that the opponents:
A. Will be ashamed and never come back to disturb the church again.
B. Can correct their theology, repent and turn to the truth.
Question 4
Verses 15-16
Titus 1: 15-16
15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
4) Discussion question: Clean Inside and Out.
In verse 15, Paul said ‘To the pure, all things are pure’. What does this mean? (Refer to Luke 11:38-41 to help you)
The false Jewish teacher in Crete may be promoting some kind of halal/kosher ‘clean’ food laws, perhaps similar to what happened in 1 Tim 4:3, since in Titus 1:14, Paul was addressing some ‘Jewish myths’ just before this verse. So Paul’s concern is not following myth practice or ritual that makes one ‘clean or pure’, but if you’re already ‘clean or pure’ on the inside, you will show it through good and kind actions for example ‘being generous to the poor’ like Jesus said in Luke 11:38-41. The direction is inwards–>outwards, not outwards–>inwards.
Question 5
Verses 1-10
Titus 2:1-10
You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine. 2 Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. 3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4 Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. 6 Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. 7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us. 9 Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 10 and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Saviour attractive.
5) Christian behaviour
a) Objective question, choose one answer. In verses 2-10, Paul asked Titus to teach in the people group in the following order: older men, older women, younger women, young men and the slaves, this shows:
A. The hierarchy in the church where older men place the highest and slaves are the lowest.
B. There are ways to honour God from within every station in life-regardless of age, gender, or situation.
b) Fill in the table. Paul gave 5 reasons why Christians should behave themselves, expand on what the reasons mean or give real life examples of what they look like:
Type
Verse
NIV
ESV
NASB
Meaning/Examples
I
V4
Then they can urge…
and so train…
so that they may encourage…
So can advise other Christians to do the same
I
V7
In everything set them an example by doing what is good.
how yourself in all respects to be a model of good works
in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds
Show how it is done through actions.
E
V5
so that no one will malign the word of God.
that the word of God may not be reviled
so that the word of God will not be dishonoured.
So that bible and its teaching is not disrespected and disregarded by others (live up to reputation)
E
V8
so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Saviour attractive.
so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour.
so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in every respect.
So that the gospel message of Jesus saving us appeals to others. (adorn the gospel)
E
V10
so that no one will malign the word of God.
that the word of God may not be reviled
so that the word of God will not be dishonoured.
So that bible and its teaching is not disrespected and disregarded by others (live up to reputation)
c) Fill in the table. Paul listed traits for Christians to have, in your own words, expand on what they mean or give examples.
Traits
Meanings in Original Greek
Expansion or Examples
Sober-minded
– Moderate in drinking
– Restrained
– Level headed
– Balanced
Very ‘steady’ kind of fella, provides stability to the church.
Dignified
– Worthy of respect
– Worthy of reverence
– Not based on wealth or position but character and integrity
Not that they are very ‘atas’ or got ‘class’, but means that they behave in a way that gets others’ respect.
Self-control
– in right mind, not controlled by demons/spirits/impulses
Good control in these departments: sexual, anger, envy, pride, greed.
Sound (in faith, in love and in endurance.)
– solid in these Christian virtues The triad faith, love, and hope appears to be a very early piece of Christian ethical instruction. That “hope” has been replaced by endurance probably reflects an emphasis on perseverance that the word hope itself does not always connote.
They should be exemplary of the cardinal Christian virtues: faith toward God, love toward all, endurance to the End.
d) Discussion question. Younger women are to be ‘busy at home’ (NIV) or ‘working at home’ (ESV), does that mean women today should only work at home? (see Proverbs 31:16,18,24 to help you)
Of course not, the economic and cultural situation there made it so that most married women would be at home managing the house [ “good managers of the household” (NRSV)], but they can also provide and support the family in many other ways like taking outside work. In Proverbs 31, they can invest in properties or plantations and get involved in trading and merchants.
“House manager” is also used in 1 Tim 5:14 where the term oikodespoteō is used and means: to be the head of (i.e. rule) a family: — guide the house. Guide the house= to be master (or head) of a house to rule a household, manage family affairs
Question 6
e) Fill in the table. In verse 9, Paul gives instructions to Christian slaves. There are no common slaves today, but in a sense, if we are employees, we are ‘slaves’ to the company. Look at the traits Paul wants hired workers to have and expand in your own words what they mean:
NIV
ESV
NASB
subject to their masters in everything
be submissive to their own masters in everything
be subject to their own masters in everything
to try to please them
they are to be well-pleasing,
to be pleasing
not to talk back to them,
not argumentative,
not argumentative,
not to steal from them
not pilfering
not stealing,
