Ending the study well…
For the past several weeks in our Thursday morning study we have been looking at 1st and 2nd Timothy. This morning we summarized what we have seen in 2nd Timothy. This book, like 2 Peter is for Peter, is essentially Paul’s last will and testament. He is passing the torch on to his faithful apprentice. He is passing it on in the midst of resistance to the gospel from outside the church and abandonment of sound doctrine inside the fellowship. Fun times for Timothy.
We studied. So What?
God did not leave His Word for us to make us smarter. He left it to change our lives, our behavior. We are supposed to practice what we study, Hebrews 5:11 – 14 explicitly says apart from that practice we remain Christian infants. James 1:22 – 23 tells us that we are to be doers of the Word – you know this.
We have to do…
So the question becomes how do we apply 2nd Timothy? The main exhortation, as I have stated in the earlier posts, is to hold fast to and proclaim the Word of God intentionally and consistently in the midst of a people who are not interested in hearing that Word.
Here is a (not so) hypothetical…
So let’s say you are in a fellowship that chooses to abandon the Word. Let’s say for instance your denomination has voted to ordain and marry homosexuals. You have a correct understanding that one who is committed to living in sexual sin, any sin for that matter, is not fit for ordination. Further for the fellowship to sanction a union that is a perpetuation and celebration of sin seems to you incongruous with the assignment to be salt and light in the world.
What would you do?
You are not the leader. You are a member of the fellowship. How would you respond to what you see as the fellowship choosing to participate in sin?
Do you confront? How?
Paul called Peter out in public, Galatians 1. We are not apostles, well, I am not… When the fellowship is becoming more and more conformed to the world how should one react? If I am reading the Bible correctly, all of us are responsible for what it says, not just the identified leaders. The reality is all of our fellowships are under constant attack and pressure to abandon the Word for the world.
What can you do to stop that?
For the past several weeks in our Thursday morning study we have been looking at 1st and 2nd Timothy. This morning we summarized what we have seen in 2nd Timothy. This book, like 2 Peter is for Peter, is essentially Paul’s last will and testament. He is passing the torch on to his faithful apprentice. He is passing it on in the midst of resistance to the gospel from outside the church and abandonment of sound doctrine inside the fellowship. Fun times for Timothy.
We studied. So What?
God did not leave His Word for us to make us smarter. He left it to change our lives, our behavior. We are supposed to practice what we study, Hebrews 5:11 – 14 explicitly says apart from that practice we remain Christian infants. James 1:22 – 23 tells us that we are to be doers of the Word – you know this.
We have to do…
So the question becomes how do we apply 2nd Timothy? The main exhortation, as I have stated in the earlier posts, is to hold fast to and proclaim the Word of God intentionally and consistently in the midst of a people who are not interested in hearing that Word.
Here is a (not so) hypothetical…
So let’s say you are in a fellowship that chooses to abandon the Word. Let’s say for instance your denomination has voted to ordain and marry homosexuals. You have a correct understanding that one who is committed to living in sexual sin, any sin for that matter, is not fit for ordination. Further for the fellowship to sanction a union that is a perpetuation and celebration of sin seems to you incongruous with the assignment to be salt and light in the world.
What would you do?
You are not the leader. You are a member of the fellowship. How would you respond to what you see as the fellowship choosing to participate in sin?
Do you confront? How?
Paul called Peter out in public, Galatians 1. We are not apostles, well, I am not… When the fellowship is becoming more and more conformed to the world how should one react? If I am reading the Bible correctly, all of us are responsible for what it says, not just the identified leaders. The reality is all of our fellowships are under constant attack and pressure to abandon the Word for the world.
What can you do to stop that?
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