1 Timothy 1:18–20 (ESV) — 18 This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in
accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may
wage the good warfare, 19 holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting
this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, 20 among whom
are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may
learn not to blaspheme.
NOTE: You cannot
lose your salvation, but you can shipwreck your faith. They had damaged
themselves so much, that the only alternative was to hand them over to Satan.
Marshall writes
"Apparently, in
the Pauline churches it was believed that in extreme cases of persistent sin
God employed Satan as an agent, but nevertheless God himself remained firmly in
control of the situation. (Marshall, I. H., & Towner, P. H. (2004). A critical
and exegetical commentary on the Pastoral Epistles (p. 415). London; New York:
T&T Clark International)." I think these verses point back to 1:3-6
and then summarized again in 1 Tim 6:20-21 -- which is false, vain teaching. I
don't think Alexander was the coppersmith -- I think these two were probably
believers. They were probably teachers, but they were more interested in
themselves and the glory they received from their teaching than a love for the
body. Unless our heart's desire is not to see change -- real application to the
word of God -- we are not doing any good.
PRAYER: Father,
check my heart. I want to see people change and grow in their relationship to
Christ. Like John the Baptist, I want to see Jesus exalted more and more in the
lives of others. Open our eyes to see the joy that comes from truly knowing and
walking with you.
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