1 Timothy 4:6 (ESV) — 6 If you put these things before the brothers, you
will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith
and of the good doctrine that you have followed.
NOTE: The
phraseology here is not forceful and in fact somewhat mild. The Greek word, hypotithemi, means to present and sounds a
little like a hypothesis. The subject is God's good gifts and being thankful.
The error was asceticism and Judaism, and maybe some Gnostic teaching as well. In
a certain sense, the believer's hearts were good, but their doctrine was false.
And yet, it was not a fall-on-the-sword issue. All issues when they are
contrary to the Word of God seem like they should be. And there is the argument
that if we don't stand up "strongly" we are compromising or on a path
to compromise. But again, Paul's instruction to Timothy here is different from
that, and certainly different than his letter to the Galatians where Judaizers
were teaching a different gospel. Here, the issue is not the gospel but how one
lives life. I think this is an important distinction.
PRAYER: Father, I
want to be gentle like Jesus. And, I don't want to compromise the truth. Give
me wisdom to know when an issue requires a mild presentation and when an issue
requires a more severe charge. Protect us from the charlatans.
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