"Entrusted" Truth or Consequence

Vrs 3 Paul was urging Timothy to stay there because there were issues that needed to be taken care of.

The teaching going on needs to stay in line with the Bible not heterodoxy (false doctrine) It was vastly different back then…if someone had a teaching their forum was local gathering places, the society was void of all the media and technology that we have. So they would use public gatherings and also try to convince others to follow their teachings obviously church meetings would be a great venue if you had a teaching.

Vrs 4 The teaching is not described but we know that it was void of truth
The Result(or consequence) = aimlessness and promote speculations.

The goal of teaching is not to cause confusion or argument but to spur people onto love.
Sometimes people will do this in a Bible study or community group…bring up topics to argue.

Vrs 5 The result or the aim of our faith as contrary to placing faith in things that do not produce or will leave us speculating.

Biblical teaching Seeks to form followers of Jesus who love God and love others. Mark 12:28-31
The aim of
-Orthodoxy (right teaching)
-Orthopraxy (right living) is love

We receive love from God and as a Christian it is rooted in the Holy Spirit. “Issues from” Pure heart, good conscience and sincere faith

Christian tolerance is based in verse 5 how we treat the unbeliever and the false teacher.

-Its it loving to stand by silent when people are believing something that is detrimental to their eternal life?
(FIF my evil plan to save the world)
-Is our heart really pure if we don’t have a genuine concern for what people put their trust in?
-Can my conscience be clear knowing that there are people around me that I have not prayed for, helped meet their needs or spoken to for the sake of the Gospel?
-How sincere can our faith be if we think there is more then one way to God then through Christ, and we allow false teaching to cloud the air?

Many people think that Christians are judgmental and close minded and I am not saying that there are not judgmental and close minded Christians but the aim of following Christ is to spread His love to others. Because it is the love you received. (He loved us first)

Vrs 6 when we stray from this truth it confuses us and gets us off focus.

(Hetrodoxy) False Teaching leads to tolerance in an unhealthy way. Because it says anything goes and everything is ok.

When people are teaching or communicating false teachings it is all about them, what they figured out, what they want to promote or how they themselves want to be promoted and their standard is themselves and what they think is right. And God is saying “WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?”

But the Christian life is different its all about promoting Jesus. Not our own agenda, not ourselves.

Why? Because it is about life and having a purpose and doing something bigger because it is not you its Jesus.

What is the motivation here?
Vrs 7-“desiring” the idea carried here is wanting to be something more then God has called you to be or wanting to puff yourself up and lack humility. “They make confident assertions”

For the Christian…
If you spend too much time wanting to be something you are not… you are ignoring what you are supposed to be.
How do you keep your focus?
-realize where you are. (where you are is dictated by God Acts 17)
-realize what you need to do while you are there.
-realize God’s timing

Where is false teaching coming from in our generation?
This is the problem in our society… The media elevates and indoctrinates people with their beliefs and are not necessarily qualified to do so.

You must understand whatever an artist, author or actor believe they will inadvertently or overtly promote through their artistic outlets.

How do we know this? Because Christians do the same thing for the cause of Christ. CS LEWIS, JRR TOLKEN, Bands Switchfoot.

Every book you read, Show you watch, movie, song, it is all preaching or teaching you something.

What is the Christian response…should we be scared of culture and the information highway we live in? NO

-Immoral-stay away if possible, if not possible opportunity to expose why it is immoral.
-Appears neutral at first glance- test against the Word and then use it as springboard for conversation as a teaching opportunity for yourself and those around you.
-Neutral- use it for God’s glory

Verses 8-10 The teachers of Paul and Timothy’s day wanted to use the law and teach it for their own benefit. and they did not even realize the purpose of it. Like people in our day want to teach and talk about purpose and philosophy of life and they don’t even know what it is.

So what then is the purpose of the law? The simple answer is to expose sin and what Paul does here is laundry list some examples of the Dec-a-logue (10 Commandments)

The Law prepares the sinner for a Savior by crushing them under the weight of their sin. GOSPEL

But then it brings this whole passage together because the call of and the “aim” as verse 5 states is love and when we evaluate the 10 commandments we see the first 4 have to do with loving God and the last 6 have to do with loving others. Mark 12 So the Christian lives by the law.

Vrs 11 So right teaching is GOSPEL centered, that is why we can call this church.

The Bottom line…
For the unbeliever…If you don’t trust the Truth (Jesus) the Consequence is too much for you to bear, cause it is paying for your own sin.

For the believer…You have been “entrusted” with the Truth and if you don’t use it and promote it you will also suffer the consequences of an unfruitful life.