Monthly Archives: December 2016

A Thorny Issue

Posted on by Pastor Paul M. Sadler

We often hear from grace believers who have been told, by someone who should know better, that those who belong to a denomination could not possibly be saved because they have no understanding of the Grace message. In their mind, they are entangled in a form of “religion” and merely going through the ceremonial motions. To them their hearts are far from God; therefore, those who attend a denominational assembly should be called “anathema.”

Those who hold this extreme position have a short memory, seeing that many of them are the fruits of one of these churches. According to them I was not saved when I was a Baptist. With this I would take issue. It is my firm conviction that it is not a prerequisite to fully understand the Mystery to be saved. Anyone who believes the terms of salvation set forth by the Apostle Paul—that Christ died for their sins and rose again—is saved by the grace of God and is a member of the true Church, the Body of Christ.

This means that anyone who has believed the gospel of salvation is saved, no matter what their denominational affiliation. Even though they may not have the understanding that we have of Paul’s gospel, we owe them both honor and respect as members of Christ’s Body. In light of the coming Judgment Seat of Christ, we are well served never to speak disparagingly of them. Mark these words of the Apostle Paul, and mark them well, “Why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought [despise] thy brother? for we shall all stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ…So then, every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:10,12).

We most certainly acknowledge that Catholicism spiritually binds its hearers with the need to earn their salvation through good works. This false “religious system,” with all its unfounded traditions, must be exposed as heresy. But even here we must give thanks that there are Catholics who have believed the gospel and eventually recanted Catholicism. Protestantism, on the other hand, with all its shortcomings and denominational bias, does at least in varying degrees preach faith in Christ. Even though they have many times opposed us for proclaiming the gospel of the grace of God, we like Paul, are grateful that Christ is preached (Phil. 1:15-18).

Rather than criticize those of the denominations who are saved, we have a responsibility to share the Word rightly divided with them so that they too might be delivered from the commandments of men. As Paul says, we are to “speak the truth in love,” something that is oftentimes lacking in the Grace movement.

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

Two Minutes with the Bible lets you start your day with short but powerful Bible study articles from the Berean Bible Society. Sign up now to receive Two Minutes With the Bible every day in your email inbox. We will never share your personal information and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Two Minutes with the Bible is now available on Alexa devices. Full instructions here.

What Good is the Law of Moses? – 1 Timothy 1:8-11

Posted on by Pastor Ricky Kurth

Summary:

In pronouncing the law “good” (v.8) Paul is teaching Timothy how to deal with those who desire to teach it (v.7). You start by acknowledging the law is as good as Moses said (Deut.4:6-8) and can do good things (Ps. 19:7,8; 119: 98). Even the man who says we are not under law (Rom.6: 15) keeps insisting the law is good (v.8cf.Rom.7:12).

But the law is good only “if” it is used lawfully (v.8). It is not made for righteous men, i.e., it’s not for saved men. Only saved men are righteous. Remember, only the righteous saved in Israel will inherit the land for ever (Ps.37:29), and only the righteous have eternal life (Mt.25: 46). None of us are righteous in ourselves (Rom.3:10), but we can be “made righteous” by the obedience of Christ (Rom.5:19).

Since there are only two kinds of people in the world, saved and unsaved, and the law isn’t made for the saved, it must be made for the unsaved, a group Paul calls “the lawless.” He also calls them “the disobedient” (v.9). Peter contrasts “disobedient” people to believers (IPe.2:7) because they “obey not the gospel” (IIThes.1:8).

God made the law for the unsaved to show them they are sinners (Rom.3:20) who need a Savior. When the Law finds its way to a “good” moral person, it makes the sin in them “exceeding sinful” (Rom.7:13). When we’re told not to do something, our fallen nature wants to do it all the more. That’s why Paul says that “the strength of sin is the law” (ICor.15:56).

Since the first commandment is not to have other gods before God, if you do, you are “ungodly” (v.9cf.Ex.20:3). Those who make graven images (Ex.20:4) are “sinners” (v.9). Since the next commandment says to keep the Sabbath “holy” (Ex.20:8), if the Jews who were under the law didn’t keep it holy, they were “unholy” (v.9). Since we’re not supposed to take God’s name in vain (Ex.20:7), the “profane” are those who break this commandment (v.9). When Paul says the law was made for “murderers,” he’s addressing Exodus 20:13. When he adds you shouldn’t kill your mother or father, he’s referencing Exodus 20:12.

Under the law “manslayers” (v.9) were those who killed people unintentionally, but in this context the word refers to those who kill anyone, not just fathers and mothers. God left the commandment “thou shalt not kill” open-ended to include even the killing of yourself in suicide. And if you don’t believe that this open-ended commandment prohibits abortion, you are guilty of age discrimination, for you are saying that it is okay to kill the old but not the young.

A whore in our day and age is a prostitute who has sex for money, so a “whoremonger” (v.10) would be a prostitute’s customer. But originally a whore was any promiscuous woman, so a whoremonger was any promiscuous man or woman, any who violate Exodus 20:14. Paul is also referencing the commandment not to covet (Ex.20:17), since coveting is what causes whoremongering (Rom.7:7). Whoremongering also covers them that defile themselves with mankind (v.10), for adultery with “mankind” is no better than adultery with a woman (cf.Lev.18:22).

The law was also made for “menstealers” (v.10), those who’d violate Exodus 20:15 by stealing the most valuable thing that can be stolen, people. “Liars” (v.10) break the commandment found in Exodus 20:16. We think of courtrooms when we think of “perjured persons,” but that’s only because perjury means lying under oath.

When Paul adds, “if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine” (v.10) according to his gospel (v.11), the Sabbath was not contrary to sound doctrine according to the law, but it is according to Paul’s gospel (Col.2:16). So if you use that law to bring a knowledge of sin on an unbeliever you are using it unlawfully.

Paul calls his gospel “glorious” to remind Timothy to remind those that desired to be teachers of the law that his gospel wasn’t contrary to the law as he’d been charged (Acts 18:13), it was a secret, unrevealed part of the new covenant, God’s glorious solution to the weakness and unprofitableness of the law (IICor.3:5-10).

A Little Space of Grace

Posted on by Pastor Ricky Kurth

“And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the Lord…” (Ezra 9:8).

If you know anything about the history of Israel, it was a constant series of them sinning, God punishing them, them repenting, and then “a little space” of grace in between, such as this space that came after the punishment of the Babylonian captivity. Today, of course, we live in the dispensation of grace (Eph. 3:2), a time when God is dispensing grace unmixed with any periods of wrath. No matter what you do, you can’t make God punish you, whether you be saved or lost.

Of course, a believer who sins grieves God’s holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30) and may still suffer the natural consequences of sin. For example, a believer who ignores God’s prohibition against homosexuality (Lev. 18:22) may contract AIDS. However, this is not the wrath of God, this is just an example of reaping what you sow (Gal. 6:7), a principle that applies in every dispensation. If you want to know what God thinks of homosexuality, don’t look at a feeble disease like AIDS, look at Sodom and Gomorrah. Then remember that it is true of all kinds of sins that “because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them” (Eph. 5:6,7). Just because you are saved and immune from the penalty of sin doesn’t mean you should engage in the kinds of sins for which God will punish unsaved men in Hell for all eternity.

If you are not saved, enjoy the dispensation of grace while it lasts, for you are going to be left behind when the Rapture brings an end to this dispensation. The Great Tribulation that will follow the Rapture will be the exact opposite of a dispensation characterized by grace not mixed with any periods of wrath, for it will be a time of wrath unmixed with any periods of grace. When that day comes you will “drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture…” (Rev. 14:10). As the uncut, unmixed, undiluted wrath of Almighty God is poured out, “in those days shall men seek death” (Rev. 9:6) because they will understand that even the slightest space of grace will then be out of the question to seek. Your only hope is to “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved…” (Acts 16:31).

If you are thinking that you’ll wait and see if the Rapture really comes before believing on Christ in the Tribulation, think again, for God’s undiluted wrath will not convince you to believe as you might think it would. In John’s vision of that day,

“…men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not…and they gnawed their tongues for pain and blasphemed…God…because of their pains…and repented not of their deeds” (Rev. 16:9-11).

Of course, these pains will be the least of your worries, for all who persist in unrepentant unbelief will be “tormented with fire and brimstone” (Rev. 14:10), “and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night…” (Rev. 14:11).

The choice is yours: undiluted grace or undiluted wrath. “Christ died for your sins” and “rose again” (I Cor. 15:1-4). All He asks of you is to believe it, and rest in what He did for you on Calvary’s Cross.

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

Two Minutes with the Bible lets you start your day with short but powerful Bible study articles from the Berean Bible Society. Sign up now to receive Two Minutes With the Bible every day in your email inbox. We will never share your personal information and you can unsubscribe at any time.



Two Minutes with the Bible is now available on Alexa devices. Full instructions here.

The Resurrected Body

Posted on by Pastor Paul M. Sadler

Winter is a great time of the year to sit down by a crackling fire with a cup of hot coffee and read a good book. But thankfully, winter’s blast eventually turns into the warm breezes of spring when the flowers begin to bloom. We go from the barreness of wintertime that symbolizes death, to springtime when life wondrously springs forth, a fitting illustration of the resurrection.

After the Apostle Paul addressed our heavenly citizenship in Philippians, and how we are to be looking for the Lord’s return, he made an interesting statement: “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself” (Phil. 3:21). Paul believed in the resurrection!

Notice when the Lord comes, He is going to transform this body of humiliation that is prone to suffering and corruption, and conform it to His glorious body. Therefore, our resurrected body is going to be like His resurrected body, with the exception of His being God. If we understand the nature of our Lord’s resurrection, it will give us a better understanding of our future body. For example:

  • The Lord appeared in a visible form (Luke 24:36,37).
  • He had a body comprised of flesh and bones(Luke 24:39;John 20:24-28).
  • The molecular structure of His body was such that He could pass through solid objects, such as a door that was closed (John 20:19,26).
  • His identity was preserved in the resurrection. The disciples recognized Him (Luke 24:31; John 20:20).
  • He had the ability to speak and reason with them (Luke 24:25-27).
  • The Lord had a memory of past events (Luke 24:44).
  • He ate with the disciples on more than one occasion (Luke 24:41-43;John 21:12-15).
  • He retained His knowledge of the Scriptures (Luke 24:46,47).
  • The Lord had the ability to appear in another form (Mark 16:12).
  • He could instantly vanish out of sight (Luke 24:31).

Our resurrected body is going to be very adaptable to its surroundings. While these natural bodies are given to weakness and fatigue, our new ones will be raised in power. Since it is controlled by the Spirit, we will have an endless source of energy to serve the Lord throughout eternity.

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

Two Minutes with the Bible lets you start your day with short but powerful Bible study articles from the Berean Bible Society. Sign up now to receive Two Minutes With the Bible every day in your email inbox. We will never share your personal information and you can unsubscribe at any time.



Two Minutes with the Bible is now available on Alexa devices. Full instructions here.

The End of the Commandment – 1 Timothy 1:5-7

Posted on by Pastor Ricky Kurth

Summary:

Since the word “end” can mean purpose or goal, “the end of the commandment” refers to the goal of the commandment. In God’s mind the ten commandments are one (James 2:10,11), so “the commandment” (v.5) refers to all ten. God’s purpose, or goal, in giving the ten commandments was “charity,” a Bible word for love. God’s goal in giving the law was to get men to love Him and their neighbor as themselves.

But don’t change “charity” to love, for love is a feeling, charity is that feeling in action. God’s goal in giving the law wasn’t just to cause you to feel love toward God and men, it was to get you to put that feeling in action by not having others gods before Him or taking His name in vain, and by not lying to your neighbor, stealing from him, killing, etc. (Rom. 13:8-10; Gal. 5:13,14).

Only saved people have “a pure heart” (v.5 cf. Pr.24:3,4; Mt.5:8). The Jews purified their hearts by water baptism (Heb.10:22), but the Gentiles purify their hearts “by faith” without baptism, like Cornelius (Acts 15:8,9). The point is, God’s goal in giving the law wasn’t just to get everyone obeying the ten commandments, it was to get everyone saved and obeying them out of a pure, saved heart.

That doesn’t mean God doesn’t it like it when the unsaved obey the law. We know He does, for He’ll force them to obey it in the kingdom (Rev.19:15; Jer.23:5). The kingdom will begin with all believers, but when most of their children don’t believe the Lord will have to rule amid His “enemies” (Ps.110:2). Everyone will obey the ten commandments in that day, but the unsaved will obey them out of impure hearts.

But we know the law can’t change impure hearts because at the end of the millennium all who obeyed it out of impure hearts rebel against Christ (Rev.20:7-9). And it wasn’t God’s goal to give the Law so men would obey outwardly, just waiting for their chance to rebel! It was to get men saved and obeying the law “out of a pure heart.”

The process always starts when the lost hear the law and learn what sin is (Rom.3:20; 7:7). Once the lost man learns he is a sinner he sees his need to be saved and become someone who can obey the law out of a pure heart.

Similar to all this, the only ones with “a good conscience” (at least in this context) are saved people. The Jews got it by water baptism (Heb.10:22), we get it by faith alone! God also wants us obeying the law out of “faith unfeigned” (v.5). Since “feign” means pretend (ISam.21:13), “unfeigned” faith was genuine faith (IITim.1:5).

The reason Paul was saying all this is because some in Ephesus had “swerved” from the goal of charity and “turned aside” (v.6). Since three times the Bible says that Israel “turned aside” from the law (Ex.32:8; Deut.9:12,16), Paul picked this phrase deliberately to answer those who were charging him with turning aside from the law (Rom.6:15). It was his way of saying, “Yes, I am turning aside from the law, but you’re turning aside from the goal of the law.”

“Vain” (v.6) means empty, and “jangling” is overly loud jingling. We know when some turned to vain jangling they were turning to the law, for Paul goes on to say they desired to be teachers of the law (v.7). They left charity to focus on the thing that was supposed to produce charity. This led to bickering, another meaning of “jangling.”

Paul told Titus to “stop” the vain talkers of the circumcision who were talking about the Law (Tit.1:10,11). The Greek words for “vain jangling” are the same as for “vain talkers” there. Their motive was “filthy lucre.” Satan always makes sure undispensational things are lucrative.

But if the goal of the law is to get men to love God and others, and we’re not under the law, does that mean God doesn’t want us to love God and others in the dispensation of grace? Of course He does! But today it is the goal of a different commandment, the commandment of God that made Paul an apostle (ITim.1:1) and gave him a new message of grace, not law. The goal of that commandment is to get men saved by grace and loving out of a pure heart.

Will You Please Sit Still

Posted on by Pastor John Fredericksen

Presently, we have a four-year-old grandson. He has more life and energy than grandpa, grandma, mommy and daddy combined. Actually, all our grandchildren do. However, our oldest in particular is constantly on the go and talking loudly. He finds it difficult to sit still for very long. Nonetheless, we’ve been working on the process of him attending church services with us. Recently I told him he needed to be very quiet while we were in the services. When this clearly wasn’t working, we told him firmly: “Will you please sit still and be quiet?”

In the Scriptures, the Lord repeatedly seeks to impress on our souls the need to be still and quiet. In Psalm 46:10, David records God’s message: “Be still and know that I am God.” When he was in times of “trouble” (46:1), David learned it was a good time to reflect quietly on God’s greatness and help. When an issue about how to properly worship the Lord arose, Moses told the questioners: “Stand still, and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you” (Num. 9:8). Rather than clamor in an emotional state, their need was to wait quietly, listen and learn. When God instructed the prophet Samuel to announce to Saul that he was the choice of Jehovah to be king, Samuel wanted a private time with him away from all distraction. Then he told him: “…stand thou still awhile, that I may shew thee the Word of God” (I Sam. 9:27).

As it was then, so it is now. The best condition to fully comprehend a message from God’s very words is in a state of quiet attentiveness without distraction. So important is this latter principle that we see Samuel practicing it again in the waning days of his ministry to Israel. He told them: “Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the Lord of all the righteous acts of the Lord, which he did to you and your fathers” (I Sam. 12:7).

We live in a time of too much busyness and distraction, especially with things that will not count in eternity. It is more important than ever for every child of God to recognize the necessity of being quiet and still before the Lord. This is true when we go to church to worship, and it is true every day. It is vital that we purpose to make time for a quiet time with the Lord and His Word each day.

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

Two Minutes with the Bible lets you start your day with short but powerful Bible study articles from the Berean Bible Society. Sign up now to receive Two Minutes With the Bible every day in your email inbox. We will never share your personal information and you can unsubscribe at any time.



Two Minutes with the Bible is now available on Alexa devices. Full instructions here.

How Many Heavens?

Posted on by Pastor Paul M. Sadler

“Exactly how many heavens are there and what is the purpose of each realm?”

We believe the Scriptures teach there are three heavens.

The first heaven is our atmosphere where we live and serve the Lord. It is where the Psalmist says, “the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches” (Psa. 104:12).

The second heaven is the solar system that consists of the sun, moon, stars, and planets (Gen. 1:14-18). Prior to the written revelation of God, the Lord used this realm as a teaching tool. Once again, in the words of the Psalmist, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament [expanse] sheweth His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge” (Psa. 19:1,2). While Satan currently dwells in the second heaven, he will be cast out of heaven to the earth in the middle of the Tribulation period (Rev. 12:7-12). Throughout eternity, the members of the Body of Christ will occupy this realm and its various seats of authority (Eph. 2:6).

The third heaven is the abode of God often referred to in the Scriptures as the heaven of heavens. It is also where an innumerable host of angels worship and serve the Lord. This is confirmed by Nehemiah, “Thou, even thou, art Lord alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein” (Neh. 9:6).

Paul reveals that he was caught up to the “third heaven” where he received a further revelation from the Lord regarding the Mystery (II Cor. 12:1-4; Eph. 3:2,3). The apostle also calls this realm Paradise. Today, we have a heavenly hope according to Colossians 1:5; therefore, when we come face to face with death, we look forward with great expectation to be absent from the body “and to be present with the Lord” (II Cor. 5:6-9), Who dwells in the heaven of heavens

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

Two Minutes with the Bible lets you start your day with short but powerful Bible study articles from the Berean Bible Society. Sign up now to receive Two Minutes With the Bible every day in your email inbox. We will never share your personal information and you can unsubscribe at any time.



Two Minutes with the Bible is now available on Alexa devices. Full instructions here.

An Apostolic Interpolation – 1 Timothy 1:3-4

Posted on by Pastor Ricky Kurth

Summary:

The “so do” at the end of Verse 4 is italicized, which means they are interpolated words not found in the Greek text. But it is often necessary to add words when translating. Leave out the interpolated words in IISamuel 21:19 and there’s a mistake in your Bible. Here, Paul is telling Timothy, “As I left you behind to do things, so do them” (v.3,4).

If Paul was an apostle, why didn’t he order Timothy to abide there, why beg? The answer is, there is no denominational hierarchy in the work of God (Mt.20:25,26). Rome thinks Peter was the first pope. He wasn’t, but if he was, he didn’t believe in hierarchy (IPe.5:2,3). Apollos told Paul he’d go where Paul told him to go at his convenience (ICor.16:12), sovereign independence that is normally reserved for kings and governors (Acts 23:24 cf. 24:25).

Of course, if Paul had to beg Timothy to stay behind, it must mean he didn’t want to. He was timid, and traveling with Paul was one thing, staying behind quite another, but he manned up again. For his part, Paul was sure he’d be a good fit because the church was based in a school (Acts 19:1-9), and Tim was a bookworm. He knew the books of the Bible well (IITim.3:15), and Paul wouldn’t have left his books with someone who wouldn’t read them (IITim.4:13)

Paul wasn’t stashing him in some dead end out of the way ministry. Ephesus was the ministry that introduced Asia to God (Acts 19:9).Does that tell you anything about the power of a teaching ministry, or how God can use a bookworm?

When Paul asked Timothy to remain in Ephesus to “charge” some to teach no other doctrine, a Bible charge was a serious thing (Acts 16:23,24). Was it important when God charged Abraham to start the Hebrew nation (Gen.26:2-5). Was it important to charge Moses to lead them out of Egypt (Ex.6:13), or when God charged Joshua to lead them into the Promised Land (Deut.3:28), or when God charged the angels to guard the Son of God (Mt.4:6)? If Paul uses the word “charge,” it must be just as important to teach no other doctrine than his. And the words “no other” must be as important as they are in Exodus 20:3.

Paul didn’t just tell Timothy he should teach no other doctrine, he told him to charge others not to because he saw the seeds of apostasy before he left Ephesus (Acts 20:29, 30). This didn’t mean he could only teach Paul’s epistles (IITim.3:16); “no other” meant “otherwise” (See ITim.6:3, 4, the only other place where the same Greek word is used).

A “fable” (ITim.1:4) is “a mythical story meant to teach a lesson. The parallel passage tells us Paul was warning against “Jewish” fables (Tit.1:13,14). Judaism is the context here too, for Jews were famous for “genealogies” (v.4). They needed them to identify priests (Ezr.2:62) and kings (Ps.60:7) and their Messiah (Gen.49:10). So what kind of fables were they telling? Well, Paul warned Titus of “the commandments of men” (Tit.1:14), i.e., the commandments of the Law (Col.2:21,22), which used to be the commandments of God. When the Lord and the 12 taught the Law they healed people, and Jews who rejected the dispensational change would tell fables about men who were still healing people even after the gift of healing had ceased (ITim.5:23), just as men today tell fables, mythical stories designed to teach that the kingdom program continues.

The Jews still taught genealogies because some still thought they were saved because they were Jews (Mt.3:9), as some still think today, and some Jews thought they were better than others because they had a better genealogy (Phil.3:5), just as some saved Jews think they have a leg up on saved Gentiles today because they have a better genealogy. But “endless” means pointless, to no end or purpose, and now that Messiah had come there was no more purpose to genealogies. That’s why God allowed them to burn when the Romans destroyed the temple. Like the Law, genealogies were to “perish with the using” (Col.2:21,22). The law is used to show sinners they need a Saviour (ITim.1:8,9), and should perish with the using. Genealogies should have perished with the using of identifying the Messiah. The Law can’t build us up, “godly edifying which is in faith” (v.4) does that with “the word of His grace” (Acts 20:32).