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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).

The Title of Paul – 1 Timothy 1:1-2

Posted on by Pastor Ricky Kurth

Summary:

The word “apostle” means sent one, and when the Lord “commanded” and “sent” the twelve forth (Mt.10:5), they were sent forth by the commandment of God (John 12:49). Since Paul knew not everyone accepted his apostleship, he asserted that he too was an apostle “by the commandment of God” (1:1). This made his apostleship of equal authority with that of the twelve.

But if God had already commanded and sent out 12 apostles, why send out another? It’s not like they were sent to different groups of people, they were all sent to “all nations” (Lu.24:47 cf. Rom.1:5). But the 12 didn’t reach all nations, because Israel, the first nation they were sent to (Lu.24:47) refused to believe, and they couldn’t go to the rest of the nations until the children of Israel were “filled” (Mark 7:27). So God sent another apostle to all nations.

But this means God had to introduce a new program as well as a new apostle. The old plan was to get Israel saved and let them reach all nations as God’s priests. The fact that all nations today have been reached with the gospel of God proves God started a new plan. That’s why Paul told the Corinthian Gentiles that their salvation proved his apostleship. Since they were saved and Israel wasn’t, it proved he was a new apostle with a new message.

When Paul says he was an apostle “by the commandment of God our Saviour,” this shows Paul was also given a new message. In time past, God was the Savior of the Jews only (Isa.49:26), and that didn’t change with the preaching of the 12 (Acts 5:30,31). It changed “in due time” with preaching that was committed to Paul (Tit.1:2,3), when “God our Saviour” said He would “have all men to be saved” (ITim.2:3-7).

Paul also claimed he was an apostle of the Lord Jesus (1:1) who sent him (Acts 26:17) for the same reason God sent him, to offer “forgiveness of sins” (v.18) to all nations.

When Paul says Christ is “our hope,” this is different than when we as Gentiles had “no hope” in time past (Eph.2:11,12).

In his first epistle in Scripture, Paul also introduced himself as a “servant” (Rom.1:1) to let us know the kind of apostle he’d be, one that wasn’t afraid to get involved in the work of the ministry. He also introduced himself as a servant to the Philippians (1:1), knowing that if they’d adopt a servant’s heart it would fix their pride issues, specially when he reminded them their Savior became a servant (2:5-7). He also introduced himself as a servant to Titus (1:1) for that strong leader needed to be reminded that a good leader must be a good servant.

This letter was written to Timothy (1:2), a more timid man than Titus (I Cor. 16:10 cf. IICor.7:14,15). Paul writes to him about his mother, his grandmother, and his tears (IITim. 1:4,5). But this mamma’s boy was respected in two churches (Acts 16:1-3). Born and raised in Lystra, where he saw Paul stoned, he still agreed to go with Paul when the apostle asked him to, even though it meant having to undergo a painful adult circumcision (v.3 cf. Gen.34:25).

All of this proves that God can use you, even if you’re timid. Timothy fit in at Philippi better than Titus (Phil.2:19) since the church started with women (Acts 16:11,12), and about the only members named are women (Phil.4:2), leading us to believe the church consisted mostly of women. Well, Timothy was raised by women!

When Paul calls him “mine own son in the faith” (1:2), that means Lois and Eunice might have raised him in the Jewish faith, but Paul led him to the Lord. If you are raising your kids in the faith, it might take someone else to reach them.

Paul offers grace and peace to the churches he wrote to, but “mercy” to the pastors (ITim.1:1; IITi.1:1; Tit.1:1). He may have been referring to the kind of mercy that enabled him to remain single (ICor.7:25), or the food and clothing kind (IITim.1:16) when churches didn’t supply their needs, or the kind of mercy in physical illness that servants of the Lord like Epaphroditus had (Phil.2:25-27).

Brotherly Love – 2 Thessalonians 3:15-18

Posted on by Pastor Ricky Kurth

Summary:

Paul told the Thessalonians to disfellowship the men who were walking disorderly by not working (v.14) out of love, so he reminded them not to count them as enemies (v.15). This is similar to what Moses taught (Lev.19:17) in the context of loving your brethren (v.18). This is also similar to how, if you love your son, you will chasten him and not allow him to continue in rebellion against your authority. If you love your brother, you don’t let him continue in rebellion against God, you chasten him by having no company with him. Hey, if you are supposed to love your brother enough to return his animal when it goes astray, (Deut.22:1), shouldn’t you act if his soul goes astray?

In saying “count him not as an enemy” (IITh.3:15), Paul may have been thinking of the fornicator that the Corinthians disfellowshipped (ICor.5:9-13). To their credit they did, but then wouldn’t let him back into the assembly (IICor.2:6-8). Causing “overmuch sorrow” is not how you love a brother! So Paul told them to “confirm” their love for him (v.8). Just because a brother falls into sin, or quits going to work, is no reason to ostracize him forever. By the way, if you are the one being disobedient and find yourself disfellowshipped, react as the psalmist did (Ps.141:5).

As we said, first the Corinthians wouldn’t put the man out of the assembly, then they wouldn’t let him back in. These extremes are the “devices” of Satan that Paul warned about in that passage (IICor.2:11). Some men refuse to be the head of the home God says they are, some take it too far. Some parents refuse to spank their kids, some break their bones. Some Christians are too carnal like the Corinthians, others are too legalistic like the Galatians. Some Christians don’t rightly divide the Word and think everything is written to them, our Acts 28 brethren divide it too much and are left with only Paul’s prison epistles.

When Paul prayed that “the Lord of peace give you peace by any means” (IITh.3:16), the Lord of peace is Christ, who went to great means to give you peace with God. God could “by no means” clear guilty sinners (Ex.34:6,7), and not even the rich could “by any means” redeem his brother (Ps.49:6,7). And if you wind up in “hell” (Mt.5:22) you will “by no means” come out (v.26). But while there was no means by which God could clear sinners under the Old Covenant of the Law, Christ “by means of death” can clear believers under the New Covenant of grace (Heb.9:15).

But if the Thessalonians had “peace with God” (Rom.5:1), why does Paul pray the Lord will give them peace? Well, not all who have peace with God feel like they have it, so Paul prays they will have it experientially. It’s like how God says Israel will “possess their possessions” in the kingdom (Obadiah 17). God told them they’d possess the land (Gen.17:8), but they never fully did. He told them they’d possess the nations (Deut.9:1) but they never fully did. But in the kingdom they will. In our kingdom in heaven we will fully possess the peace God says is ours, but Paul is praying we will possess it now. All Israel had to do was believe God when He said those things were theirs, and all we have to do is believe God when He says peace is ours.

Once you possess your possessions you have to hold them or lose them. You wouldn’t think anyone could corrupt the simplicity of “Christ died for our sins…and…rose again” (ICor.15:3,4cf.IICor.11:3) but they did when the Corinthians stopped believing in the resurrection and lost their peace. But the “peace” Paul prayed the Thessalonians would retain was that of the pretrib rapture. In his first epistle to them Paul says he was concerned “lest by any means” the devil had dispossessed them of their possession of that blessed hope, and Paul lists the means he used (IITh.2:1,2).

Why’s Paul add “the Lord be with you” (IITh.3:16)? Well, when Saul said that to David, he meant the Lord who was with him when he killed the bear and lion would be with him against Goliath. In the same way, Paul is praying the Lord who defeated Satan at Calvary will continue to be with us. He will be, of course; Paul is praying according to the revealed will of God, just as he was in the “salutation” (IITh.3:17) in Verse 18. The grace that saved us will always be with us, but there is nothing wrong with saying “grace be with you”!

The Making of a Busybody – 2 Thessalonians 3:10-14

Posted on by Pastor Ricky Kurth

Summary:

When the Thessalonians overreacted to learning about the Rapture by quitting their jobs, it caused several problems. First, it led to the creation of “busybodies” (v.11), people who meddle into the affairs of others. Plus, busybodies are usually “tattlers” (I Tim. 5:13), or idle talkers. And once tattlers start down the road of idle talking, it is not long be-fore they are “speaking things which they ought not” (ITim.5:13). Since most of us love to meddle in the affairs of others and tell them how to work out their salvation, Paul tells us: “work out your own salvation” (Phil.2:12).

Paul commanded these busybodies to go back to work when he was in Thessalonica, and in his first epistle to them (IThes.4:11), and now here again (IIThes.3:12). But he also chooses to “exhort” them. This is a New Covenant word. Under the Law, God never exhorted the Jews to do anything, He commanded them, and they knew it was obey or else. But under grace Paul can’t issue an “or else,” so with this third command he chooses to exhort them. Under grace, you can remind other adult sons that they will reap what they sow if they ignore Paul’s warnings, but adult sons don’t always care. This is why Paul told Timothy to “exhort with all longsuffering” (IITim.4:2). Under grace, all grace pastors can do is convey Paul’s commands and then suffer long if God’s people reject them.

“Quietness” is a lack of strife (Pr.17:1), a lack of trouble (Job 34:29), and a lack of fighting (IChr.22:9). In telling the Thessalonians to work “with quietness,” he was telling them they could avoid strife, trouble and fighting with their brethren. You see, there was money involved. In telling the busybodies they should work and “eat their own bread,” it implies they were eating the bread of their brethren who had not quit their jobs. Not working creates more than just busybodies and tattlers, it creates moochers.

If you think I’m reading too much into that phrase “eat their own bread,” notice Paul tells the brethren they were sponging off of not to get weary in helping people (IIThes.3:13). We know he’s not changing the subject and moving on here because in Verse 14 he instructs them about what to do about the moochers.

Now he’s not telling them to continue to help the moochers; he told them to distance themselves from them. But you know how it is. If you help people who are unworthy of your help long enough, it makes you hesitant to want to help those who are worthy of it, so Paul tells them not to get burned out on helping others.

When Paul spoke about obeying “our word by this epistle,” remember, his words were God’s words. To despise them was to despise God’s words (I Thes. 4:8). God spoke through Paul’s words as He did all Bible writers (IPe.1:21).

People say we elevate Paul over the Lord Jesus, but in the Tribulation, when Trib saints look to John’s book of Revelation to guide them, will they be elevating John over the Lord? No, they’ll just be recognizing that he wrote about the time in which they will live. In the same way, it is not elevating Paul over the Lord to say that Paul wrote about the time in which we live, the dispensation of the grace of God (Eph.3:1-9). Are we elevating President Obama over President Lincoln when we choose to obey the laws that govern our country now? No! Then why would anyone think we are elevating Paul over the Lord when we choose to follow the rules that govern our dispensation?

When Paul says that they should have “no company” with these busybodies (IITh.3:14), it reminds us of how he told the Corinthians “not to keep company” with the fornicator (ICor.5:11). This puts not going to work in a serious class of disobedience. Even unbelievers know they should work to provide for their own families (ITim.5:8), and “to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not to him it is sin” (James 4:17).

Notice this shunning measure is not punitive, it is restorative. It is done to make the busybody “ashamed” (IIThes.3: 14). Shame is a powerful motivator, and shunning to achieve it is a time-honored Bible tradition (Num. 12:14). God used it to cause His people to seek Him (Psalm 83:16).