2 This truth gives them confidence that they have eternal life, which God—who does not lie—promised them before the world began.--------------------------------------------------------------------
The truth gives us confidence that we have eternal life. What is the truth? It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are sinners saved by grace through faith. This is the exact faith that drives us to live holy lives as we realize that we don't deserve what God has done for us! I love how this says that this truth gives us confidence of eternal life. It doesn't say it gives us confidence of great things to come, or the type of Prosperity Gospel that is telling people "Today will be a better day!"....no for those who follow Christ, especially in countries where it is illegal to preach the word of God and to be a Christian--today might just suck a little more than yesterday. But Praise the Lord we have a promise that will get us through any situation--and that is the confidence that we have eternal life...a gift we surely don't deserve! Thank you Jesus.
16 They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.
ReplyDeleteA true relationship with God through Jesus Christ results in a life that reflects that. As is said in this verse, "They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works." Our works should reflect our relationship. This is once again a challenge to all of us who call ourselves followers of Jesus Christ, do our lives reflect it? Does my life reflect it?
7-9: For the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.
ReplyDeleteI truly believe that this verse is an excellent summation of not just an overseer's life, but any Christian's life. Whatever you do should measure up with God's standards for an overseer, or a minister, as we are all His ministers to those around us. Our lives themselves should minister to those around us.
10 For there are many rebellious people who engage in useless talk and deceive others. This is especially true of those who insist on circumcision for salvation.
ReplyDeleteThis passage speaks to me because recently I have been engaging with others in important conversations of theology. At times I have felt like they are just trivial aspects that can at times derail strong followers of Christ. But after reading this I feel the conversations were being used by the Holy Spirit to teach us about our personal faith. This passage also speaks to the requirement of circumcision to be a Christ follower. This topic is just like many small requirements that man has placed within the Church that contradict teaching in the bible. I love how this can be referenced to bring to question many aspects of religion that have been created long after Christs accent.
All is Great in Christ
9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
ReplyDeleteThis is a nice little word of encouragement for us to try even harder to grow in our faith. Hold firmly to the message, so that we can encourage others, that they can see our example and follow Christ. And for those do not follow Christ that we would be bold enough to refute them. Basically i get that if we are not following Christ, not only are we selling ourselves short, but also preventing others from learning about the word of God. That is a lot to think about.
15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure.
ReplyDeleteFor us to enjoy God and His love, we must strive for purity in all aspects of our lives. Because when we are pure everything else is pure to us. But if we are not pure then nothing is pure. To me I would much rather view everything as pure and strive for purity than have nothing pure to me.
9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
ReplyDeleteThis verse is pretty relevant to me because I sometimes do not want to get into the word, but this verse gives me all the reason to do so. We must truly know and understand the message God is trying to give us in order to encourage others in their spiritual walks. This makes me think about the impact my reading (or lack of reading of) the Bible has on others in addition to myself. Getting into the word is also important for discernment: how can we know whether something someone says is God-based if we are not reading his message for us.
16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him.
ReplyDeleteThis is a reminder that we are called to live above reproach. While Jesus has paid the debt for our sins and we are no longer bound by the law, that does not mean that we should do just anything we please. The Sermon on the Mount and Paul's letters are excellent sources of ways to glorify God with our actions. Not to do so would be tremendously foolish.
6-7 "An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 7 Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain."
ReplyDeleteThis is a reminder from Paul of some of the qualifications of an elder. Here we find ways that we are called by God to live in a way that allows us to be more impacting in people's lives. I think these qualifications are important because most of us are "elders" in this fraternity or will someday be ones for you younger guys. Thus we set the bar on what's appropriate by our actions so I encourage you all to take the words of verse 7 to heart.
-DA
16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
ReplyDeleteIn this verse, Paul lays forth a strong challenge towards those of us who claim to know God but deny him by our actions. Unlike the majority of this chapter where he only lays forth qualities that we should either strive to possess or eliminate from our lives. This verse deals specifically with those who claim to know God but don't reflect that in their actions. To this Paul responds harshly and with great conviction that these people are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing ANYTHING good. That can be a scary fact for many of us since we know that we sin and many times our actions do not reflect God's presence in our lives even when due to indifference rather than specific sinful actions.
9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
ReplyDeleteHere Paul emphasizes the importance of knowing the Word of God and holding fast to it. There are many false gospels, and we should be able to identify those and lead others to the truth.
16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
ReplyDeleteQuite often I find myself thinking how unfit I am for doing good things because I am so sinful. I claim to know God, but all to often my actions go against how I should be living my life. That's something I need to work on.