1 Timothy Lesson 3

5 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:

 

The end of the Law is:

 

·         Charity out of a pure heart. Charity is better understood by us as love today. But in times past people spoke of Christian charity, not love; therefore, you can understand why a lot of organizations are called “charities.”

Jesus took the letter of law and raise it to the spirit which means that no longer was the physical act of adultery the only wrong thing; but likewise lust (the motive, the heart attitude, the posture of the heart, the dwelling place of thoughts) was just as wrong and sinful as the actual, physical act.

“out of a pure heart.” David was a man after God’s own heart, he maintained his purity by repenting and walking humbly before God. Likewise, we need to a pure heart that is right with the Lord.

·         Of a good conscience: the Holy Spirit convicts, primarily through our conscience, or as we might say today, “the Holy Spirit convicted my heart about ____” Is your conscience clear before God? Have you gotten right with God and the people you need to? We cannot be saved and carry unforgiveness in our hearts (Matt. 6)….where are you? I’m not saying that we don’t every have to deal with offense and not wanting to forgive, but we have to have a heart that forgives and works through the process with the Lord. We cannot let bitterness and unforgiveness become entrenched in our lives.

·         Of faith unfeigned: Think of unfeigned as undefiled. We are to a pure, sincere faith that is not polluted or contaminated.

 

The end of the commandment (the Law) is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience and of faith unfeigned. Remember that Jesus did not come to destroy or do away with the Law of God, He actually fulfilled it and raised the standard to the spirit—the heart attitude, the motive.

 

6 From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling;

 

People that swerve from charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience and of faith unfeigned turn aside to vain jangling. It is sad, but you must understand this reality for you will come into contact with those who have turned aside to false teachers and false prophets (some are pastors and “christian leaders”) who say whatever their itching ears want to hear.

 

And here, perhaps, are some of the vain janglings they turn aside to:

 

 7 Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.

 

They don’t understand the law. In other Words, they want to teach the Word, but don’t understand what they are saying, they don’t understand the Word, and they do not realize what they are implying as they teach (affirming).

 

8 But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully;

 

The Law has a purpose. The book of Romans is a great example of how to use the Law rightly: to bring people to a conviction of sin and knowledge of Jesus Christ the Savior of all. Almost all the Scriptures that you will hear or see used to lead someone to Christ come from the Book of Romans. In fact, the book of Romans is pretty much a book on how to use the Law of God properly.

 

9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man,

 

The Law wasn’t made for “good” people (only God is good in reality…), but for the sinner. This is largely disregarded and thrown out today. You will hear many Christians say that we just need to love sinners and not tell them that they are sinners. A whole philosophy of “Christian ministry” is that we just need to get people in the doors and “love on them.” You can’t truly love someone if you don’t tell them the Truth! Without Christ, people are going to Hell. Sin is sin and the Law of God should be proclaimed. If you don’t believe me just look at what Paul says next:

 

The Law is for

 

 but for the lawless and disobedient,

for the ungodly and for sinners,

for unholy and profane,

for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers,

for manslayers (murderers),

 10 For whoremongers (men who use prostitutes),

for them that defile themselves with mankind (homosexuals)

, for menstealers,

for liars,

for perjured (stolen, or theft) persons,

and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine

My last point is sound doctrine. Again as a I mentioned before, Paul’s written ministry was primarily one of dealing with false doctrines and pointing people back to what the Word, the whole counsel of God, really taught. Paul didn’t teach extremist doctrines like legalism (it all depends on me) or extreme “cheap” grace (God is just gonna change me). One example is what the Bible says about holiness. Our holiness is from Christ, but God also says Be Holy as I am Holy. The legalists take the be holy part and take it way to far, denying Christ’s provision. Extreme gracer’s take it to other extreme and say in Christ we are holy so we don’t have to do anything. Neither is correct. The balance is that we acknowledge that our holiness is provide my Christ; not our own effort, yet we have to choose to come out and be separate—to live a life that is different from the world.

Question in class:
Let us live up to what we have already attained (Phil. 3:16 and context). –you are responsible for how much you know of the Word of God and how far you have grown.