The apostle Paul knew that there would be times when Timothy, as a minister of the gospel, would have to rebuke or correct others. However, Timothy was not to rebuke others on a whim. In fact, Paul specifically laid out two premises which Timothy’s rebuke should follow: “with all longsuffering and doctrine.” Timothy was to rebuke others while suffering with them for a long time, thus longsuffering. He was to exhibit grace by offering others the opportunity to rectify their areas of failure. At the same time, he was to rebuke others with sound doctrine and not simply based upon mere opinion. This was going to be even more necessary as some would begin to depart from sound doctrine and practice (2 Timothy 4:3-4).
God is love, but that does not mean that everything that people love is of God. Today’s verse warns believers not to love the world or the things that are in the world. God’s people are repeatedly admonished about this because believers are prone to love things and people contrary to the will of God. The Christian’s heroes are generally no different than the world's heroes. We have many Bible examples of men who loved those of whom God disapproved. Samson exemplified this in his love for Delilah (Judges 16:4). Amnon had an unrighteous love for his sister Tamar (2 Samuel 13:1). Solomon failed in this area by loving “many strange women” (1 Kings 11:1). Demas left the ministry because he “loved this present world” (2 Timothy 4:10). Unfortunately, the heart of a believer can be drawn to love things and people displeasing to the Lord. It is always important to consider the object of our love and refuse to make excuses when we know better.
Most of us would assume that the Lord laughed at some point during His earthly ministry, yet the scripture never focuses on this point. Rather, the scripture seems to focus on the fact that He was “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). We know very little of any laughter, yet we do know that He wept at the tomb of Lazarus (John 11:35). He further lamented over Jerusalem because of their rebellion (Luke 13:34). We also know that He sighed at the healing of the deaf man who had a speech impediment (Mark 7:34). Heaven affords the Lord great rejoicing, yet His earthly ministry was consumed by heartache rather than mirth. This most likely was a result of dealing with the consequences of man’s sin.
The believer’s relationship with God is twofold consisting of a positional relationship and one of practice. Positionally, the believer enjoys Christ’s imputed righteousness (Romans 4:6-8). In this position, the believer has been forgiven of all trespasses (past, present, and future) (Colossians 2:13). John confirmed this truth as he wrote to believers saying that their sins were already forgiven (1 John 2:12). Because of God's complete forgiveness, sins can never and will never affect a man’s position in Christ. However, man must also consider his practice (his daily walk before the Lord).The sins that cannot harm a man’s position in Christ can adversely hinder his fellowship with the Lord. Though all our sins are forgiven, we still should daily confess our sins to the Lord in order to keep our fellowship right (1 John 1:9).
God cannot allow man to simply sin with impunity because of His holy and righteous character that demands a righteous judgment. Yet, the Bible proclaims that the Lord is “good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon” Him (Psalm 86:5). It is important to realize that the Lord’s ultimate desire involves His desire to forgive a man’s sins. Therefore, the key to a relationship with the Creator involves trusting wholly in God’s provision. This is what the Bible means by, “The Lord is . . . not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Punishment for sin is death and man’s singular hope rests in God’s mercy. Based upon this readiness to forgive, the Father sent His only begotten Son to shed His blood for the sins of the world. Salvation is not the end all for forgiveness. Even after salvation, the Lord desires for man to remain in close fellowship with Him, but sin separates. The Bible again holds the key when it says that the Lord “is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). We are clean at salvation but must look to God for an ongoing cleansing.
A yoke was an instrument used to help two animals work together when plowing. The Lord Jesus said that believers should take His yoke upon them (Matthew 11:29). In other words, the Lord was saying that we should serve with Him in our service to Him. In 1 Corinthians 3:9, we learn that “we are labourers together with God.” Fellowshipping with the Lord means walking with Him (1 John 1:6-7), and walking with Him means being in agreement with Him (Amos 3:3). Just as God desired to fellowship with Adam (Genesis 3:8) and Enoch (Genesis 5:22), He desires to have fellowship with us today. It is very important that we have fellowship with other like-minded believers, but even more important that we fellowship with the Lord.
Because of certain false teachings, there remains a great deal of confusion concerning the matter of confessing sins. However, when we accept the Bible as our sole authority, the confusion dissipates and disappears. Our earlier study showed that actions must follow confession, but to whom should we confess? Some religions falsely teach that we confess our sins to man, but this is simply untrue. The Bible requires that man confess his sins to the Lord. This truth is confirmed repeatedly throughout the word of God. Our First John passage teaches this, but the Bible provides several additional witnesses (Psalm 32:5; Joshua 7:19; 2 Chronicles 30:22; Ezra 10:1; and Daniel 9:4, 20, for instance). Our next study delves into the subject of Christians confessing something to men, but confession of sin or sins must be made solely to God.
The Lord wants His children to have joy and that without limitations. He wants Christians to experience the fulness of joy that only comes from right relationships. This fulness only exists in the lives of believers as certain conditions are met. The right relationship involves fellowship with God which in turn evolves into the right kind of fellowship with other believers. According to today's passage, the words of the Lord Jesus bring fulness of joy to the saint of God. Additionally, answered prayer offers fulness of joy (John 16:24). In addition to our fellowship with the Lord, the Bible suggests that fellowship with other believers also yields fulness of joy (2 John 1:12). Every astute Bible student recognizes that these two fellowships are inextricably linked (1 John 1:3). No dedicated Christian can experience true fellowship with other dedicated believers without first having the right kind of fellowship with God Almighty.
Imagine one day standing before “the righteous judge” of the universe who knows every action, thought, and motive. One day, this will become the reality for all those who have ever lived. The Son of God is that judge because the Father committed all judgment to Him (John 5:22). He will judge the world with righteousness and the people with equity (Psalm 98:9). His Father gave Him full authority to mete out this judgment. As the judge, He incorporates an equal standard in every ruling. The scripture testifies of this judgment when it says the Lord has a crown for Paul. Fortunately, this crown is not limited to Paul only, “but unto all them also that love his [Christ’s] appearing.” It is important to note that the word of God stands as the standard by which all truth is judged. The Lord Jesus Christ remains the righteous judge by which all is judged. Unfortunately, far too many judges pervert judgment by incorporating a changing standard into their decisions.
Life throws many obstacles in the believer's path. Oftentimes, these obstacles cause people to stumble and err from the truth. In fact, the Bible prophesies of the absence of people who are able to endure sound doctrine during the last days. Unfortunately, this is a major stumbling block and a lofty hurdle for modern Christianity to overcome. The typical Christian deems the Bible too difficult. He is more at ease avoiding it like the plague. In truth, the Bible is a difficult book. Yet, it is difficult not because of hard words, but because of the hard truths contained within its pages. The Bible is not likened to a sword in vain—it pierces the heart and reveals man’s deepest and darkest secrets. The sword does its most efficient work through Bible reading, Bible preaching, and Bible teaching. Yet, regardless of the path truth travels, believers must be able to endure sound doctrine.
