There are two areas in which a man can be blameless. He can be blameless in his practice based upon his efforts to do right. Additionally, a believer can be blameless positionally, but this is completely based upon the finished work and righteousness of Christ. This second area of blamelessness is the subject of Ephesians 1:4 as is also the case in Colossians 1:22. In the context of that passage, it is clear this blamelessness comes only through the reconciliation of Christ (Colossians 1:21). This means that in Christ, believers bear no guilty responsibility for sins they have committed. Instead, believers are viewed and accepted in the righteousness of Christ (Ephesians 1:6).
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).
