2 Timothy 1:13, 14

 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us ~ 2 Timothy 1:13, 14

 


Paul is exhorting Timothy, a young man and a young Christ follower to be cautious about what he had been taught by Paul – to hold Paul’s words close and not be caught up with false teachers and their “wisdom.” It is a warning for us in our day as well, for our world is filled with many who will speak false words to us, and many who will believe their words as fact. Even in the church, the word of God can and at times will be twisted, so we must know what scripture says, we must be in the word of God on a daily basis, we must not be ignorant! 1 John 4:1 tells us to “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world” (ESV). Paul tells Timothy to guard the words he has learned with the help of the Holy Spirit. He is telling Timothy to do what John says – to test the spirit. You will know the spirit if they confess Jesus as Lord, but you must also test the spirit by the doctrine taught. I recently heard of a pastor in another city which took the scripture from Acts 4:18, 19 where Peter and John were told not to preach Jesus’ name again. The preacher used this scripture and the response of Peter and John to state they did not need to wear masks in church during covid, that they were serving God, not man. In Matthew 22:1 Jesus affirms that we are to give to Caesar what is his, and in Romans 13:1, 2 Paul affirms we are to obey the government, for God has put it there. We see how easy it is to twist the word to make it sound as we want it to sound for our own purposes. The word of God is a guide, it is true, they are words of good doctrine. No one is to invent a religion for his own use, or after his own mind. Guard God’s word in your heart!

Pastor Julia

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