GENTLE INSTRUCTION

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

2 Timothy 2:25-26

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In his two letters to Timothy, we find Paul demanding his missionary partner and pastor of the Ephesian church to confront people within the congregation who were trying to spread false teachings. These demands included:

“...command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies” (1 Timothy 1:3-4).

“The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth... If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed” (1 Timothy 4:1-3, 6).  

“Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. But those elders who are sinning you are to reprove before everyone, so that the others may take warning” (1 Timothy 5:19-20).

“These are the things you are to teach and insist on. If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain” (1 Timothy 6:2-5).

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share (1 Timothy 6:17-18).

“Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen” (2 Timothy 2:14).  

It’s important to keep in mind that the Ephesian church was just getting started. As compared to other competing religions in the city, it was the new kid on the block and there was a danger of other false doctrines to find their way into the body and pervert the purity of the Gospel. This is why we find Paul urging Timothy to confront the attempts of the devil to infect the church through insidious sinfulness with the intent of destroying it from the inside out. Look again at his words from his second letter:

Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will (2:25-26).

Confrontation between people always has at least two people involved: the confronter, or possibly confronters, and the person or people being confronted. There is always potential for these confrontations to turn ugly and divulge into angry environments where verbal and physical abuse are manifested...and when that happens, there is rarely, if ever, a proper resolution to the conflict.

This is why we find Paul exhorting Timothy to gently instruct his opponents, exercising caution not to incite inappropriate behavior. The goal wasn’t to raise the ire of those being corrected but rather help them see the wrongs of their ways through “a knowledge of the truth” so that they might “come to their senses” and repent, escaping from “the trap of the devil” who had “taken them captive to do his will”.

Friends, there is still conflict within the church today and the Apostle Paul’s guidance to Timothy more than 2,000 years ago remains relevant now. We are to gently confront anyone who is teaching or promoting anything that is outside of the Word of God and the Gospel because the devil hasn’t given up trying to entrap Christian believers, taking them captive to achieve his will. If you don’t see this happening within Christian denominations and churches of the world, you have blinders on.

As in the days of the New Testament and the Ephesian church, our goal in gentle confrontation and instruction will always be to bring “knowledge of the truth” so that people entrapped by the devil might come to their senses, free themselves, and repent so to eliminate enmity and restore their relationship with God. It’s time for Christians to get to work as Paul called Timothy to meet false doctrine and sinful behavior in the church head-on. The devil isn’t ever going to stop until Jesus returns...and we can’t either.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.