# 30 2019 Devotion, 1 Tim.1:5. A Pure Heart! Read verses 1-11. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw Gremar and I closer to God and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.
1 Timothy 1:5 “The goal of this command (not to teach false doctrine any longer) is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”
Paul left Timothy in Ephesus on his fourth missionary journey. On Paul’s second missionary journey he spent three years in Ephesus teaching the Word of God to many people in the area. Now, eight years later heresies had set in by those who departed from Paul’s teaching of the pure gospel. Paul writes two letters to Timothy to expand on his charge to deal with the Ephesian church. There were several issues; the beginnings of Gnosticism, false asceticism, Judaism expected from Gentile converts and a wrong application of the law.
Paul begins with false teachers of the Law. In vs. 9-11 he lists a long list of actions of “lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious.” The law is good and addresses those negative actions. The law is not for the righteous, not for people of faith but sets the boundaries for those who practice “sound doctrine”.
Paul does not condemn but tells us that the goal of his command is to restore love, a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith. Today there are Christians that accept a couple of actions included in Paul’s list as unacceptable. Christians who stand with Paul’s evaluation and do not accept those actions are considered to commit a hateful crime at worst and an unloving attitude at best. The Word of God tells us that the Summary of the Law is: “Love the Lord your God and your neighbor as yourself”. Followers of Jesus are to love all humans, they bear the image of God; people who fall short of the glory of God, people who disagree with you, people who dislike you and those who are your sworn enemies. The love that Paul makes as a goal of his command calls Timothy and us; to love people so much as to present the gospel and that not regarding God’s law hampers a happy and meaningful life.
That love flows from a pure heart often affected by sin, yet, followers of Jesus are a new creation; they are given a new heart and work done in the name of Jesus is good work.
Paul directs Timothy and us to a good conscience. Human beings are created with the ability to know right or wrong. People are able to make good decisions when bordered by God’s law and decisions are clouded when the law is not regarded.
Paul also directs Timothy and us to sincere faith. Faith, is a sure knowledge of things not seen and otherwise not known. We believe that the Bible is the Word of God and we believe it: that the precepts, commands, laws and values in the law of God is God setting parameters for our lives in Jesus Christ. Paul, tells us that those claiming to reinterpreted the law of God “do not know what they are talking about”. Further, it is “contrary to the sound doctrine.”
Paul puts his command to counter the beginnings of Gnosticism, false asceticism, Judaism expected from Gentile converts and any other deviation from God’s law on a Biblical basis. At no point does Paul condemn the errant leaders in the Ephesian church. Instead, Paul promotes love flowing from a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith when confronting departure of sound doctrine. We thank God that Paul puts us on a path of love, instead of condemnation. Amen!
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Heavenhigh 