In The Word
Read: 1 Timothy 3:14-4:5
14 I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; 15 but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one should act in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. 16 Beyond question, great is the mystery of godliness:
He who was revealed in the flesh,
Was vindicated in the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Proclaimed among the nations,
Believed on in the world,
Taken up in glory.
Abandonment of Faith
4 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2 by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, 3 who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; 5 for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
Timothy was a pastor whose job was to lead people to faith in Yeshua and disciple them by teaching God’s Word. The church in Ephesus that Timothy led was very large because many people had become Christians. But Paul warned Timothy about a difficult truth: “the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith” because they would choose to listen to false teachers (1 Timothy 4:1). The Greek word translated in this verse as “fall away” is the English word “apostatize,” which means to renounce a religious faith or abandon a previous loyalty. While many had accepted Yahshua as their Savior, some of them would abandon that faith.
Every day presents you with an opportunity to abandon your faith in Yeshua and follow something or someone else, whether it is sin, a wrong teaching on biblical matters, a wrong relationship, etc. How do you stay firmly attached to Yeshua? In 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22, it says, “Examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.” How do you examine something to know if it is right and true? By already knowing what is right and true according to the entire Bible. Psalm 119:160 says, “The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.”
Some Christians know some of the Bible, but all Christians should know all of God’s Word. Are you learning God’s truth and obeying it by putting it into daily practice?