Isn’t Communism Biblical?

This is a helpful quote from R. B. Kuiper:

The members of the church at Jerusalem had all material things in common. It hardly needs to be said that this communism was something quite different from the communism for which so may clamor today. It was communism among Christians only. It was local in its scope, there being no evidence in the New Testament that it was practiced in any church other than that at Jerusalem. Even in the Jerusalem church it was a temporary arrangement. There was nothing compulsory about it, for when a member of the church sold a possession and pretended to give the whole price to the church, although actually he gave but part, Peter said to him: “Whiles it remained was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power?” (Acts 5:4). And the spirit behind this communism was radically different from that which often comes to expression in present-day communism. Someone has aptly said: “The Christians at Jerusalem said, ‘All mine is thine’; communists today say, ‘All thine is mine.’”

Kuiper, R. B. The Glorious Body of Christ (Carlisle: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2001), 150-151. Emphasis is mine.

Fruit in the Bible

Here's a little section of what I was teaching on a few weeks back regarding fruit of the Spirit at church. Unfortunately, because of time restraints I had to cut this, so I thought I'd post it here. It's just a short little biblical-theological meditation on fruit in the Bible. The question that we have to ask ourselves is, "What kind of fruit does my life bear?"

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Fruit is an image that we are all familiar with. Fruit on a tree implies multiple things: health, fertility of the ground, growth, sustenance, and reproduction. The kind of fruit that a tree bears says something about the tree and all of the conditions that have combined to contribute to its growth. In the Bible we first see fruit in the creation in Genesis 1:11 when God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” After God created vegetation to bear fruit in season He said it was good (Gn 1:12). The Biblical idea of fruit was then applied to the blessing of both animals (Gn 1:22), and Adam and Eve to multiply (Gn 1:28). The blessing of children is called the “fruit of the womb” at least twelve times in the Bible as well(Gn 30:2; Deut 7:13; 28:4, 11, 18, 53; 30:9; Ps 127:3; 132:11; Isa 13:18; Lam 2:20; Luke 1:42).

Next we see fruit in the garden, when God told Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gn 2:16-17). We know that they disobeyed God in eating this fruit and it is through this disobedience of the heart that all fell into sin (Gn 3:6). It is in the fall then that bearing fruit from the ground would become difficult and it is through the fall that bearing children would be accompanied with a whole variety of pain. In fact in addition to cursing Satan, God directly cursed the ground saying, “cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life (Gn 3:17).” Despite this curse of the ground there is grace. Again and again in the Old Testament we see that God takes pleasure in His mandate for the creation to be fruitful and multiply by opening wombs and enabling women to have children. We see that God also owned the first fruits of the field, livestock and of children. One of the reasons that the promised land of Canaan was so desirable was because of the evident fruitfulness of it.

Capitalizing on the understanding of fruitfulness in the Old Testament, Psalm 1 applies the image of fruit to the life of a believer. David wrote:

Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. 4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. 6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

This became an image that Jeremiah used to describe virtues of a wicked man and the man who has no other security in life but the Lord (Jer 17:5-8). This idea of fruitfulness manifesting in a person’s character is further developed in the wisdom books and the books of the prophets. Jesus picks up on this imagery as well, saying, “bear fruit in keeping with repentance (Matt 3:8),” also “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire (Matt 7:15-20),” and “make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for a tree is known by its fruit (Matt 12:33),” and there are many more examples of this.

The good news of the gospel is that even though we were trees planted in the soil of of this world bearing the rotten fruit of boasting in what we have and do, we can be grafted into the living vine of Jesus Christ. Believers have been given a new life of peace with God. Through being nourished from the water of life, and being grafted to the living vine of Christ by God's gift to us of repentance and faith we also see that we are given the Holy Spirit. As God sanctifies us progressively over time our lives will bear the fruit of the Spirit if we are believers. But this is a fruit that we have to fight for as well (there's a balance of God's sovereignty and our responsibility here). This is what Paul was getting at when he wrote that we should work out our salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in us both to will and work for His good pleasure (Phil 2:12-13). This is what James was getting at when he wrote that faith without works is dead (Jas 2:18-26). Likewise, this is what Peter was getting at when he wrote that we should make our calling and election sure (1 Pet 1:10). Paul's exhortation is still relevant that we "keep in step with the truth of the gospel (Gal 2:14)" and that we, "keep in step [or walk] with the Spirit (Gal 5:25)."

The Greatest Story Ever Told - Shai Linne

I love this! The story of the Bible in 4 minutes and 32 seconds!

Lyrics:

Here are the lyrics:

It’s the greatest story ever told.
A God pursues foes whose hearts turned cold.
The greatest story ever told.
Restoring all that the enemy stole.
The greatest story ever told.
The glory of Christ is the goal, behold.
The greatest story ever told.
It’s the greatest.

Alright check it: let’s go back in time, brethren. Divine lessons always keep your mind guessing. The glory of the Triune God is what I’m stressing. The origin of humankind was fine. Blessings were plenteous. God is amazingly generous. Crazy benefits in a state of innocence. God told the man what he could taste was limited. Not long after came our nemesis in Genesis. He scammed well, man fell, damned to hell. The whole human race—he represented it. Fooled by the serpent, man through his work, woman through birth—even the earth ruled by the curses. But instead of a wake immediately. God said her Seed would be the One to crush the head of the snake. Yo, wait what is this? Whoa, a gracious gift! In Jehovah’s faithfulness He clothed their nakedness. This was so they would know their Savior’s kiss and bliss. But first, many growing pains exist suffering in the worst form, ugly deeds. Eve’s firstborn seed made his brother bleed. Indeed things got progressively worse. Every section of the earth is been affected by the curse. And though God’s judgments against sin were gory, praise the Lord! It’s not the end of the story.

Next scene: man’s sin was extreme. God gets steamed, man gets creamed. The Lord is so Holy that He drowned them in the water. Fire in the valley of slaughter – Sodom and Gomorrah. But at the same time, He’s so gracious and patient that from one man He created a whole nation. Eventually enslaved by the mentally depraved, they cried out to the only One with the strength that He could save. He brought them out with signs and wonders – satisfied their hunger. Then He appeared on Mount Sinai in thunder. Where He laid down the law for God-ruled government. Commonly referred to as the Mosaic covenant. Sin was imputed. So for man to know he’s unrighteous, God instituted animal sacrifices. This was to show our constant need for atonement. And when it came to sin, the Lord would never condone it. And when His people disobeyed and went astray, He raised up prophets and kings to lead them in the way. But they would get foul with their idolatry—wet and wild prophecy—send them into exile. To take their punishment like a grown man. Then with His own hand He placed them back in their homeland. And while in their forefather’s land they dwelt, they awaited the arrival of Emmanuel.

After 400 silent years filled with sighs and tears. In Bethlehem the Messiah appears. God in the flesh—Second Person of the Trinity. At thirty begins His earthly ministry. Baffling cats with accurate, exact facts and back-to-back miraculous acts. A stumbling block to the self righteous. But the humbled—His flock, said “There’s no one else like this.” He came from heaven to awake the numb. Demonstrated His power over nature, son. A foretaste of the Kingdom and the age to come. But the reason He came was to pay the sum for the depths of our wickedness, our wretched sinfulness. Bless His magnificence! He is perfect and innocent. Yet He was wrecked and His death. He predicted it. Next He was stretched, paid a debt that was infinite. He said that He finished it. Resurrected so the elect would be the recipients of its benefits. Through faith and penitence we get to be intimate. His grace is heaven sent, it never diminishes. Now the Holy Spirit indwelling is the evidence for heaven’s future residents who truly represent Jesus, the Author, Producer, Director, and Star of a story that will never, ever end!

(HT: Thabiti & JT)

Non-Believers & False Teachers at the Church in Ephesus

The negative and positive qualities that Paul lays out in 1 Timothy for elders and deacons are a direct contrast to the non-believers and the false teachers that Paul had been teaching about. This post is simply the list of all the qualities of the non-believers and of the false teachers that Paul (and John) taught about at the church in Ephesus (I also walk through the qualities of non-believers in John's Epistles since they were most likely written to the church in Ephesus). This sets a strong contrast (to say the least) to the qualities that he encourages Timothy to look for in elders and deacons:

1. Some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Waybefore the congregation (Acts 19:9)


2. Itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord over those who had evil spirits, the sons of Sceva, and they were attacked by the demons (Acts 19:13-16)


3. Many formerly practiced magic arts, and they burned their books (Acts 19:19)


4. Demetrius'(a Gentile) trade was threatened and he warned the Ephesians that theirs would too and that their goddess Artemis was being threatened by the Christians (Acts 19:21-41)


5. Fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; from among your own selves [the elders] will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them (Acts 20:29-31)


6. The Ephesian Christians once walked, following the prince of the power of the air the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind (Ephesians 2:1-3)


7. They formerly were Gentiles in the flesh, separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenant of promise. They had no hope and were without God in the world (Ephesians 2:11-12)


8. Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind, darkened by their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity (Ephesians 4:17-19)


9. Sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness was not to be practiced. Paul exhorted that there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, "For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord" (Ephesians 5:3-8)


10. It is shameful even to speak of the things that non-Christians do in secret(Ephesians 5:12)


11. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not getdrunk with wine, for that is debauchery (Ephesians 5:17)


12. Timothy was to charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations (1 Timothy 1:3)


13. Those who devote themselves to vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law,without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions (1 Timothy 1:6-7)


14. The law is for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for theunholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, formurderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality,enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted (1 Timothy 1:9-11)


15. Paul describes himself as a former blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponentof Christ (1 Timothy 1:13)


16. Those who blaspheme or reject the gospel (like Hymenaeus & Alexander) make shipwreck of their faith (rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith) (1 Timothy 1:19-20)


17. Women are not to teach or exercise authority over a man (when I get to the qualifications of elders and deacons I hope to discuss how this rules out that women can be elders, but not necessarily deacons) (1 Timothy 2:12)


18. Those who will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.(1 Timothy 4:1-3)


19. Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths (1 Timothy 4:7)


20. Good or false teachers are not distinguishable by their age. Paul encouraged Timothy to "let no one despise you for your youth" (1 Timothy 4:12)


21. Paul describes those are falsely posing to be widows saying, "but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives" (this would particularly apply to deaconesses if we take the office of deaconess to be a biblical office, cf. Romans 16:1) (1 Timothy 5:6)


22. He also warns of the temptation of younger widows saying, "when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips andbusybodies, saying what they should not (1 Timothy 5:11-13)


23. Paul also describes how some of these sins are obvious or "conspicuous", but some of these are hidden sins or will "appear later" (1 Timothy 5:24)


24. Those who teach a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has anunhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, whichproduce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain (1 Timothy 6:3-5)


25. Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some havewandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs (1 Timothy 6:9-10)


26. The rich are not to be haughty, and should not trust in the uncertainty of their riches (1 Timothy 6:17)


27. Timothy was to charge the Ephesian church not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers (2 Timothy 2:14)


28. They were to avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some (2 Timothy 2:16-17)


29. They were to flee youthful passions (2 Timothy 2:22)


30. Further, they were to have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. The Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome (2 Timothy 2:23)


31. Paul wrote further that, "people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud,arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, mencorrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men." (2 Timothy 3:2-9)


32. Paul further describes that evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived (2 Timothy 3:13)


33. Paul warned that the time was coming when people would not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they would accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and would turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths (2 Timothy 4:3-4)


34. Paul also described how false brethren deserted him. So another quality of someone unfit for the work of the ministry is someone who deserts true and faithful gospel preachers in their times of need (2 Timothy 4:10-17)


35. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth (1 John 1:6)


36. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8)


37. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us (1 John 1:10)


38. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him (1 John 2:4)


39. Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness (1 John 2:9)


40. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes (1 John 2:11)


41. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world (1 John 2:15-16)


42. They went out from us [or abandoned them], but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us (1 John 2:19)


43. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son (1 John 2:22)


44. I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you (1 John 2:26)


45. Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4)


46. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother (1 John 3:9-10)


47. We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous (1 John 3:12)


48. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him (1 John 3:15)


49. Little children, let us not love in word or talk [only] but in deed and in truth (1 John 3:18)


50. Every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already (1 John 4:3)


51. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them (1 John 4:5)


52. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love (1 John 4:8)


53. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love (1 John 4:18)


54. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen (1 John 4:20)


55. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son (1 John 5:10)


56. Whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life (1 John 5:12)


57. The whole world lies in the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19)


58. Little children, keep yourselves from idols (1 John 5:21)


59. For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works (2 John 1:7-11)


60. I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first,does not acknowledge our authority. So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing,talking wicked nonesense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church. Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and you know that our testimony is true (3 John 1:9-12)

Eckhard Schnabel has summed up Paul's teaching in these passages well in the quote below (fyi: I added the bolded numbers and letters in brackets not the footnotes):

In his letters to Timothy and Titus, Paul discusses yet again the activities of certain Jewish Christian teachers. Paul asserts that they promote foolish controversies.[1]The comment that these teachers seduce Christians (2 Tim 3:13; cf. Tit 1:10) indicates that the “nonsense” they propagate is plausible to some degree and thus convinces some believers. Their teachings [1] focus on the Mosaic law, which the[A] interpret in an allegorical manner, [B] linked with Jewish myths and with circumcision,[2] [C] with ascetic practices related to marriage and food.[3] They [2]deny a future resurrection (2 Tim 2:18). [3] They emphasize the participation of married women in the teaching ministry of the churches with the result that they neglect their children (1 Tim 2:11-15). [4] And they possibly downplay the importance of missionary work among Gentiles.[4] [5] Their teaching implied that Jesus Christ does not occupy a central position as Savior and as Mediator between God and humankind. Paul attacks these teachers on account of their immoral behavior (Tit 1:16; 2 Tim 3:1-5), which was demonstrated, for example, in their desire to achieve financial gain through their teaching ministry (1 Tim 6:5-10; Tit 1:11). Paul warns the Christians in the churches in Asia Minor to recognize the danger that these teachers represent and to reject them, and not to become again the kind of people they had been before their conversion.[5] Paul encourages Timothy and Titus to be concerned about the quality of character of the leaders in the local churches (1 Tim 3:1-13; Tit 1:5-9). And he emphasizes the necessity of preserving the early Christian tradition in the churches.[6]

[1] Cf. 1 Tim 6:3-5; Tit 1:10; 3:9; 2 Tim 2:14-16; 2:23.
[2] 1 Tim 1:4, 7; 2 Tim 4:4; Tit 1:14; on circumcision cf. Tit 1:10.
[3] Cf. 1 Tim 4:3; cf. Tit 1:15; 1 Tim 2:15; 5:23.
[4] I. Howard Marshall, Pastoral Epistles, p. 45; cf. 1 Tim 2:4-6, 7; 4:10; Tit 2:11; cf. 1 Tim 3:16.
[5] Cf. 1 Tim 3:1-13; 5:6, 11; Tit 1:6-7; 2 Tim 2:22. Cf. Marshall, Pastoral Epistles, p. 43.
[6] Cf. 1 Tim 1:15-17; 2 Tim 1:13-14; 2:2, 8-13; 3:10, 14-17; Tit 2:1; 3:3-8.

Schnabel, Eckhard Paul the Missionary: Realities, Strategies and Methods(Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2008), 206-207.

Paul's Relationship with the Ephesian Church

Paul's Relationship with the Ephesians Before 1 Timothy
The Acts of the Apostles 9 & 20
Paul's ministry to the Ephesians is rooted ultimately in His conversion experience. In Acts 9:3-6 as he was traveling to persecute Christians in Damascus a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ And he said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.'"

Right from the beginning of Paul’s experience as a Christian Jesus was teaching him about the church. The concept of the church was foundational to how Jesus revealed Himself to Paul. Notice in this passage that Jesus doesn’t say, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting the church?” or even, “Why are you persecuting Christians?” Jesus says, “Why are you persecuting me.” This is the foundation of Paul’s understanding of what a church is, namely part of Jesus Christ.

Later in Acts 20 we see Paul's first encounter with the Ephesian church. One of the main emphases of Paul’s teaching there was in regard to the nature of the church. So in Acts 20:28-31 we see Paul teaching the elders of the Ephesian church about the church. Specifically that they should, “be on guard for themselves and for all the flock…which He [Christ] purchased with His own blood (v. 28).” Further, he wrote that they should, “be on alert [after admonishing them for three years, because he was] now commend[ing] [them] to God and to the word of His grace (v. 31-32).” Later then, in verses 36-38 Paul prays with them all (v. 36) and they all wept over the word which he had spoken, because he was leaving and they might not see his face again (vs. 37-38). There was a deep relationship between Paul and the church in Ephesus. They loved each other to the point of tears (this was not uncommon for Paul and the churches he helped plant 2 Cor 2:4; Phil 3:8). Paul even remembers Timothy's tears in his second letter (2 Tim 1:4). They were truly brothers and sisters in Christ. They were a family.

Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians
It is no surprise after seeing this relationship that Paul clearly outlines some of the themes that he does in Ephesians. However, remember that Ephesians is a general letter, it's even for us, “Most of Paul’s letters are…penned to meet specific pastoral and theological needs. But it is not easy to find any particular occasion that called for this letter…There is no reason, in principle, why a letter could not be general in nature and written for the purpose of instructing and edifying Christians over a wide area or in a range of congregations (Obrien, 51).” So then, as in all of Paul’s letters, despite the specificity of the audience we see that generally this letter is for all Christians. Even us!

We don't know exactly when he wrote this letter, but he probably wrote it from prison in Rome in A.D. 60-61 (Acts 28:16-31). The letter of Ephesians is divided into four main sections: First, the introduction (1:1-2); Second, the doctrinal exposition (1:3-3:21); Third, the practical application (4:1-6:20); and Fourth, the conclusion (6:21-24).

The section of doctrine, 1:3-3:21, has a three-fold trajectory. First, Paul sets out to outline God’s purpose of displaying His glory by knitting people into Christ (1:3-23). Second, he discusses the obstacle, namely sin (2:1-22). Third, and last, Paul is writing to us about how God has planned to fulfill His purpose of displaying His glory, namely, by showing his glory through the church (3:1-21). The application of the doctrine in chapters 1-3 begins directly after it in 4:1 with a pregnant “Therefore” which harkens the church toward unity. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones summarized the doctrinal exposition section of the letter by writing, “[Unity] is something that results from all that has gone before…These people are those who have been ‘bought’ into God’s kingdom and family at the cost of the precious blood of Christ’ [as we saw in Acts 20:28]. No-one can ever belong to this family, and participate in its unity, unless he believes that (Lloyd-Jones, 24).” In order then to have unity we must share the one thing in common that we all agree on, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It's clear from all of this that Paul has a history with the church in Ephesus.

Where 1 Timothy Fits in the Chronology
It is generally thought that Paul wrote this letter after being released from a two year Roman confinement mentioned in Acts 28:30 (where he wrote Ephesians from in A.D. 60-61) approximately A.D. 63 (Leschert, 373; Schnabel, 115-121). This was either before or during his travels to Spain and then Crete, which took place before a second and final Roman imprisonment which is thought to be where Paul wrote Titus and 2 Timothy from sometime between A.D. 65-67. So here it is in a more clear list (please remember these are approximates, and we aren't 100% positive that there were 2 imprisonments):

Chronology of Paul's Relationship with the Ephesians
• A.D. 52-55: Arrived in Ephesus and left in A.D. 55 - This is the account in Acts 19-20
• A.D. 60-61: 1st Roman Imprisonment - Wrote Ephesians, etc.
• A.D. 63 (approx.): Released and travelled to Spain & Crete - Wrote 1 Timothy
• A.D. 65-67: 2nd Roman Imprisonment - Wrote 2 Timothy & Titus

Context of 1 Timothy Chapter 3 According to the Epistle Itself
All of this finally brings us to the question, "What is the context of 1 Timothy 3 within 1 Timothy?" Here's a brief outline of the book from Dale Leschert:

Salutation (1:1-2)
I. Responses to the Ephesians' ecclesiastical needs (1:3-3:13)
A. Preliminary warnings about theological errors (1:3-20)
B. Important instructions concerning church order (2:1-3:13)
II. Prescription for Timothy's ministerial conduct (3:14-6:19)
A. Timothy's apostolic mentoring for church leadership (3:14-16)
B. Timothy's professional responsibilities as a good minister (4:1-16)
C. Timothy's social relations with various groups (5:1-6:2)
D. Timothy's personal integrity as a godly man (6:3-19)
Conclusion (6:20-21)

Leschert, Dale The Flow of the New Testament (Geanies House: Mentor, 2002), 372.

Prior to the passage I'm going to start looking at regarding deacons (1 Tim 3:7-13) the apostle Paul is writing to Timothy about how Timothy is to remain in Ephesus in order to charge the leaders of the church not to teach different doctrine than what they received (1:1, 3). He entreats Timothy to wage the good warfare holding faith and a good conscience (1:18-19). Then he exorts Timothy to pray for all and particularly kings and those in high positions so that the believers might live a quiet and dignified life (2:1-2), specifically to pray for the leaders so that their leadership might allow the gospel flourish. He clearly lays out the foundation of the "good warfare" by explaining the gospel:

5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 7 For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. (2:5-7)

After this Paul shares his desire for the church to pray without quarreling (2:8). Then we get to some of the more controversial passages in 1 Timothy about how women ought to dress, and how they are not to teach or exercise authority over men (2:9-15). This flows out of Paul's discussion of the church praying together in unity (the unity he desired for the church in Ephesus can be seen most clearly in Ephesians 4:1-16). After discussing women's role in the church Paul then moves into the lists of elders and deacons in chapter 3.

The role of the elders and deacons (regarding the church in Ephesus and our churches) are the antithesis of the poor leaders that Paul wrote the Ephesians about, and that Paul tells Timothy about in 1 & 2 Timothy. It's almost as if the qualifications of elders and deacons is set up as a direct contrast (we'll see this more clearly as we walk through the qualifications).

In my next post I'll explore some of the qualities of the false teachers in Ephesus. Then after the next post, Lord willing, I'll start looking at the qualifications for deacons.

Should 1 Timothy be Normative for Us?

Are Paul's Instructions to Timothy and the Church in Ephesus Normative Us?

Another way to ask the question is "So what, Paul taught Timothy and the church in Ephesus these things, that doesn't mean it applied to all the churches then, and it doesn't mean that it applies to all churches now, right?"

Well, that's good question, but the conclusion and the underlying assumption is dangerous and terribly wrongheaded. The assumption in this question follows this logic that, "because we are separated by time and context these instructions don't apply to us." The conclusion of this assumption says that, "we are not obligated in any way to apply these instructions to our present context." This thinking is dangerous because it wrongly concludes that Scripture's teaching about all of life, especially the church, is dependent on context when it's not. Praise God that the gospel is not limited to first century Jews & Gentiles who were living in the Roman political context of their time! The gospel is relevant to every time and place. It is relevant in every socio-political, socio-economic, and socio-cultural context. Similar to the gospel, Paul's message is prescriptive & descriptive rather than merely descriptive.

1 Timothy Is Normative for Us

I've been having a conversation with a friend about if the great commission is binding on believers. His question about this is coming from the observation that Jesus was speaking to the disciples and not us in Matthew 28:18-20 and John 20:21. The reason that all believers in all times are called to fulfill the great commission is both explicit and implicit in the command. Here's my response to his question:

So here's the text:

Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

You're right that Jesus was saying this to the eleven disciples, but look at verse 19 "make disciples of all nations." They are making disciples of what exactly? They are called to make disciples of Christ, like them. There is nothing inherent in this passage that seems to limit this to their uniquely apostolic calling. So they are to train others the same way that they have been trained. Can we agree on that?

Verse 20 then says that the eleven disciples are to teach the disciples that they are making to "obey all that I have commanded you." So they are first to make disciples (baptizing them in the name of the Trinity). Second, they are to teach them that the commands that Jesus issued to the eleven disciples apply to the disciples they would make. If the great commission is part of the "commands" from Jesus to the eleven disciples then it is not stretching the text at all to say that the great commission then applies to the disciples of the disciples who then make disciples etc. etc. etc. all the way down to those who would become disciples today, hence me or you...Can we agree on that?

While 1 Timothy is not a "command" directly from the lips of Jesus Christ, it is God-inspired, God-breathed, sufficient for life and practice, and completely inerrant or without error (in the original manuscript). Paul writes about this thinking more clearly in 2 Timothy 3:16-17:

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

Since Paul's words here are Scripture (1 Peter 3:16 implies that they are) breathed out from the Holy Spirit, then they are authoritative for the Christian life and for the practice of corporate worship (this phrase can be nuanced to) in the local church.

How Does 1 Timothy Inform Our Worship of God?

Paul's instructions to Timothy are instructions to us how best to build up the church with good materials that last (1 Cor 3:12-15). His instructions to Timothy lay out a structure of offices in the church that enables churches to fit into the description he describes in Ephesians 4:11-16. Paul's instructions lay out the structure that enables the church to effectively carry out Christ's commands; therefore, these instructions should be our aim in regard to how we should structure our local churches.

Subjective/Normative/Regulative Principles

This isn't going to be exhaustive, so please don't read it like it is. That said, I'm writing all of this with the conviction of the regulative principle, not necessarily the normative principle or the me/subjective principle. An exhaustive discussion of this is for another day, but generally speaking the me/subjective principle would be that I worship God on the grounds I define and determine are best. The normative principle is generally defined as, "Whatever is not expressly forbidden in Scripture is an allowable practice in corporate worship." J. Ligon Duncan III defines the regulative principle well by writing the following:

"Worship in its content, motivation, and aim is to be determined by God alone. He teaches us how to think about him and how to approach him. The further we get away, then, from his directions the less we actually worship (Give Praise to God, 27)."

Regarding the grey areas that aren't explicit in Scripture Duncan writes that, "thinking in accordance with the general principles of Scripture and sanctified common sense, in the absence of positive scriptural warrant," should be our approach (Ibid., 21). Also, David Peterson expresses the nature of Christian worship well by writing, "the worship of the living and true God is essentially an engagement with him on the terms that he proposes and in the way that he alone makes possible (Engaging With God, 55)."

All of this considered I believe that Paul's instructions to Timothy are authoritative for us and our church practice.

Deacons and Elders

At the moment my laptop is in the shop, and I'm thankful for the fact that I have AppleCare! When I get that puppy back I'm planning to do a series of posts on what exactly deacons and elders are in the Bible, and I hope to take up some gleanings to think more about what exactly these roles should look like in the local church. In the circles I am a part of a lot of focus has been given on elders lately, so I'm going to start with deacons.

With that said I'm planning to slowly walk through what deacons are using 1 Timothy 3 as a road map. I hope that when this is through I'll have a more deep understanding of how I think of deacons and elders as they relate to the local church. Blessings!