SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16
Scripture: 1 Timothy 1:11

1 Timothy 1:1-11 states, “…Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope, To Timothy, a true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. As I urged you when I went into Macedonia—remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith. Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm. But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.” Do we know the Jesus of 1 Timothy 1:1-11? Do we know the Jesus Who outlines what is contrary to good doctrine? Do we know the Jesus Who outlines those who are lawless, insubordinate, ungodly, unholy and profane? Do we know the Jesus Who gives that list in His Word? The Jesus of 1 Timothy is very clear about what is righteous and what is unholy. Now those lines have been blurred in recent years. But they were certainly never blurred by Timothy. Why are the lines blurred today? Because we have people who refuse to preach passages like this in 1 Timothy. Refusing to preach it does not change the straightforward, inherent truth of the Word. Paul made it very clear Who Jesus is. He is the Judge of sin and He can destroy people who refuse to turn from it. Do we know the Jesus of 1 Timothy? Paul knew Him quite well. Well enough to articulate it and declare it as a plumbline for Timothy’s life. I trust it is a plumbline for our life as well.