ESOCS Devotional 14 July 2021
TEXT: 1 TIMOTHY 1:1-17
MEMORY VERSE: “As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightiest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do” (1 Timothy 1:3-4 KJV).
Paul wrote this letter to Timothy in about A.D.64 or 65, after his first imprisonment in Rome (Acts 28:16-31). He was motivated to write this letter upon noticing widespread false teaching in the Church at Ephesus (the same that plagued and threatened the Church at Colosse) after he had returned to Ephesus with Timothy.
The false teachers were concerned with their own interest rather than Christ’s. So, they taught false doctrines. They involved the church in endless and irrelevant questions that generated disputes. They twisted the words of the Bible for their own purposes. But Paul warned Timothy whom he had posted to shepherd the Church in Ephesus, and the Elders, to be on guard against such false teachers.
We have ‘modern’ false teachers in our churches today. They teach what is contrary to the truth in the Bible. They promote trivial and divisive controversies in the Church. Their motivation is to make a name for themselves. They spend time arguing about tiny details of the Bible. This attitude does not grow the faith of the people. We know them; they are all around us today. They are belly-call teachers and preachers seen in many of our Churches today (Romans 16:17, 18; Philippians 3:18, 19).
We must know the truth in order to defend it – know what it says and apply it daily. We must cling to the belief that Christ came to save us. Stay away from those who twist the words of the Bible. Evaluate all teachings, using the central truth about Jesus as the measuring rod. By their fruits, you shall know them!
- Do you have false teachers, preachers, prophets, in your Church, branch or local assembly?
- Ask God to expose and transform them to become defenders of the faith and not self.
Read Other ESOCS Devotional here
FURTHER READING: 2 Corinthians 11:1-15; Colossians 2: 8, 18, 19; Jude 1:8, 16
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ESOCS Devotional 14 July 2021
