Warm hellos to you dear brethren, co-workers, spiritual family on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, and scattered children of God, from our offices here in Spanish Fort, AL.
My wife and I pray and hope this finds you all doing well, and that again your week has been blessed. I hope you are doing well and coping successfully with life’s challenges.
You and I have been given a most precious and awesome calling accompanied by some wonderful promises! Notice what the apostle Peter tells the disciples. “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (2 Peter 1:2-4)
Where do you and I find that knowledge of and from God and Jesus Christ? It’s a pretty simply answer actually. We go to that collection of inspired writings we call the Bible or the Holy Scriptures. There is no other real source of knowledge about the true origin of mankind and his ultimate destiny. Only in the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures are we given knowledge about the true God and what He instructs mankind in how to live and how to seek a relationship with Him.
Over the years I’ve read multiple times in 1 Timothy and heard the words “Labor in the Word.”
What does that mean?
I’m reminded where the apostle Paul mentored and instructed the young elder Timothy, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15) Later in this letter Paul went on to emphasize, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim 3:16-17) Of course the Scriptures available then were the Hebrew Scriptures found in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms as Jesus referred to in Luke 24:44.
God and the Word inspired more writings to be added – the Greek Scriptures. The apostle Peter alluded to this when he referred to the writings of Paul, “our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.” (2 Peter 3:15-16) In what became the official or approved canon, there are 49 books or collections of books of the Bible as originally organized.
You and I are told to prove all things and test what is preached by using the Scriptures as the standard. The apostle Paul stated, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21 KJV)
The Greek word translated “prove” is dokimazo. The Online Bible Greek Lexicon comments on how the word is applied:
1) To test, examine, prove, scrutinize (to see whether a thing is genuine or not), as with metals.
2) To recognize as genuine after examination, to approve, deem worthy of.
The Greek word translated “hold fast” is katecho. The Online Bible Greek Lexicon comments on how the word is applied:
1) to hold back, detain, retain 1c) to hold fast, keep secure, keep firm possession of.
2) To get possession of, take 2b) to possess.
To accomplish this you and I must “Labor in the Word.” We must rightly divide, inter-relate, and apply the word of truth as we saw in 2 Timothy 2:15 above. We must then own and protect these wonderful truths. We must reject the attempts to twist them and misapply them by deceivers that may come along. Jesus warned, “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.” (Matthew 24:5)
The apostle John stated, “For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.” (2 John 1:7) John was warning about Docetists and Gnostics of his day. Docetism, (from Greek dokein, “to seem”), was a Christian heresy and one of the earliest Christian sectarian doctrines, affirming that Christ did not have a real or natural body during his life on earth but only an apparent or phantom one. Confusion about the nature of God and the eternal existence and incarnation of the Word of God persists even into our present time today.
We in the body of Christ (or His church) respect proper and Bible-based tradition and understanding that has been handed down by the respected leaders in the body. But more importantly, we must always seek His Truth. To do that we must labor in the Word.
Over the years, many have believed or been taught that the best way to remain faithful was to only be instructed by the ministry. Yes, the ministry has its Godly function. The apostle Paul instructed Titus to select overseers or elders who met certain qualifications, among them: “holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.” (Titus 1:9)
Paul also told Timothy “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit the same to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Timothy 2:2)
Paul then told Timothy, “Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.” (1 Timothy 5:17)
However, we must always remember that we all are members of the body of Christ. Each one of us must labor in the Word. We all will answer for our calling, not to any man or fellowship.
You and I must continue to study and own the words and message of the Scriptures and apply it daily in our lives. We hold on to hope in the face of an increasingly negative and hopeless world. The source of the message of the Bible is the Living Word of God, who became flesh and preached the gospel of the kingdom of God. In the great teaching in John 6, Christ summarized it with “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63) Let us invest in and hold on to these words of life, His Words, which guide us on the path to eternal life. Let us all be truly laboring in the Word.
I hope as we count the days up to the Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles and Eighth Day (or Last Great Day) that we will labor, study, dig deeply and seek the spiritual significance of what our Lord desires of us to see and understand. Use these days well my friends…for indeed these times remind us we are one day closer to the return of our Lord and Master and the King of Kings.
Arms up friends! Our prayers and thoughts are with you daily. Please do pray for us as well.
