But Set the Believers an Example: Purity

"Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity." (1 Tim. 4.12 ESV)

In his letter to Timothy, Paul states five areas that he wishes for Timothy to set an example in. That fifth area is purity and that is what we’ll be looking at today.

This word here for purity (there are two total words for purity in the NT, the same Greek word is used here both times) was found in only one other place in the New Testament. That other place was 1 Timothy 5.2. I wanted a proper definition and looked at what the New Bible Dictionary had to say about this word purity. It says this concerning purity:

“Purity is thus the spirit of renunciation and of the obedience which brings every thought and feeling and action into subjection to Christ.” (991)

In light of this definition, it appears that purity does not refer to just ‘sexual’ like many may think. It instead refers to having clean thoughts (in other words, thoughts that are in “subjection to Christ”). Timothy’s thoughts were to be ones that were constantly centered on Christ and what Christ wanted! That leaves this question to us then: What are we thinking about?

For Timothy to “set an example” he had to have thoughts that were centered on Christ and those thoughts would in turn produce an action from him. It’s the same for us isn’t it? Our thoughts are going to produce an action. If we think bad thoughts then our actions will be bad, right? If we think pure thoughts though, our actions will be pure (right, good, etc.). We need our actions to be centered on Christ. Two easy ways to do this are to:  

1. Meditate on God’s word - By meditate I am referring to studying the scriptures, not just reading them. In a chapel talk at BVBID today we were told of the difference between reading and studying. When you read you just read words off of a page, maybe a couple things soak, but not much. Studying on the other hand is when you go in to reading with the mindset that you are going to learn something (what a novel concept!). Let us be a people that learn from God's word, not just read it.

2. Pray constantly - By constantly I do not mean that we need to never stop. I mean that we need to stay prayers several times as we go throughout our day to day lives. Talking to God through prayer is a wonderful way to keep our thoughts and intentions "pure".

We need to keep our head in the book and our eyes on things above. Having scripture on our mind will help keep our thoughts pure. Talking to God will also keep our thoughts pure and because our thoughts are pure the things we do will be pure. If we have act on those pure thoughts we have than we will no doubt be setting an example to others in purity, just like Timothy. –Jack D.

Keep Watch

“Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1 Timothy 4.16 ESV)

I hope to continue with my series on 1st Timothy 4.12 within the next week or so, but today I wanted to write a blog concerning another verse in 1st Timothy.  

Not long after Paul tells Timothy how he is to “set an example for the believers” (1 Tim. 4.12) we get this verse here (posted above). In this verse Paul cautions Timothy to “keep a close watch” over two different areas:

1)      Yourself – Timothy is to keep a watch over his lifestyle. The way he was to live was extremely important. This wasn’t a suggestion from Paul to be self-centered but Timothy was to, in every aspect of his life, see if he was “setting an example” and if he was being the “man of God” (1 Tim. 6.11) he was supposed to be. 

2)      Teaching – Timothy is also supposed to give heed to his teaching. Timothy was facing a crisis in Ephesus. That crisis? False teachers (1 Tim. 4.1; 6.3-4, 20). With this crisis occurring Timothy was to make sure that he was teaching only correct doctrine and not these false concepts and ideas that were becoming popular in Ephesus. 

It was important that Timothy keep these two aspects of his life in check. The same can be said for us today. We’ve got to make sure that we are:

1)      Living the truth – In other words are we living in a godly manner? Are we self-controlled or do we get angry at every little thing that happens in our life? Do we go out of our way to help someone (even if it’s just some small thing) or do we only help others when it’s convenient for us? Could someone compare the way we’re living our life to the Bible and say “that guy is definitely a Christian?”

2)      Teaching the truth – Whenever I think of teaching I am always reminded of the Bereans we read about in Acts 17.11. In order for us to teach the truth we must constantly study God’s word. In this day and age it’s sometimes hard for us to take time and read God’s word. If you aren’t doing so already, I want to encourage you to take 15-30 minutes a day to sit down and really find the meaning in different passages. 

Timothy wasn’t just asked to do these things for nothing. Paul told him that “persisting” in these things would bring about the salvation of both himself and his hearers. Do you see how important this command is? Living a godly life and teaching the truth will result in the salvation of others! Let each one of us do as Timothy was to do and watch both our life and doctrine closely! – Jack D.