Our teaching MUST be qualified

Scripture Read: 1 Timothy 1:5 But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

Application: Look at the purpose given for why we teach. NOT transfer of data, but transformation of life! Data is essential but not the key! Many people have the data, but because they do not know what to do with it, no change in life takes place. The most knowledgeable men in Israel put their own Messiah to death! This is where so many miss it. They study doctrine to gain data, but that is not Your intention for it Lord. You want us to gain the data, in order for us to have a new life in You! Notice Paul employs key descriptive words to amplify how the understanding of truth affects the characteristic of love. We don’t love just from our heart, conscience and faith. They are qualified:

Pure - καθαρός katharós; Clean, pure, clear, in a natural sense unsoiled, unalloyed.

Good - ἀγαθός agathós; Good and benevolent, profitable, useful.

Sincere - ἀνυπόκριτος from the priv. a, without, and hupokrínomai, to pretend, simulate. Originally it meant inexperienced in the art of acting. In the NT, it came to mean one without hypocrisy or pretense, unfeigned, genuine, real, true, sincere (Rom. 12:9; 2 Cor. 6:6; 1 Tim. 1:5; 2 Tim. 1:5; 1 Pet. 1:22; James 3:17).^[1]

Our heart is unsoiled, clear and unalloyed – not mixed with other agendas. Our desire is that what we teach will be to the benefit of the hearer, not to our benefit. With a nature to sin, this is so important.

Our Conscience is benevolent, useful to help guide in our teaching. This is especially important in teaching because the conscience will witness to us if our motives are right. If we teach for some ulterior reason, our conscience will testify against us.

Our faith is genuine – we do not trust in ourselves, but in the (data) knowledge we have from Christ, our redeemer and the new creature you are transforming us into. You will use it in the lives of the people we share the same gospel with to transform them.

We must raise the level of our commitment to all the spiritual truth we share, whether it be a testimony of what You have done in our lives, the gospel of Salvation or some deeper theological issue. We always represent You, Lord.  The same love You gave us and the same truth we share to others must be qualified in this way, if it is truly from You.

Meditation Questions: When you share something about God to someone, are you just as concerned with HOW you share it as what you share? When we share about God do we make sure the person we are sharing with understands that we are confident in the Word, not ourselves? What are you looking for when you study scripture, addition to the brain? Change in the heart? Both? What is most important and why?

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^[1] Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word study dictionary : New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.