Paul
the apostle gave instructions to his “dearly
beloved son” Timothy who was the pastor of
the church in Ephesus. Among his words in this final letter from Paul
was, “the servant of the Lord must not
strive; but be gentle unto all men,
apt to teach, patient,...”, and in chapter
two and verse twenty-five of his letter, Paul continued his list of
characteristics by adding “in meekness
instructing” where we read:
In
meekness instructing those that oppose themselves;
if God
peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the
truth;
The
verse begins, “In meekness instructing those that oppose
themselves;” Paul began with
the phrase, “In meekness”
which means “by, with and through gentleness or mildness”
“instructing” or “training, causing to learn, chastising
and castigating with words in order to correct” “those that
oppose themselves” which refers to “people who are in
opposition, disposed in turn, take in hand and retaliate”. Paul
knew those who were in opposition needed correction, however, Timothy
was to do so in a spirit of “meekness”, gently and with
humility.
The verse continues,
“if God peradventure will give them
repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;” Paul
continued with, “if God peradventure”
which is the Greek phrase “mēpote
theos mēpote” which
means “lest,
whether and perhaps the Godhead, which is God the Father, Son and
Holy Spirit and the one and only true God” “will
give” or
“grant, bestow, give over and deliver” “them”
referring to those in opposition, “repentance”
which is the Greek word “metanoia” and means “a change of mind,
as it appears to one who repents, of a purpose he has formed or of
something he has done” “to the
acknowledging”
or “precise and correct knowledge” “of
the truth”
which means “what is true in things appertaining to God and the
duties of man, moral and religious truth”. Paul knew there was a
chance for those who “oppose”
the gospel by spreading their pernicious lies and false teachings to
come “to the acknowledging of the
truth”,
and since there was that opportunity, Timothy was to teach and
correct them in a spirit of “meekness”.
When
we think about Paul's words, perhaps people have come to our minds
who think in ways other than the truth of the God's word found in the
Bible. Some people pontificate all kinds of false teachings because
they either do not know any better or have been taught in error by
someone else. We can learn from Paul's exhortation to Timothy as to
the manner in which we should approach and instruct those who have
not yet learned the truth. If we address them in “meekness” we
are much more likely to persuade them of their errors, however, if we
are prideful, arrogant and combative, we will have less likelihood of
convincing them. We must always remember, God can “give
them repentance”, and with
that thought in mind, let us allow Him to do His work in everyone who
opposes God, and may the Lord Jesus Christ help us to instruct in
“meekness”
according to His word.
Next
time Paul tells Timothy how how “those that oppose
themselves” “may recover”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
http://www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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