The Goal Of Our Instruction

I've really been stuck in 1 and 2 Timothy lately. There is just so much richness there! Sometimes I look at the Word and think, "How can I say this any different? There is just no improving it obviously, and any comparison or allusion dulls it!" So today let's just soak in the first few verses of 1 Timothy 1. But instead of reading it as "the Bible", read it as a letter from God to you: It brings it much closer to home. Place your name instead of Timothy's, for the Spirit penned this to you as well. So join me as I read 1 Tiffany...

1 Timothy 1:2-11*

To _________, my true child in the faith.
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the father and Christ Jesus our Lord.


As I urged you.....remain "where you are" so that you may command certain people not to teach other doctrine or to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies. These promote empty speculations rather than God's plan, which operates by faith.


Now the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. Some have deviated from these and turned aside to fruitless discussions. They want to be teachers of the law, although they don't understand what they are saying or what they are insisting on. 


Now we know that the law is not meant for the righteous person, 
   but for the lawless and rebellious, 
   for the ungodly and sinful, 
   for the unholy and irreverent, 
   for those who kill their fathers and mothers, 
   for murderers, 
   for the sexually immoral and homosexuals, 
   for kidnappers, liars, perjurers, 
and for whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching based on the glorious gospel of the blessed God that was entrusted to me (and you).


*Everything which is in quotations, underlined, italicized, and placed in bold is of my own doing and not Scripture. They were placed there for emphasis.