“Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.” 2 Timothy 2:20-26 ESV
What sins are you tolerating in your life? Is it anxiety? Is it anger? Lust? Pride? Laziness?
Another spiritual audit question: do you spend more time thinking about what other people are doing wrong than you do what you’ve done wrong before the Lord? Oh, how easily we forget the inconceivable debt we owe the Lord because of sin that He’s forgiven us (Luke 18:23-35)! A man or woman who isn’t consistently in training to please the Lord through faith will spend their spiritual energy on finding the sins of others, or society – anything else rather than self.
That’s the logic in today’s verse. Ignorant controversies and quarrelsome spirits stem from personal sin. We’re commanded to cleanse ourselves from what is dishonorable by focusing, not on sin, not on fleeting things, but on righteousness, faith, love and peace. Like a boxer who’s busy training for a title fight doesn’t have time for a drunken brawl after midnight, so a Christian who’s focused on honorable things doesn’t have time for petty contentions. The Bible never tells us either to stay as we are nor to battle sin upon our own power. Instead, we’re told to follow Christ. This is interesting because knowing exactly what that means is the key to sanctification – that is, productive living for God.
In all, the quality of our life depends upon the quality of our faith. And the quality of our faith depends upon the precision of our theology. This doesn’t mean that the most educated theologian or pastor is the best Christian. That would give men the opportunity to boast, wouldn’t it? On the contrary, it means that when we know the centrality of the gospel truth in our personal life, and follow its implications all the way through, submitting to and finding pleasure in it, we have sound doctrine. The gospel isn’t a Sunday or Wednesday night only thing. It’s an every day, every hour, every second thing. Sound doctrine doesn’t mean knowing lots of biblical history although that’s a fine thing. It doesn’t mean not needing to look at the hymnal to remember the words. It means knowing the meaning of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The key to knowing the Bible is in understanding what every book, chapter and verse means in light of the life and work of Jesus Christ. It means growing in greater and greater knowledge of the enormity of the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
It’s all things in Christ, Christ for all things.
Do you see someone else in sin? Where is Christ in that? Can you help them understand the nature of sin and bring them to the cross?
Do you see someone with an irritating personality quirk (irritating for you!)? Do you then revel in God’s plan and Lordship for others and rejoice that He’s working in them and pray accordingly? Or do you stand there with a critical spirit?
Do you the dishes need to be done while you talk about ways to fix the country? Are you more animated by the imperfections of others around you than you are your opportunities for action and productivity? Are you restless…living days and years ahead and missing God’s sovereign NOW? Are you content with Him, His amazing and life-giving word-law, and His creation? Oh, how easy it is to make time for trivial pursuits but not Scripture and prayer! I’ve found this to be a rule in my life: when I’m not in prayer before Him, rejoicing that the Almighty God hears me, heals and helps me…and forgives me, then contentment flies.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said that the greatest cure for worry was work. He’s right. Not as an evasion but as a mark of obeying the Lord. A Christian worker, in whatever their hand finds to do (Colossians 3:17) is busy obeying the Lord. Conflicts and quarrels grow out of both poor theology and/or the unfaithful attempt to control others rather than love them.
The key thing to understand is that to be “useful to the master of the house” requires the toil of sanctification. We’re saved to bear fruit for Him, not to sit idly by expecting others to serve us. Sin wants to be served. The impulse of humanism is to make tomorrow more secure than today. The desire to live as one’s own god is to be free from the responsibility of production and service. In all, sin demands assurance.
Funnily enough, God gives assurance. He assures salvation to all who come to Him in faith (John 3:36). And He assures that all things will ultimately work together for good for those who follow Him (Romans 8:28). But sin wants freedom from responsibility. It demands salvation from having to rely on God and serve Him! False believers are animated by this principle. They twist Scripture to be a book of tricks and puzzles whereas, in reality, it’s clear.
Among many heresies that abound today there’s an atrocity called the Sacred Name Movement. SNM believes, amongst many odd things, that God demands that we call Him a specific name. To call Jesus, well, Jesus, they argue, is incorrect and to do so condemns a man/woman. Movements like this make man’s special knowledge rather than God’s grace the key to salvation. The trick to seeing a cult is that it always says that man isn’t so bad as the Bible clearly says he is and, therefore, God’s grace is needed only up to a point. The offense is always in the cross because it proves that God’s righteousness is so high and vast that only He can bridge the gap. All false doctrines diminish Christ and exalt man – his special knowledge and/or religious behavior.
This is an audit we must regularly do upon ourselves. Are we resting in Christ for our salvation or have we begun to focus upon our performance (pride)? Are we falling into habitual sin and growing tolerant of it because we haven’t immersed ourselves in grace and experienced the joy of being low before the cross (antinomianism)? All heresy grows out of personal sin, so a spiritual health check-up should be a regular occurrence. This is why going to worship services regularly is vital to the Christian life.
Furthermore, Christ has called us into a life of discipleship, which means that we can be sure we should be working. All Christians, every one, is to be involved in using their God-given talents, time, and energy, to serve and produce. A student, a business owner, salesman, athlete, artist, teacher, janitor, executive, accountant, homeschool parent…whatever it is we do, we must do as to the Lord. If we aren’t good workers – that is, reliable, skilled, and worthy of trust – then we’re in sin. See someone slack in their work, Solomon instructs his son, and you see a brother to one who destroys (Proverbs 18:9). Somewhat like what Emerson said, God’s solution to the bickering and fighting that takes place way too often is for us to be diligent workers who mind our own business.
Busy people who study the Word and do all the can to live for Him will avoid foolish arguments and petty contentions. Busy bodies, on the other hand, will be stirring up trouble everywhere they go because they’ll be working hard at controlling others rather than themselves. Indeed, a man or woman who seriously considers their own need of grace day-to-day won’t be eager to engage in any conflict unless the gospel is at stake because they know, through and through, that it’s the gospel of Christ alone that saves.
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