“Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” 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.”
2 Timothy 2:14-21 ESV
The reason there is conflict in the world is because all men aren’t saved. The way to peace, therefore, is through the gospel and not other social-political schemes. No personal self-help will eradicate conflict because such things, helpful in some ways, sure, never gets at the root, which is sin.
The way to do good, real good, to effect real change, is through the regeneration of sinful hearts and only the gospel does this. Paul’s insistence to Timothy, and to us, of course, is to avoid petty controversies and to depart from iniquity. Sin causes separation from God and conflict among men. Humanism is the world’s dominant religion right now (insofar as the western world is concerned, that is) and it preaches a man-centered gospel. It’s over against this that Christians bring the message of reconciliation with God through faith alone.
First, to avoid quarrels we must be disciplined soldiers in Christ. In order to do this we must work at “rightly handling the word of truth” – which is to say that we know the gospel. This is the linchpin. But it’s more than the subjective experience of God’s salvation to us by grace, in Christ alone. It is that and it’s so much more than that.
The logical implications of our deliverance from sin are literally staggering. We’re delivered from the power of sin, which is why we’re reminded to depart from iniquity. The cross wasn’t cheap grace. It cost God His Son. Therefore, we’re to cleanse ourselves from what is dishonorable so that we’re set apart for Him, a vessel that’s honorable and worthy. Like Israel, we aren’t called to sloppy living. On the contrary, we’re to be separated from sin by the power of the Holy Spirit.
In every controversy of Christian life, any conflict with others, there’s a breakdown in the centrality of the gospel. There’s a loss of the understanding of God’s sovereignty. A soldier, to go back to Paul’s analogy earlier in Chapter 2, is someone who works hard to “get the job done” and to please his/her commanding officer. The soldier’s life isn’t their own. They receive honor and promotion equal to their dedication to the cause. A soldier who gets into a firefight with his fellow soldiers is a bad soldier. A poor soldier is focused on personal goals; he seeks his own ends rather than the Army’s.
Paul himself exemplifies the gospel devotion here. Instead of whining about his unjust imprisonment under Nero, or some other issues, Paul zeroes in on those areas that build up the Lord’s church. First and Second Timothy are gospel rich letters that show us how to be good soldiers for Christ by forgetting the wrongs done to us and focusing instead on the reality of Christ. There’s also an amazing combination of sound doctrine and deep, abiding love!
The thrust of Paul’s letter, especially considering what he’s going through, what he’s suffering, must have moved Timothy greatly. Like the Lord before him, Paul suffers greatly but his goal is the Kingdom and others, like Timothy.
There’s so much humanity and love and yet, despite our tendency to separate them, there’s an emphasis upon holy living (the reduction/eradication of sin in our personal lives) and sound doctrine.
Paul’s work is to encourage Timothy in the Way, which is in line with the Great Commission. In this way we get a chance to see how the Commission plays out in real time. It’s not an abstraction. Paul and Timothy are both aware that “all authority on heaven and earth have been given to Me…therefore, go and disciple all nations.” Nero is temporarily in power but even this – and Paul’s imprisonment and pending death – are under the control of the most wise and loving Heavenly Father. God’s radical sovereignty permeates everything. Thus, our salvation is literally all-encompassing and, therefore, Paul doesn’t panic. This must have greatly strengthened Timothy and the church.
Over against the world’s humanistic premises, Scripture teaches that God is absolute. If you are to have peace in your life you must come to know this though and through.
Second, Paul’s great faith is rooted firmly in the knowledge of God’s radical sovereignty. “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,” Ephesians 3:15-16
How sovereign is He? What do we mean by that? Well, consider in this verse from Ephesians that all categories in life are given by God. Many commentators take this verse to mean only that those in Christ, through the new birth, are now children of God. Rushdoony says this is unduly restrictive. He says the meaning is more broad and that the entrance into the faith is entrance into the true meaning of life, family and all things.
D. Westcott interpreted Ephesians 3:15 thus: “The absolute title expresses an important truth. In pre- Christian times GOD had revealed Himself as Father to one race: now it is made known that all the races of men are bound to Him in Christ by a like connexion; and far more than this. He Who is the Father of men is also the source of fellowship and unity in all the orders of finite being. The social connexions of earth and heaven derive their strength from Him; and represent under limited conditions the power of His Fatherhood…. Every ‘family’, every society which is held together by the tie of a common head and author of its being, derives that which gives it a right to the title from the one Father. From Him comes the spirit by which the members have fellowship one with another and are all brought together into a supreme unity.”
This is to say something amazing, which is that God is the primary reality.
Apart from Him, nothing can exist.
All justice, order, structure, design, and righteousness come from Him (Romans 11:33-36). Evil is man’s rebellion against God and His created order. Thus, the meaning of Ephesians 3:15 is that every aspect of life is named and ordered by Him.
Thus, any attempt by man, in rebellion, to maintain civil order, family life, community, or anything else apart from God is doomed. The more men and culture abandon God and His word-law, the more they embrace death and conflict in all its forms (Proverbs 8:36).
The world’s attempts at peace and love are suicidal.
Third, we aren’t to sit on our hands with this knowledge. On the contrary, we’re called to understand this absolutism of God and His created order, to take dominion, through grace, in all aspects of our lives. We’re to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to Him who loves and saves us! Those aspects are three-fold: normative, situational, and experiential.
Normative means in relation to God’s commands toward us and our conduct. Situational is in regard to how we interact with the created world around us. Experiential is in how we begin to learn who we truly are in relation to Christ. Christianity redeems the whole of the person and all of culture too. Atheism and false religion isolates and obliterates. In Christianity we start at the cross and move to the true family in heaven. All counterfeits start with the self and move to annihilation. Christianity is harmony of interests with others because all are sinners and Christ is Lord. Christ alone brings peace.
There is none of this in hell. No family life, no unity, no relationships. In hell there is only total isolation.
Hell is shown in Scripture as a place of utter isolation and selfishness: weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth, the self-torment of the self-absorbed, where God has “given them over” totally to the reality of self-worship. Hell is the reality of zero, of absence of God and His grace. Hell is the final realization of the “enlightened man” by himself…he is given the kingdom of self that he wanted and it’s an unquenced fire of despair, a flame of inner agony of a single soul that pretended to be as god. It’s the gnawing worm of the burning conscience left to know for eternity the futility of self-glory, and the inability to ever escape the sterile remorse for sins. Hell is the realization to a man, at long last, of the reality of self-exaltation. Hell is the “paradise” of self-pity where the separation from God’s good gifts is fully and finally granted to the sinner. Hell is the death of man’s pretense, but not his soul. Hell is truth given to the sinner; heaven is the truth of grace realized, finally, by the repentant. Hell is the finality of worship of self; heaven is result of worship of the Lord.
The pagan and humanistic view of life is, therefore, one of pretender. It’s to “be as god” The desire, like Cain, is for power…power over others. Governments and men wrestle for power over men because unlike God, they can’t regenerate. We can’t make men brand new from within, so we try through coercion.
The root of conflict is this desire for power over others. The root of unhappiness is in the desire for power over reality, to call sin good and good sin. Because of this, misery and conflict are the world’s ways
Socialism and other utopian schemes are out-workings of man’s attempt to seize power over men and reality. And yet this lust for power, to effect change in behavior and reality, leads to the hatred of men for rejecting reforms and answers. Nietzsche began with the love of man and then ended up wanting a “superman” – and such a superman could only be born if man is destroyed. He wanted a world beyond good and evil (Genesis 3:5).
The superman of Nietzsche is a devil who cannot affirm life in the end, nor community, nor love, nor anything else except hatred and self-isolation.
Orwell saw the end result of the modern dream of power: “Power is in inflicting pain and humiliation. Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing. Do you begin to see, then, what kind of world we are creating? It is the exact opposite of the stupid hedonistic Utopias that the old reformers imagined. A world of fear and treachery and torment, a world of trampling and being trampled upon, a world which will grow not less but more merciless as it refines itself. Progress in our world will be progress toward more pain. The old civilizations claimed that they were founded on love and justice. Ours is founded upon hatred…if you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face-forever.”
The result of sin is conflict and frustration. Always. Because this is God’s world.
The gifts of God, His blessings as seen so clearly in Deuteronomy 28, are withdrawn as man’s obedience to Him declines. This causes the unrepentant man to hate God all the more (Proverbs 19:3). Persecution and violence against Christians is because man wants God’s world and His power but can’t have them. Hatred and death are sin’s choice and consequence.
It’s like this that we understand the “new world” of Christian living. Paul keeps referring to it because it’s real and it’s consistent with the Old Testament. We’re saved to lives of love and grace in Christ where we gratefully seek His will and honor in all things. This is the normative aspect of our lives. The “musts.” And this leads us to vocational callings and family life…the situational aspects of living. We aren’t like Israel in captivity in Babylon. Rather, we’re going to Canaan. We’re waging holy war in our lives through the gospel. The walls of Jericho come down as we live as holy vessels, separated from sin. This is the personal and social reality of Kingdom life, the true result of grace.
And in our personal battles against sin, and in our personal applications of our talents through our vocations, and family living (Romans 12), we discover ourselves! This is our subjective (or experiential) experience of Christian life. The pagan philosopher calls us to know ourselves as an isolated-self. Christ calls us to Himself and offers us reality, truth, and meaning. Petty conflicts arise when we put these things aside and seek glory in ourselves, or through “hidden knowledge” or things like that rather than Christ.
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