The next course I selected as part of my Unschooled Master of Theology program was the KI course, Book of Ruth, which covers the book of Ruth and the book of Esther. Here are the Discussion Questions for the entire course along with my responses.
As a reminder, you can all of my course assignments for the uThM here.
So, let’s get started….
KWL – What I Knew Before Starting This Study?
I know Timothy was a partner in the ministry to the Gentiles with Paul. He was also a teacher, and served a different role than an elder in the local church. He seems more like an apostle or maybe an assistant. He was asked to appoint elders in all the churches. I also remember that he has physical sickness, something Paul prescribed alcohol for. He accompanied Paul on several of his journeys and it was primarily his mother and grandmother who brought him to faith in Christ.
Of Titus and Philemon I don’t know much.
KWL – What I Want to Find Out in This Study?
I would like to get a more comprehensive overview of all the letters in questions. I would also like to develop a clear understanding of what Paul is trying to say in each letter.
Lecture 1 Discussion Questions
Every believer is called to be “part of Jesus’ ministry”. In what way(s) are you involved in the ministry for our King?
1. I have been afforded by God over the last 13+ years to intensively study the Bible as a full-time avocation. This now God has (or is starting to) put to use in that I think (or others think) I am being called to teach at the local church we have become part in. Personally, this is not really my desire, but it is rather undeniable if it were to come about. God is also seemingly opening the door for me to finish an MDiv degree. I don’t see why I would need such a thing, but the work here at KI can possibly be transferred to LBU where I could get a practical ministry degree to round out my CV. I am not particularly interested in pursuing such a degree, but I can’t help but wonder if it will be or could be used by God in the future.
2. I spent my 20s attempting to serve local churches, but they rarely were able to find a place for me. Most pastors of modern evangelical organizations are not interested in biblical teaching, in biblical doctrine, or in the model of the church that is quite apparent from Scripture. They are more interested in their programs, in their building funds, and some seem more preoccupied with the women and young girls of the church than God’s will.
3. In my 30s I attempted to serve the body of Christ through home meetings and house church fellowships. These typically would either turn into a new form of religion (just like the organized churches) or they would more often be a magnet for self-proclaimed apostles and prophets or pedophiles.
4. I now volunteer at KI as a student assistant and I also answer questions online at Quora when the questions seem genuine and are biblically related.
5. I’m not certain what God has called us to in the current local church we are a part of. I know the pastor has voiced a need for someone to teach, there is talk about starting a kids program (which I am not interested in). We will see. I’m open to anything. I have to be, since it is my King that I serve and I do so at his pleasure.
1Timothy 1:9-10 has a direct correlation to 5 of the Ten Commandments. List each of these Commandments and their significance in these verses.
The commandments in question correlate to these five groups of people:
1. Profane
2. Murderers
3. Fornicators, Sodimites
4. Kidnappers
5. Liars, Perjurers
The commandments these violate are:
1. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain
2. You shall not murder
3. You shall not commit adultery
4. You shall not steal
5. You shall not bear false witness
The point Paul is making is, the Law was not made for a righteous person (in fact, it can do nothing for or to the righteous person, though none actually exist except for Jesus), but for sinners. What the law does for these (and for those listed in the passage) is condemn them, illustrating the need they have for either judgment or a savior. For me, it illuminates what kind of being they were created to be: either a vessel of wrath (in which the law illustrates their condemnation to come) or a vessel of mercy (in which the law illustrate their need for a savior).
Throughout the Book of 1 Timothy there are a number of warnings about the churches in the 1st century. List at least three of these warnings and describe their relevance for the modern church.
These warnings are:
1. “Some have turned aside” 1 Tim 1:6
2. “Some have made a shipwreck” 1 Tim 1:19
3. “Some shall fall away” 1 Tim 4:1
4. “Some have turned after Satan” 1 Tim 5:15
5. “Some have been led astray” 1 Tim 6:10
6. “Some have missed the mark” 1 Tim 6:21
7. Our Challenge: Finishing well..
For the church today, it is called to recognize that there are some who will fall away, who will not produce fruit, who will cease fellowship, and the church needs to recognize this is okay. It was intended all along by God. The gospel should not and does not need to be changed, watered down, or made so cloudy that it becomes a different gospel altogether. The church should not be about evangelism (only the evangelists should do this), but about discipleship. It should be focused on training, and raising up mature believers in Christ who then are “sent out” to do whatever gift they have been called to do.
Church disciple is likewise important for the church to continue. As Paul said, “A little leaven leavens the whole lump” (Ga 5:9). The church should not be outward facing but inward reflective. God brings people to the fellowship, not modeling the fellowship after the world so it can be brought to the people. Some need to be turned over to Satan and some will be repelled by the gospel of Christ.
Its important that the church’s teaching is sold, biblical, and has a end purpose. We do not teach simply to teach, or because it’s Sunday school and, well, we have to be learning “something” so just anything is better than nothing. There must be a reason for everything the church does and an end goal always in sight.
Saul of Tarsus was confronted by Jesus Christ on his way down to Damascus. Has there been a time in your life Jesus Christ has confronted you? Please explain.
When I was 17, God confronted with with the passage of 2 Peter 2. In that experience, I’m not certain what exactly happened. I know before I read the chapter, I was a devout Buddhist with a karmic worldview. After I finished reading, all of that had been stripped away from me and replaced with a thirst for his word. He redirected my course, away from idolatry, away from fables, and toward the living Word of God. As much as I tried to return that next year to Buddhism or the Martial Arts, I was unable to. I no longer received any satisfaction from meditation. I was unable to study Kenpo. For a long time I was lost and floundering, trying to right my life again, while simultaneously being drawn into deeper communion with the only living God.
Ephesians 6:10 says, “…be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might”. Share three example of the measures do you take to be strong in the Lord.
I study the Bible every day, something I’ve been able to do now for 13+ years. I also try to pray every day, devoting large parts of my evening to prayer. This is hit and miss at times, having distinct seasons of more intense prayer than others. But I continually try to return to him and just spend time with him in the quiet, in solitude, in peace. Lastly, and somewhat against my better judgment, I actively pursue fellowship with other believers. This we do through a small congregation in a rural coastal community. After having visited with several different churches in and around the area, it was like coming home when we visited with this group for the first time. My wife and I both felt that this was the group of believers God was calling us to serve.
Timothy’s mother and grandmother were instrumental in his knowledge of the Scriptures. Is there someone significant in your life who has influenced you and in what way did they influence you?
I was raised in a non-religious home so there was no family members who were genuine believers or who actually read the Bible. After I left home, God brought me through a few organizations that inadvertently were “spiritual” and this introduced me to God concepts. It was only after being stationed in Germany that God brought me to a missionary Baptist church where there were a few elders who were grounded in the Word and mentored me for two years. At the same time, I found myself in a kind of monastic-like living situation with several other men. We lived together, read scripture together, went on vacations together. It was a real community adjacent to the main reason we were all there.
It was at this time that I was introduced by some of the elders in the church to Dr. Missler’s tapes. I would spend hours in my barracks room listening to whatever tapes they would let me borrow. At the same time I was also reading through the Bible completely. I would collect all my questions I had for each book and would invite pastors from several different denominations to visit or I would go visit them, and would ask them my questions.
Even today, I have at least three “mentors” who I learn from. Dr. Missler, Dr. Hieser, and Dr. James White. These fall into three different tracts of learning: Study of the 66 books systematically, the study of specific topics of interest, and apologetics studies.
K-W-L Self Assessment: L- Describe what you LEARNED from this session.
I think it’s interesting that Timothy was both seemingly introverted and easily moved from his path in ministry, as well as the subject of prophecy (1 Ti 4:14). It’s also strange that, while Paul teaches men like Timothy and Titus, he also instructs Titus to appoint elders in the churches (Titus 1:5). Who really should be appointing elders in churches today? Should there be apostles who are planting churches? Are apostles evangelists or missionaries? Are missionaries elders? Ministers? It is somewhat unclear.
Lecture 2 Discussion Questions
I Timothy 2 is all about the “Order in the Church.” What are the positive aspects of the “order” in your church?
I wouldn’t say that the second chapter is all about the order of the church. It does talk about the responsibilities of men in the church (to pray), and also discusses how women should behave in the church (dress modestly and be in silence). But I would not say it is a “manual” of instruction for church order.
Regardless, about church order itself, I’m mixed. I do find comfort in knowing what is going to happen in the church meeting from week to week. I find comfort in the fact that I know what the preacher is going to be talking about in his sermon because he typically goes through each book of the Bible systematically, verse by verse (except for Sunday’s like today when he goes off script and talks about something entirely different). I do like that there is some order to communion, even the fact that you could call it tradition. I do not care for the fact that denominationalism seems to override the biblical meaning.
I will say pertaining to church order, I am thankful there are still churches (modern man-made organizations, not actually the church Jesus is building) that do not subscribe to the chaos of Charismania. If Christianity were only like the Asbury Revival I would have to remain a monastic hermit. But, thankfully, the church my wife and I were brought to still does things with decency and order. There is no mania. No leaping over pews. No word-faith doctrines of demons.
Chuck refers to the A.C.T.S. way of praying. What are the words which make up this acronym? If you have a specific system of praying that works for you, share it with your class mates.
A – Adoration.
C – Contrition.
T -Thankfulness.
S – Supplication.
Prayer for me is a particularly sensitive subject. I structure my prayer like by Scripture. I first take into account what Jesus said:
Matt 6:9ff – this teaches me how to pray.
Matt 6:5ff – this teaches me how not to pray.
Matt 6:6ff – this teaches me that I should not pray in public but in secret, behind closed doors.
Eph 6:11ff – this teaches me that prayer should always accompany our work.
1 Ti 2:1ff – this teaches me the different kinds prayer I should give and for who.
Phil 4:6ff – this teaches me how to ask God for things that I need or want.
In the past (when I was single) prayer was spontaneous. I was quickly turned off in my 20s with the manufactured prayer that was often offered in modern churches that tended to be simply summations of what had just been taught or preached. To this day, I’m still uncomfortable praying in a corporate setting, often not knowing what words to say, not wanting to give the same, often used buzz words “be with us Father” that so many resort to. Personal prayer for myself consisted often with prayer in the mornings during my commute. It would also include different prayer times throughout the day when at work. When off of work, I would also try to keep a prayer schedule modeled after the monastics (7 x Daily) with moderate success.
When the major shift came for me in March and God was telling me I needed to prayer for a future wife, my prayer life abruptly changed. I would pray spontaneously throughout the day, but then would come home and would devote my entire evening to sitting quietly in my hammock, listening, crying, arguing, yelling, at my Creator. It was a difficult time for me, not believing that there was possibly a woman that I would even want to marry again, let alone would be a genuine believer or would be willing to accept me with all my medical issues and predilections. Prayer during those months was intense and gut wrenching.
I would like to have a better prayer life than I currently do. While those months previous to my marriage were fraught with struggle and personal stretching, I also really started looking forward to those times where I could sit and just focus my attention and my life and my energy on God and talking with him and pouring out my soul to him.
Today I do not have that kind of time. My wife affords me time to study and time to write but the rest of the time is overtaken by the manutia that is the busyness of our life together. We spent a lot of time driving in the car (a place were I try to pray when moved to), and I also have a list in Logos that I would like to use daily for prayer, but I can never seem to find the time to do so. It is our hope that once we move, sell the house, that we will have more time. But I don’t expect that to occur. Stuff has a way of filling in the void and I’m not in control of it like I was when I was single.
So now, prayer is hit and miss, in those fleeting moments in which I can catch it.
This lesson describes us as being in the ‘same shoes’ as Barabbas. Explain.
Barabbas took the place of the innocent while Jesus took the place of the convicted murderer. This is each of us as we stand before God in judgment, Jesus has purchased us with his blood, and we stand, although judged and sentenced, the sentence is never carried out. We are pardoned on the work of Christ while Jesus took the punishment for us even though he was sinless.
Many women in the Bible have had prominent roles to play. Choose one such example and briefly describe the part they played in the Bible.
I realize this is Dr. Missler’s way of trying to offset the difficult teachings by Paul that Christian women should dress modestly, should learn in silence and in submission. That he does not permit them to teach or have authority over men, because they fell by deception. The problem with deflection here is that it is not just flippantly referred to by Paul in this one place. He also mentions it in 1 Co 11:3 and 14:34-35, to the extent that he concluded, “it is shameful for women to speak in the assembly.” Again in Eph 5:22-24; Col 3:18; and also by in 1 Pe 3:1-6.
This is not a teaching the should be swept under the rug. And dying to deflect to the woman who played important roles in the church does not negate or lessen the doctrine in question.
I was involved with one church in my 20s where 1 Timothy was being taught in Sunday school, and as soon as the topic came up, there was a distinct shift in the atmosphere. The energy in the room immediately turned from calm to hostile. All the women in the room became very judgmental, very defensive, and had endless amounts of reasonings and excuses as to why Paul, at least in this particular places, should be ignored. He didn’t understand what it was like. He was a misogynist. He had no idea what marriage was like because he was single. On and on, excuse after excuse. The deacon teaching the class suffered through the best he could, but the women simply would not accept what the Bible said about how they were to act or how they were to dress or the reason why for both.
Talking about Ruth or Esther or Debora, and how they had prominent roles in Bible has nothing to do with the issue at hand. Explaining that life in Roman society was even lower than life for Christian women, does not help. The example I would choose would be Ruth, for she was loyal, obedient to both her mother-in-law and to her betrothed, and she had a good report from the people after the marriage. But nothing she did was the point of the story, as her life and her experiences were molded by God to become a type: Boaz the Christ and Ruth the Bride (or the church). But this story has nothing to do with Paul’s teachings on Christian women in and out of the church.
Explain what Paul means when he says, “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.” (I Timothy 2:14)
Eve was deceived at the Garden of Eden, when Satan tempted her. We can clearly see this in Satan’s question to her, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” He is questioning Scripture and God. She replies with Scripture, but misquotes it, adding “nor shall you touch it.” Satan then proposes that she won’t actually die, but she will instead become like God. Even then “saw” that the tree was good for food, that it was desirable, and it made one wise (she accepted Satan’s lie) she took and ate. In Gen 3:13 Eve tells God “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Because of this, God cursed Adam, Eve, Satan, and all of creation. But the curse on Eve was in part, “Your desire shall be for your husband and he will rule over you.” When a woman rebels against the gender roles of the Bible, she is rebelling against the consequences of the curse placed on her. Even though those roles are quite clear.
How should we be praying for our leaders?
In 1 Ti 2:1ff states that we should pray with supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving for:
1. All men (humanity)
2. Kings
3. Those in authority
It does not say that we should pray only for those people we like or only our friends or family. In fact, Jesus tells us “pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matt 5:44).
So it does not matter if our leaders fall in line with our own political views (if we have or should have political views as sojourners), we are commanded to pray for them so that “we may lead a quiet and peaceable life” and such activity is “good and acceptable in the sight of God…who desires all men to be saved.” (1 Ti 2:3).
K-W-L Self Assessment: L- Describe what you LEARNED from this session.
Too often, the focus in these passages is to focus on how the Bible states women should behave, how they should dress, how they should present themselves to their husbands and to the world as Christian women. I think this is focused on because our society has been screaming for the last 60+ years that women should not have to submit to such draconian and archaic rules. Women should be able to do whatever they want. They should be able to do as they please, with whomever they please, and no one should ever judge them for it. This is, of course, an issue for women in the Church to wrestle with. But, I think a greater issue, that doesn’t get enough attention or discussion, is the role of men in Christian homes and how they have likewise failed miserably to model themselves after the Bible rather than after the world.
Men are told in 1 Ti 2:8ff to “life up holy hands, without wrath and doubting” and to pray everywhere (this essentially meaning in every church that exists the men should do this – not literally lifting up hands but should pray with a clean conscience).
We are told “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,” (Ephesians 5:25) and “Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.” (Colossians 3:19) and “Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.” (1 Peter 3:7).
Personally, I have been married for less than 7 months. I have no idea what I’m doing. I have no idea who I should talk to about marriage or what I’m supposed to do because I don’t know of any man in the church that is a godly man. Family does not present a model since both sides of our family are full of men who drink too much, beat their wives and children and their wives yoyo back and forth between safety and going back to their husbands.
For me, it is quite clear, and I’ve known this from the lessons I learned from my first marriage and from the Scriptures:
1. Husbands should love their wives as Christ loved the Church and gave himself for her.
This basically sums up the whole of the husbands role, in my estimation. We are to die. We are to put our wives and our childrens’ best interests before our own. We are to put their wants and desires ahead of our own. Every day we need to intentionally put ourselves in the last position in our family (and even in the last position with respect to those in the church, and even to those outside of the church). Personally, I know this intellectually. But doing it practically is a bit of a mystery to me. I also would assert that is ultimately is the husband’s responsibility to make sure the marriage is functioning according to a biblical marriage. This extends all the way from selecting a proper spouse to begin with, to then how to manage the married life and his wife appropriately so that not only is she being cared for biblically, but that she willingly desires to submit to her husband just as the Christian submits to Christ. If this is not occurring it means 1. The man is not praying enough. 2. He is not dying enough for her in his daily walk and handling of their marriage. 3. He has chosen poorly and is doomed with his choice of women.
We are to understand our wives, love our wives, be gentle with our wives, recognize their position and plight in the created order, to pay them greater honor as the weaker vessel in the relationship. A biblical woman (one who genuinely seeks after and pursues God in her own life).
Lecture 3 Discussion Questions
This study asks, “Was Paul married”? What do you think? Use Scripture to defend your answer.
This is pretty straight forward. If Paul was a part of the Sanhedrin and the requirement for such a membership was to be married, then it stands to reason that Paul was married at least during the time he was appointed to that body. Unfortunately, there is simply no references to Paul’s marital status. There is only Paul’s nephew (Acts 23:16) and possibly a few others that might mention his “relatives” but this remains inconclusive.
His reference to Timothy as a son is only a spiritual connection, as Paul was his mentor in the faith. Other than this, there is no other references to the question at hand. I think it important to note that in light of 1 Co 7, it was clear that Paul preferred the single life to the married one. This might be because of the nature of his ministry, that it was better for him not to have a wife and family, given his frequent travels, imprisonments, and ultimately suspected demise. It does, though, appear as if the single, celibate life was preferred by Paul for not only himself but also for everyone else, minus he who has been clearly given the gift of marriage.
Of the three types of “church government” described, which describes your church’s form. Give specific examples.
There are three major types of church government and a fourth that is more biblical than the first three:
1. The typical of cults and top down hierarchical, authoritarian groups, there his the Episcopal form, where one to multiple individuals rule outside the assembly and make all the decisions. JWs, Mormons, some Pentecostal, and strict Denominational groups change so described.
2. Presbyterian is also another form of government that elects its leaders from within the body itself.
3. Congregational is typically what is found in Baptist churches under denominationalism.
4. Shepherd is modeled after Moses and describes a single individual who operates as the elder of a church. This is typically found in most modern non-denominational churches, in Calvary Chapel churches, and in fundamental, independent Baptist churches.
5. Lastly, there is the biblical model of church government: an apostle (church founder, missionary), a plurality of elders, with servants (deacons), and teachers, all with the same purpose of raising up new ministers (preachers, evangelists, and missionaries, etc) that will eventually go out and reproduce what they experienced at the first church.
To say these all work well may be true, but there is only one model that is actually biblical.
Apostles have fallen out of favor in most circles, relegating the gift to missionaries who have been stripped of their position of authority over the churches they plant, the authority resting in the denominations they represent or the churches that support the missionary.
As for the church my wife and I are members of, it is a mixture of a few. It is denominational, a Conservative Baptist Church, though it is not Southern Baptist and not Fundamentalist Baptist, so I’m kind of surprised it did not lose its name in the “Community Church” rebranding that occurred several years ago. It is congregational in that they have a board with board members sitting on it, making decisions. I would argue this is not biblical. There should be no board at all.
Oddly, though, there are several seasoned men in the congregation who function as “elders” of the Church. Yet, we are told that none of them are apt to teach? This confuses me because it leaves the paid pastor (who should actually be referred to as an elder not pastor) to do all the teaching, even though he states he is not gifted in that area (prefers preaching sermons). I would imagine those on the board are the elders, but if there are women on the board, this is non-biblical. The “board” should consist of the elders of the church alone. They should make all the decisions after prayerful consideration of the body of believers, for they shepherd them and will give an account to God for doing so.
But, with all this said, I’m not certain a modern church organization could stand a biblical structure for very long. I think it might go to the eldership’s head, might drive them away from serving, or could encourage any other known or unknown sin into the congregation. My wife has stated it best, “The church today is broken, and it cannot be expected to be biblical or sound given its brokenness.”
Are you further along spiritually today than you were this time last year? Explain.
That is a deep and depressing subject. I do not feel as if I have grown in my spirital walk with God over the last year, though others would say I have. I assume my wife would say I have, having come from a single celibate life in the woods, hanging all day in a hammock, to a life with a wife and ten+ children.
I am now meeting with a local church in our community and I have opened myself up to serving the body in any way in which they need. I am now married with young (and old) children. So, what was the bulk of my adult life from 17-47 as an idiorrhythmic contemplative (minus 5 years in a fitfully failed marriage to my first wife), much of my learning centered around the Bible and its integrated message, I’ve now stepped into a new phase of life that is more applicative, more practical, where I need to actually apply the theory of theology to real situations (marriage, family, church). In doing so I fail miserably every single day.
Describe how Paul would have Timothy (and us) set ourselves as an example. How do you apply this in your life?
In word = what we say
In behavior = what we do
In giving = what we give
In spirit = our sanctification
In faith = our belief
In purity = our actions
For the longest time I thought my faith, my belief, was malformed. That God has spared me to spare others from the damage I might do to them, either physically or even spiritually. I thought he gave me a thirst for his word and a desire to study and be studious as a means of distracting me from what I would have become. Basically, I though he put me in the corner and gave me the Bible to play with while I waited for the judgment to come. Then, at the Great White Throne, he would reject my faith as malformed, and I would be throne into the Lake of Fire. This was fine with me because I never fit in with the church, with those who claim to be Christians, and I really did well in extended periods of solitude and isolation. I thought, this is what my portion would be, it was what I was allowed and allotted. So be it. Who am I to argue against God.
But then he told me to prepare for a wife and that made no sense to me why he would punish a woman, unless of course he was just punishing me with a fanciful idea of marriage without an actual bride that would marry me. When he gave me the book idea for From His Rib, I concluded that he was giving me the desire to be married simply so I could write the book and it would not be tainted by my opposition to the institution itself. When I went online and pointed a profile, I assumed (even desired) that I would be able to prove to God that there was actually no woman who could be a helpmate for me. That is until my future wife reached out to me after having read my profile (that was supposed to chase the women away).
So, now I’m trying to learn through my wife and through the help of the Holy Spirit, what it means when I read, “in word, in behavior, in giving, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”
No longer does my growth or lack thereof affect just myself. It now affects my wife, my children. When I’m selfish, angry, short-tempered, I do not harm myself but I do harm them. When I’m unwilling or lazy or unable to get over my own mental issues, it doesn’t harm me, but it does harm them. When I do not intentionally put myself in last place in the marriage and in the family every morning when I get up, then I am neglecting them. I am not being to them as Christ is to the church. These are to me weighted than the simple things of resurrection, rapture, end times, baptism, etc. I don’t know how to be a different, a better father than how my human father was to me. I am not equipped to do so. I am not capable.
What did Paul mean by the phrase, “holding the mystery of faith,” in 1 Timothy 3:9?
This passage refers to the qualifications of the deacons or διάκονος which means “servant” or “minister.” A “runner” tasked with the routine cares of the body of Christ, to free up the eldership, that they might devote themselves to prayer and the study of the Word (Acts 6:2-3).
These men were qualified by this list: reverent, not double-tongued, not drunkards, not greedy. They were to to “hold the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience.” This “mystery” is that which Paul said, “the mystery which was kept secret (σεσιγημένου) since the world began but is now made known to all nations for the obedience of faith” (Ro 16:25; Eph 3:3-6). Not only are the “servants” (deacons) to know what that mystery is, but they are to have a pure conscience toward it. They are to be “tested” first, then, if they are found blameless, they can serve in this position (1 Timothy 3:8–10).
Using scriptural references, describe the possible effect of placing new Christians in leadership positions.
We see this clearly in 1 Ti 3:6, [elderships should]“not [be] a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.” (1 Timothy 3:6). My wife and I have both seen this occur in other people. A young pastor couple put in a church that is known as a “pastor eater,” left on their own to the destruction of their marriage. I’ve seen novice people who know very little of the Bible or of the requirements of being an elder placed in such a position to serve the whims of a renegade pastor.
One of the greatest threats I’ve seen in inexperienced believers put in charge too quickly can tempt them beyond their capabilities to endure. One individual I know started a house church, built it up for a few years, then fell to the temptation of one of the women in the church and ended up sleeping with her. Once the word got out, the fellowship was scuttled. Another pastor was reported on the news that he resigned from his pastorate because he had had an “affair” 20 years before. Come to find out, he had enticed and lured a 14 year old girl in the congregation into a relationship and took her virginity at the age of 15 or 16. This man was married and certainly knew better, but he was inexperienced and the family of the girl was obviously oblivious to the wolves that stalk their children in the auspices of the modern church.
K-W-L Self Assessment: L- Describe what you LEARNED from this session.
Dr. Missler makes reference in 15:20 to the fact that we are not to avoid evil but the all appearance of evil. This is incorrect, as the KJV renders the Greek word εἶδος as “appearance” but it should be rendered as “all forms of.” I discovered this having first understood it as “Abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Th 5:22), and I took it to heart, believing that I needed to avoid people even “thinking” that I was committing evil. One night, while working at a gas station, a woman came in and asked for a fill-up and for me to wash her windshield. While I was doing so, a second customer came in and waited for me to finish. After I was done with the first customer and she went on her way, I went over to the second customer and he berated me for taking so much time with the first customer because he said, “I know what you were doing. You were taking your time cleaning her window so you could look down her shirt.”
1. I spent as much time on her window as I would have on anyone’s window. I did not spend any excessive time.
2. I was not looking down her shirt, in fact, my mind was in another place entirely, as I spent my down time at the gas station (in between customers) studying the Bible in the dog house (little office area where the cash register was).
But, this man was insistent. I had done evil in his mind and there was no convincing him otherwise. I finished his window, filled his tank and he went on his way, convinced I had done something improper. I returned to the dog house, looked up the verse I remember and read it. I was shocked, though, to discover the NKJV had it rendered “every form of evil.” I went back to the KJV, and it has every “appearance” of evil. After a brief inspection, I discovered it is only the KJV that has “appearance.” Most have “form” and the NIV, NLT, and CSB have “kind.” I discovered that night that it is actually impossible to avoid the “appearance” of evil. Just like Dr. Missler pointed out, if we are to be elders, it’s not that we are to avoid being blamed (because we will be blamed for something) but to be blameless, meaning we are innocent of any actual wrong-doing.
If I had actually looked down the woman’s shirt while washing the window, then that would be a transgression on my part. But just doing my job, washing her window is not evil in that it appeared to this other man that I was doing something I was not actually doing. While in basic training, I was accused one day by a fellow soldier of smoking in the stairwell. He told the drill sergeant and was certain it had been me. I denied the allegation. I did not even smoke! But the other soldier was certain it had been me. He was an eye witness. The drill instructor was about to sentence me to extra duty when the individual who had actually smoked the cigarette in the stairwell stepped forward and confessed. The drill sergeant looked back at the first soldier who had accused me and he replied, “well, you all look the same to me,” shrugged his shoulders and turned and walked away. We cannot avoid the appearance of evil, but we need to be innocent of it.
Dr. Missler mentioned the biblical illiteracy of pastors. I’ve seen this first hand in the training seminaries are providing today. They barely review Genesis, and the gospels and the letters of Paul. There is little to no in-depth work at all. They do not learn the original languages. The rarely anymore learn the Bible in English let alone memorize most or even part of it. They are taught how to be counselors (sort-of) and how to do marketing, but rarely are they taught systematic theology or biblical theology (or even leave seminary having read the entire Bible all the way through).
I have embraced in my life what Dr. Missler here points to: to always be looking at all of Scripture to develop your doctrine. It is ineffective to pick just one verse and lay our entire doctrine on that one verse. We need to know what the whole of Scripture says about a particular topic or doctrine before we draw any conclusions on what that doctrine might be. Additionally, if there are three passages that agree on a particular interpretation, but a fourth that does not, then there is something fundamentally wrong with the interpretation. It must be re-tooled to include all of Scripture, not just the passages that we want to read.
Lecture 4 Discussion Questions
What does Paul have to say to Timothy about the consumption of alcohol? What is your opinion regarding Christians drinking alcohol?
Paul told Timothy to “No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your frequent infirmities.” (1 Timothy 5:23). It is apparent that Timothy has some medical issues. Taking wine for this is no different than today taking medications, over the counter or prescribed. It is the same as taking any kind of medication today or having a medical procedure done.
Now, that being said, the word for sorcery is φαρμακεία and this means “the use of magic, often involving drugs and the casting of spells upon people.” It is where we get the word pharmacy from. It is the mixing of potions. The production of medications. It is the use of drugs in general, but more specifically those that bring a hallucinogenic effect or those that alter the state of consciousness.
Personally, I do not think it is beneficial for Christians to drink alcohol at all. I say this not because I think alcohol is necessarily bad or evil, but because it is difficult to control, it is literally a poison to the body, and too many Christians are led astray or too easily tempted and have issues with alcohol themselves. If a young Christian with a previously alcohol problem came to church and saw an elder or deacon or another seasoned believer drinking beer or wine, that new believer might rationalize to himself that he can do likewise. Paul was clear, “Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.” (Romans 14:22). It was better, in his estimation, “not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.” (Romans 14:13). We are always to consider the interest of others before our own and this includes our consumption of alcohol or drugs or even different kinds of foods (Phil 2:4).
Discuss the use of wine versus grape juice at the harvest Feasts of Israel. How does this affect your view of the use of wine or grape juice in the church’s observance of the Lord’s Supper?
Personally, the use of alcohol and grape juice at either festival or at the Lord’s Supper does not concern me. I think it is safer to use grape juice given that we have the technology of refrigeration. If we did not, there would be no discussion and most of the year we would be using wine (and then it would not be an issue so we would use wine all year anyway). The prohibition against alcohol is not consuming it, but over-indulging it. Not given to drunkenness. Not carousing around and falling into the sin that drunkenness leads to (possibly other drug use, one night stands, driving while drunk, fighting, etc). We are called to be sober-minded.
But the use of alcohol vs grape juice is only an argument given by those who inherited prohibition mentalities. Teetotalers were something in America during the 20’s. They are not necessarily something today.
Personally I do not drink alcohol, use drugs other than those prescribed for medical purposes. But I do eat unhealthy foods which is really no different.
Describe God’s purposes for money and demonstrate how these differ to man’s purposes.
Most of my experience with money and watching other people with money has made me conclude that the majority of the time money is given as a condemnation by God on a particular individual. God knows they are not going to handle the money correctly, that it is going to lead to their downfall or to grievous sin and so he gives them the desires of their heart and they condemn themselves by their own wants, desires, lusts, and predilections. I know this first hand, as I am convinced that God has never given me a lot of money because I would be tempted beyond what I am able to endure. When I was a single man, if he had given me a windfall of money, there is a really good chance that I would have found a few college students and shacked up with them and this would have most likely led to any number of evils from drugs to falling away from the faith to Satanism, etc. There is no telling what kind of evil I would have committed with money and influence. So, when I was single, God only gave me enough to live on, and then in the last 8 years he gave me double what I needed so I could save money (unbeknownst to me, that was for our wedding and honeymoon). He also allowed me enough money to purchase my house and pay it off, as well as purchase my lake property and pay that off too, as well as pay off my car. These now are all being used in our future plans. Nothing he led me to do in the last 8+ years has gone to waste.
Now that I’m married, God has provided us with much more money than when I was single. In this there could be temptation. But God has provided a means (providing me a helpmate, a wife, and the responsibility of a family) a way of escape, a means of enduring the temptation so I can use those financial resources he has provided for our ultimate benefit and for the benefit of the church.
Money itself is neutral. It is neither good nor evil. The heart of men, the is where evil is sparked and where it comes form. The heart of man is evil continually.
How does 1 Timothy chapter 5 teach us to treat the older members of the congregation? Do you think (generally) this reflects churches today?
Paul told Timothy not to rebuke older men, but to exhort them as if they were your father, that those who are elders who rule and teach the word and doctrine are worthy of double honor (or, an honorarium). He also states that we should not assume an accusation against an elder except by 2 or 3 witnesses.
For the older women, they should be treated as mothers, with all purity. They should be honored, but not counterfeits or those who are too young. If they are over 60 they can be included in the order of widows, otherwise they should remarry.
This is not really how the church operates today. In a capitalist society we see elderly people as a drain on the economy. They no longer purchase things, they no longer work in the labor force. They are often a burden of their children. In Western society, the fear of death has driven multi-generational ignorance over the death and dying process, which leads to people knowing nothing about death. The medical industry has made a fortune off the baby-boomer generation with nursing homes, and assisted living facilities, and medical procedures (that produce little to no results) all in the name of hiding death and dying and old age from the rest of us.
The elderly in the church too often feel as if they have put their time in and no longer want to do the things they are called to do like teach or shepherd or watch over a congregation. They are often pushed out of positions or left in the pew, forgotten. My wife and I have attended several churches over the last several months and two all of them were full of widows or widowers. The previous church we went to was full of widows. The church we currently attend is full of widowers and older single men with various ailments. It’s amazing to watch the elder man who sits behind us as his face lights up when our young 2 year old daughter touches his bald head. It seems to be the highlight of his day.
We do not typically respect our elders today. This is culturally driven. Thankfully, the church we currently fellowship with, on countless times I’ve seen the pastor step away from the pulpit to help one of the elderly or frail men turn his bible to the right page, or someone from the congregation hand a person a bottle of water or a cough drop because of a cough they have. Or just saying high to someone. It makes a difference.
Describe how the expression, “Money is the root of all evil,” although widely used, is inaccurate. Use Scripture to defend your answer.
The phrase comes form 1 Ti 6:10, “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.” Dr. Missler states that it should be “a root” which is the way the NKJV translates it, but I am unconvinced of this. I think “the root” is closer. The NET, KJV, and NLT all have the latter. It is not money that is the root of all kinds of evil, though. It is the love of money. Money is neutral. The heart of man is evil.
Timothy talks of “vain babblings” when speaking of science (1 Timothy 6:20). Give examples that might fit this description.
In this Paul states, “avoid the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge, by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith.” This idea that there is a path of knowledge and a path of contradictions, false knowledge, babblings all leads us to remember that γνῶσις means “knowledge, or often esoteric knowledge, secret knowledge.” This is what the gnostics and cults typically are chasing after. In the KJV it is called “science” but this is shortsighted. It is so-called science, that branch or those elements that break off from empirical science an slides into speculation, fantasy, and presupposition. Examples of this would be the world religions (Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Shintoism, Mormonism, Catholicism, JWs, even Judaism and especially in its current form, etc). It is also the religion of evolution, of wokism, and intersectionality.
K-W-L Self Assessment: L- Describe what you LEARNED from this session.
These two chapters are interesting, but I think 1 Ti 5:4 is quite fascinating. “if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety at home and to repay their parents; for this is good and acceptable before God.” This is basically saying that if a widow has children or grandchildren, it is their responsibility to provide for them. The woman in question should not become a burden on the church. It is the responsibility of the family.
This is not the case in our culture, though I do think the government in America is shifting back this way because they simply cannot provide enough services to care for all the elderly we are receiving due to the baby boomer generation. Medicare no longer wants to pay for hospice and they are going out of their way to find ways to shut hospices down through bureaucratic means. Eventually there will be no services, especially if the US government splinters and the country breaks up. Then elderly people will fall again onto the churches (and they will be persecuted on the coasts) to care for them. Increasingly, the children will need to follow this command and provide for their parents.
In today’s American society, it is a badge of honor for most elderly people (typically 60-80) to be independent and not have to rely on their children. It is also seen for that age group that it is a failure if they do have to rely on their children or grandchildren. Those over the age of 80 are often do debilitated that they no longer see the difference in who is caring for them or they have become so defeated they no longer care.
Lecture 5 Discussion Questions
2 Timothy was written just before Paul’s execution. Describe how Paul’s attitude was towards Timothy, in spite of this, and how this affects your life.
In the first letter, Paul was commanding Timothy to do this or that. In this letter he is setting before Timothy a challenge (rather than a command) toward fortitude and faithfulness while under testing. It would not be long before Paul would be beheaded in Rome. He was already in a dungeon with no facilities and probably little food to eat.
Despite being on his death bed, the overall tone of the letter was triumphal. Paul was encouraging Timothy in many places, as if Paul was passing on the work of the gospel to his assistant.
Loyalty appears to be emphasized throughout 2 Timothy. Explain how and where.
He sought to emphasize loyalty in 2 Tim 1 while in suffering, in 2 Tim 2 while serving the churches, in 2 Tim 3-4:5 while experiencing apostasy in the congregations, and in 2 Tim 4:6-22 when God shows loyalty to those who are deserted.
Explain how one would become a ‘bond-servant’ and relate that to the Christian’s relationship with Jesus.
This is seen in Ex 21:5-6 where an indentured servant (one who is to serve a period of time then be set free) chooses at the end of his term not to leave, but to remain in the house of his master and serve him. The master then brings the servant before the judges and also to the doorpost and pierces his ear with an awl, signifying that the servant has not become a δουλος “slave” for the rest of his life.
There could be something said here that the individual makes himself a slave of Christ, but his is not the experience I’ve had in my relationship with him. God turned me away from idolatry at 17, and maybe it could be said he indentured me for a year or more until I was able to surrender to Christ willingly (which I did at some point in Texas), but even given that, there are many times when God does not give me any choice at all in what I’m to do. In that sense, I am made a slave involuntarily in Christ, I am Christ’s slave rather than his freedman (1 Co 7:22).
The Christian life is a “battleground, not a playground”. Review the seven pieces of the Armor of God in Ephesians 6.
We are to be girded with Truth, to put on the Breastplate of Righteousness, to shod our feet with the preparation of the gospel, to carry with us the Shield of Faith, to put on the Helmet of Salvation, to carry along and utilize the Sword of the Spirit, and to use throughout the battle our Heavy Artillery of Prayer.
Share what your devotional life is like. What do you find are the most effective and fulfilling times spent with the LORD?
The bulk of my study time is spent doing KI materials. On most nights, after the kids are put to bed and it’s quiet in the house, we sit down at our desk and read through and discuss a chapter or more together form some book in the Bible (going through the entire book then moving onto another book). Our goal is to read through and discuss every book in the Bible as a new married couple, hopefully finishing within the first year of our marriage. I also pray as frequently as I can, though I need to do this more consistently. I would also like to refocus my efforts on reading devotionally the entire Bible (NT and LXX OT) in the Greek.
We have Sunday school studies that I would like to prepare for each week, but the content is dreary and difficult to get into. For the most part, I know what will be talked about in the Sermon each week, so I could also prepare for that, doing preparation for that too.
We also (or used to before we started preparing for our upcoming move) do a short study with the little kids every day as part of their schoolwork. This, unfortunately, has gone by the wayside.
I used to do (or attempted to do) a devotional reading/prayer schedule 7 times daily. I would read three times a day and pray 4 times a day with them spread out over the course of the day. This modeled the monastic practice of praying or recetation daily. My intention was that by the time I moved to the Eden property full time, I would have this devotional habit well engrained. But, I was not able to before God moved me in a different direction with my life.
Paul talks very clearly to Timothy about “rightly dividing the Word of Truth”. Using Scripture please describe and give some examples.
Rightly dividing the word of truth. This is an interesting idea since today and over the last few centuries we’ve seen a rabid growth of heresy and teaching that is anything other than sound doctrine or even biblical. Peter warned, “our brother Paul…speaking things which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist…as they do also the rest of the Scriptures” (2 Pe 3:15-16).
Much of the OT was written with the gospel hidden within it, so the way in which the NT authors interpreted it is somewhat different than how we might interpret the NT today. Then again, not really, since we are applying what was written in the NT in a period of time that has a different culture and different technological innovations. Matthew 1:23 is an example of the NT writers interpretation the OT of Isaiah 7:14.
One of the greatest challenges for people in the modern church is that Scripture cannot be interpreted correctly if one is not born again, for the Scripture is “spiritually discerned” (1 Co 2:14). An individual who has not been drawn by God can sit down and read the Bible from cover to cover, but they will never “rightly divide” it if they have not been first predestined, then called, then justified, then waiting for their glorification (Ro 8:30). For the unregenerate mind is enmity with God (James 4:4). He cannot please God and cannot interpret Scripture as it was intended.
K-W-L Self Assessment: L- Describe what you LEARNED from this session.
I found it fascinating that the word “dispensation” is actually in the Bible. I had no idea it was in there and it actually talks of the “dispensation of the grace of God.”
Lecture 6 Discussion Questions
In this study there five ‘crowns’ mentioned. List each one with a brief description (use Scriptural references).
The Crown of Life (Jas 1:12; Rev 2:10) for those who have suffered for His sake. The Crown of Righteousness (2 Tim 4:8) for those who loved His appearing. The Crown of Glory (1 Pet 5:4) for those who fed the flock. The Crown Incorruptible (1 Cor 9:25) for those who press on steadfastly. The Crown of Rejoicing (1 Thess 2:19) for those who win souls.
I don’t know if I will ever suffer for Christ’s sake. So far I can say I have spent my life as a fool for Christ, not as a martyr. Because of my faith my family has distanced themselves from me or I from them. But, for much of my adult life, and especially the last several years, I have grown quite weary of people and have separated myself from society, living in the woods, on a lake without roads. It has been a blessing. It has been peaceful. And it has afforded me the time to focus and dedicate toward studying Scripture in detail. But now God seems to be moving me into a place to apply that which I learned in theory all these years, to put it all into practice. It is certainly not something I would have chosen for myself. I would rather have remained on the lake alone, in the woods, than subject myself to the troubles of others. But I know I need to be willing and faithful in submitting to whatever his call might be.
So, suffering for christ is unclear. Only time will tell in the future. The crown of Righteousness I certainly would receive (presuming) since I desire and am anxious for his return. I have been helping to feed the flock in the ways in which I have been able to in the past, and I imagine I will have this expanded in the future. I know that I attempt to share the questions and theology and speculation I harbor through the books I write. But it is unclear if I will receive reward for such things. That is up to God and those who fed the flock. Surely I would receive the crown for being steadfast in my faith, but again, that is not mine to judge. Lastly, I have not done much “soul winning,” though I would question that this is the purpose of this crown in the first place. The idea of actual crowns I find a little suspect. I don’t rule it out, but it doesn’t seem like it falls into the nature of Christ or God.
Compare churches today with Laodicea.
The Laodicean churches were characterized by Christ as being lukewarm. Jesus concluded he would rather they be hot or cold and subsequently, he threatened that he will outright reject them. They believed they were rich, that they needed nothing (presumably from the gospel, from repentance, or from Jesus, from one another, or from God). But Jesus corrected them. They were actually “wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.” He wanted them to buy the gold he offered, gold that was refined by fire. By doing so he suggested that they could be truly rich, that they should buy white garments, that they might cover their shame. Interestingly, he states that “those I love I rebuke and chasten.” And this is what the Laodicean church was receiving.
Paul, as he found himself on the precipice, forewarned that in the future there would be those in the church who would not “endure sound doctrine.” They would follow after their own desires, try to satisfy their itching ears, and that they would prop up teachers that would tell them what they wanted to hear.
Today, nearly 2000 years after Paul and John wrote those words, we see these kind of people all around us. There are a multitude of what John called “antichrists” who have gone out into the world, as Dr. Missler stated, “most often found on cable television,” seeping into homes, corrupting unstable and unbalanced minds. People in the church are unseasoned, having never truly read their Bible, do not pursue Christ fully, who seek the Kingdom with one foot in the hereafter while another remains here on earth.
I have seen pastors teach that evolution is correct. I have seen pastors teach that we need to love people who are in unnatural relationships. I’ve seen pastors say that we need to stop speaking about the blood of Christ, about the cross of Christ, about our need for a Savior, about the importance of reading the Bible studying it, consuming it. The most popular churches today, especially in America, seem to be those that provide as little of the gospel as possible. Their sermons amount to little more than quips of positive psychology and nice sounding quotes. Their goal is not to make disciples but to convert people to staying in their church, to build their church bigger and bigger so the money can keep flowing in and increasing. They, too, seem to be rather lukewarm.
Talk about the three ‘tenses’ of Salvation.
Salvation is known as three processes in one:
1. You have been saved (Eph 2:5-8)
2. You are being saved (1 Co 1:18; 2 Co 2:15)
3. You will be saved (Ro 10:9; 1 Co 3:15)
These three are the processes of Justification, Sanctification, and Glorification. Justification is for us, in that Jesus has redeemed us from condemnation, Sanctification is in us, as we surrender to the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives, transforming us moment by moment, day by day into christ-like beings, and Glorification is the putting on of immortality, when all of creations sees the “revealing of the Sons of God” (Ro 8:19).
As Dr. Missler mentioned in the lectures, salvation is really a generic word that means a multitude of things to a multitude of people. I’ve found most often, most people really have no biblical understanding of what salvation truly means.
Calvinism versus Arminianism. Describe these two theories… Where do you sit?
Calvinism:
1. Once saved always saved
2. Predestination
3. Total Depravity
4. Limited Atonement
5. Irresistible Grace
Arminianism:
-Conditional Salvation
-It Can be Lost
-Act of Saving in the hands of Human Volition
Paul stated that he was concerned that, despite all his “work” in the gospel, he might himself become a “castaway” (1 Corinthians 9:26-27). The NKJV and most modern translations use the word “disqualified.” The ASV “rejected.” It carries the idea of being of no value based on testing. Proven worthless. This Greek word, ἀδόκιμος, carries the sense of being phony or bogus, being unqualified. It is used 8 times in the NT, twice in the LXX. One of those instances has it rendered as “not genuine.”
Personally, I am more predestination than free will, but neither Calvinsm nor Arminianism. I am not convinced in eternal security, in that once you are saved you are always saved. I think if an individual confuses Jesus as Lord and believes that God raised him from the dead, then they are saved. As long as they remain in that “faith” in which they began with, they are sealed for the day of redemption by the Holy Spirit. But there are simply too many places in the Bible that talk about falling away, shipwrecking their faith, or being disqualified in the race to state that even if someone walks away from the faith and then begins to deny that Jesus is the Christ. This was spelled out by Paul in his letter to the Hebrews, “[for it is impossible] if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.” (Hebrews 6:6). Is there any chance those who are part of the “falling away” in 2 Th 2:3 could be considered still saved? Those who rejected “having faith and a good conscience” Paul concluded had suffered shipwreck. Paul also said “you have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.” (Ga 5:3).
Who were Jannes and Jambres? What relevance do these two have to the reference in 2 Timothy 3:8?
These were apparently two of the magicians who Pharaoh had summoned to counter Moses and Aaron’s magic. They are only in Timothy named. Paul was using them as an example of those who resisted Moses, which are like those who resist the truth in the last days, who he considered to be “men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith” (2 Timothy 3:8). I think it’s of note that the word here for disapproved is the same Greek word Paul uses for himself in 1 Co 9:27 as being “disqualified.” So does he mean that these men who are disapproved are actually still saved but have just lost their rewards? If not, and they are actually “men of corrupt minds” and they will “progress no further” wouldn’t that mean they are not saved but have been found “worthless” or of “no value” concerning the faith? If that’s the case for them, why would Paul use the same word in 1 Co 9:27 for himself? Personally I would argue that this greek word ἀδόκιμος means “unqualified, worthless, rejected, reprobate, and counterfeit.”
In 1 Corinthians 9 Paul was “paranoid” about being a “cast away.” Explain why.
I sufficiently answered this question in the previous two questions. I think Paul was concerned that, despite his work and labor in the gospel, he might somehow find himself “disqualified” to enter the Kingdom of God. He was concerned about his salvation. There are simply too many Scripture references pointing to this reality to dismiss.
K-W-L Self Assessment: L- Describe what you LEARNED from this session.
I find it interesting that 2 Timothy was the last letter Paul wrote to his assistant, and that Timothy was being offered the challenge to take up where Paul was leaving off. Unfortunately, there is not much more information about Timothy within our grasp. Church tradition (catholic) states that Timothy remained in Ephesus the rest of his life. It also states that when he was old, he obstructed a pagan procession and was beaten severely and died of his wounds a few days later. Accounts are various so there is no telling how accurate they actually are.
I would one day like to write a fiction book tackling the time shortly after Paul’s death, how the church dealt with the blow to their ranks, and what it must have been like for someone like Timothy who was described as maybe somewhat introverted, shy, and not really certain he wanted to continue in the work he was being challenged to take up.
Lecture 7 Discussion Questions
Explain the term, ‘fiduciary,’ and how it relates to the Christian.
As Dr. Missler stated in the lecture, most employees (hourly) are required (or at least expected) to deliver 60 minutes of work for 60 minutes of pay if they are employed by a business owner.
A manager has a distinct difference in their level of loyalty to a company or a business owner. They have what is known as a fiduciary responsibility to look after the best interest of their “master.” This means they must but the owner’s interest before their own.
Paul seems to have this same distinction for employees, regardless of their position. If you are a worker (or an indentured servant) then you have a responsibility, not necessarily to your employer, but to Christ to do your very best and to put your employer’s best interests before your own. You are not actually a slave to your employer, you are a slave of Christ and must work in whatever capacity you find yourself as if you were working for Christ.
I think it’s funny that Dr. Missler stated that we are all endured servants to the government today, that we pay roughly 60% of our income to the government before we pay ourselves. In the Middle Ages they only owed 25%. This, of course is not the entire story. In the US the tax owed is progressive, in that those who make less owe less and those who make more owe more. Yet, given the nature of the society, typically those who make the most pay the least based on percentage of income because they are able to afford the experts in tax law that can use the tax system to avoid taxes. This is actually a con, given that the supposed representatives in the government work with the wealthiest people to give them breaks that the regular populous do not have and can’t afford. Then again, there is a much greater social system safety net for the lower earners than there ever was in the Middle Ages. There is medical care, subsidies, etc that lower earners qualify for. This comes from the 60% Missler talks about. Do we get rid of the 60% tax and also the safety net along with it? We cannot have one without the other. As one who used to qualify for the safety net but no longer does because my wife’s and my income are too great, we now must both look at purchasing our own health care, which is a racket in and of itself. Still, it is not fiscally responsible to forgo the added income to again qualify for the safety net. We would be throwing away tens of thousands of dollar per year.
I personally do not think much of capitalism. I also do not think much of socialism as a form of government. I do not agree with Dr. Missler that Christians should participate in the political system of our day. I think the church, especially in this day and age (and probably throughout history) should have and should remove itself from society altogether. If not the whole community then individual families and individual believers themselves. But, I am convinced there will soon come a time in the future for the West where the church will be forced underground and there will be a significant cost to becoming or remaining a believer. We will not be able to work in polite society. We will not be able to buy food in the markets. We will culturally and socially be ostracized. This will be a winnowing fan on the faith and on the modern model of the church. That which is dross will be easily burned away and only genuine believers (who cannot help but believe) will remain.
The model of the church is social and communal. It is not the model that is used today which is corporate and designed after secular business corporations (which church today is geared to make money for leaders not to grow disciples for Christ).
Although there is value in understanding the Jewish traditions as described in the Old Testament. What are the dangers of getting caught up in these traditions?
There is a bizarre tendency of people who are drawn to the Jewish traditions and cultures to eventually put themselves under the Law in order to be saved. I saw this with one gentleman I met several years ago, who considered himself a Christian and yet he also wanted to be Jewish, and loved everything about Jewish culture. After several discussions with him, I discovered that, not only did he believe he needed to keep the whole law to be right with God, but he discredited much of the NT (writings of Paul) because Paul’s teachings contradicted what he wanted to do. When I presented Paul’s arguments against trying to keep the Law, his exact words were, “It can’t mean that because if it does I can’t do what I want to do.”
Another church I was investigating as a possible fellowship to associate with, I quickly discovered that their Sunday services were just gnostic-like, mystical celebrations, with lots of melodic yet repetitious singing and songs. The preaching was incoherent consisting of just a string of buzz words and virtue signaling. In the meetings I was apart of online, it was clear the congregants were a hodge-podge of beliefs, with the leadership strong arming them into some kind of watered down, hybrid version of Jewish culture and ritual. I did not affiliate with this group and after a year, I discovered that the pastor and his wife had been fired for embezzling millions of dollars from the church.
Who was Apollos?
Apollos was an Alexandrian Jew who was quite adept at the Hebrew Scriptures, who could speak eloquently. When he came to Ephesus, Priscilla and Aquila led him to Christ, for he only knew the Baptism of John (Acts 18:25-27). He apparently became a leader in the first century churches (1 Co 1:12) and was considered a fellow worker by Paul.
This study refers to Joseph as a Biblical example of a “Steward of God”. Can you think of any other Biblical examples? Use Scripture references.
I would argue that the greatest steward of God was the poor widow who put in two mites into the offering box at the temple (Luke 21:2). I say this because everything we have is God’s. He distributes to each one according to his good pleasure. He has his reasons for making some rich and others poor. Money is given as a provision to the believer, not as a reward, but often as a punishment. The poor women knew what it meant to be without, but her faith was greater than her poverty. We, likewise, should view our resources the same. It all belongs to God. Not 10%, which is not even part of the Law of Christ (this is part of the Levitical Law under which we are no longer kept). But what we have has been given to us from God for God’s purposes. Not for our pleasures. Sometimes for our pleasures, certainly. But we are to be good stewards of what he has given to us, for we will each give an account. Do we bury what he has given us? Do we waste it on superficial things that have no influence, no impact, and no measurable weight for the Kingdom of God? If we purchase a boat, is that a vehicle needed to commute from our home or is it wasteful spending for something that we take out two weekends out of the year and the rest of the time it sits in the garage? If the latter, how much better could that money have been spent for God? For the Church? It all belongs to him anyway. It is given to bring him glory, not to be squandered on superfluity.
Doctrine is the difference between life and death; eternally. Can you choose what you believe? Does this change the consequences?
Can I choose what I believe? This is a difficult question to answer. I would have to say it depends. Speaking for myself alone, I would say no. After the experience I had at 17, I am no longer at liberty to believe what I want or what I choose. This is because, of my own accord and volition, I would 10 out of 10 times choose the wrong and would reject the God that created me. As a teenager I chose to throw my lot in with Satan, knowing nothing of who he was or what he stood for or who he was fighting against. In high school I became a Buddhist in an attempt to escape this life and this world and all the people within it. When I was 17, I was a happy and satisfied Buddhist. There was a good chance that I would have gone on and started a Martial Arts school with my instructor, would have taught karmic principles to apt pupils, would have made enough money to live a simple life. It is even possible that I would have ended up entering the monastery and becoming a Buddhist monk.
But, God ultimately chose a different path for me. Against my will, without my choice in choosing, he chose for me and decided that:
1. He would remove Buddhism and the benefits I received from its practice.
2. He would remove the Martial Arts and the benefits I received from its practice.
3. He would place within me a belief in him as God the Father and creator of myself and everything.
4. He would place within me a thirst for the Word of God.
I did not know who this God was, but I knew that he existed and that he had created me and that the Bible was true. I didn’t know how I knew this. I didn’t want to believe this. I fought for over a year to remove this belief from my life, from my thinking, but, no matter how hard I worked to do so, how much I strived to return to Buddhism, to the Martial Arts, I would not shake the undeniable truth that God existed and he had a plan for my life.
So, for me, there is no choice. He even did the same thing for my second marriage. I did not want to get married again. I had sworn off marriage as inferior to the single, celibate life. I knew marriage to be a significant risk even with seasoned, committed believers. There was no way I was going to risk putting my life or trust in another human being again. But, in March he started working on me and told me, “You need to prepare for a future wife.” There was no, “do you want a wife?” or “Do you want to be married?” He gave me no choice.
Once I finally came to terms with the reality of what he was saying, I went to him and basically said, “If this is what you are doing, then I need this wife to have these qualities, and listed the qualities I would need.” I had 15-16 criteria on my list – specific character traits or personality traits. On July 4th God introduced me to my future wife and I was shocked to discover that she had every single characteristic that I had on my list. The only condition that was not met was I wanted my wife to want to live on the coast, to share and remodel my house with me and to want to live at the lake. I was fine with this, though. I could sale both was my thinking. But within a few months of married life, and after our numerous discussions, not only did my wife decide that she wanted to live on the coast, but she wanted to live on the lake in houseboats, wanted to remodel my house in town for her adult daughter and we decided to keep my car as well!
This meant nothing that I have done over the last 8 years went to waste. I didn’t have to sell anything. I didn’t have to made a change or give up the life I had as a single person. God just made my life fuller and richer and allowed my choices to bless more people than just myself.
But I had no choice in any of this. God did it all. He did it for me, because of me, and all for his glory.
If you could choose or if you have no choice in the matter, the consequences remain unchanged. God’s decisions are perfect and righteous. If he chose tomorrow to wipe out the rest of the human race, destroyed every soul in hades or paradise, and concluded that he would be better off alone than to fill the universe or supernatural realm with other beings, this would be a righteous act because God is doing it. God holds each individual accountable in his perfect justice and in his perfect righteousness regardless of their sovereignty or opinion. If he condemns one individuals but then sets three others just like him three, that is God’s prerogative. We cannot make God into our image or into our likeness. We cannot impose on God our fallen and futile thinking.
Discuss what Paul means as the “blessed hope.” (Titus 2:13)
This blessed hope is yet future. It is not referring to the first coming of Christ, when he came to sacrifice himself for the good of all mankind. This is yet a future hope. The passage says, “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:11–13). So we know from this that there are two things being looked for.
1. The blessed hope.
2. The appearing of Jesus.
So the blessed hope is not the appearing of Jesus, since these are delineated. The blessed hope is actually the singular hope we have in Christ: our resurrection. Everything we have in Christ is based upon the promise that if God raised Jesus from the dead, then he, too, will raise us from the dead in the end. If there is no resurrection, Paul states that we are fools. It is our only hope of escaping the curse and falling to death, and imprisonment in Paradise or Hades forever. If even there remains a judgment at the end of days, then all who die would have no mechanism to be placed in paradise, so we would all reside in Hades with the rich man, we would all be resurrected to condemnation and would be cast into the Lake of Fire. It is in Christ alone that we have hope, and that hope is in the resurrection to life rather than resurrection to death.
K-W-L Self Assessment: L- Describe what you LEARNED from this session.
Titus is entrusted with the task of appointing elders in every city (Titus 1:5-6). He himself is not an elder, nor any of the other of the ministerial gifts of Ephesians 4:11-16, but he is either an apostles assistant or an apostle himself (if there are more than the 13).
I know there is a lot of controversy over Titus 1:6 which states, “if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife…” More conservative churches use this passage and others to bar men who have had previous marriages from being deacons or elders in the church. Fundamentalist Churches by and large will not consider a man to be a pastor if he is not married. Personally, I find this verse fascinating. I’m not certain I know the argument that Paul is trying to make. Why would a believer have to be the husband of one wife? There are a number of examples in the OT of godly men who had multiple wives. Of course, in the age we live in, and maybe in the first century as well, I can see how the tendency to have multiple wives would lead to Romans 1 kind of perversions, which there is no way to maneuver around without some strenuous Scripture twisting.
Likewise, it is a difficult task to rebuke heretics. It is also difficult to receive rebuke as a heretic. Before God alone I stand or fall (Ro 14:4), but I am convinced of many doctrines that are not considered orthodox in modern churches. Issues with Angels, with the trinity, with the model and operation of the church, with a high view of predestination and a low view of free will, etc. I have enough unorthodox doctrine (because I was not brought up spiritually within a church or denomination, but was trained by the Holy Spirit while reading through the entire Bible book by book, then using godly (and ungodly) men as sounding boards for my myriad of questions) to anger just about everyone. I learned this lesson quite well in my 20s. I learned churches pastors and leaders really had no idea what to do with me, congregants were not interested in what the Bible actually said (and were more interested in the easy, passive, Sunday milk services). I now find myself in a similar position, called to a local body of believers, unsure if or when (certainly at some point) there will be an issue raised over doctrine or what I believer, or worse what I might teach some Sunday morning if, indeed, it is within God’s plan for me to ever be a teacher of his Word (not something I relish or am looking forward to, knowing that most people are more interested in 2 Ti 4:3-4 than they are Acts 17:11).
Lecture 8 Discussion Questions
Write a brief outline of the Book of Philemon.
Praise for Philemon
-he is a family man
-he is a faithful man
-he is a fruitful man
Appeal for Onesimus
-forgive him for your own sake
-forgive him for his sake
Assurance from Paul
-the guarantee (Paul will pay)
-the reminder (Philemon owes)
-the guest room (for Paul)
-the greetings (personal remarks)
What do the names Onesimus and Philemon mean? How does Paul use these meanings in this letter?
Onesimus = profitable
Philemon = affectionate, one who is kind
Paul plays on the meanings of both names, stating that Onesimus used to be useless to Philemon but now, since his conversion, he is now profitable to Philemon and Paul both. He also states that he knows that Philemon will do what is right because his name means that he will be kind to others.
Although it was a personal letter to Philemon, what is there about the letter which implies it was intended for public hearing?
Dr. Missler states that we are all Onesimuses in life. We are all slaves who have run away (not sure why we have run away from Christ) and need to be returned to our masters.
I would add that in life many if not all of us have been or will be Philemon’s also. We all have the opportunity to forgive, to forget, to allow for grace and mercy to our fellow Christians. The question is, will we do so or will we act like the rest of the world and squander the opportunity.
Explain the “Doctrine of Imputation”. How does Paul demonstrate this doctrine in his letter to Philemon?
Basically, Paul states that whatever Onesimus might owe to Philemon, Paul requests that Philemon put this on Paul’s account. It is the act of being accepted (Eph 1:6) and clothed in Christ’s righteousness (2 Cor 5:21).
Martin Luther is quoted as saying, “We are all Onesimuses.” What does he mean?
This was addressed in a previous question. I think it an incorrect application as we are not actually runaway slaves that stole from their master. We have not stole from Christ. We were subjected to futility against our will from the beginning, from the actions of Adam and Eve. We likewise have not become believers, having had Jesus pay our ransom and then run off with that ransom and not paid God or the devil or any other such illusion.
I do think at some point in each of our lives, we will be in Philemon’s position where we are obligated to forgive someone and it will be up to us if we are going to do so or act like the rest of the world.
What did it mean to be a slave in the days that Paul wrote his letter to Philemon?
People were chattel. They were considered property. A regular slave would cost more than a year’s wage. A skilled slave as much as 100 years of wages. Slavery was not condemned by Paul, in fact, he used it as examples in his writings. He did suggest that if a slave could find legal resource to be freed they should take it (1 Co 7:21-24). Being a slave or a slave master did not remove or change the obligations both had to each other as brothers in Christ.
K-W-L Self Assessment: L- Describe what you LEARNED from this session.
I think this is an interesting letter, though not all that applicable. It does have some limited use to illustrate that we need to forgive people around us, especially those of the church. It also illustrates that the first century church was primarily one that met in homes. As Dr. Missler stated, it was not until the third and fourth centuries, when Christianity became legal that church buildings came into use and were removed from home fellowships.
American Christianity, unfortunately, never really learned from the first century church. They adopted instead a quasi-capitalism Christianity that has to do more with selling faith as a product rather than making disciples for Christ.
Conclusion
This was a good course overall. But I do prefer the systematic study, book by book, chapter by chapter, verse by verse approach over the topical studies. Plus, these book studies have discussion questions which I really enjoy. The KWL courses I have to use my notes and make sure I have found things to discuss.
All in, this was a great course and would highly recommend it.
Until my next post……
Excerpt from The Light Aurora:
The door’s lock released and Dr. Lewis looked around at each of them.
“Stay close, and be ready for anything. I’m not sure if they’re all in the Command Center or if they are trying to secure Level 4. Hell, they could all be evacuating.”
He stared at Scott as he came up onto the landing.
“Let’s go,” Scott said.
Dr. Lewis pushed the door open and walked out into the hall, followed by the others – in ones and twos. Level 2 was similar to the other level, with a long corridor, doors on either side, all with security displays recessed into the wall next to them.
But, as they entered the corridor, Scott’s breath caught in his throat. As he stood there with the others, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. In front of them, probably no more than a few yards away, were three bodies lying on the floor. One was sitting up against the wall, the side of his face melted, exposing his right eyeball and a good portion of his right skull. Another one was laying face down, his entire back opened up at the spine, as if his spinal cord had been ripped out of him from behind. The last one was a few more feet away from the others, on his back, his eyes seared from his head, black, burnt flesh where his eyes used to be.
The intercom came back to crackling life.
“Professor?” Derrick said over the intercom.
“Don’t worry. You can answer,” he said. “I can hear you.”
Scott looked up, then fixed his gaze on the security camera at the end of the corridor.
“Yes?” Scott finally asked.
There was a pause, static.
“What are you doing, Derrick?” he asked. “Did you do this?”
“Indeed,” Derrick said, coming back on.
“Why?”
“They refused to help me.”
“What are you trying to do, Derrick?” Scott asked.
There was another pause.
“I want to go home, Professor,” the boy said.
“Home?”
“Yes,” Derrick said, his tone soaked with some other-worldly confidence that did not belong in an innocent, ten year old boy.
“I want to go home, Professor,” he said again. “Would you be interested in coming home with me?”
Buy the entire story The Light Aurora today and get ready for the thrill ride of a lifetime! What is this foreign and hostile place these strangers find themselves in? What does it all mean? Will all of them survive?
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But, trust me when I say, reading this book will change your life forever.
What do you think?