Skip to main content

The Church of the Living God

Here we come in our study in 1 Timothy to the purpose of the book. Paul states it outright in chapter three:

1 Timothy 3:14-15 14 I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; 15 but in case I am delayed, I write so that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.
There are a few elements that I want to highlight this morning. The first is that Paul is writing to young Pastor Timothy in the church at Ephesus (1:3) in telling him how to practically do church ministry in the local assembly. He states his purpose in verse 15.
The purpose of the letter is so that "you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God..." (v14). The household of God is further explicated by Paul. Namely, it is the church of the living God. Not only this, Paul elaborates once more by saying that the local church is the "pillar and support of the truth."
Let's take these two words and seek to understand them in their historical context:
First, the Pillar. The Greek word here is stulos which has the idea of a large column or a massive pillar. It is used in many secular writings and everyone in that time would have known what a stulos was for in many cities, there were large pagan temples to various deities, emperors, or gods and most often they were surrounded with massive pillars. Here is an example of a picture giving the perspective of myself next to a large pillar at the Temple of Zeus in ancient Corinth.

So these large pillars were what the original audience would have had in mind when Paul talked of the church being the stulos which is grounded on the truth.
Second, the Support. The idea here is really that of a buttress. The Greek word is a edraioma. It means "something that is made stable," or "something settles firmly in the ground." It could be a prop, support, or a foundation. It is related to the adjective edraios which is used in 1 Cor 15:58; Col 1:23; and 1 Cor 7:37 in referring to one who is "steadfast," "immovable," or "firm." The church is this support and foundation upon the truth.
Notice, finally, that we serve a God who is True (John 17:3; Rom 3:4; 1 John 5:20; Rev 16:7; 22:6) and the Gospel which is truth (Gal 2:5; Col 1:5). Be encouraged that our hope does not rest on some shakable ideology that changes as the seasons change. No. Rather the household of God is the church of God. And it is that local assembly of believers that is the pillar and the support for the truth.

Popular posts from this blog

Psalm 58:10 - Rejoice at the Destruction of the Wicked?

Does the Bible really say that the righteous will rejoice at God's vengeance upon the wicked? Yes, it does. First of all, the Bible no where advocates or condones people rejoicing over the downfall of the enemy because of personal vengeance . All vengeance must be left to the LORD (Deut 32 and Rom 12). Nevertheless, when the Christian has a God-centered perspective, it is absolutely reasonable—yes, required—that believers rejoice at the destruction of the wicked. (Again, this is not personal vengeance or gloating that the wicked are finally cast into hell.) But in my sermon last night I provided seven reasons why the righteous will rejoice at the judgment of the wicked: 1. God commands it (Rev 19:1-10) In a mysterious way, God commands believers to rejoice because His judgments are poured out upon the wicked. Just read Revelation 19:1 (which immediately follows Rev 17-18 and the cataclysmic destruction of Babylon, the false religious system and the false political system durin
Read more

Quotes on God's Sovereignty from AW Pink

Yesterday I read Pink's classic work again in preparation for my sermon on Psalm 47 this week at Church. God is good and He truly is the Sovereign King. Quotes from A. W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God . Revised edition. Reprint, 1928. Carlisle , PA : Banner of Truth Trust, 1998. “From every pulpit in the land it needs to be thundered forth that God still lives, that God still observes, that God still reigns.” (p.15). “Learn then this basic truth, that the Creator is absolute Sovereign, executing His own will, performing His own pleasure, and considering naught but His own glory. “The Lord hath made all things FOR HIMSELF. (Prov 16:4). And had He not a perfect right to do so? Since God is God, who dare challenge His prerogative? To murmur against Him is rank rebellion. To question His ways is to impugn His wisdom. To criticize Him is sin of the deepest dye. Have we forgotten who He is?” (p.30). “Because God governs inanimate matter… when we complain about
Read more

The Upright of Heart as a Metaphor for Integrity.

The Upright of Heart as a Metaphor for Integrity Psalm 11.2 says that the wicked seek to destroy those who are “upright in heart” ( לְיִשְׁרֵי־לֵב). The LXX renders the Hebrew phrase as: τοὺς εὐθεῖς τῇ καρδίᾳ (“the straight ones [=upright] of heart”). The Aramaic Targum renders the phrase in its oft-expanded way:  תקיני  לתריצי לבא (“the firm stability of the upright ones in heart”). Why is this language used to speak about integrity? Why does this describe the godly? I want to offer a few observations concerning this phrase. 1. This phrase refers to the godly person being one who is unbending and standing straight up for the Lord and for His Word. The Hebrew root for “upright” (יָשָׁר) speaks of that which is straight and right. So then, the person who is upright in heart is one who is straight in his life, straight in his course, unbending in his convictions, unswerving in his conduct. Joshua was told not to turn away from the Law of God either to the right or the left (Josh 1.7;
Read more