SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/12/2025 8:56 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-3
“Warn Them About False Teaching”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 2 Timothy
2:14a
Message of the
verse: “Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the
presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless.” “Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them
before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit,” (AKJV).
I’m having a little trouble about the word “wrangle”
so I decided to look up this verse in different translations to help me
understand it better.
Yesterday we looked at the term “the
presence of the Lord” in a good way, and not today I will quote from MacArthur’s
commentary about this in a judgmental way.
“But in most cases, ‘the presence of
the Lord’ has to do with God’s severity, often in judgment. Near the beginning of the psalm quoted above,
David exclaims, ‘As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as was melts
before the fire, so let the wicked perish before God’ (Ps. 68:2; cf. 97:5;
114:7). When Christ returns in judgment,
unbelievers ‘will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the
presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power’ (2 Thess. 1:9).
In view of the presence of the
eternal God, Paul solemnly charges the church at Ephesus not to wrangle about
words, which is useless. As becomes
clear in the following verses, Paul was not speaking about immature wrangling
over secondary matters, disruptive as that can be. Logomacheo
(wrangle about words) carries the idea of waging a war of words, in this
instance with false teachers, who are later described as ‘always learning and
never able to come to the knowledge of the truth’ (2 Tim. 3:7). Such deceivers use human wisdom and reason to
undermine God’s Word, and believers are not to debate with them, especially within
the church.
“Even from a human perspective, it
is obvious that no debate can be carried on effectively when the two sides
argue from completely opposite and contradictory presuppositions. Unbelievers put no stock in the presumed
authority of men’s words. No matter how
biblically sound their arguments may be in themselves. Christians who debate with unbelievers
inadvertently allow Scripture to be considered on the same level as human
wisdom.
“To discuss interpretations of
Scripture and doctrine with other believers who recognize the Bible as God’s
inerrant and authoritative Word is important when it is done in a spirit of humility
and civility and is an honest attempt to grasp the truth. In the early days of the church the Jerusalem
Council was called to settle a dispute about the circumcision of believers
(Acts 15). Throughout church history,
equally godly believers have differed on certain points of doctrine, as they
still do today. But to argue doctrine
with someone who disdains Scripture is both futile and foolish.
Spiritual Meaning For my Life Today:
My son communicates with someone on Facebook, someone that I have also
debated with a few times. He says that
he is a believer, but I have great doubts about that. Learning from this section of MacArthur’s
introduction I have learned that I am not to debate with him anymore, and for
that I am very happy. When a true
believer is debating with a non believer it is like talking to the dead, for
unbelievers are spiritually dead.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
Don’t waste my time in answering to this unbeliever as it is only the
Holy Spirit who can give life to him.
2/12/2025 9:19
AM
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