Thursday – Letters

Reading – 2 Timothy 1-2

Highlight Verse:

“Again I say, don’t get involved in foolish, ignorant arguments that only start fights.”
‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭2‬:‭23‬ ‭NLT‬‬

At the time of this letter, there were some heretical teachings going on that focused on knowledge as a means of salvation rather than faith and grace.

Paul basically tells Timothy not to even give these teachers the time of day.

Today, we have so many different denominations and differences within these denominations. It can be tough to know who to believe.

When I went to Bible college, one of the things they taught us was “In the essentials, unity, In the non-essentials, diversity.”

I’ve talked here before about how I think diversity between denominations is a good thing as long as they don’t ignore the essentials.

In light of today’s reading, I think it’s important to emphasize the essentials.

If your church or denomination is concentrating on accepting everyone while ignoring sin and our need for forgiveness from it, there’s something wrong there.

Trust includes repentance.

If you are a normal human, you’ll likely need to repent every day.

And if you downplay the seriousness of sin, you downplay the need for the cross.

I’m not saying we should go back to hellfire and brimstone preaching, but I am saying we should never lose sight of the need for the cross.

In trusting Jesus’ sacrifice, we also need to trust His direction that would lead us to a more righteous life.

God made us. He knows what we need and what is best for us. When we fully trust Him, we’ll try to do what He says.

The more we succeed in that, the richer and fuller life we’ll live here on Earth and for eternity.

What does your church teach about sin?
And what do they teach about salvation through grace that Jesus showed us on the cross?