Marks of a Mature Christian

Thanks for that good prayer and please continue to pray for me and one another as we go to the word of the Lord this morning. If you have your Bibles with you, I'd invite you to turn with me to 1 Timothy chapter 1.

This letter to Timothy was written by Paul when he was an older man. Timothy was a young man in the ministry, and the Apostle Paul has a challenging task for Timothy here. He has left him behind at Ephesus to right the ship of the church. There were serious issues of doctrine, issues of forsaking public worship, and issues of not having proper offices established for leadership.

This letter is a kind of church operational manual. In 1 Timothy 3, he says, "But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."

Ephesus was a metropolis and a trade hub. They had the temple of Diana, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was a pagan society with a mixture of religions, and these were the problems Timothy was set forth to address.

1 Timothy 1:1-5: "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope; Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus... that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do. Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned."

Paul begins by stating he is an apostle—one whom Jesus himself called, taught, and sent. He is giving Timothy the authority to set things right. He adds that Jesus is "our hope." Without him, we have not a shred of hope. Our sins deserve everlasting punishment, but God descended in human flesh, lived a sinless life, and bore our sins on the cross.

He calls Timothy "my own son in the faith." "The faith" refers to the record of God regarding the object of our faith—Jesus Christ. It refers to the word of God. In Jude, it says to "earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints."

Timothy is to instill sound doctrine. The church is the "pillar and ground of the truth." It cannot have false truths mixed in. He charges Timothy to stop those teaching incorrect things because it causes harm when we aren't centered on the truth of Christ.

He mentions "fables and endless genealogies." The Jews had supplemental texts like the Haggadah (fables and genealogies) and the Halakah (legal interpretations). Paul says we don't need those; we should focus on the word of God rather than man's interpretation.

Verse 5 says the "end" of the commandment—the purpose or goal—is charity out of a pure heart, a good conscience, and faith unfeigned. These are the attributes of a mature Christian.

**Charity out of a pure heart:** Charity is the purest form of love—self-sacrificing "agape" love. Love is a verb expressed in action. Doing "loving" things for appearance's sake is not a pure heart. Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God and love your neighbor.

**A good conscience:** This involves an interface between our minds and spirits. A "good conscience of action" is one that properly accuses or excuses us. You can "sear" your conscience with a hot iron by habitually ignoring that inner voice until you grow numb to sin. A "conscience of standing" is how you view yourself in relation to God—knowing that through Christ, we have peace and a new standing.

**Faith unfeigned:** This means not faking it. It’s truly exercising the spiritual fruit of faith. We should trust that God is a promise-keeper. If we truly believe what we say—that the Creator died for us and makes intercession for us—our lives should be different. Faith without works is dead; it’s ineffective if it isn’t being used.

We all have different roles as parts of the body of Christ, but these qualities should be common to all Christians. These things stir me up in a freeing way, showing what a life in harmony with God looks like.

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