Somebody Loves You

SUNDAY March 2, 2025

Wage a Good Warfare

This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare....
1 Timothy 1:18

Before we address this verse, I want to remind you why Paul the Apostle wrote this short epistle to Timothy. As an elderly father in the faith, Paul took Timothy under his wing. This young man was called to be the pastor of the church of Ephesus, but he faced difficulties. False teachers within the church were infecting the people with their false doctrines. Paul charged Timothy to promote sound doctrine. He needed to wage a good warfare, as there was a huge battle going on in the church.

Even though some Jews had accepted Christ, they were still adhering to the Law of God. They taught believers that they must keep the Jewish tradition of circumcision. Gnostics among the congregation believed that when Jesus walked He left no footprints; He was a mere phantom. While other zealous individuals––intellectuals––acquired knowledge, knowing nothing. They failed to realize the simplicity of the Gospel that could save them. Believers who listened to these men, if influenced, were led astray. They became deluded from the truth of Jesus Christ.

What are some of the things the Church has embraced today? Woke ideology and an acceptance of all kinds of immoral sin––fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, drag queens, and the list goes on. Some churches, in wanting to reach out and accept everybody, have also accepted people’s sins. That should not be. God is holy. Where is holiness in the Church? God loves the sinner, but He hates sin!

Preaching on sin and repentance may be an uncomfortable message, but it brings people to Christ so that their sin can be forgiven. To accept sin will give people a false sense of security. They think they are going to inherit eternal life, when they are not. They will spend eternity apart from God. Where is the love of God in preaching that kind of message? The gospel they preach has a false message, void of the true Gospel.

The heart that has really tasted the grace of Christ, will instinctively hate sin.
~J.C. Ryle~

For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!