Approved To God

Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some. Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: "The Lord knows those who are His," and, "Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity." (2 Timothy 2:14–19)

Paul's dying charge: handle God's word rightly, hold the essentials, and refuse to let quarrels and divisive men tear the church apart.

Returning to Paul's Last Words

The opening words of our passage are "remind them," so a reminder is in order as to where we are. We've been studying through 2 Timothy as part of our journey verse by verse, chapter by chapter, through the whole of the New Testament—a journey we began at the end of 2008 in the book of Acts. We have 2 Timothy to finish, then the letters of John, because we believe the whole of the Bible is inspired by God and useful for us.

I've called this series Last Words, because Bible scholars believe this is the last letter Paul wrote. Paul was a prolific writer—a third of the New Testament, thirteen letters—and this is believed to be the last words he wrote before his death around AD 66. He died as a martyr. The emperor Nero used Christians as a scapegoat to turn public opinion against them and was taking out the leaders of the movement. By the time Paul writes this, Peter had very likely already been put to death, crucified upside down because he did not consider himself worthy to die as the Lord did.

Joy in a Hopeless Situation

Paul is in prison, knows his time is short, and is finishing his last words to those he had raised up. Turn one page over to chapter 4: "For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand." You'd think he must be totally depressed. Yet look at the next verse: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness."

In Philippians 1, also written in prison, Paul says, "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." That is the wonderful joy and hope the Christian has. This life can be very difficult, but it is not all there is. We have a life beyond this life that is far better. So even in a depressing situation, Paul still has hope and joy.

These being Paul's last words, he drives home important truths. If you knew your time was short, that affects what you say to those you love. Paul writes to Timothy, whom he calls his son in the faith—they had been together for about fifteen years, meeting when Timothy was in his late teens and traveling together on the second missionary journey. And he writes to a church he loved, the church at Ephesus, which he planted and pastored. These are his final words, given in the form of a reminder—not new information, but reiterating what is really important.

In Our Forgetfulness We Need Repeated Reminders

This is not only Paul's practice. Peter did the same. In 2 Peter 1 he writes, "I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know them and are established in the present truth." And again: "I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you... I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease."

So point number one: in our forgetfulness, we need repeated reminders. I am terribly forgetful. You might think because I share verses from memory that I have a great memory—I don't. I have reminders on my phone for everything: to remind my children to shower, to go to bed, to put water in the pool, to clean the lint trap on the dryer because I've already destroyed one. We are forgetful, and since we forget, we need perpetual reminders.

This is one reason it's so important to become a people accustomed to reading the Bible regularly on our own—daily—reading and remembering the Scriptures, so that we know them, because we forget very quickly. Paul says, "remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord." The New American Standard says "solemnly charge them in the presence of God." Paul invokes God as witness over this charge.

A Charge Given to All of Us

Paul likes this construction. In 1 Timothy 5:21 he says, "I charge you... before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels." In 2 Timothy 4:1 he says, "I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead." God is not only our witness; God will hold us accountable.

One commentator says, "Pastors are to keep reminding their congregations of the truth of Scripture, the nature of God, and the demands of a life that is lived before God. The task is never complete." Two of those charges are directed at the pastor, but this one in chapter 2 is clearly given to the general body of Christ. If you are a follower of Jesus, this charge is for all of us, and we are accountable to God. So what is the charge? "I charge you to not strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers."

The Danger of Striving About Words

We can easily fall into the trap of becoming fixated on things that are ultimately unhelpful. Paul speaks with local knowledge of a specific situation at Ephesus, but there is a general problem in virtually every church. There were those striving about words. The phrase translated "striving about words" literally means sword fighting over words. They weren't taking out literal swords, but people do become divisive and defensive in the way they speak about the things of the Bible.

The Word of God is "living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword," and it is "the sword of the Spirit." Sometimes Christians think they need to do sword drills—and many of us did them in children's ministry or AWANA—but it seems many people did them so they could fight other Christians with the Bible. We get really good at fighting with other believers about the Bible. Paul says we have to be careful.

It's fascinating: right in the middle of this warning he says "rightly dividing the word of truth." We must be a people who know and use the Bible and understand it. But that exhortation is sandwiched between two warnings—don't strive about words to no profit, and shun profane and idle babblings. There is a fine line between becoming a good student of the Bible and becoming someone who bludgeons people with it.

Being Bible People Without Bludgeoning

As a pastor raised in a solidly Bible-focused tradition—Calvary Chapel and the Southern Baptist Convention—we are Bible people here at Cross Connection. But there is a danger in that. We can strive over obscure meanings, pet interpretations, phrases taken out of context, and things that are points of truth but not essential. We can begin developing high-sounding theories until our Christianity sounds more like a vague philosophy than a way we ought to live. I'll be candid—the conference Garrett and I attended last week at times devolved into arguing the finer points of things. There is a fine line between rightly dividing the word of truth and striving about words to no profit.

Point number two: we need to be gracious in our division of the word so as not to bring division in the church. We should be committed to rightly dividing the word, and equally committed to not striving about words to no profit. There has to be a counterbalance, and this is very difficult.

The Endless Splintering of the Church

Church history bears this out. For the first 1,500 years the church was relatively united, with one major split. Then came the Protestant Reformation—which I believe is important and good, especially the five Solas. But in the last 500 years there have literally been tens of thousands of divisions.

There's a great old joke by the comedian Emo Philips. Walking across a bridge, he sees a man about to jump. "Don't jump, God loves you." "I used to believe in God." "Were you a Jew or a Christian?" "Christian." "Me too! What kind?" "Baptist." "Me too! Northern or Southern?" "Northern." On and on—Northern conservative fundamentalist Baptist of the Great Lakes region, Council of 1879 or 1912—until finally, "Council of 1912." "Die, heretic!"—and he pushed him over.

We laugh, but you've had that experience at Starbucks: "Oh, you're a Christian? What church?" "I go to that one." "I'll just take my latte and leave." Most often the differences that divide are inconsequential and non-essential, yet we take what is non-essential and insist it's essential—and inevitably we're wrong. Paul guards against this, even while insisting we rightly divide the word and be clear when people are in error. It's delicate; we must walk softly.

Essential and Non-Essential Doctrines

Verse 15 is the answer: "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God." Circle "to God." Point number three: make sure your divisions are based on Scripture rightly divided—and that takes work and time.

The Bible is filled with doctrine, and it's important to know what we believe and why. But not all doctrines carry the same weight. There are primary, secondary, and tertiary teachings, and we have a way of making what is tertiary the most important thing—and that's usually where churches divide.

I'm not pitching a global ecumenicalism where everyone goes to heaven and we never differ. There are clear, essential areas of division: the deity of Christ, the sufficiency of His death (Christ died for our sins), the veracity of the resurrection (Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 that if there is no resurrection we are dead in our sins), and salvation by grace alone through Christ alone. When someone knocks on your door from the LDS church or the Watchtower Society, they don't believe these things—there is a clear difference.

But there are non-essential doctrines, important yet not essential to salvation. Eschatology, for instance: "Are you premillennial, amillennial, or postmillennial? Pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib, or pan-trib?" Some of you have no idea what that means—God bless you, praise Jesus. Or ecclesiology: presbyterian, episcopal, or congregational governance. You don't have to know any of that to go to heaven, and you don't have to know it to be part of Cross Connection Church. We don't divide over these things. The same with God's sovereignty and man's responsibility—both are in Scripture—and issues of architecture, worship styles, and ministry offerings. People get spun up about non-essentials.

Babblings That Spread Like Gangrene

Verse 16: "Shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness." I'll never forget a man who argued with me one Sunday about Calvinism and Arminianism while I knew full well he was living in an adulterous relationship with a woman he had left his wife for. That falls in the category of idle babblings that increase unto ungodliness—sheltering ungodliness under an appearance of religiosity. In Matthew 23 Jesus calls the hypocrites whitewashed tombs who clean the outside of the cup while conniving to kill the Messiah.

"And their message will spread like cancer." The Greek word is literally gangrene. Then Paul gets personal: "Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some." This is such a problem because it overthrows faith. So while I've been arguing that we must be careful how we divide, Paul himself speaks strong dividing words. We walk a fine line.

Do Not Fear Departing From the Divisive

Point number four: do not be afraid to depart from those who are subversive and divisive. Paul makes this clear to Timothy and Titus. Some promote teachings that spread quickly but infect and destroy. His final word in 1 Timothy 6:20: "O Timothy, guard what was committed to your trust"—I say both the gospel and the church—"avoiding the profane and idle babblings... by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith."

In Titus 3:9–10 he writes, "Avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law, for they are unprofitable and useless. Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned." It is part of the work of elders to guard the church from divisive individuals who are far more like wolves than sheep—rams who go around ramming people.

Paul gets specific. In 1 Timothy 1:20 he says of Hymenaeus, "I delivered him to Satan that he may learn not to blaspheme." That's heavy. Apparently Hymenaeus didn't get the memo, because he reappears in 2 Timothy, now with a cohort, Philetus. Timothy was suffering from timidity, and his timidity is likely why Hymenaeus was still there. So Paul says these men are cancerous and must be cut off.

The Most Loving Thing

I know some of you are thinking, "But aren't we supposed to love them?" Sometimes the most loving thing for the church is to tell an individual, "You're not welcome here." I have called another pastor to say, "You need to know this person was disruptive and divisive," and pastors have thanked me, because some people will destroy when God desires to build up. You do not get to be part of the church if you are divisive, subversive, and unwilling to repent. If they can repent, praise the Lord—Paul says rebuke them before all that the rest might fear, giving them opportunity to repent.

But won't such division harm the church? Verse 19: "Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands." Jesus said in Matthew 16, "I will build My church." The strong foundation is the essential truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and on that rock He builds His church, and the gates of hell will not prevail. He gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers (Ephesians 4:11–13) to equip and build up the body—and sometimes building up means a divisive individual is not allowed here.

Christ Builds on a Solid Foundation

Point number five: Christ is building His church on a strong and solid foundation, and that foundation is only weakened by subversive and divisive individuals. "The solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: 'The Lord knows those who are His,' and, 'Let everyone who names the name of Christ'—including Hymenaeus and Philetus—'depart from iniquity.'"

That was heavy, so how do we conclude? How do we as individual Christians grow strong in faith and understanding—gracious enough not to divide over minor points, yet clear about what is right and true? Verse 15 is the answer: "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

This is not just for pastors; it's for the whole body. Understand: we are approved before God on the basis of grace in Christ Jesus and His finished work. Yet there seems to be another level of being "approved to God" as we present ourselves as unashamed workers rightly dividing the word. As we do, we become ready to be gracious on non-essentials and to recognize the essentials. We need to understand the Scriptures, having rightly divided them, so we can be a strong church, glorifying God—vessels of honor, useful to the Master, which is where next week's passage takes us.

Closing Prayer

Father God, thank You for Your word. We pray that we would consider these things, think on these things, and that You would use them to bring transformation into our lives this week. Help us to be gracious over things that are not essential—things that have caused division in our families and with brothers and sisters who used to be part of this church and now are part of another. We get so angry over some minor point. Help us to walk in grace toward those individuals, but to recognize where the points of necessity are. Use us as a light to our community, for I confess that for a long time our churches have been more focused on arguing the finer points of non-essential truths than fulfilling the Great Commission. Help us to be focused steadfastly on Your mission. In Jesus' name, amen.