Both you and the Church must be continually reformed to align with God's Word.
1 Timothy 3:14-16 (NIV)
14 Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, 15 if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. 16 Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great:
He appeared in the flesh,
was vindicated by the Spirit,
was seen by angels,
was preached among the nations,
was believed on in the world,
was taken up in glory.
Listen to passage & devotional:
Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 32: The Order and Discipline of the Church
We also believe that
although it is useful and good
for those who govern the churches
to establish and set up
a certain order among themselves
for maintaining the body of the church,
they ought always to guard against deviating
from what Christ,
our only Master,
has ordained
for us.
Therefore we reject all human innovations
and all laws imposed on us,
in our worship of God,
which bind and force our consciences
in any way.
So we accept only what is proper
to maintain harmony and unity
and to keep all in obedience
to God.
To that end excommunication,
with all it involves,
according to the Word of God,
is required.
Summary
What is plentiful is not precious. So goes an old Latin proverb. For those of us in SW Minnesota & NW Iowa, we weren't considering water very precious this past June when our communities were being inundated by it. But now after a super dry fall, just a few drops of rain would have tremendous value.
So image how valuable Paul's letters were to young Pastor Timothy. He didn't have a bookshelf full of theology or the latest books on achieving church growth. He couldn't quickly consult a few youtubes to see how others solved a problem or fixed something broken in the church. Although he would have known the Old Testament well, he certainly wouldn't even have had his own copy of that! Obviously he couldn't just quick call or text Paul when a question or concern came up either.
So when a letter from Paul arrived, whether it was written to Timothy, Titus or any of the other letters Paul wrote, people would pour over it, soaking in every precious syllable. And here in the third chapter of the first letter he wrote to Timothy, Paul explains exactly why it is he wrote all of the letters he did: so that we will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
Dig Deeper
Speaking of old Latin phrases, the hallmark of the Protestant churches for the last 500 years has been Semper Reformanda! Literally translated, it means the Church is always being reformed. So in a sense, the Protestant Reformation that began when Luther nailed his theses to the castle door won't come to an end until Christ comes back.
For some, this means that the Church is a blank canvas, just waiting for each new generation to reform it with color and structure as it sees fit. Since society and culture continually change shape, the Church ought to as well in order to continually be well positioned to meet society's shifting needs.
Such an attitude might have seemed really attractive to Pastor Timothy! After all, Paul had founded his Ephesian church and then left Timothy in charge, but like everything else, the situation and needs changed. Maybe Timothy should 'reform' the church as he and the current crop of elders saw fit?
Of course not. But this continual temptation we have to reshape the Church according to our own whims needs to be met with the full version of that old Latin battle cry: ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda (the church reformed, always reforming). What this means is that the Protestant church has been reformed according to scripture, so our task is to continually keep it conformed to the Word once delivered!
Today the Bible is plentiful. You have the blessing of (likely) having multiple copies of the Bible in your home, not to mention a choice of Bible apps with massively powerful searching & study tools built in that you can utilize wherever you happen to be. But the ironic thing is that the more plentiful God's Word has become, the less precious it seems. Don't let this happen to you! Prioritize being continually reformed in His Word on a daily basis so that you know how to conduct yourself as a member of God's household, the church of the living God.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, the pillar and foundation of the truth;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that through the Spirit God's Word will remain precious to you and that it will guide you and the Lord's Church;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: John 6
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