Lesson 07 “The Servant of Christ” 1
Timothy 4:6-16
ID:
Inductive Questions (Asking the text questions like who, what, where, when,
why, & how?”)
CR: Cross
References (Comparing Scripture to Scripture, understanding the vague by the
clear.)
WS: Word
Study (Understanding definition, theological meaning, and usages in other
passages.)
The WORD: What does the Bible say?
Context: Read 1 Timothy 3:14-5:2 to understand the context for
our passage. Reread 1 Timothy 4:6-16 in
a more literal
or more dynamic
translation than you usually use. The passage
begins with a reference to these things. What does "these things" refer back to?
1. ID/WS: (4:6) How could Timothy (and we) be a good minister (diakonos) of Jesus
Christ? What would nourish (entrephō) him?
2. WS/ID/CR: (4:7) What does it mean to “exercise (gymnasia) yourself to godliness”? Use clues from the surrounding context
develop your answer then check some cross references (Acts
24:14-16; 1 Corinthians 9:24-27; Hebrews 5:11-14; 2 Peter 1:5-10).
3. ID: (4:10) Why is godliness (eusebeia) better than
bodily exercise? Does this mean that
there is little benefit to bodily exercise?
4. ID: (4:11-16) Identify
the imperative
verbs. What is the opposite of each of
these commands?
5. ID: (4:12-16) What
reasons are given (or implied) for each of these commands?
6. ID: (4:12-16) Is there a common theme or progression to
these commands?
The WALK: What should I do?
1. Curt Shacklett defines a spiritual discipline as “a
strategic course of action increasingly, persistently pursued with the aid of
the Spirit of Grace in order to acquire a particular quality of the mind and
heart of Christ.” How are you disciplining/exercising yourself
for the purpose of Godliness?
2. What is the difference between reading,
exhortation,
and doctrine? How/when does your church practice them? Does your
spiritual intake involve all three?
3. Which areas that Timothy was to be an example in, do
you find most challenging? Why?
4. Describe how you meditate (meletaō). What you have
been meditating on recently?
5. CSBI: Why does progressive revelation make it
important to read all parts of the Bible?
Going Beyond: 1. Memorize
and meditate on 1 Timothy 4:8-10.
2. What areas of theology are touched on in this passage?
The Bible (Bibliology)
God (Theology Proper)
The Father (Paterology)
The Lord Jesus Christ (Christology)
The Holy Spirit (Pneumatology)
Man (Anthropology)
Salvation (Soteriology)
The Church (Ecclesiology)
Angels & Satan (Angelology)
Future Things (eschatology)
God (Theology Proper)
The Father (Paterology)
The Lord Jesus Christ (Christology)
The Holy Spirit (Pneumatology)
Man (Anthropology)
Salvation (Soteriology)
The Church (Ecclesiology)
Angels & Satan (Angelology)
Future Things (eschatology)
THE
WORD OF GOD
The next three articles
deal with revelation. Article III defines what we mean when we say that the
Bible is revelation and not merely a witness to revelation, as is affirmed by
the neo-orthodox theologians. Article IV considers the use of human language as
a vehicle for divine revelation. Article
V notes the way in which the revelation of God unfolds progressively throughout
Scripture so that later texts more fully expound the earlier ones. In these
articles the framers of the Statement guard against any view which would lessen
the unique nature of the Bible as God’s written revelation or negate the
teaching of some parts of it by appeal to other parts.
ARTICLE
V: PROGRESSIVE REVELATION
We affirm that
God’s revelation in the Holy Scriptures was progressive.
We deny that
later revelation, which may fulfill earlier revelation, ever corrects or
contradicts it.
We further deny that any normative revelation has been
given since the completion of the New Testament writings.
The issues in
view in Article V are of profound importance to the life of the church and are
very complicated at times. What is
simply stated in the affirmation is a recognition that within the Bible itself
there is a progressive revelation. All
that has been revealed of God in the totality of Scripture is not found, for
example, in the book of Genesis. Much of
the content of God’s redemptive activity in Christ is hinted at in part and
given in shadowy ways in the earlier portions of the Old Testament. But throughout sacred Scripture the content
of divine revelation is expanded, ultimately to the fullness reached in the New
Testament. That is what is meant by progressive revelation in this context,
that the revelation within Scripture unfolds in an ever-deepening and
broadening way.
Having made
that recognition, the article of denial makes clear that such progress and
expansion of revelation does not deny or contradict what has been given
earlier. Though certain precepts which were obligatory to people in the Old
Testament period are no longer so in the New Testament, this does not mean that
they were discontinued because they were wicked in the past and now God has
corrected what he formerly endorsed, but rather that certain practices become
superseded by newer practices that are consistent with fulfillment of Old
Testament activities. This in no way suggests that the Old Testament is
irrelevant to the New Testament believer or that earlier revelation may be
dismissed out of hand in light of newer revelation. The
Bible is still to be regarded as a holistic book where the Old Testament helps
us understand the New Testament and the New Testament sheds significant light
on the Old Testament. Although progressive revelation is recognized, this
progressiveness is not to be viewed as a license to play loosely with portions
of Scripture, setting one dimension of revelation against another within the
Bible itself. The Bible’s coherency and consistency is not, vitiated
by progressive revelation within it.
It is also
added by way of denial that no normative revelation has been given to the church
since the close of the New Testament canon. The denial does not mean that God
the Holy Spirit has stopped working, or that the Holy Spirit in no way leads
his people today. Part of the difficulty is that theological words are used in
different ways within different Christian communities. For example, what one
group may call “revelation” another group may define as “illumination.” Thus
the qualifying word “normative” is important to understanding the last part of
the denial. What is meant here is that no revelation has been given since the
first century that merits or warrants inclusion in the canon of Holy Scripture.
Private leadings or guidance or “revelations,” as some may term them, may not
be seen as having the force or authority of Holy Scripture.
Read more about progressive revelation at carm.org
or gotquestions.com.
Leader Notes:
WORD:
2. I would encourage you to keep
the comments limited to those that integrate observations from the text and
context or specific cross references.
Help the men flesh out the meaning of vague platitudes.
4. When I noted all the
imperative verbs, I “discovered” commands that I hadn’t seen before. On way to reflect on a negative command is to
think about what you should be doing instead of just what you shouldn’t do.
6. I don’t think that there is one right answer
to this one. Thinking about how the
commands might relate to each other should help you see new things about them.
WALK:
2. These are three things that
men should have in their spiritual diet.
1) We should all be in the process of rereading the whole Bible. 2) We
should have believers to hold us accountable and be mindful of
exhortations. 3) We should also
regularly dive deeper through deeper study of smaller portions of the Bible
like we are in this study. You might
want to pick up a few Bible reading booklets from the church racks.
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