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Being A Good Servant of Christ Jesus

(Midweek Devotion - 1 Timothy, 09 Aug 2023)

1 Timothy 4:6-10

6 If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. 7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; 8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 9 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. 10 For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

One of the metaphors used for disciples of Christ Jesus is that we are “Servants of Christ Jesus.” This comes from the illustration of “Master and Servant” relationship, which Master can be the Lord, the King, the Owner, or the Superior Being.

Paul in his honest message to Timothy, gave this apostolic advice of whom we (Christians) should also listen and abide in this wisdom, especially if we are claiming to be a Christian for ages now, that if you put “these things before the brothers”, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus.

What a great comfort to know that we CAN be good servant of Christ Jesus! But do we consider ourselves a servant of God? If yes, then such benevolence can come to us and be pronounced good servant of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, by our Lord Jesus Christ, our true Master, Lord, King, Owner, and Supreme Being over our lives.

As Christ Jesus is the true Master, therefore, He MUST be the Sovereign One, not ourselves. We are to follow His decree, His precepts, His words. Indeed, the Apostle Paul said that a good servant of Christ is one who are "being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed."

See how Paul have used the present tense to illustrate that a servant is actively involve in the business of continuous santification by means of the "the words of faith" and "the words of good doctrine". Sanctification is not a feeling of being pure, it is an active display or active process of cleansing from sins as the true manifestation of being in the state of grace. This process is not without the Word of God as Jesus himself said in John 17:17 - "Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth."

Paul have also equated the "words of faith" to "the words of good doctrine", as these are what we followed in our walk of faith. Observe clearly how he described the kind of doctrine that a good servant MUST follow, "A GOOD DOCTRINE." Christians, therefore, need to know what is "good doctrine" and "bad doctrine", for it will lead them to whether they will be a "good servant" or a "bad servant" of Christ Jesus.

And here Paul gave us a practical way by means of elimination, as to what we MUST avoid, and offer the remedy instead. He explicitly instructed Timothy, and by extension for all Christians, "But reject those myths fit only for the godless and gullible". I refer to this NET version to show the strong words of Paul that Christians not only have to avoid the silly myths flying around Christian (bad) doctrines but also reject them. Because Paul knew how dangerous it is when followed no only by promoter of it, but also of those who followed by religiosities.

So Paul gave us a remedy saying "Rather, train yourself for godliness." Yes, we hear it clearly that we can be trained to godliness if we want to. He is not referring to just external display of godliness only, but from the very core of our being, from the heart that is renewed in Christ Jesus who set his hope in Him through believing.

Training to godliness is not a head knowledge. Our aim of knowing (studying) the word of God is not for intellectual consumption only. The aim of our studying the Scripture is to know Christ and be like Him. It was looked forward by the old and looked backward by the new that one may see His light, received His light, and display His light unto this dark world.

Paul reiterates that if we are to be trained in godliness, its value will be reaped not just of the present time but also of the future time to come, where we set our hope on the Living God, who is the Saviour of all people who believes in Him.

Do you claim that Christ Jesus is your Lord and Saviour? If yes, then you can be good servant of Christ Jesus if you display "these things" before your brothers, being trained in the words of faith and of good doctrine that you have followed.

James 1:21-25

21 So put away all filth and evil excess and humbly welcome the message implanted within you, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be sure you live out the message and do not merely listen to it and so deceive yourselves. 23 For if someone merely listens to the message and does not live it out, he is like someone who gazes at his own face in a mirror. 24 For he gazes at himself and then goes out and immediately forgets what sort of person he was. 25 But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there, and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out—he will be blessed in what he does. 

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