One of the things we may be eventually faced with is the fact that Judaism as it is practiced today is a false religion. It can be called "Talmudic Judaism" to differentiate it from "Mosaic Judaism", the original Judaism of the Old Testament which is now impossible to practice without the temple, the priesthood, and the sacrifices. Talmudic Judaism, in the wake of the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. substitutes the synagogue for the temple, rabbis for the priesthood, and good works for the sacrifices, none of which is actually biblical. The only "true" Judaism that exists today is Christianity, the New Covenant that is the natural extension of Mosaic Judaism.
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Once again we find that the way the world defines things is at odds with the precise way they are defined by God's Word. I would respectfully submit that if you actually engage in a dialog which escalates to the level of something that actually reproves, rebukes, and/or exhorts, that most often these days you will be accused of being at the least "unloving" and perhaps even "divisive". What the world means by "preach the word" falls quite short of the Bible's definition.
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How is it that the Bible—here referred to as "the sacred writings"—"are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith"? Isn't "faith" predicated on something that can't be seen or proven?
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Anyone reading my journal entries consistently over time knows one of my hot buttons is the misapplication of the term "worship". One of the words most closely associated to the true biblical meaning of "worship" is "godliness" which could literally be translated "right worship". Godliness is the condition of living a daily crucified life yielded to God's Word and way to such a degree that no matter what day it is, no matter whether attending church or living normally during the rest of the week, our obedience to His Word produces "right worship" in us wherever we find ourselves. Paul is connecting "accurately handling the word of truth" — the Bible — in order to avoid being led into "further ungodliness" — that is, "wrong worship".
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Soldiers are like Christians in that each has a "calling", so to speak. After basic training, each soldier is assigned a specific job for which he is not only thoroughly trained but then assigned to a specific place to perform that function on behalf of the greater whole. Whether they're an infantryman on the front line or a supply clerk or a company First Sergeant, every part of the whole military machine is dependent on each individual part fulfilling its assigned duties as proscribed. It's a full-time endeavor. Christians shouldn't look at their "gift set" or "ministry" as a part-time or weekend only thing, but as their primary role that they may please God who called and assigned them.
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On the one hand, every Christian would probably agree that they are very far from being like Paul in his office, ministry, or personal walk. He is an inspirational model of the Christian walk. However, by worldly standards of "success", his life and associated activities were far from perfect. In fact, the average worldly biographer might term many of his life's events as setbacks if not outright failures. Paul's perspective? "I am not ashamed."
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We really need to get a firm grip on the context of the historical situation here. Paul is a prisoner in Rome for the final time, practically everyone has forsaken him, death is imminent, and HE'S praying for Timothy? Shouldn't we be reading a letter of encouragement from Timothy to Paul trying to keep up his spirits in the face of multiple, unavoidable hardships? I have to confess that this speaks very strongly to the quality of my own faith. Why is it that in times of duress I rarely pray about anything but me, me, and even more ME? Paul provides an example of something obviously contrary to my own way of thinking in such situations.
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