No Other Measure
From 1 Timothy 1 – 1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope,
2 Timothy, a true son in the faith: grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia – remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, 4 nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is faith.
5 now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, 6 from which some have strayed and turned aside to idle talk, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.
8 But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, 9 knowing this: that the law is not made for the righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the unholy and the profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manlayers, 10 for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine,
Joseph E. Stiglitz takes his own careful measurement in The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future. He assesses, "If we measure the wrong thing, we will be tempted to do the wrong thing, and to make the wrong inferences"
The apostle Paul is just as wary of all-purpose distraction. Inspired, he has given us what one would think of as a comprehensive list of the aspects of the flesh which need to be restrained by the Law, a multidimensional listing of prompts and prides to repentance. The wise old saint knows better, however. Should we convince ourselves that we have passed according to this rubric of the flesh's aberrant attitudes and misdeeds, there is a catchall at the end. Any other thing, says Paul, can be used for purposes which are contrary to sound doctrine.
This confrontation isn't new, but it is needed. Throughout God's Word, His judgment is ready to remind us that even the right, respectable things done for the wrong reasons undermine sound doctrine. Give to impress? He is not accepting. Learn and spout His Word for reasons other than knowing and depending upon Him perpetually? We won't even be able to get out of 1 Timothy 1 with our sense of well-being intact. If we move toward what looks like righteousness, or away from what looks like unrighteousness, so that we can measure ourselves superior, we are more distracted from the true Gospel than when we started.
One might well learn, then, that "when" could have been substituted for Paul's if. There is no question that the day, even the morning, will offer us stability and righteousness by some other measure than that which Christ has bought and imparted to us. Will we, as a result, measure the wrong thing, do the wrong thing, and be set adrift with the wrong inferences? Without the righteousness of Christ constantly correcting us by His Spirit and His Word, we would.
2 Timothy, a true son in the faith: grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia – remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, 4 nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is faith.
5 now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, 6 from which some have strayed and turned aside to idle talk, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.
8 But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, 9 knowing this: that the law is not made for the righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the unholy and the profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manlayers, 10 for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine,
Joseph E. Stiglitz takes his own careful measurement in The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future. He assesses, "If we measure the wrong thing, we will be tempted to do the wrong thing, and to make the wrong inferences"
The apostle Paul is just as wary of all-purpose distraction. Inspired, he has given us what one would think of as a comprehensive list of the aspects of the flesh which need to be restrained by the Law, a multidimensional listing of prompts and prides to repentance. The wise old saint knows better, however. Should we convince ourselves that we have passed according to this rubric of the flesh's aberrant attitudes and misdeeds, there is a catchall at the end. Any other thing, says Paul, can be used for purposes which are contrary to sound doctrine.
This confrontation isn't new, but it is needed. Throughout God's Word, His judgment is ready to remind us that even the right, respectable things done for the wrong reasons undermine sound doctrine. Give to impress? He is not accepting. Learn and spout His Word for reasons other than knowing and depending upon Him perpetually? We won't even be able to get out of 1 Timothy 1 with our sense of well-being intact. If we move toward what looks like righteousness, or away from what looks like unrighteousness, so that we can measure ourselves superior, we are more distracted from the true Gospel than when we started.
One might well learn, then, that "when" could have been substituted for Paul's if. There is no question that the day, even the morning, will offer us stability and righteousness by some other measure than that which Christ has bought and imparted to us. Will we, as a result, measure the wrong thing, do the wrong thing, and be set adrift with the wrong inferences? Without the righteousness of Christ constantly correcting us by His Spirit and His Word, we would.
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