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1 Timothy 2:5-6b, Convictions of Compassion
Convictions are the roots that hold and steady the tree of compassion. Paul underscores three deep convictions that undergird compassion for the lost: one God, one Mediator, and one Ransom. In this study, we give thoughtful attention to these three biblical truths that move us to pray and labor for the salvation of the lost.
1 Timothy 2:1-4, The Heart of God
God desires all people to be saved. This fundamental truth about God our Savior had grown dim in the church at Ephesus, and Paul seeks to restore it by calling believers to pray for the lost. Here is where our hearts begin to align with the heart of the God of salvation. As beloved children, we are to share His concern, calling those who are not walking with the Lord to reconciliation with Him and restoration to His paths of righteousness. May God be magnified in us as we move in step with His love for the lost.
2 Peter 1:3-7, Theology Proper: The Attributes of God
In redemption, we are graciously enabled to partake of the divine nature (v4). This does not mean we become equal to God, but that we begin to reflect His character through godly living. But which aspects of God’s character are we to imitate? In this final study in theology proper, we explore the difference between God’s communicable attributes—those He enables us to reflect—and His incommunicable attributes, which belong to Him alone as the infinite Creator. Peter reminds us that this transformation is not self-produced, but flows from a true and living knowledge of God through Jesus Christ.
Acts 14:8-17, Theology Proper: The Unmoody God
Does God ever experience mood swings the way we do? If the Lord is immutable and cannot change, can anything in creation truly affect Him? In this study of divine impassibility, we consider what it means that God is “without passions,” why this truth is theologically necessary, firmly rooted in the language of Scripture, consistent with historic Christian faith, and deeply sanctifying for the believer, especially, with regard to our steadfastness and self-control. This doctrine also sheds light on why the incarnation was necessary for our salvation as well as the constancy of God’s love toward His elect and His hatred for sin.
Ps. 102:25-27, Theology Proper: The Unchanging God
The LORD God is immutable. This is the resounding testimony of Scripture. As for statements that the LORD changed His mind, relented, or was sorry, these are anthropomorphic and anthropopathic descriptions of God. The immaterial, invisible, and immutable God does not literally undergo such changes. All of this reveals that the LORD is truly the everlasting Rock, and we can (and must!) place our trust in Him. May we learn to depend on Him, pray biblically, and cling to Him as the anchor who keeps us, especially through the storms of life.
1 John 5:20-21, Theology Proper: The Only God
What can we know about God? Scripture teaches that He is the absolute Creator and the absolute Being—self-existent, self-sufficient, a se, and self-defining. He is simple and one, not composed of parts but wholly identical with His attributes; He is divinity itself. As such, He alone is the true God, and there can be no other.
1 Timothy 1:19b-20, Fight the Good Fight (Part 2): Let Not Sin Shipwreck Your Faith
In addition to spiritual warfare, Paul introduces a second metaphor—seafaring—to highlight the gravity of maintaining a good conscience. Just as a careless captain can lose his ship through neglect, so a person who fails to nurture and guard his conscience shipwrecks his faith. Paul cites two men who did precisely this: Hymenaeus and Alexander. These two were handed over to Satan—disciplined out of the church—in the hope that they would hit rock bottom, come to their senses, repent, and return to God. Without continuing in a life of holiness and obedience to God’s Word, we cannot maintain fellowship with the holy God or live a life of dependence on Him.