Young People's Group

The Purpose of the Commandment

by Mitchell Tan
May 27, 2016

THE WARNING OF FALSE TEACHINGS

The danger of giving heed to false teachings was real in the days of the Apostle Paul and is so real today. In this day and age, there are so many false teachers in the world promoting their own brand of falsehood. Young people, if we are not careful, we are going to be deceived by them. This was something that the apostle Paul wrote about in his first epistle to Timothy.

“That you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies which cause disputes”
1 Timothy 1:3-4

Timothy was tasked to charge some that they do not teach another form of doctrine that is not based on truth. Their teachings were based on fables and endless genealogies. The word “fables” in Greek is a reference to “myths”. They were fanciful stories that are not true. Paul also wrote in 2 Timothy 4:4 of how people have turned from the truth and turned aside to fables. When people give heed to these false teachings, they will always end up disputing with each other rather than building up the church of God. Young people, we must be careful that we do not give heed to false teachings that can lead us astray.

UNDERSTANDING THE GOALS OF TEACHING THE COMMANDMENTS

“Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith”
1 Timothy 1:5

The teaching of the truths of the word of God should instead bring about the following end-goals:

1. HAVING LOVE OUT OF A PURE HEART

There would first be a love out of a pure heart. The commandments of the Lord are meant to cleanse the heart of a person. The word “pure” in Greek is the word “Katharos”. The heart needs to be cleansed until it is free from all that corrupts and contaminates. When there is purity of heart, there would come sincere love. Paul also wrote of how love does no harm to a neighbour (Romans 13:10). When we love one another, we are fulfilling the law. All the commandments of the Lord are summed up in one saying, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Romans 13:9). The challenge is to practise love out of a pure heart when we seek to obey His commandments.

2. HAVING A GOOD CONSCIENCE

Paul also warned of how the conscience can be seared with a hot iron when people give heed to false and demonic doctrines (1 Timothy 4:1-2). However, when we give heed to the commandments of God, it will bring about a good conscience. We would be able to discern what is good and wrong, truth and falsehood. There would be a greater sense of spiritual morality.

3. HAVING A SINCERE FAITH

When there is a good response to the word of God, there would also come sincere faith. The word “sincere” in Greek means “unhypocritical”. This faith that we have is not something that we are pretending to have. It is an unfeigned faith. This kind of faith was also what Paul wrote about in 2 Timothy 1:5. He was mindful of the genuine faith that was in Timothy’s grandmother and mother and was also present in him. The word “genuine” in Greek is the same word as “sincere”. There would be genuine and sincere faith. Young people, let’s ensure that we would have sincere faith as we read His word. Let our faith be distinct and true.

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