Young People's Group

Being Approved to God

by Mitchell Tan
September 01, 2017

THE DANGER OF BEING DISAPPROVED BY GOD

During the times of Paul, there were those who were caught up with wrong endeavours. One of them was contending over words that did not profit anyone. There were those who were sharing words that would cause serious damage to the faith of their hearers.

“Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers.”
2 Timothy 2:14

Timothy was to remind these people to remember the lessons that have been taught to them. They were to be charged before God not to focus on quarrelling over empty words. There was a danger of these people being disapproved before God. They had a poor understanding concerning the Scriptures and the application of them.

THE CHALLENGE TO BE APPROVED TO GOD

The word “approved” in Greek has the idea of being tested. God will test a person’s life and ministry. When a person goes through testing and he does well, he would be approved by God. There should come this sense of purpose in seeking to be pleasing to Him. How can we do this?

1. THE FOCUS – RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF GOD

“Rightly dividing the word of truth.”
2 Timothy 2:15

The servant of God must cultivate the skill in interpreting the word of God correctly. “Rightly dividing” in the Greek has the idea of “cutting straight” the Scripture that he may ascertain truths from the word. This is most crucial in these last days. Many people have gone astray from the faith because of false teachings (1 Timothy 1:6). Our challenge is to interpret the word of God accurately and to teach and share with it with others.

2. THE MEANS TO RIGHTLY DIVIDE THE WORD OF GOD

A. IT TAKES DILIGENCE

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God …”
2 Timothy 2:15

It takes diligence to handle the Scriptures well. The word “diligent” has the idea of doing something persistently and consistently. We are to present ourselves before the Lord as those who have proven themselves in terms of rightly dividing the Scriptures. There must come that diligence in reading and memorising the Scriptures. Each day a servant of God must work on interpreting the Scriptures till he is highly skilled at it.

B. IT TAKES HARD WORK

“… A worker who does not need to be ashamed”
2 Timothy 2:15

Another thing that the Lord looks for is whether we would work hard in learning from the Scriptures. The idea of a “worker” in Greek has the idea of being a “labourer”. A labourer is someone who works from morning till late into the night. The servant of God is willing to labour hard in seeking to understand the Scriptures. When he works hard and does well in first dividing the Word of God and knowing the Scriptures, he does not need to be ashamed. The Lord would be pleased with him. Let’s seek to work hard not just in our life but especially in comprehending the Scriptures accurately.

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