Paul's Son In The Faith: A Study Of 1st And 2nd Timothy. Day 14, Our Deeds Will Be Made Known

Paul offers several pieces of advice today and warns us that our deeds, whether good or bad, shall not remain hidden.

"Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure." (1 Timothy 5:22) In yesterday's passage Paul spoke of how to handle accusations against leaders of the church, so many Bible scholars believe he's that Timothy must fully investigate beforehand anyone who is up for ordination as a minister, elder, or deacon. It was common then (and still is now in many denominations) for the elders of the church to place their hands on the person being ordained and to join together in prayer for him.

He warns Timothy not to get pulled into the sins of others, which is a real danger when associating with bad company. If the people who share the leadership with the church with him are not conducting themselves in a godly manner, Timothy could easily begin to make moral compromises here and there. He needs to surround himself with people who can set a good example for him, and he needs to set a good example for others.

It appears Timothy is dealing with some type of physical ailment, so Paul address this next. Scholars speculate that Dr. Luke is with Paul and that he interjects this piece of advice while Paul is dictating this letter. "Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses." (1 Timothy 5:23) Timothy wants to set a good example and he has decided to abstain completely from wine. He's afraid someone will see him having a glass of wine and accuse him of being a drunkard. (Remember, the enemies of Jesus told the same lie about Him. See Matthew 11:19 and Luke 7:34.) It was common to drink wine, or wine mixed with water, in those days. This was partly due to the fact that they had no water treatment facilities. There weren't any highly effective methods of purifying the water, so the water could contain bacteria capable of making a person ill. Mixing alcohol with the water helped to kill harmful bacteria, so Paul instructs Timothy to "use a little wine". Alcohol has some medicinal uses and it's not a sin if Timothy takes "a little" of it as medicine. My mother-in-law, who has never been a drinker of alcohol, decided to start taking a teaspoon of wine whenever her stomach is upset. She says it works wonders.

Now Paul moves back to the subject of sin by saying, "The sins of some are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not obvious cannot remain hidden forever." (1 Timothy 5:24-25) This could be a reference to the choosing of leaders of the church, but it applies to everyone. We all have faults that are visible to ourselves and others. And we all have things we try to hide. But we can't hide anything from God, so we need to deal with our sins in the here and now. We don't want them trailing after us into judgment.

We won't have to fear being accused and found guilty at God's judgment seat if we place our trust in Christ, the One who made atonement for us in His own blood. Being in Christ doesn't mean we have freedom to sin, but it does mean that when we make a mistake "We have an advocate with the Father---Jesus Christ, the Righteous One". (John 15:26) When we sin, we can repent and obtain forgiveness through Christ, who will be our Advocate with the Father, who will make intercession for us, and who will declare us righteous through our faith in Him.