Author: Calleen Hough

God's eternal kingdom

As creator of the universe, God exercises divine control over all things. One of the unique abilities that God has is to ordain events and circumstances that accomplish a specific, desired outcome. In other words, God can make things happen the way he wants them to. The Hebrew word hayah (haw-yaw) means “to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass” (H1961). In Genesis 12:2, God told Abraham “…I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be [hayah] a blessing.” “The use of hayah in such passages declares actual release of power, so that the accomplishment is assured — Abraham will be blessed because God has ordained it.”

The prophet Isaiah, who lived approximately 700 years before Jesus was born, wrote about future events that were ordained by God. He stated, “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God” (Isaiah 40:3). John the Baptist fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy and declared about Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:23, 29). Jesus’ ministry on Earth was a part of God’s divine plan of salvation that was intended to correct the effects of every human’s sinful nature. Instead of death and eternal punishment, all who trust in Jesus for their salvation will receive forgiveness of their sins and live forever (John 3:16).

The mechanism by which God chose to save mankind was the death of his son Jesus on the cross (John 14:6). After Jesus was resurrected from the dead, he entered into heaven and now sits on the right hand of God (1 Peter 3:22). The book of Hebrews reveals what is taking place in heaven while Jesus waits for his eternal kingdom to be established on Earth. It says in Hebrews 4:14-16, “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

Jesus’ role of great high priest in God’s eternal kingdom consists of two primary responsibilities, making sure that all who get saved stay saved and go to heaven when they die. During his ministry on earth, Jesus told many parables about things getting lost, such as a coin (Luke 15:8-10), a sheep (Luke 15:4-7), and a son (Luke 15:11-32). In each of these stories, the lost thing was found and restored to its rightful owner. After he told these parables, Jesus talked about an unjust judge that refused to respond to a woman’s plea for help. He told his disciples:

And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man, yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her; lest by her continual coming she weary me? and the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:4-8)

The point I believe Jesus was trying to make was that God is willing to answer our prayers, but he won’t do it unless we exercise faith. Therefore, it is Jesus’ responsibility to keep our faith alive and active through continual use (Hebrews 6:4-8). God was so certain that Jesus would be able to fulfill this responsibility that he confirmed his new covenant with an oath. It says in Hebrews 6:17-18, “Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.“

Unbelief

Jesus identified unbelief as the major cause of unanswered prayer. When he was asked why they couldn’t cure a demon possessed boy, Jesus told his disciples, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20, NKJV). The Apostle Paul admitted his own short coming in this matter when he told his spiritual son Timothy, “although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief” (1 Timothy 1:13, NKJV). Paul’s comment seems to suggest that unbelief doesn’t keep us from being saved, but it can keep us from doing God’s will.

The writer of the book of Hebrews compared the unbelief of the Jews who rejected the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Israelites who had to wander in the wilderness for 40 years. He stated:

“Today, if you will hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
In the day of trial in the wilderness,
Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me,
And saw My works forty years.
Therefore I was angry with that generation,
And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,
And they have not known My ways.’
So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ” (Hebrews 3:7-11, NKJV)

According to this statement, the source of unbelief is a hard heart. The author of Hebrews went on to say, “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” (Hebrews 3:12-13). The progression from sin to unbelief might take place instantaneously or it could happen slowly over a number of years. What is clear from the standpoint of unanswered prayer is that unbelief indicates there is definitely a lack of connection with God. A person who is acting in unbelief does not have the power of the Holy Spirit working in his life.

According to the author of the book of Hebrews, the remedy for unbelief is the word of God. He said, “For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 3:12). Basically, what he was saying was that the word of God has the ability to convict us of our sins and to bring us to the point of repentance, even when our sins are hidden deep within our hearts. The Apostle Paul is a prime example of this because he was defiantly opposing the spread of Christianity until Jesus met him on the road to Damascus and asked him the question, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:4, NKJV). After Jesus identified himself as God, Paul immediately responded, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” (Acts 9:6, NKJV).

So much better

The writer of the book of Hebrews began his discourse with a comparison of Jesus to the angels in Heaven. He said:

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. (Hebrews 1:1-4, NKJV)

Although Jesus existed before he was born on Earth, it says in Hebrews 1:5 that he was begotten or conceived by God through physical means. The writer of Hebrews distinguished Jesus from angels by stating “For to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you’?” (Hebrews 1:5, ESV). Jesus’ unique nature as both God and man set him apart from any other created being.

Another distinction the writer of Hebrews made between Jesus and the angels was his position of authority at God’s right hand. In Hebrews 1:13 he asked the question, “And to which of the angels has he ever said, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet’?” (Hebrews 1:13, ESV) and then responded, “Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14). It is evident from these statements that one of the things that made Jesus so much better than the angels was his physical state. God had to take on the form of his human creatures in order to save them from the destruction that was associated with sin.

God’s plan of salvation included the necessity for a savior to die for the sins of the world. God couldn’t have fulfilled this requirement through the death of anyone other than a human being. It was Jesus’ dual nature as both God and man that uniquely qualified him to be the sacrifice that takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). It says in Hebrews 2:9, “But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” Jesus’ experience with death consisted primarily of the separation of his physical body from his spirit which lasted only three days until he was physically resurrected.

Some people believe that humans become angels when they die. This belief might be founded on the erroneous idea that humans cannot exist without bodies. Revelation 6:9-10 makes it clear that our souls consist of matter that can be seen in the spiritual realm. It says, “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” Perhaps the single most important reason Jesus’ death and resurrection made him so much better than the angels was that it made it possible for the physical and spiritual realms to be united. Even though it might seem nice to become an angel when we die, wouldn’t it be so much better to have a body like Jesus’ that can exist in both the physical and spiritual realms?

Humility

Peter’s first epistle contains a wealth of information about the reality of believers living in a fallen world. He stated, “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.” (1 Peter 4:12-13, NKJV). The Greek word translated fiery trial, purosis (poo’-ro-sis) is derived from the word puroo (pur-ro’-o) which means “to be ignited, glow” (G4448). Peter was most likely referring to the process used to purify metal. Gold is refined by melting it in a fire and removing the impurities. Another aspect of adversity that Peter may have wanted to bring out was the testimonies of faith that resulted from Christian persecution. Many first century believers were forced to take a public stand about their belief in Jesus because of their refusal to conform to the culture of the Roman Empire and as a result, the gospel became very effective in converting people to Christ during the first century.

Peter explained the process of purification that Christians go through in 1 Peter 5:5-10. He stated:

Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. (NKJV)

A key characteristic of a Christian that has been through the process of purification is humility. Peter said that we are to be clothed with humility (1 Peter 5:5). The Greek word translated clothed, egkomboomai (eng-kom-bo’-om-ahee) refers to putting on an apron as a badge or sign of servitude (G1463). Peter was most likely trying to communicate what Jesus did when he washed his disciples feet (John 13). The Greek word translated humility, tapeinophrosune (tap-i-nof-ros-oo’-nay) refers to “humiliation of the mind, i.e. modesty).” “This virtue, a fruit of the gospel, exists when a person through most genuine self-evaluation deems himself worthless. It involves evaluating ourselves as small because we are so. The humble person is not stressing his sinfulness, but his creatureliness, of absolute dependence, of possessing nothing and receiving all things from God” (G5012).

Peter said that God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5). Another way of stating it might be, God is on the side of the loser, the one that doesn’t think he can do it himself. Peter instructed believers to “humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time” (1 Peter 5:6). What Peter was saying was that we should submit ourselves to God because he can do more that we can do ourselves. Peter added, “casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7, NKJV). Cares have to do with the thoughts that go through our mind on a daily basis, the things we focus our attention on. Peter was indicating that we need to focus all our attention on God because he is our provider and is responsible for our welfare. Peter’s warning to “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8) emphasized the importance of spiritual awareness. Even though we cannot see what is going on in the spiritual realm, we can affect the outcome of spiritual wars by asking for God’s help when we are faced with trials and temptations.

Suffering

The Apostle Peter’s first letter to Jewish believers contained much of the same information that Paul preached to people that were not connected to Judaism. Peter’s mini-version of the gospel focused on just a few of the essential points of Christian living and answered some very difficult questions like, why do Christians suffer? Peter said, “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21, ESV). According to Peter, suffering is a part of the process that causes us to become like Jesus. The Greek word translated example, hupogrammos means “an underwriting that is copy for imitation” (G5261). It is as if Peter was saying that we should be a carbon copy of Christ’s suffering. This proved to be true in Peter’s case because he was crucified like Jesus was except that he was crucified upside down (Nero Wikipedia).

Peter’s letter was most likely written to address the persecution that was going on in the latter half of the first century. He stated, “And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. ‘And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled'” (1 Peter 3:13-14, NKJV). Jesus addressed this kind of suffering in his sermon on the mount. He stated:

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:10-12)

Jesus pointed out that persecution is a by product of citizenship in heaven. Earlier in his letter, Peter referred to believers as strangers, indicating that citizenship in heaven causes one to be viewed as an outsider in the material world. Jesus made it clear that Christians who are persecuted on Earth would be rewarded in heaven and even went so far as to say, “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad: for great is your reward in heaven” (Matthew 5:12). The Greek word translated exceedingly glad, agalliao (ag-al-lee-ah’-o) means to jump for joy (G21). It’s hard to imagine having that kind of attitude toward suffering, but Jesus was obviously expressing a spiritual truth that does not make sense to us from a physical perspective.

The resurrection of Jesus is an indicator of the type of reward that awaits Christians in heaven. Peter said that Jesus in on the right hand of God and angels, authorities, and powers have been made subject to him (1 Peter 3:22). Jesus’ ultimate position of power is a direct result of his triumph over sin. Jesus now has the ability to direct the affairs of men with complete authority over all created beings in the universe. Peter said, “Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God” (1 Peter 4:1-2, NKJV). The phrase “arm yourselves with the same mind” is a reference to spiritual warfare.

To arm yourself means that you are equipped with weapons. Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds (1 Corinthians 10:4). One of the ways that we can fight against the devil is to pray and ask God for help. Peter indicated that we need to trust God and believe that his Holy Spirit will help us in our time of need. He stated, “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now ‘If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?’ Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator” (1 Peter 4:17-19, NKJV).

Strangers

The Apostle Peter’s letter to believers began with this greeting, “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied” (1 Peter 1:1-2). The Greek word translated strangers, parepidemos (par-ep-id’-ay-mos) means “an alien alongside that is a resident foreigner” (G3927). It is clear from the rest of Peter’s salutation that he was addressing born again Christians. The reason he referred to them as strangers may have had something to do with his unique understanding of the kingdom of heaven.

Peter went on to talk about Christ as our corner stone and said, “Come to Christ as to a living stone. Men have put Him aside, but He was chosen by God and is of great worth in the sight of God. You are to be as living stones in the building God is making also. You are His religious leaders giving yourselves to God through Jesus Christ. This kind of gift pleases God. The Holy Writings say, ‘See, I lay down in Jerusalem a Stone of great worth, worth far more than any amount of money. Anyone who puts his trust in Him will not be ashamed'” (1 Peter 2:4-6, NLV). Peter used the metaphor of living stones to convey the idea of being spiritually alive in a material body. He also wanted to explain how Christians come together to form the body of Christ. Just as bricks or stones are individual pieces of a building, each believer contributes to the overall structure that is referred to as the house of God or body of Christ i.e. the church.

The key to understanding Peter’s view of the kingdom of heaven may be found in 1 Peter 2:11-12 where it says, “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.” A building and in particular a house is a physical representation of the people that occupy it. Certain types of structures give the impression of wealth or prestige. The church in the sense of it being a collection of all the believers on Earth is a physical representation of the kingdom of heaven which is being displayed to the world through the lives of believers. That’s why Peter said our good works, which can be seen by unbelievers, will glorify God by testifying to the reality of his kingdom and causing others to accept Christ.

The important thing to note about Peter’s use of the term stranger to refer to born again Christians is that strangers usually stand out in a neighborhood or community. A stranger isn’t someone that doesn’t belong there, but someone that hasn’t been assimilated into the culture. The Greek word parepidemos refers to someone that is bound to another set of rules or has an allegiance to a foreign government. Jesus told many parables about the kingdom of heaven and made it known to his followers that things don’t work the same way there. When a rich young ruler asked Jesus “what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16), Jesus told him that he needed to keep the commandments and then added, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me” (Matthew 19:21, NKJV).

How it works

Christianity is often mistaken for a religion that includes activities such as praying and worshipping in a church or temple. It could be said that Christianity is actually a process that takes place because we have a relationship with God. Paul identified the particulars of this process in his letter to Titus. He stated:

There was a time when we were foolish and did not obey. We were fooled in many ways. Strong desires held us in their power. We wanted only to please ourselves. We wanted what others had and were angry when we could not have them. We hated others and they hated us. But God, the One Who saves, showed how kind He was and how He loved us by saving us from the punishment of sin. It was not because we worked to be right with God. It was because of His loving-kindness that He washed our sins away. At the same time He gave us new life when the Holy Spirit came into our lives. God gave the Holy Spirit to fill our lives through Jesus Christ, the One Who saves. Because of this, we are made right with God by His loving-favor. Now we can have life that lasts forever as He has promised. (Titus 3:3-7, NLV)

If you were to translate this process into a formula, it might look something like this: sins washed away + renewed by the Holy Spirit = justified by God’s grace. The mechanism God uses to take away our sins is called regeneration, a spiritual rebirth that is somewhat like a renovation project that turns an old house into something that is desirable again. “The new birth stresses the communication of spiritual life in contrast with antecedent spiritual death; regeneration stresses the inception of a new state of things in contrast with the old” (G3824). That is what Paul was referring to when he told the Corinthians, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). The Greek word translated passed away, parerchomai (par-er’-khom-ahee) means “to come near or aside, i.e. to approach” (G3928). Paul was most likely talking about our identification with Christ’s death on the cross through baptism. When Christians are baptized, they are publicly expressing their identification with Christ’s death and resurrection. It could be said that baptism is when we experience the reality of being born again. It spiritually connects us to the event that took place 2000 years ago when Jesus died and rose again to pay the penalty for our sins.

Being justified by God’s grace means that we have been determined to be innocent, “being the legal and formal acquittal from guilt by God as Judge, the pronouncement of the sinner as righteous” (G1344). It is clear from Paul’s explanation of the way Christianity works that our religious activities do not cause us to be acquitted from guilt. According to Paul, Christians demonstrate to others that they have already been acquitted from guilt by doing good works (Titus 3:8). Therefore, apart from preaching the gospel, the only thing that God expects believers to do is to display or express to others the result of having their sins forgiven.

In a nutshell

In his letter to Titus, Paul provided a brief summary of the purpose of God’s plan of salvation. Paul said:

God’s free gift of being saved is being given to everyone. We are taught to have nothing to do with that which is against God. We are to have nothing to do with the desires of this world. We are to be wise and to be right with God. We are to live God-like lives in this world. We are to be looking for the great hope and the coming of our great God and the One Who saves, Christ Jesus. He gave Himself for us. He did this by buying us with His blood and making us free from all sin. He gave Himself so His people could be clean and want to do good. (Titus 2:11-14, NLV)

In a nutshell, Paul stated that the purpose of God’s plan of salvation was to change people’s lives. Paul said we are to live “God-like lives” (Titus 2:12, NLV). This phrase would have no meaning if it weren’t for the example that Jesus gave us when he was alive on Earth. We can know for sure what we are supposed to do as Christians because of the life of Jesus.

Paul said that Jesus “gave Himself so His people could be clean and want to do good” (Titus 2:14, NLV). In the King James version it says that Jesus wanted to “purify unto himself a peculiar people.” The Greek word translated peculiar, periousios (per-ee-oo’-see-os) has to do with “being beyond usual, i.e. special (one’s own possession)” (G4041). What actually happens when we become Christians is we take on Jesus’ characteristics. It’s not something that we have to try to do or pray for it to happen. It is a natural result of being born again. We become children of God (God-like).

The change that happens when we accept Jesus as our savior is both instantaneous and occurs over the course of our lifetimes. Paul said, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). Paul described this instantaneous change as reconciliation (Colossians 1:20-21) and said that it resulted in peace with God. The change that occurs over the course of our lifetimes and results in our transformation into the image of Christ is referred to by Paul as sanctification. This is what makes us want to do good things or as it says in the King James Version, “zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14).

To be zealous for something means that it heats you up or gets you emotionally charged. Another way of saying it would be you’re passionate about it. The unusual or special thing about Christians is that they are passionate about helping people, doing good things for others. In a nutshell, that was the purpose behind God’s plan of salvation and the reason why Jesus was willing to die on the cross.

False teachers

The Apostle Paul’s letter to Titus focused on the practical matters of running an evangelistic ministry. Paul started out by warning Titus about people that were in the ministry because of the money they could extract from unsuspecting Christians. Paul used strong language to condemn these false teachers and told Titus, “For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain” (Titus 1:10-11). Paul’s comment about those who were of the circumcision was not meant to condemn Jews that had gone into the ministry, but those who taught that circumcision was necessary for salvation or sanctification by God. This was a hot topic that went back to the beginning of Paul’s ministry when he and Barnabas had to meet with the elders in Jerusalem to convince them that Gentiles should not be expected to follow the Mosaic Law (Acts 15:1-2).

Paul pointed out to Titus that the gospel was not something that needed to be interpreted by believers. He said, “This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith; not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth” (Titus 1:13-14). The Jewish fables Paul was referring to weren’t stories from the Old Testament, but unscriptural Jewish myths, something like what we call today old wives tales, things that people believe as a result of customs and practices that have developed over time. These beliefs have no basis in reality or factual scientific findings, but are believed to be true only because someone said so.

Paul’s condemnation of false teachers went so far as to say they were outright liars that should be shunned by believers. He stated, “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate” (Titus 1:16). Paul sought a balance between doctrine and practice, in his own life in in the lives of those who followed his teaching. The thing that Paul detested about false teachers was that they pretended to be something that they weren’t. Paul’s test of authentic faith was a life that was lived consistent with the teachings of Jesus. “The false teachers stood condemned by the test of personal conduct” (note on Titus 1:16). The Greek word Paul used that is translated works, ergon refers to an effort or occupation. The Greek word ergates which is derived from ergon is sometimes used figuratively of a teacher of God’s word. Jesus talked about ergates in many of his parables about laborers or workers in God’s kingdom. In his parable of the worker in the vineyard, Jesus stated, “For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard” (Matthew 20:1-2).

Jesus made it clear that there were wages or rewards for working in God’s kingdom. Some people may have interpreted that to mean that teachers of God’s word should receive pay while they are on Earth. It seems likely that Jesus was referring to rewards in heaven, which Paul also eluded to in some of his epistles (1 Corinthians 3:8, 14; Colossians 3:24). What Paul was trying to get straight in his letter to Titus was that seeking financial rewards for preaching the gospel was wrong and anyone that used that as a motive for doing God’s work should be condemned and treated as an unbeliever (Titus 1:16). The Greek word Paul used that is translated reprobate in Titus 1:16, adokimos (ad-ok’-ee-mos) means worthless. Basically, what Paul was saying was that the false teachers good works weren’t worth a penny and didn’t deserve any reward from God.

Contentment

In his first letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul talked about the importance of godly living and told his son in the faith to “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12, NKJV). In addition to outlining his pastoral duties, Paul gave Timothy instructions about the use of wealth. Apparently, there were some pastors that were becoming rich as a result of preaching the gospel (1 Timothy 6:9). Paul told Timothy, “Men who are not able to use their minds in the right way because of sin argue all the time. They do not have the truth. They think religion is a way to get much for themselves” (1 Timothy 6:5, NLV).

Paul went on to say that the benefits of godly living outweighed the benefits of wealth. He told Timothy, “Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content” (1 Timothy 6:6-8, NKJV). Paul’s opinion of gaining material comfort seemed to be that it was an unnecessary waste of time. His comment that we brought nothing into this world and we will carry nothing out focused on the practical aspect of Christian living. We don’t have to worry about accumulating material possessions on earth because our treasure will be waiting for us when we get to heaven (Luke 12:33).

Paul warned Timothy against the love of money and said, “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Timothy 6:9-10, NKJV). Paul seemed to be concerned that Timothy would fall into the same trap that other ministers of the gospel had of taking money unnecessarily from the churches that they were responsible for. Paul wasn’t suggesting that Timothy should work for free (1 Timothy 5:18), but he was saying that Timothy shouldn’t take money unless he needed it for things like food and clothing.

Paul’s final charge and benediction to Timothy pointed out that Christian living isn’t meant to be about getting rich, but about giving away the things that God has blessed us with. He said, “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life” (1 Timothy 6:17-19, NKJV). Basically, what Paul was saying to Timothy was that Christians need to focus their attention on accumulating treasure in heaven because they will be there for eternity compared to a few years of enjoying material possessions on earth.