Page 51 - Pastoral Epistles I & 2 Timothy, Titus

Luke 6:45. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man
brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full
of.
As people observe our lives in the same way that we observe the way other people live their lives, it doesn’t take
long before we can begin to understand the spiritual condition of someone’s heart.
People who discipline themselves to follow Jesus will reflect that kind of life to those who are
watching.
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James 2:14-19. What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone
claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?
15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If
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one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but
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does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the
same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me
your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is
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one God. Good! Even the demons believe that-and shudder.
A few years ago, I began to understand those verses in a whole new way. In one sense, I could say that faith and
works are the same thing.
 What we believe (in our heart) will always – (over the course of time) be revealed in how we live.

 If we believe the church is important, we’ll be there.
 If we believe reading the Bible is important, we will read the Bible.
 If we believe that praying for missionaries is important, then we will pray for missionaries.

 If we believe that husbands should love their wives and wives should love their husbands, then we will do so.
And in the same way that what we believe will be revealed in how we live, we can also say that … how we live (on
the outside, where everyone is watching) reflects what we believe.

Luke 6:45. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil
man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the
heart is full of.
In chapter four (4), Paul warns Timothy and us … to be prepared for bad teachers and bad teaching.
Some people may, from time to time, make unintended errors in what they say – but some false teachers teach
false doctrine to lead people away from the grace and truth of the Gospel by adding rules and regulations to
God’s grace.

1 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits
and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose
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consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.
When Paul wrote about deceiving spirits and things taught by demons, he was not necessarily talking about full-
blown Satan worshipers. There is a wide variety of ways in which Satan sells his twisted and mixed-up
inventions. All deceptions come from Satan’s world and realm, but he uses many ways to design and fashion his
lies.
2
1 John 4:2-3. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges
that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge
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Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even
now is already in the world.

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