This Bible Study is from the church I attend for face-to-face teaching since it has temporarily suspended the face to face bible studies and church services due to the Corona Virus.
Scripture References, Word & Phrase descriptions: the “Logos Reftagger” scripture links are hover pop-up active, meaning the scripture reference will just pop-up if you hover your cursor over it (don’t click on the link, just hover your cursor over it), when finished reading, hover your cursor off the scripture reference link. If the Reftagger pop-up doesn’t show all the verses, left click on the “More” button in the Reftagger pop-up window and it will take you to the online bible. If RefTagger pop-ups don’t work on your computer, that’s OK, try right clicking the link then open in new tab or window; or if that doesn’t work, you can always use your Bible to look up the verses. Word or Phrase definition links may not have a website that opens.
Prepare yourself for learning the Word of God!
Before we begin, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ (that is; you have believed [trusted] in Him for His promised gift of eternal life), it is important to prepare yourself to learn God's Word so take a moment to name, cite or acknowledge (confess) your known unconfessed sins privately to God (i.e.; with your thoughts directed only to God the Father).
1 John 1:9 says: "If we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (known sins) and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [unknown or forgotten sins]." NKJV (New King James Version) [italics added]; we call this REBOUND, read the full doctrine as to “why” we need to use 1 John 1:9 to grow spiritually. REBOUND
If you have never personally believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He is the Son of God, the promised Messiah, as your Savior (that is, believed in Him for eternal life), the issue for you is not to name your sins; the issue for you is to simply exercise faith alone in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life; when you do, you will instantly receive Eternal Life: John 3:16, 5:24, 6:47, 20:30, 31.
John 6:47 says: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life." NKJV [italics added]
Notice again what Jesus said in John 6:47: "…he who believes in Me (Jesus Christ) has everlasting life." It doesn't say, "will have"; it says, "has." Therefore, the very moment you believe in Jesus Christ for His promise of everlasting life, you have it (it's really just that simple; nothing more and nothing less), and it can never be taken away from you (John 10:28-29). Furthermore, the gift (Ephesians 2:8c) of everlasting life (also called eternal life in scripture) is available to every human being; there are absolutely no exceptions.
John 3:14-15, 16, 17, 18, says: "14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." NKJV
Let us now bow our hearts and take a moment to prepare for worship and learning God's Word. If there is any known sin in your life, this is the time to just cite it privately to God the Father with your thoughts directed towards Him. With your head bowed and your eyes closed, you have total privacy in your mind and soul:
Study to show yourself approved to God!
Bible Study Video
NOTES
These notes are not just for reading without watching the video. These notes are more designed to follow along during the sermon and to bring up the “hover pop-up scripture references” when called for (some websites may require to do control/left click at the same time to open the verse, if that doesn’t work then look them up in your Bible) when the Pastor asks everyone to turn to that passage in their bibles. Keep your bible hard copy with you for when the Pastor wants you to turn to a verse that is not in the notes
Grace Chapel of Orange, California
Pastor Ricardo Campos
1800 E. La Veta Ave.
Orange, CA 92866
(church services & bible studies are
currently suspended due to the Corona Virus)
STUDY TITLE:
Godliness
If you’re familiar with 1 Timothy, you know that Paul mentions numerous problems taking place in the church at Ephesus. In light of this mess Paul writes this letter so that Timothy and the entire church will know how the church should run and how every individual—young, old, men, women—should behave, inside and outside the church, 1Ti 3:15. God’s children must be godly.
Godliness, this is why godliness is a big issue in 1 Timothy; it shows up multiple times in each chapter:
1Ti 1:3-5, God wants children who are driven by love. Scripture tells us that God is love (1 John 4:8) and that all of us are made in His image (Genesis 1:27): believer and atheist or agnostic alike are all made in God’s image; this means we have many things in common with Him. For example, we have the capacity to create, we have self-awareness, and we have the capacity to love and be loved. So yes, we must be driven by love at all times, but what does that mean, what does that look like? God doesn’t mean love for love’s sake. No, there must be something undergirding our love and 1Ti 1:5 tells us what that is: “the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith.” The ultimate purpose of God’s commandments, His Word is to produce God’s love in us but that love stands on something: a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith. God’s Word will transform our minds (Romans 12:2) so that we’ll see everything in life the way He does; everything we think, say, and do will be like God. We will have love, but it will be God’s kind of love, which endures everything and is utterly selfless (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). So at the center of our godliness must be God’s love and that love must be undergirded by a pure heart, good conscience, and sincere faith.
1Ti 2:8-10, 11-15, men are supposed to use their hands to pray not fight; women are to care about their character more than their appearance and they’re not to seek male authority.
1Ti 3:1-7, the elders of the church must be blameless and Paul goes on to tell us what God means by this.
1Ti 3:8-13, the deacons of the church must likewise be blameless and he tells us what God means by it.
1Ti 4:1-5, 6-11, the false teachers are teaching Satan’s lies instead of God’s truth. And God tells Timothy just how important godliness is and where to get it: God’s Truth, His Word. He also tells him repeatedly that he must teach them how to live God’s Word, show them how to walk in it daily (Ti 4:6, 11, 16 cf. 5:7).
1Ti 4:12-16, the letter is written to the church of Ephesus, but also to Timothy as a young pastor. And notice that the elders, the pastors of the church are to be the godly example that shows the entire flock what godliness is. And if Timothy gives himself entirely to God’s Word, it will save him and the entire flock. However, this salvation is not from hell; it’s from the difficulties of life here and now. Salvation from hell is not by works; it’s by faith: 1Ti 1:12-16—Paul was a wicked man, the worst, but the Lord showed him mercy, 1Ti 1:13, and saved him, i.e., gave him eternal life through simple faith, 1Ti 1:16. Timothy doesn’t need eternal salvation; he already has this, 1Ti 1:1-2—God is his Savior and Father and Jesus his Lord and hope. Then what does Timothy need saving from? From the difficult task that’s in front of him at Ephesus: he’s got to deal with older men and women, young men and women, and a host of difficult problems: self-appointed elders leading the people astray with bad, false, and erroneous doctrine. The men are fighting instead of praying. The women are having a fashion competition instead of caring about their character. Other women are seeking the authority God gave the males in the church. There’s a need for qualified elders and deacons. Those teaching are guided by Satan’s demonic doctrines, therefore, they’re forbidding things God never forbade.
1Ti 5:1-2, every category of people in this church needs to be addressed: older and younger men and older and younger women.
1Ti 5:3-8, there’s also a problem regarding the widows: some who qualify aren’t being supported. Some family members aren’t stepping up to care for the widows in their families. Some widows who don’t qualify are being supported. And all of this is having an impact on the church spiritually and financially.
1Ti 5:9-10, Paul continues stating the qualifications concerning which widows should get support and which shouldn’t: they must be 60 years or older, i.e., they’ve reached an age where they can’t provide for themselves. They must be the “wife of one man,” i.e., they remained sexually pure in their marriage (cf. Hebrews 13:4, same concept as 1Ti 3:2 concerning potential elders). Paul doesn’t mean here that a woman can’t have more than one dead husband, after all, Paul tells younger widows that they can remarry, 1Ti 5:14. Thus, a widow twice over would qualify if she met all other qualifications. The widow must’ve been faithful to her widow’s ministry of good works in her family and the church: was a good mother, showed hospitality even to strangers, ministered to the saints’ needs, helped the suffering, etc. And notice: her financial support from the church was not just based on her need (she has no family to support her, 1Ti 5:5), but her character.
1Ti 5:11-12, this, along with what God said already about what a widow does for the church, shows that these widows weren’t just given money without any responsibility to the church. The church was going to provide for their basic needs and in return they were going to minister to the church, 1Ti 5:5, 10. This became a problem for younger widows because they were still young enough to fall in love and marry. Thus, instead of fulfilling their responsibility to the church, they “cast off their first faith” bringing them condemnation. God doesn’t want the church to put younger widows in this predicament.
1Ti 5:13, another reason why the church shouldn’t take in younger widows is since they’ll have love and marriage on their minds, they won’t be as faithful in fulfilling a widow’s duties. Instead, they may wander about from house to house being idle, gossips and busybodies who say things they ought not. It’s not good to give a young woman or man financial support without responsibility.
1Ti 5:14-15, since younger widows aren’t as well suited for widow ministry, God encourages them to remarry; otherwise they will give the “adversary” opportunity to speak evil of them, God and the church. In fact, some younger widows who were given financial support have already done what Paul warned against in 5:13 and thus fulfilled Satan’s desire. Therefore, God encourages younger widows to marry, bear children, and manage their houses. What?! Is God a male chauvinist? Never! God doesn’t forbid a woman having a career outside the home, in fact, when God describes the ideal wife, she is a strong, independent business woman and yet she respects her husband implicitly (Proverbs 31:10-31). Getting married and having children is God’s plan for both women and men unless He’s given them the gift of celibacy (Genesis 1:28; 1 Corinthians 7:7-9). And they’re both responsible to raise the children (Proverbs 1:8), but their roles will be different (the nourishing, nurturing, and tender role played by the mother in the early years cannot be fulfilled by the father).
5:16, why else must we do this? To unburden the church with our responsibility. Every male and female is responsible to care for the widows in their family. Timothy is to encourage all the members of the family, young and old, male and female, to pitch in and care for each other.
The following link is to a good news message describing how one can receive eternal life: Ticket to Heaven, it was written for anyone not absolutely certain about their eternal future.
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