1 April 11
________________________________________
KEEP FREE FROM SIN
21 I solemnly exhort you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality. 22 Do not lay hands upon anyone too quickly and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin.23 Do not go on drinking only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.24 The sins of some people are quite evident, going before them to judgment; for others, their sins follow after. 25 Likewise also, deeds that are good are quite evident, and those which are otherwise cannot be concealed. – 1 Timothy 5:21-25
________________________________________
In this letter, Paul encourages and insists that Timothy continue to follow and maintain all the teachings to others without discrimination or bias. Paul is reiterating his letter to the Romans chapter 2 verse 11 that God shows no favoritism. Paul is merely reminding Timothy that if God doesn’t show biases, then His own people shouldn’t as well. Guzik comments on this chapter that “Prejudice and partiality are grave sins before God. In the New Testament, the emphasis is on partiality according to class (James 2:1-9); but partiality according to race and gender is also included (Galatians 3:26-29) and regarded as sin.” In verse 22, Paul instructs Timothy not to give easily the approval for anyone who wants to serv in the ministry unless they have proven themselves mature spiritually or he may be partaking in their hidden agendas that may be a result of being immature. This is important because one can be corrupted by sin if they participate in the sins of others. How can we participate in someone else’s sin? We can be accessory to someone sins if we don’t rebuke a sin that we know they are doing. We can also be participants in evil if we don’t speak the truth and expose the “lies” they are believing, which is opposite the truth. Another way we can be part of someone else’s sin is by ignoring or tolerating them and not addressing the sins. We don’t love them if we don’t let them know that we recognize the sin and it is not honoring God if they don’t stop.
In verse 23, Paul was referring to Timothy’s ailment. Some commentaries mention that he was trying to let Timothy know that if wine will be good for him, there is no reason to abstain from it just because he wants to set a model for them to follow when his health was also at stake. In other words, he didn’t want Timothy to fall into legalism or the law.
________________________________________
REFLECTION
• Why do true believers need to keep away from sin at all times? What happens if they become accessory to other people’s sin? What will that do to the body?