Hold On to Sound Teaching

 Our world is filled with false teachers and preachers. It has always been that way. In the Old Testament times there were many false prophets who claimed to speak for God, but they did not have His message. In the early church many false teachers sprang up, trying to personally profit from the rise of Christianity. These false beliefs caused confusion for Paul and the other apostles to have to confront. We need to do the same things they did then to ensure that we believe what is true and right, not departing from the teachings of Jesus and the Bible. (II Timothy 2:13) Paul exhorted Timothy to hold to the pattern of sound teaching that he had heard from him, continuing in the faith and love that are in Christ. This should be a priority for every believer.

There is a pattern of sound teaching. The pattern is that it all fits together to form a systematic set of teachings that do not contradict each other, but compliment each other. That is one way to recognize a false doctrine from a false teacher. What they are teaching will be in conflict with another main doctrine of the faith. These false teachings must get our attention so that we warn others about them. It can be hard because the world supports the false teachers, and even some who profess Christ get carried away by them. That is why we must continue in the faith and love of Christ our Lord. As we trust Him and love Him as we should, we receive His strength to stand firm when it seems the whole world is against us. We can know that He loves us, and He will take care of us, no matter what happens around us. Therefore, I would make the same admonition to all of us today. Let's never forsake the truth of the Lord, and let's always hold on to our faith in Jesus and our love for Jesus.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read II Timothy 2-4 and Titus 1.