“O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:20,21)
Man’s knowledge bank is continually in flux. What was accepted yesterday as solid fact is dismissed today. The god of “Science” that so many worship in this day and age has a way of leaving much egg on the faces of its devotees.
Men love to argue. They also love to be right. The appeal of the “wise of the world” is to follow the facts. And yet, even as some manipulate scripture to advance their chosen narrative, so it is that the world’s debaters garner just the “facts” that support their opinions.
Paul warned Timothy not to get embroiled in “profane and vain babblings.” Believers are not to be “brawlers” – those who love contentious back and forth with others. (1 Tim. 3:3; Titus 3:2) We are though to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” (Jude 1:3)
Notice it is the faith we are to contend for. Too often, many in the church are more interested in the promotion and defense of their version of the faith. The doctrines and traditions of their “fathers” matter more to them than the whole Word of God. New believers who fall under their sway are trained to see scripture only through the lens they provide.
Beware of manipulators, in and outside of the church. Paul declared that he had “renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” (2 Cor. 4:2) In this day, when truth has fallen in the street, and many have departed from the faith, we cannot afford to latch on to error that passes for solid fact. Wrong questions have been asked; wrong answers have been offered. Strife and confusion has followed.
Don’t let anyone lead you down their rabbit trail. The things they find vitally important to discuss and debate may be nothing but wood, hay, and stubble before God. Spend your days studying the Word of God. Beware of teachers who confine your search to their pet doctrines. Don’t get stuck in a theological ghetto. The Holy Spirit will lead you into all truth, if you cease to hear the instruction that causes you to err from the words of true knowledge. (Prov. 19:27) Stay on course.
“Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling” (1 Timothy 1:5,6)