The following is a brief paper assignment from my practical theology class. The task was to do a word study on one of the qualifications of elders. Don't put too much stock in my "scholarship," but maybe you will find it edifying as I did.

“He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.” (1 Tim 3:6)

Though I am not a particularly new convert, I believe that by nature of being a young man, the danger of being “puffed up with conceit” is a very real pitfall to which I am prone. As I make slow progress in my walk with the Lord and personal sanctification, I find every gain and triumph to be accompanied with a corresponding arrogance. For example, as of late, the depth of my prayer life has grown, and I have felt a nearness to the Lord that I have not had before with such consistency. However, the correlation to this is that I find within me a dark tendency to gauge the spirituality of others, and deem myself the greater Christian. I believe this is precisely what the apostle Paul is warning Timothy of.

The Greek verb tuphow carries two meanings. The first meaning is that of being puffed up, or conceited. A second is to be blind or to become foolish. The verb occurs three times in the New Testament, all within Paul’s letters to Timothy.

Here in 1 Timothy 3:6, the meaning is probably best understood as the primary meaning; that of being puffed up with conceit. Similarly, in 2 Timothy 3:4, the verb is used, but here is applied to describing the character of those who will appear in the last times. These are men characterized with corrupt minds who are opposed to the truth. It is striking to note that this characteristic of conceit is shared between the hardened darkened men prophesied to come in the last times, and the men who Paul must warn Timothy about; men who will be seeking leadership within the church.

The third usage of the word occurs in 1 Timothy 6:4. Although some translations take the same meaning here as the other two occurrences, it may be better understood here in terms of the second meaning – to be blinded or to become foolish. Here it is applied to men who teach different doctrine, not in accord with the gospel of Jesus Christ. It can be seen that failing to teach the truth would certainly correspond with more than arrogance, but in fact be linked to spiritual blindness or foolishness. When Christ came to his disciples in the upper room after his resurrection in Luke 24, he “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures…” The men referenced here in 1 Timothy 6:4 are blinded, with minds that have not truly been opened up to the Scriptures by the power of the Spirit, and thus they teach false doctrine.

Returning to the primary passage under consideration, I believe we may take both meanings of the word into account in order to color our understanding. The first meaning does seem to make the most sense contextually. Yet, we must ask, why is it that the recent convert is liable to becoming puffed up with conceit? Surely it is linked to the fact that though he is regenerate and the light of truth has shown, still there is blindness that remains and only fades away through year after year of the power of the gospel, creating truth in the innermost part.

In view of this deeper understanding of the term, it is apparent that the struggle in my heart against pride is not simply a struggle against conceit, but also a battle for the truth of the gospel. A seasoned saint recognizes instantly that though he is given victory in Christ over sin, yet he is still the foremost of sinners. He knows also that although he has run hard in his race, there is a host of witnesses before him who have run harder and farther, and none come close to the Champion of the race, who is Christ. He also is wise enough to know that the very people who he may be proud over are the very people whose faithful prayers on his behalf are securing the grace of God for the ground he is taking in his spiritual life!

And so, the knowledge that comes through years of life in the gospel works against the blindness of the human heart and the resulting conceit. Yet I take heart that it is not simply a matter of waiting around for the years to pass so that Godly wisdom will come to my heart, but rather I am told that if I ask I shall receive from him “who gives generously to all without reproach.” And so I must repent again and again, fighting the good fight of faith against conceit, and learning with Paul to say “Wretched man that I am!” and yet “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Busy as a...

The Cannon elph is great. Thanks again to those who got it for me.

Beyond Imagination

And it shall be said, “Build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstruction from my people’s way.” For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit…” Isaiah 57:14-15

Do you ever find yourself amazed at something in creation? Perhaps struck by the incomprehensibility and complexity of a tiny bee on a flower. Perhaps gazing at the heavens. However, if any truth has become more potent and awesome to me in my short time at Seminary, it must be the reality of God. I find myself grasping to wrap my mind around statements like these made above.

…high and lifted up…I dwell in the high and holy place. Can we lift our thoughts for just a moment to see the wonder of this? Stop and consider the incomprehensible God, the great I AM, who even now, as the King of kings shines with brightness and glory that we cannot even gaze upon, and reigns in magnificence, worshipped by angelic hosts in the throne-room of heaven. Think on this.

Who inhabits eternity: The question of every Christian child is “where did God come from?” The simple answer that “God did not have a beginning” is bewildering to the child, just as it is to the old sage. And so it will be to the mind of man for eon after eon of eternity – we shall never fully grasp this in our finite minds, I expect. God always was. Can you imagine if God did not exist? You cannot. It is incomprehensible that God should not exist.

There was a time when we did not exist. He created us out of nothing. That too is really beyond us. We may be tempted to think we can comprehend it (probably imagining blackness and space – but that is actually something). To comprehend the nothingness – the non-existence of the created reality - is by definition impossible for a created being. It would require stepping outside of creation – where there is only God in his infinitude. But into this nothingness, God spoke, and temporal reality blossomed.

How “Other” this Creator is, to whom time itself bows its knee in worship and awe.

…and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit. How shall we respond to this, but with humble, humble thanksgiving? For the one to whom the powers and principalities of heaven and earth bend their knee – the incomprehensible, invisible, immortal, eternal, unchangeable, infinite Lord – came to suffer and die among we who hated him. The incarnation must astound us… it is beyond what we will ever be able to comprehend - and more than we could ever have imagined to hope for. “I will be with you…” Feel the weight of such a promise from God to you, little Christian. These are things into which “angels long to look.”

Have you met the Almighty on His terms? Have you considered just who this Lord Jesus, this “suffering servant” is? Have you taken seriously the “immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe”? Believer; non-believer; the Spirit of God says “Come, let us reason together.”