This morning I was so impressed from the Word of God that Paul charged Timothy to do his best to STOP certain ones that did not teach God’s economy which is in faith!
As we saw yesterday, there is only one teaching that comes from God, that is approved by God, and that builds up the Body of Christ – the teaching of the apostles. The orthodox teaching is that of the apostles recorded in the twenty-seven books of the New Testament.
If we teach something different from the teaching of the apostles, we will produce “questionings”, rather than God’s economy, which is in faith. Here’s what Paul says to Timothy in 1 Tim. 1:3-4,
Even as I exhorted you, when I was going into Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus in order that you might charge certain ones not to teach different things nor to give heed to myths and unending genealogies, which produce questionings rather than God’s economy, which is in faith.
What is the apostles’ teaching? I really love this brief definition,
The apostles’ teaching is the teaching concerning Christ’s person and redemptive work (2 John 9-11). It is also the teaching concerning God’s economy in faith (1 Tim. 1:3-4). God’s economy is to dispense or impart the Triune God into His chosen and redeemed people to be their life and everything that they might be regenerated and transformed into the proper material for the building up of the Body of Christ that God may have a corporate expression on the earth in many localities in this age with a view to the building up of the coming New Jerusalem for His eternal expression (Witness Lee, The God-Ordained Way to practice the New Testament Economy).
We need to have a vision of the apostles teaching – and be limited by this teaching. If we limit ourselves to speaking and teaching the apostles’ teaching, the teaching concerning God’s economy, we will be kept in oneness and we will have one way for one goal!
If we have different teachings, we will be divided into different groups that adhere to these different teachings. All other doctrines and teachings that are not in God’s economy produce rather questionings and not God’s dispensing and the building up of the Body!
Let’s just be simple and focus ONLY on the apostles’ teaching / God’s economy, and we will be building members of the Body of Christ!
Teaching creates and brings in fellowship – the apostles’ teaching brings in the apostles’ fellowship, which is the UNIQUE fellowship of the apostles with the Triune God and the UNIQUE fellowship in the Body of Christ!
If we teach some doctrines as being very important, even as being the criteria for accepting others to meet with us, we will exclude ourselves from the Body and create a sect, a division! But if we teach only God’s economy, God’s dispensing, we will receive all the believers in the Lord and we will be in the one unique fellowship of the Body of Christ!
Wrong teachings and different teachings produce division, while the teaching of the apostles, God’s economy, produces oneness and builds up the Body of Christ! There should not be another fellowship besides the apostles’ fellowship which is produced by the apostles’ teaching!
Lord, save us from any other teachings! Save us from teaching and speaking all kinds of other things that are not God’s economy! May we stick to the orthodox teaching in the New Testament, the teaching of God’s economy! Lord, we treasure Your economy, Your dispensing! We want to be kept in the unique teaching of the apostles! We want to be in the unique fellowship of the apostles today! In the oneness of the Body of Christ!
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