They will not endure sound doctrine

 

 By Paolo DiLuca

As Paul began to close his second letter to Timothy, he “solemnly” charged him (2 Tim. 4:1) to carry out his work as a preacher: “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (2 Tim. 4:2). Timothy was not at liberty to teach any message that he or others might prefer. He was to proclaim the word of God, just as Paul and the other apostles taught (2 Tim. 1:13). He was not to deviate from that message in any way, just as we must not alter the message (cf. Gal. 1:8-9; Rev. 22:18-19).  The charge for him to “be ready in season and out of season” to preach this pure, unadulterated message of the gospel required a willingness to proclaim it even if it was unpopular, inconvenient, and difficult for people to accept. And sadly, this even happens among Christians and in local churches. Paul warned Timothy: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths” (2 Tim. 4:3-4).

The word sound means to be safe or in good health. Sound doctrine is the teaching that will provide Christians with spiritual health and enable us to grow in the Lord. Paul told the Ephesian elders that the word of God is able to: “build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32). If we want to be strengthened and have hope of eternal life, we need to be listening to and following the word of God.

Yet Paul said a time was coming in which Christians would “not endure sound doctrine.” The Greek word translated “not endure” is used elsewhere in the New Testament to describe one having to “put up with” someone (cf. Matt. 17:17; Acts 18:14). Why would this happen? Paul said that the teachers they would find would teach “in accordance to their own desires.” In other words, they wanted to engage in sin, tolerate those who were unfaithful, and welcome false teachers, but “sound doctrine” stood in the way of them doing this.

How can we combat this? Obviously, we must “preach the word . . . in season and out of season,” just as Timothy was told to do (2 Tim. 4:2). At the same time, there are a couple of other things that we need to do:

1. Each one of us must work to weed out evil desires before they can take root in our hearts. If left unchecked, these evil desires will eventually lead to sin and, ultimately, death (James 1:14-16).

2. We must cultivate a love for the truth, not just tolerate it. We need the attitude of the psalmist: “O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day” (Ps. 119:97). Without this love of the truth, we cannot be saved (2 Thess. 2:10).

“Sound doctrine” is incompatible with sin and error. Instead, the message of the Lord’s apostles calls us to “deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age” (Titus 2:12). Those who are “holding fast the faithful word” must be prepared to “refute those who contradict” the Lord’s teaching (Titus 1:9).

If we can eliminate evil desires from our hearts and cultivate a love for the truth, and encourage our brethren to do the same, we can avoid the kind of apostasy that Paul warned Timothy about. However, if “the time [comes] when [even some of our brethren] will not endure sound doctrine,” we must continue to do what Timothy was told to do: “Be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Tim. 4:5). Even if we are not in the same position as Timothy was (an evangelist), we must still stand for the truth no matter how many of our brethren might be turning away from it.

Paolo Di Luca; Evangelist Bridge Street Church of Christ; 1139 S. Bridge Street - PO Box 292, New Martinsville WV 26155; 304.559.7735; paolo05@gmail.com