FAITHFULWORD.ORG | TEACHINGS

I Timothy 1:5; II Timothy 3:7; Philippians 2:5; Psalm 1:1-3; [Ephesians 3:17; Acts 13:22; I Samuel 17:29; Psalm 1:2, 3; 119:11; 2, 7, 10, 32, 34, 36, 80; 141:3, 4; II Thessalonians 3:5; Matthew 5:8; Luke 10:27; Deuteronomy 6:5; 26:16; Joshua 22:5; Psalm 9:1; Proverbs 3:5; Psalm 31:24; Jeremiah 29:13; I Samuel 13:14, 16:7; Acts 13:22; Proverbs 23:26; Psalm 51:10; 73:1; Job 23:16; Proverbs 23:7; 4:23; I Timothy 1:5

I Timothy 1:5 brings up a focal point which answers the question people frequently have of, “What is the point of Christianity?” Paul writes to Timothy that the “end of the commandment is charity [love] out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned.”

End means “goal,” “target,” or “purpose.” The “commandment” is the Word of God. The goal is to love out of a pure heart. Purity of heart does not come automatically, but by putting the right information in our minds and guarding it in our hearts.

It also speaks of a good conscience. “Conscience” is a faculty of the human mind that enables us to separate truth from error and right from wrong. A good conscience is developed from feeding on the good Word of God. “Faith unfeigned” means that faith is undisguised.

The end of the commandment is not religious activity. Paul warns Timothy about those who ever learn, and are never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. We are to put God’s Word in our minds and hearts to the end it is manifested in love out of a pure heart. Pure hearts will be Christ-like. God’s desire is that we conform to the image of His Son. How do we do that? But letting the kinds of thoughts he treasured be the kinds of thoughts we treasure. Psalm 1 speaks of the blessed man who walks not in the counsel or advise of the ungodly, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord. That man delights in truth.

A blessed man is in the Word to the end that the Word lives in him. The real question is never “how much do you know,” but “how much do you live?” A wise man once said, “Where knowledge fails, heart sustains.” God does not look on the outward appearance, but on the heart.

We cannot arrive at the place where the end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart on our own. It takes the Lord to direct our hearts to that place. The scriptures speak abundantly about God’s viewpoint regarding man’s heart. Job speaks of God making his heart soft. What a contrast to religion which makes the heart hard with man’s doctrines, programs and ideologies

Love may take time and patience, but it does not leave scars. Love never fails. The end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart. Let this be our measuring stick for all our decisions.