Opened Scriptures Bible Studies

1 Timothy 1:3-5  As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine,  4)  Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.  5)  Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:  In our last post, we noted that Paul left Timothy at Ephesus in order to confront certain false teachers. Pagans propagated mythologies and Judaizers tried to put the church under the law of Moses. Both kinds of error needed to be confronted by Timothy, so that the church was edified, rather than divided. Paul reminds us when the Holy Spirit regenerates our heart and indwells us, we will want to obey God's commands.  Love for God and love for others creates a clean conscience before God and a Christ like love for others in us.  Do not tu...

1 Timothy 1:1-2  Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;  2)  Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.  We looked at Paul's greeting to young Timothy in our last post. Immediately, the apostle is going to address an area of concern that he has. His goal is to make sure Timothy does not back down from apostolic teaching.  Timothy instructed to confront false teachers at Ephesus. 1 Timothy 1:3  As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine,  You may have noticed a pattern as you read through the New Testament. The Lord Jesus Christ and all of the apostles, warned about false teachers propagating false doctrine.  There are more than 50 places in the New Testament where such warnings are given. God provided clear warni...

Paul loved Timothy and sought to firmly anchor him to Jesus Christ.  1 Timothy 1:1  Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;  Paul begins his letter to young, pastor Timothy by pointing him to Jesus Christ, our singular hope.  Jesus Christ is called our hope, as He is called our life, our peace, our righteousness, and our joy. From Him springs eternal hope, life, peace, righteousness, and all other blessings. The apostle did not take on his apostleship of his own volition. The Lord Jesus Christ gave Paul a commission to be an apostle to both Jews and Gentiles, to rulers and to slaves.  The term "apostle" was applied to those men who were sent expressly from God, with the message of salvation to mankind. It means "sent ones". It was the highest calling any person could have, and the gospel message is the most important good news sent from God to sinful man.   It was by God's comma...

I would like to study through the books of First and Second Timothy.  Both these letters belong to a group of books known as "pastoral epistles" . Pastoral letters were instructions  from the apostle Paul,  sent to pastors.  Two were written to young pastor Timothy and the other pastoral epistle is written to Titus. Even though these letters were addressed to pastors, they have much truth and solid principles to guide and instruct each Christian.  I would like to begin with an introduction to this young man and the culture of that time. A Roman empire in a state of moral and civil decline.  Let us think about the Roman world of that era. Nero was one of many corrupt emperors. He had his mother Agrippina, and his two wives, Octavia and Poppaea Sabina, executed.  Under his rule, many internal or civil wars erupted, and these created some levels of uncertainty within the empire.  Internally, there was much political intrigue, so much so that 5 ...

Diligently pursue the things of God, not worldly things 2 Peter 3:14  Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.   The Spirit of God guided Peter to share much needed truth, as he approached the time of his death for Christ's sake.  Christians must watch and wait for their Lord to return. We must do our part in fulfilling the Great Commission work that Jesus left us here to do.   What things are we to be looking for? For Jesus Christ to return. For the Spirit of God to keep transforming us into the image of Jesus Christ.  For answers to our prayers when we pray in alignment with God's will. For opportunities to be Christ's faithful witnesses.  For each Lord's Day that we might gather in our local church to worship our Worthy God.  Through the apostle Paul, the Holy Spirit commands us to set our affection on things above, where Jesus Christ is enthroned at ...

Peter has a strong sense of urgency to communicate essential truths that believers must latch on to. The last days, or end times, are upon us, and Christians are to be actively serving our Lord Jesus Christ.  We are to walk with Him day by day, and to open our mouths as His faithful witnesses.  We are to work diligently for Christ until the day He calls us home to heaven, or until He returns for His church at the rapture. Now we come to an important reminder from the Spirit of God who guided Peter to record these words for us. God is infinite in all His being, and is not bound by time, space or matter.  2 Peter 3:8  But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.  Part of our human condition is that we live in the space, matter and time continuum.  We are somewhat stuck in that we have a hard time thinking of eternity, when our whole life revolves around a 24 hour day, 360 ...