In
these verses, Paul used the illustration of a vessel to challenge Timothy to be
effective. He described a great house that is filled with vessels. These
vessels are made for different functions. In fact, there are essentially two
kinds of vessels: those made of gold and silver and those made of wood and
clay.
The
great house is the church and the vessels are the workers. Some workers are fit
for honorable uses, while others for dishonorable uses. Now verse 21 says, "If
a man cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel of honor,
sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.
What
does “these things” mean? What was Paul referring to? In verse 16, he talked
about worldly and empty chatters that lead to more ungodliness and, in verse
19, the wickedness. One implied doctrinal error and the other implied moral
decay. A vessel of honor, fit for the Master’s use must be cleansed from these
doctrinal and moral filth. Hence, he told Timothy to flee from youthful lusts.
This is not necessarily referring to sexual lusts. It is most likely to be the
wayward tendencies of a youth.
Timothy
was to pursue four positive qualities:
righteousness, faith, love and peace. Together with those who remained
faithful to the Lord, he must also call on Him with a pure heart. Like Timothy, let’s heed the call of Paul to
live in such a way that we become God’s vessels of honor!
No comments:
Post a Comment