Train Yourself for Godliness

In one paragraph

The pastor worked through 1 Timothy 4:6-16, Paul's personal charge to Timothy to hold fast to the content of the gospel and to let his conduct match it. He used the passage to address what he called the two most tempting heresies circulating today, the prosperity gospel and universalism, and he closed with a direct invitation for anyone who had never trusted Jesus to come forward. Paul writes to...

Read together

1. 1 Timothy 4:6 being trained in the words of the faith and good doctrine as foundation for being a good servant of Christ Jesus
2. 1 Timothy 1:15 this saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners
3. 1 Timothy 4:7 have nothing to do with irreverent silly myths but train yourself for godliness
4. 1 Timothy 4:8 bodily training is of some value but godliness holds promise for the present life and the life to come
5. 1 Timothy 4:9 this saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, applied to the value of godliness
6. 1 Timothy 4:10 we toil and strive because our hope is set on the living God who is the savior of all people especially those who believe
7. 1 Timothy 4:11-13 command and teach these things, let no one despise your youth, devote yourself to public reading of scripture exhortation and teaching
8. 1 Timothy 4:14-16 do not neglect your gift, practice these things, keep a close watch on yourself and the teaching to save yourself and your hearers
9. Romans the gospel is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe
10. Acts 4:12 there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved
11. 1 Timothy 2:5 one God and one mediator between God and man the man Christ Jesus who gave himself as a ransom
12. Ephesians 4:4-6 one body one spirit one Lord one faith one baptism one God and father of all
13. John 14:6 I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me
14. John 10:9 I am the door if anyone enters by me he will be saved
15. John 10:10 I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly
16. John 11:25 I am the resurrection and the life he who believes in me though he may die he shall live
17. John 8:12 I am the light of the world he who follows me will not walk in darkness
18. John 6:35 I am the bread of life who comes to me shall never hunger he who believes in me shall never thirst
19. John 6:51 the living bread which came down from heaven if anyone eats of this he will live forever
20. John 3:36 he who believes in the son has everlasting life and he who does not believe shall not see life but the wrath of God rests upon him
21. John 16:33 in this world you will have trouble take heart I have overcome the world
22. Hebrews 9:27 it is appointed once for man to die and then the judgment

Talk about it

1. Paul tells Timothy that being trained in the words of the faith means more than just reading scripture. It implies a disciplined, purposeful approach. What does that kind of disciplined engagement with scripture actually look like in your daily life, and where do you find it hardest to maintain?
2. The pastor drew a parallel between physical training and training in godliness. Bodily training is of some value, but godliness holds promise for this life and the life to come. Where have you seen godliness pay off in a practical, everyday way, not just in eternity?
3. The shipwreck illustration described Jesus as the savior of all people the way a doctor on an island is the doctor of all, while being especially the doctor of those who actually trust him. How would you use that kind of everyday picture to explain the difference between universal salvation and what the Bible actually teaches to someone who was confused about it?
4. Paul tells Timothy to let no one despise his youth, and to set an example in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity. Who in your own life, older or younger, has set that kind of example for you, and what specifically made it believable?
5. The pastor said that living a conscious life, conscious of your savior, works in a way that arguing does not. Can you think of a situation where you have seen that proven true, either in your own experience or in watching someone else?