"Pillar of the Truth"

So as we’ve been going through Paul’s letter to Timothy so far, we’ve seen how Paul has been focusing on how individuals are to act within the Body of Christ - or as he refers to it in our study today: the “House of God”. As we continue with our study today, please keep Paul’s words in mind from verse 15:

The New King James Version Chapter 3

I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and 8ground of the truth.

You see, Paul was convinced that the reality of our 2-fold ministry required involvement from every part of the House of God; not only on an individual level, but as a united Family.

Today we will begin to see the way Paul envisioned God’s House, the Church of the Living God, and how individual believers work together.

There is an important distinction to be made here as we prepare to look at these next two passages. People often think of the positions of Bishop and Deacon as a special position of ministry. In a way this is true, but as we look at these descriptions of the Body Life, consider that every believer is to be involved in Body Life, not just a special set of “super believers”.

Bishops

Deacons

The New King James Version Chapter 1

He counted me faithful, nputting me into the ministry, 13 although oI was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an 4insolent man;

The House of God

The reality of being a part of the living Body of Christ is that every believer is called by God to ministry.

We often look to this passage as a guide for defining the official roles for a local church’s leadership levels. We think of church participation on several levels:

Visitor

Attending Member

Deacon (physical ministry)

Elder (Spiritual ministry)

Pastor (Spiritual/Ministerial head)

However, what we see Paul addressing here is not a description of a graduating scale of church involvement; instead, Paul is describing the entirety of the Church Body. Every believer is called by God to be active in their two-fold ministry (ministry of the mouth, and ministry of the hands). This is what Paul calls “deaconing”.

In every group of believers, there will be those that God pushes into authority over the rest, and those Paul calls “overseers”. This position will be filled, whether by people to hold up to the standard or by people who are lacking. This is why Paul gave Timothy a description of what to aspire to.

The Pillar and Ground of the Truth

What is it that the Church ought to be in a world that is in rebellion against God’s desire for humanity?