Purposeful
As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith.1 Timothy 1:3-4 NASB
Administration– In the ESV this verse reads: “nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.” Neither translation helps us see the basis of Paul’s direction. That’s because the Greek is oikonomía, that is, “In Greek, applying to household administration, this word has the sense of ‘direction,’ ‘provision,’ ‘administration.’ In the NT it means . . . the office of household administration, and discharge of this office.”[1] While “administration” or “stewardship” is technically accurate, they both fail to illuminate the fact that this is about the household of God. Paul wants Timothy to stop the distractions that prevent believers from getting on with housekeeping. In other words, what’s important to Paul is how the body interacts with each other and the world. It’s the doing that matter to him. All the intellectual mind-games accomplish nothing for getting the job done, and that job is not making sure all the doctrinal i’s are dotted and the t’s crossed. That job is caring for the poor, the hungry and the brokenhearted; healing the sick, showing compassion and mercy, living a life honoring the Messiah.
Our world is filled with administrators, so much so that we commonly complain about the bureaucracy inflicted on every aspect of existence. The Kingdom isn’t supposed to be like this. It’s a no-hierarchy organism, serving God and its leader with single-minded purpose. The more bureaucratic religious organizations (not organisms) become, the less they are like the coming Kingdom. If you have to jump through hoops in your fellowship in order to accomplish what God has laid on your heart, you’re probably in the wrong place.
That doesn’t mean life in the Kingdom here and now is smooth sailing. It isn’t. If it were, Paul would not have to instruct Timothy to put an end to the detours. Life here and now is the Kingdom at work in Babylon. There’s conflict, dissension and grief. But there’s also hope because this isn’t the end of the story. And the more we work with the end in mind, the more we resist the detours and bureaucracy, the closer we will bring the Kingdom to bear on the Babylon around us. Perhaps that’s why Paul has to add, “which is by faith” (ten en pistei). Avoiding the powerful influence of the Babylon worldview doesn’t happen through will power alone. It happens through obedient trust and fidelity to a vision not yet completed.
Topical Index: administration, oikonomía, stewardship, bureaucracy, 1 Timothy 1:3-4
[1]Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (679). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.
In the King James the word is “edify”, which, according to Webster’s 1828 dictionary means to build a house (original meaning). In Latin, this word is built (couldn’t resist) out of the words ” oedifico; oedes, a house, and facio, to make”.
We either build each other up or tear each other down. We either come together as “lively stones” into the structure of the Body fit for the indwelling of the Spirit of God or we split this beit; this house; this tabernacle; into ever smaller and smaller pieces, made into our own image.
We are sick to the extent that we are fractured from God, ourselves and others. To heal literally means to put the pieces back together; to rejoin the Body back into the image of Christ. We are all called to be healers, after our great Example; the great Healer. John writes that he wishes “above all things that (we) be in health” (3John 1:2). That is another way of saying that all our pieces are joined back together; not ravaged by the diseases of disharmony.
Truth fits the puzzle pieces together; not puzzles us further. That is the litmus test of truth, after all: if it makes everything else clearer, as well as identifying what does not belong on the runway, preventing faith from taking off. To edify the Body is to heal it – to clear everything away that is preventing the free exercise of faith – for we were originally made to be joined together in the perfect harmony that only faith can direct. Let’s start singing the healing truth about life and love – like the lively stones we are supposed to be – in tune today!
Worth passing on to others Laurita. Thanks so much. You go girl!
Thank you for the reference work, it shows the validity of your statements. We can also back up our statements with the word of God, as long as they are in line with his well and not ours.. I think that’s what. Skip is saying.
I’m surprised by the KJV rendering “godly edifying”. I checked the Greek to see if the (so-called) Textus Receptus is different, but it’s the same as the current Critical Text. These two words are nouns with “God” a genitive, thus modifying the former. The KJV is usually a ‘formal equivalence’, that is, it attempts to translate literally. But here it is undoubtedly influenced by the Latin Vulgate–see the Douay-Rheims translation. The KJV uses an adverb-adjective[SCRATCH THAT; SHOULD BE]verb combination instead of the noun-noun[genitive] in the text.
Very interesting. Would you have any way to know why they did that?
In thinking further, it’s an adverb-VERB (“godly edifying”) combination, not adverb-adjective (I tried to do a strike-through to the above, which didn’t work). The Vulgate (and Irenaeus) uses a verbal form, and it’s not uncommon for the KJV to follow some of the Vulgate in its translation at times. But even the 1899 Douay-Rheims uses “edification of God” (noun-noun[genitive]). A while back I found an earlier D-R, but I cannot find it at present–I’d wager that one uses adverb-verb. Some of Latin was updated somewhat recently, though I don’t recall when that was.
Craig, thank you. Sometimes you are just a really cool person.
That’s ’cause you don’t know me very well. 😉
I’m just detail-oriented on some things. And I have some books and study helps that assist me in finding stuff on Greek, textual criticism, etc. That and about $3 gets me (usually) a decent cup of coffee, when I’m in the mood.
Amen Laurita!
Great insight Skip! Direct to the point and clear enough to get us in shape to stop fooling around with theology…
I guess Skip is saying that the following is the example we do not wish to follow: “concerning the Christians after the Council of Nicaea, where the influence of Rome was dominant, the historian Edward Gibbon wrote, “They were more solicitous to explore the nature, than to
practice the laws, of their founder.” Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ch. 47, par. 1. Truth Triumphant by Wilkinson
Could we say more about how the Roman influence attempted to crush the biblical hebraic influence. Dates and how the Nicene Creed was or was not a part of it. Thank you while we’re on the topic of whose example are we to follow. The hebraic Insight was there. And was so influential that those who followed it War persecuted or went underground.
Brett, that is the entire focus of Wilkinson’s book: the real church; based on the Judean community as opposed to the ‘official’ Alexandrian/Roman pontificate. And it was amazing! It’s enough to make you proud.
I I am aware of a lot of the information. It’s been a study of mine in the group I’m in. But others may not know it. I’m looking for references such as this. Thank you the Lord is doing a good work of restoration. Many is really in Jewish related Ministries are involved in what the disciples asked about when Yeshua up would restore the kingdom to Israel. Amen thank you. Sometimes we need to go backward to go forward with a strong footing. Thank you again
From a historical, and biblical standpoint many things are described but the focus is always on what God is doing with his people. Beth-El House of God. Shalom. Have a wonderful shabach with the people you enjoy on God’s special day.
Oikonomia is compound word (noun) consisting of oikos, “home” and nomos, “rule”, “law”. Thus, it can be considered ~ ‘rules of the home’. It is modified by theou, the genitival form of “God”. We could think of it as ~ ‘God’s house rules’, or, ‘house rules of God’. The key to its meaning is the last phrase tēn en pistei. The first word is the Greek article, which is followed by “in”/“by”, then “faith” (the noun form of the verb pisteuō). The Greek article is most literally translated here “the one that is”, making the final clause ‘the one that is in/by faith’. Since that may seem a bit clumsy, most translations substitute the relative pronoun “which”, yielding “which is by/in faith”.
Therefore, Paul is instructing Timothy to remain in Ephesus in order to command some men not to teach some strange doctrines rather than God’s plan—the one in/by faith. In other words, instead of teaching these strange doctrines, these men should come to God in/by faith, which is God’s plan.
How ya doin’?!
Are we purposely DOING what Yeshua did?
He loved, spoke to, and touched as many people
as possible in His 3 year time frame. His purposeful
message was the personal demonstration that the
kingdom was at hand.
His message to us was spoken in Jn 14:12: ” anyone who
has faith in me will do what I have been doing.”
He’s asking us by faith to help complete His mission of
demonstrating love and peace to all.
So, how are we doing?
Truthful and practical!