Jangle Bells!
by Pastor Ricky Kurth
“Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned.
“From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling” (I Timothy 1:5,6).
In football, a player scores a goal when he
reaches “the end zone.” God’s “end” or goal in giving the
ten commandments was “charity.” That is, His purpose was to get men to
love God and their neighbor by telling them how to behave toward God
and their neighbor. But some in the Ephesian church that Timothy pastored
had swerved from that goal and “turned aside.”
The apostle did not choose that phrase at random, for
three times we are told that Israel “turned aside” when they “made
them a molten calf” (Ex. 32:8; Deut. 9:12,16). God gave the Jews a Law
that said they must make no graven images, and they turned aside from it!
So I suspect when Timothy began to preach that “we are not under law, but
under grace” (Rom. 6:15) that some in Ephesus claimed, “Timothy is
turning aside from the Law.” This prompted Paul to counter by
using that same phrase to tell Timothy, “They’re right, we are
turning aside from the Law, we’re under grace! (Rom. 6:15). But
they’re turning aside from the goal of the Law,” unto
something he calls “vain jangling.” So what’s that?
The word “vain” means empty, and
“jangling” is an overly loud form of jingling. Jingle bells
sound very festive; jangle bells, not so much! Whatever these Ephesians had
turned aside to, it was empty, and evidently very jarring. And we
don’t have to guess as to what it was, for Paul goes on to say,
“Desiring to be teachers of the law…” (I Timothy 1:7).
Some in Ephesus were turning aside from the
goal of the law to focus on the law itself! They were swerving
and turning aside from loving charity and focusing on the law that was
supposed to produce loving charity. And when the law is taught to
members of the Body of Christ who are not under the law, it always leads to
the very opposite of loving charity. When some legalists put the
Galatians under the law, it caused them to “bite and devour one
another” (Gal. 5:15). Interestingly enough, another definition of the
word “jangling” is quarreling or bickering. As you know,
when men quarrel and bicker it sounds more like jangle bells than jingle
bells!
Paul had to write to Titus about the same problem:
“…there are many vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision…” (Titus 1:10).
What do you think those
vain talkers of the
circumcision were talking
about? I’ll give you a hint. The Greek word for “vain
talkers” is a form of the same word translated “vain jangling” in our
text. Yes, that’s right, the vain talkers in Crete, where Titus was
stationed, were talking about the same thing as the vain janglers in
Ephesus, the law. The law was once pleasant jingling, but when it is
levied on people who are not under the law it becomes vain
jangling.
What do you say we all
focus on the goal of the law rather than on the law itself? Jangle
bells never sound good, but the pleasant jingle bells of love and grace are
always in season!
How God Saves Men
Believing Christ DIED, that’s HISTORY.
Believing Christ DIED for YOU SINS and Rose again that’s SALVATION.
Read Romans 1:16, Romans 10:9-10 and 1. Corinthians 15:1-4
(A 10 Minute Video)
Posted By Cecil and Connie Spivey
cspivey1953@gmail.com
cspivey1953@gmail.com
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