Avoid Ignorant Controversies

[Christsfreeservant]

“Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.” (2 Timothy 2:20-21 ESV)​

The “great house” spoken of here appears to be in reference to the gatherings of the church, which include both those of sincere faith in Jesus Christ who have departed from iniquity and those who have swerved from the truth of the gospel who are upsetting the faith of other people. They both name the name of the Lord, but Jesus said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the ones DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven (see Matthew 7:21-23).

So, in this “great house,” i.e. in these gatherings of the church we have some vessels (people) which are honorable, and we have some which are dishonorable. And so the encouragement here is that we are to cleanse ourselves of what is dishonorable to God so that we can be vessels of God for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to our Lord and ready for every good work. And to be holy is to be separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ.

“So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.” (2 Timothy 2:22-26 ESV)​

So, the way in which we “cleanse ourselves of what is dishonorable to God, so that we can be vessels of God for honorable use” is if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and walk (in conduct) daily in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power. We must flee ungodly and morally impure passions and desires, and we must pursue (chase after) what is of God and of his righteousness, holiness, and purity of heart, and be devoted to him. And we must surrender all to Jesus so that we can be of pure heart.

And then it says that we should have nothing to do with foolish and ignorant controversies, for they breed quarrels. And we are not to be quarrelsome but kind to everyone. And I will state here that there is a distinct difference between a quarrel and a fair and reasonable discussion over a matter of difference of belief. Jesus definitely had disagreements with the Pharisees and some of the Jews and he refuted the lies of the enemy and he spoke the truth of God’s word to the people. So we can defend the truth of the gospel.

Foolish and ignorant controversies are of a different nature. A lot of those are begun by someone responding to what someone else said by “baiting them” into a meaningless discussion. This happens a lot on internet sites which are designed for people to post their thoughts or beliefs on a subject, with an open door for other people to respond with their thoughts on the same subject. And these discussions are called “threads,” and sometimes those end up going the wrong direction when someone picks a fight.

We need to not “take the bait” in those situations, and resolve not to get into meaningless debates and arguments which produce nothing good and are a waste of time, too. Answer people’s reasonable questions, if you can, but don’t get caught on the hook of someone just fishing for an argument. And sometimes it isn’t that they just want to pick a fight, but they are hoping to bring you down and to get you to say something whereby they feel that they can accuse you of wrong. So refuse to argue, but be reasonable.

For being kind to people never involves lying to them, diluting the truth, or refusing to share the truth to spare their feelings. For the gospel is an offense to those who are perishing in their sins. We should never force our beliefs on anyone, but where we have the opportunity we should be sharing with others the truth of the gospel as taught by Jesus and by his New Testament apostles, but taught in the appropriate context, and not out of context in order to make it less offensive to the ungodly.

The goal of our teaching or our sharing of the teachings of the Scriptures, and of the gospel of Jesus Christ, should be for the benefit of those who listen, either that they would turn their hearts and lives over to the Lord Jesus, repent of their sins, and now obey him, or if they are believers in Jesus, that we would be able to encourage (includes exhorting) them in their walks of faith in obedience to the Lord in holy living. It should be to help one another to grow to maturity in our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord.

So we must share with them that Jesus Christ gave his life up for us on that cross to deliver us out of our slavery (addiction) to sin so that we will now serve him with our lives in walks of obedience to his commands. So, if we want to be followers of Jesus Christ, we must deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and walk (in conduct) in obedience to his commands, in his power. For if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to God, we will not have salvation from sin, and heaven will not be our eternal destiny.

[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

For Our Nation

An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.

Avoid Ignorant Controversies
An Original Work / February 12, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love