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Follow My Teaching” – 2 Timothy 3:10 Cra 2014 Bible Conference – Jack Cottrell

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Follow My Teaching” – 2 Timothy 3:10 Cra 2014 Bible Conference – Jack Cottrell “FOLLOW MY TEACHING” – 2 TIMOTHY 3:10 CRA 2014 BIBLE CONFERENCE – JACK COTTRELL INTRODUCTION. A. What does it mean to “follow”? 1. The Greek word for “follow” in 2 Tim. 3:10 is parakoloutheō, used only 4 times in the NT. It is an intensified form of the common word for “follow,” akoloutheō, which is used 90 times -- mostly in the gospels, and almost always for following JESUS. 2. The most basic meaning of akoloutheō is to literally follow behind someone as they walk. 3. In the gospels, though, it is used also in a metaphorical sense of following someone’s teaching or leadership or way of life. a. This is how the word was used in Judaism: a pupil studying under a rabbi followed him everywhere, learning from him. b. This is how Jesus used the word: 1) Mark 2:14, speaking to Matthew: “Follow Me!” 2) John 1:43, speaking to Phillip: “Follow Me.” 3) Matt. 16:24: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” 4) Matt. 19:27, Peter speaking to Jesus: “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.” B. How is Paul using this concept (using the intensified form of the word)? 1. Note first that he is not stating this as a general command. It is a simple statement to his disciple, Timothy: “You followed.” See also 1 Tim. 4:6, “You have been following.” 2. In 2 Tim. 3:10-11 Paul names EIGHT things about himself that Timothy has been following, and he praises him for it. 3. My task is to examine the first one: “Now you followed my teaching.” In 1 Tim. 4:6 Paul refers to “the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following.” 4. In both verses, what is being followed is didaskalia, “doctrine, teaching, what is taught.” C. What are the implications of this for us Christians living in the 21st century? I. “FOLLOW MY TEACHING.” Why PAUL’S teaching? This sounds a bit odd! Why follow PAUL? We are not Paulists, or Paulites, or Paulicians, or Paulophiles. We are CHRISTians! Shouldn’t we be content just to follow CHRIST? Aren’t we “Christians only”? Many today identify themselves as “Christ-followers.” So isn’t it enough just to follow Christ’s teaching? If we mean by that the red-letter teaching of Jesus in the gospels, the answer is a resounding NO! Now I will show you why. A. What I am getting at here is what I have long considered to be one of the most common and most seriously FALSE doctrines that have permeated modern Christendom. I call it the CHRISTOLOGICAL FALLACY. 1. The “Christological fallacy” is – DUH! – a fallacy about Christ. Specifically it is a fallacy about Christ’s purpose and work, about why he came, and about what he thus means to us. 2. The bottom line of the fallacy is this: it is the idea that the main thing we get from Jesus is KNOWLEDGE: new knowledge, unique knowledge that could be given by God in no other way. It is the idea that Christ’s main work was revelation. a. The implication is that if we want to know the truth about anything that matters, we should look to Jesus, to the gospels, to Jesus’ example and red-letter teachings. b. So if we are going to “follow” anybody’s teaching, it should be the teaching of JESUS. c. Our doctrine (both theology and ethics) should be Christ-centered. Christ’s deeds and words become our primary source and ultimate norm for all doctrine. The final word on anything is in the gospels. 3. Examples of the Christological fallacy. a. Karl Barth: “Every theological proposition has its point of departure in Jesus Christ” (cited in my book, God the Creator, p. 174). b. Emil Brunner: All the truth of the Christian faith “is derived from Jesus Christ alone” (ibid.). c. John R. Franke, modern Evangelical leader, explaining how Jesus is “the Way” in John 14:6: “In the midst of a world teeming with religious diversity, what does it mean to say that Jesus is the Way? Simply put, it means we should look to Jesus to discover how God acts in the world. He was . sent into the world not only to tell us about God but also to demonstrate how God wants us to live.” John 14:6 also declares that Jesus is “the Truth.” In this sense “Jesus is unique.” Others may speak truths, but “those truths are truths only insofar as they finally point to the Truth of God, that is, the life and work of Jesus Christ, the Truth.” We must always “maintain this fundamental understanding of Jesus.” (From Franke’s article, “Still the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” Christianity Today, December 2009, pp. 28-29.) d. From a letter to Christian Standard many years ago by a Christian Church preacher: Jesus came to earth “to show us how to live a good life.” e. Stuart Cook, “Making Jesus Central,” Christian Standard (4/19/1981), 116:13-14: “Every spiritual concept, practice, or deed must find its essential meaning and value in Jesus Christ—His identity, perfect life, atoning death, triumphant resurrection, and glorified status.” “If Christ is truly to be preached, then every doctrine and ordinance of the faith must be dependent on Him, His nature, character, and deeds, for meaning. The ‘doctrine of Christ’ will be that doctrine which centers on Jesus Christ.” Jesus must be “the test of all true doctrine” (cited in God the Creator, p. 175). 4. Why is this apparently oh-so-pious teaching a fallacy? a. It is true that Jesus is our teacher, but he is not our ONLY teacher—and not even our PRIMARY teacher! Why not? 1) Because the entire Bible (which by the way is our only trustworthy source of knowledge about the deeds and words of Jesus) is the God-breathed words of God (2 Tim. 3:16; Rom. 3:2), and as such is “profitable for teaching.” And -- 2) Because this is not why Jesus came in the first place! He did not come simply to teach us something, to show us something, to demonstrate something, to give us an example to live by, to increase our knowledge. We can say that in many ways he did these things, but this is not why he came! This was not his primary purpose! Revelation was not his main mission; REDEMPTION was! b. The fact is this: Jesus himself tells us this! Here is what Jesus said to his apostles the night before his death: “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you” (John 16:12-14). By telling them this, Jesus was delegating the task of teaching TO HIS APOSTLES! B. This leads us to consider PAUL’S APOSTOLIC MISSION. So why should we follow Paul’s teaching? Because he is one of the apostles anointed and appointed by Jesus to teach in his stead! 1. We know the historical event of his call to be an apostle (Acts 9, 22, 26). 2. Throughout his writings Paul constantly reminds us of his calling and of his authority as an apostle. For example: a. “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle” (Rom. 1:1). b. “Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God” (1 Cor. 1:1). c. “Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?” (1 Cor. 9:1). d. “I consider myself not in the least inferior to the most eminent apostles” (2 Cor. 11:5). e. “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you” (2 Cor. 12:12). f. “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God” (1 Tim. 1:1). g. “For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth” (1 Tim. 2:7). 3. As an apostle Paul was the recipient of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, as Jesus promised to his apostles in John 16:12-14. Paul was conscious of being inspired to speak and write inerrant truth by the Holy Spirit. a. “My message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (1 Cor. 2:4). b. (Speaking of apostles and prophets:) “We speak God’s wisdom in a mystery . For to us God revealed them through the Spirit . Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely give to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit . For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:7, 10ff.). c. “For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (1 Thess.
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