The Balance of Grace and Truth

 

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (2 Timothy 4:1-5 ESV).

 

Usually I wrote the devotionals several days in advance to post at a later time. This is especially true of the web site (www.gracerestoration.org). I am indebted to The Genesis World Group in Tyler, Texas, and especially John Williams. Who host and maintain the site. You may have only read the devotionals on FaceBook or Google Blog, however, the main site is much larger in scope and content. At any rate, reflecting on yesterday’s devotional, I thought I might have left some things undone. To be clear, I was not saying there is never a time to speak. You may have heard me say that we need to learn to balance truth-telling with grace-giving; and, that is the Scriptural principle to be followed.

 

Many of us have the opportunity to gather in buildings dedicated to worship. Others will gather in the coldness of a prison cell or in a small, secret place, fearful of authorities. We need the fellowship of God’s people and the instruction of his Word. We need encouragement and the affirmation of belonging to something bigger than ourselves. Guidance in our journey is an essential work of the church. As we journey in faith, an encouraging mentor makes all the difference. I still benefit today from being “shown the ropes” by three great men of faith. There were times when their message was hard; however, there was never a time when that message was delivered without the greatest care and love.

 

Our reading today is the Apostle Paul’s charge to young Timothy to make the ministry of God’s Word his top priority. It wasn’t to be done just at opportune times, but at all times. It wasn’t to be so inoffensive as never to correct or rebuke. Timothy was to correct, rebuke, and encourage. He was to do so with patience and accuracy, to encourage his listeners and warn them when they were tempted to follow false teachings. People need God’s Word. People need encouragement. Truth without grace is a prison, grace without truth is chaos!