Pastor's Bible Study

There are two things that we can invest in that will last forever: God's Word and people. As Paul approaches his impending death, he turns his attention and thinking to these two eternal things (God’s Word in vv. 13-14 and people in vv. 15-18). There are so many things that vie for the investment of our attention, time, effort, and energy, but the two most important things we can invest in are God...

As Paul continues in the opening chapter, he challenges Timothy to strengthen his resolve. And we need to do this too. Strengthening our resolve is not about drawing on our own power or self-enthusiasm. To strengthen our resolve we must let the Spirit of God work in us and through us to carry out God’s will, in God’s way, in God’s time, and for God’s glory.

As Paul begins his second letter to Timothy he is sitting a jail cell awaiting his imminent execution. He had previously written to Timothy to encourage him. Now he writes to request Timothy to come see him. To do so would bring joy to the apostle's heart. Paul knows he will soon be leaving this world. He writes to Timothy to inspire confidence in Timothy as Paul will be passing the torch of leade...

As Paul closes his first letter to Timothy, he tells Timothy to "guard it," i.e. guard your ministry and guard the very thing your ministry is all about – God’s Word.

Peace and contentment are two things (concepts) that generally go together. When you think of one, you will often think of the other. When you have one, you generally have the other. But the similarity between the two is more than a partnership or relationship. The similarity is their nature. True peace is inward. When you have peace, you have an inner calmness despite outer circumstances or condi...

Everyone is subject to authority, but do we submit to it? In the first two verses of the text, Paul is speaking to the issue of slaves/servants submitting to the authority of masters. In our day and age, these words can seem somewhat confusing and perhaps not applicable in our lives. However, what Paul says makes much sense in the setting and timing he was in (i.e. the early church age), and in te...

Paul encourages Timothy with how to relate to fellow elders in the church who serve with him in terms of paying elders, disciplining elders, and ordaining and selecting elders.

Paul chooses an analogy of family to illustrate how a pastor should interact with various members of his congregation. He purposefully used a term of family (e.g. father, mother, sister, brother) instead of business or government, because the church is a family. Church members share a common father. We look to Jesus as our older brother. We live in a household (church) with extended family. This i...

To be a good minister, Paul tells Timothy (in addition to pointing out the truth concerning apostasy) to do these things: exercise spiritually, make God your goal, be an example to the believers, give your attention to God’s Word and yourself so that you persevere for your own good and the good of others.

Between the two main sections of the book there are three verses that form a kind of pivot point where Paul pivots from one section to another. This link is very intriguing. It in essence teaches us that the church is to display the truth of God’s Word and bear witness to the person and work of Jesus Christ.

After Paul speaks about the qualities of a man necessary to fill the office of pastor, he turns his attention to the qualities of a man necessary to fill the office of deacon. Of the offices in the church, the most Christ-like is deacon. This is why the qualifications are stringent. Not everyone has what it takes to fill the office of deacon.

To say that the Bible teaches that all Christians must abstain from drinking wine would not be accurate. The Bible does not clearly teach against a Christian partaking of alcohol. There is no command in the Bible to not drink, but there is also no command to drink. There is liberty. However, just because you have liberty to do something doesn’t mean you have to. Exercising liberty (freedom) means...

Church leaders holding the office of pastor (bishop, elder) should be drawn from men who are spiritually mature. Paul in this section of Scripture gives Timothy of list of characteristics that could help the church determine if a man was spiritually mature and qualified to lead in the office of pastor.

Paul wrote these words to a male-dominated culture. As we read them, we need to understand that he wrote them not to limit women, but reassure them of the liberty they have. When we look at this passage of scripture through the lens of our American culture we can the see word "limited" stamped on it. But if we look at this passage of scripture clearly with no cultural bias, we see the word "libert...

Paul exhorts Timothy and the church at Ephesus to keep first things first, i.e. focus on the top priority. The top priority in ministry and for ministry is prayer. We would do well to heed Paul's exhortation to pray first and to pray for all people and their salvation. That kind of praying can change the world, our world, and our lives too.

Paul encourages Timothy by reminding him the he is the recipient of God's mercy.

Paul writes a letter to young Timothy (Paul's protégé) and encourages him pastor to pastor. Paul knows that Timothy is in a hard place to lead a church. In the opening verses, Paul lays out four directives for Timothy to follow. These things are good for us today also. Timothy was to 1) stick to the task, 2) speak the truth, 3) set his sights on the goal of ministry, which is love, and 4) support...

The letter Paul wrote to Philemon shares with us the beautiful and moving story of friendship and forgiveness, release and redemption. We really see to very applicable truths: 1) Jesus did for us what Paul did for Onesimus. We've been forgiven for the sake of Jesus just like Philemon forgave Onesimus for the sake of Paul. 2) We can forgive others because we've been forgiven.

As Paul wraps up his letter to the Colossians, he takes time to mention and appreciate several friends in the ministry that have partnered with him and ministered to him during his imprisonment. A friend provides three things vital for a quality life. Friends provide companionship, without which we’d be lonely and isolated. They provide comfort – a pat on the back, a shoulder to cry on, and kind w...

In the text, Paul addresses both dimensions of our speech, the vertical and horizontal planes. Our vertical speech is directed to God. Our horizontal speech is directed to other people. And Paul points out that one of the reasons what we say on the horizontal plane is so important is because we say it to those who are lost and don’t have a vertical relationship with God. Our horizontal speech can...

Although this passage refers to servants, or slaves, and masters, or slave owners, the principles taught here certainly apply to the employee/employer relationship. In this lesson we will look at the both the original context of this passage and how it applies in our modern day work life. What Paul has to say speaks directly to the dignity of work, our work ethic, and how we treat workers with fai...

When Christ is our life, His peace will be the decisive factor in what we think and feel. And the truth of His Word will saturate everything we say and do. By default then Christ as our life will also impact our homes, marriages, families, etc. In this text, Paul will deal with the home, husbands, wives, parents, and children. As with all things that God created, God has a divine design for the Ho...

Paul uses the image of changing clothes illustrate how our actions are to match our identity as the elect, holy, and beloved of God. Since we are the elect of God, holy and beloved we have some solemn responsibilities to God to put on spiritual clothes and turn on spiritual controls. Instead of sensuality, materialism, and negative emotionalism, we are to have compassion, kindness, humility gentle...

In the first two chapters of the book, Paul laid down the doctrinal part of Colossians. He exposed the false teaching that was robbing the Colossians of their spiritual maturity. Now in chapters three and four he gives practical application of those doctrines that leads to genuine spiritual maturity. Christianity brought a change to the way of thinking and living for the Colossae believers. What w...

After making it clear that Jesus is all we need (He is sufficient), Paul attacks the heresies and false teaching of his generation. He begins verse 16 with the conjunction therefore, pointing to the connection between the practical application that follows and the theological discussion of sufficiency of Christ that he just shared. From verse 16 to the end of the chapter, Paul focuses his attentio...