Godly Edification in Faith

"As I urged you when I went into Macedonia--remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, ⁴ nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith."

1 Timothy 1:3-4

Paul urged Timothy to remain in Ephesus for the purpose of directing some to teach no other doctrine than those that result in godly edification in faith.  In his introduction Paul mentioned Jesus Christ our hope along with with grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Jesus our Saviour.  These are fundamental Gospel truths that adorn all sound doctrine in scripture.  Previously in Corinth Paul kept Christ central in his preaching, for he determined not to anything among them except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

As in modern times, there were some in Ephesus who taught, emphasised and discussed topics or doctrines that promoted controversy.  It is possible for genuine believers to be swept up in and become preoccupied with topics, conflicts, problems or conspiracies that mar our discussions and teaching.  Paul said Timothy and others were not to teach or even give heed to fables or endless genealogies which led to disputes and arguments.  A fable can be defined as a short, fictitious story--and Jewish history has no shortage of extra-biblical stories about people we read about in the Bible.  Tall tales about Abraham, Moses, Solomon and others were abundant and widely repeated.  They were to preach the word of God, not to give these fables heed or parrot them to others.

They were also not to give heed to endless genealogies.  We might see the genealogies in the Bible fairly exhaustive, but there were many extra-biblical genealogies people dug through and referenced--not to affirm the truth of scripture but as fodder for speculation.  They went deep down rabbit holes that provoked questions, arguments and divisions rather than using the scriptures God has supplied to edify and encourage us in faith.  Instead of revealing truth, these supposed breakthrough revelations obscured the truth and distracted people from feeding on the milk and meat of God's word.

Godly edification which is in faith in Jesus is the result of sound doctrine well-applied, even as it is written in 1 Timothy 1:5:  "Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith..."  Our teaching and discussion ought to be to edify people in their love of God and one another, to nurture a good conscience based upon all Jesus is and has done for us by genuine faith in Him.  We need not fear deceptions or the wrath of God when we are grounded in Jesus who is the Truth, having been forgiven and justified by God's grace.  We are to build our lives upon the foundation of Jesus Christ by hearing His words and putting them into practice, and let us encourage our brethren to do the same.