Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth – Part 2

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15

In the first part of this topic, I indicated that the Apostle Paul’s instruction to his protégé` Timothy to “rightly divide the word of truth” might be referring to the differences in doctrine between those who initially followed our Lord Jesus based on His Earthly Ministry (members of Israel’s Jerusalem Church), and the doctrine of those (predominantly Gentiles) who learned about Him following His crucifixion, death, burial, Resurrection and Ascension.   My explanation follows.

When Timothy was to interact with those who had been or become followers of our Lord Jesus, it would be important for him to acknowledge the doctrine of the Jews in the Jerusalem Church, based on the Gospel of the Kingdom, and the different doctrine believed by those who had been taught the Gospel of Grace, revealed by the Ascended Lord to the Apostle Paul.  

When the Lord named His 12 Disciples, His command was that they preach saying “the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 10: 7).  He was directing them to announce His presence as the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah (Isaiah 45:17, 59: 20-21; Matthew 1: 18-23, Romans 11: 26-27, and others).  As John the Baptist had instructed believers in Israel to repent and be baptized (with water) for the remission of their sins (Matthew 3: 1-6, Mark 1: 1-8, Luke 3: 1-6), so also did the Apostle Peter after the Lord’s Ascension (Acts 2: 21-39).  If Israel as a Nation had repented, the Ascended Lord would return to establish His Eternal Kingdom in Jerusalem. That was the Gospel of the Kingdom.

On the other hand, the Gospel of Grace was introduced by the Ascended Lord Jesus after Israel’s rejection of Him as their Messiah. The Lord revealed to the Apostle Paul that through His crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection He had provided for the remission of the sins of all who would believe what He had accomplished on their behalf.  That Gospel (1 Corinthians 15: 1-4; Romans 10: 9-13) confirms that our Lord met God’s requirement for the remission of sin to be paid through the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9: 11-22).  The requirement for Salvation to eternal life for Christians (Jew and Gentile) today is that we simply believe / have faith in what the Lord has done on our behalf (Hebrews 11: 6).  Today we are saved through His Grace, not through the “works” that some Christians feel or might have been taught they must accomplish to be accepted by God.

That final sentence above was important enough that the Holy Spirit prompted Luke (in Acts Chapter 15) and the Apostle Paul (in the Book of Galatians) to specifically address this issue.  Quite noteworthy is the agreement reached between the officials of the Jerusalem Church and Paul and his associates.  The Jerusalem Church would continue to evangelize the people of the Circumcision / Nation of Israel under the Gospel of the Kingdom. Further, they would not interfere with Paul and others who taught the Uncircumcision / Gentiles the Gospel of Grace (Galatians 2: 1-10, Acts 15: 1-29).

As Paul had advised Timothy about “rightly dividing the word of truth”, it would be important for him to acknowledge these differences in doctrine…especially among those who continued to identify themselves as followers of our Lord Jesus.  I will write more on the distinctions between these two gospels soon.

Dr. W.A. Robinson