¹⁴Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers. ¹⁵Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

The things Paul taught are worthy of being called trustworthy (vs. 11). They are not to be subject to silly word games or intramural debates that waste time. The truth is the truth, and it is not to be embellished. But we must spend time studying the meaning of the biblical words since connotations, implications, and definitions change over time. Going from one language (Greek) to another (English), and from one culture (ancient Mediterranean/Greek/Roman) to another (western twenty-first century) requires careful linguistic, cultural, and historical analysis. And there is much debate in the process—it cannot be avoided.

Thus Paul “solemnly charges” Timothy, and by extension all of us, to be motivated by one thing only: God’s approval. We should avoid the temptation to win theological points, to prove ourselves better or more faithful than the next denomination or theological movement in Christendom. We must learn to recognize the difference between “wrangl[ing]” and “be[ing] diligent.” Paul is quite pointed in this: “Remind them,” “solemnly charge them,” and “[b]e diligent.” Right doctrine does matter because it forms our foundation and determines whether we are useful to the Lord or whether we ruin our faith and are ashamed of having wasted so much time in useless debates.

Many Christians complain about fussing over doctrine and theology. But we should, indeed, know what we believe and why we believe it. That is what doctrine and theology are all about. We must work hard at studying the Bible so that we can accurately understand the truth of God’s Word and apply it correctly to life. We are not to be haphazard in how we deal with God’s communication to us. Paul spends much ink in conveying solid, foundational teaching, and we do well to think on these things deeply.

Unfortunately today, many teachers water down biblical teaching, even to the point of reducing the gospel message to the nebulous phrase “become a follower of Jesus Christ.” Cults often use the same phrases, while denying the unique deity of Christ and the necessity and sufficiency of His death on the cross for our sins. With important theological battles like these at stake, we cannot waste our time with the dill and the mint of the Pharisees (Matt. 23:23). Discernment in choosing our theological battles will find approval from God.

Lord, I commit to studying Your Word to understand it accurately.