1st Timothy 1:19. “Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:” TWO FRIENDS. Some things go together just like a hand and glove. One is seriously affected by what the other does. For instance, faith and works – one without the other is dead. If you had light without love, light would get a swelled head.
An interesting fact to consider is that faith goes beyond party lines. Faith really doesn’t work well – if conscience is left behind. Faith can know lots of things, but if it is placed in the wrong place, it is bad. Faith in the wrong object or person can make us become very sad.
So, conscience comes alongside – it’s trustworthy, though occasionally seared. Conscience, when good, tells faith, “That person is someone to fear.” Faith often finds it hard to admit that he has trusted in something weak And until conscience comes awake, faith is liable to make a mistake.
When these two, work together; there is power and safety that’s good. Faith deals with an issue with power – conscience checks to see if they should Make some changes in an action that, over time, has been well proven – To make sure change produces something that is a real and lasting improvement.
Faith can jump ahead in a moment if something persuasive is said. And that is okay if conscience is there to check what is lying ahead.
These two good friends together make a team that can really work. Conscience may hold back too much; faith insists on the job they can’t shirk.
How gracious and wise of God to implant in us more than just the one. Each with its role to fill, makes possible a work to be done. And it is for me to be ready with love, grace, and mercy to act – Then faith and conscience together make that work a doable fact.
“I know, Father, at times I am hesitant, and at other times I jump the gun. I ask for understanding to act on divine promptings, not on fleshly ambition. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.”
Often, error begins with moral, rather than intellectual doubt. When people like Hymenaeus and Alexander taught wrong doctrine, that was a result of something wrong in them. "Shipwreck" came, because the faith of these two men was not "the faith," as is the body of sound doctrine and biblical teaching. When this kind of teaching arises, there is no time to wait. It must be dealt with quickly and strongly, because the result of wrong teaching has serious effects on the eternal welfare of people. Perhaps the teaching of Hymenaeus that the resurrection was already past had come through him to Alexander and now was in danger of infecting the assembly at Ephesus. The wrong actions and teaching of Hymenaeus and Alexander called for strong disciplinary action [2Tim.2:17-18; 4:14]. Paul used apostolic authority to deal with them and place them where they were in the hands of Satan. That act was very serious, and the consequences were very great, but it was for their learning, so they would not blaspheme. Their recovery was in view when the discipline was carried out. The imagery of a war, the military strategy of an army, a shipwreck, the result of bad navigation in the navy, and Satan as the enemy stand out to teach us the seriousness of divine truth and what happens when it is turned away from.
Biblical church discipline is still the correct way to deal with heresy, as well as moral problems. Deliberate disobedience has to be quickly dealt with within the church itself, as the way to change the behavior and teaching of an offender. The discipline of the congregation of believers gives authority and weight to the act of discipline. The process of discipline within a church has educational connotations behind it. The purpose is that the offender, by the admonition, would recognize and admit their wrong. The process is painful, but the results will be life-changing, and hopefully, full recovery will take place. Paul was a blasphemer before his conversion, so he knew what was needed to teach these two men. In some way, their actions and/or words had cast a challenge against the truth of the Gospel, and the discipline of divine authority was needed to stop the practice and the false teaching. This practice is still to be carried out in the local assemblies today. This is not to be a public matter but within the private confines of assembly fellowship; those things that need to be changed, and wrong behavior that needs to be corrected, must take place for the benefit of all of the saints in that fellowship.