What Is the Aim of Our Charge (Our Goal) as Christians?

Introduction

Tonight we’re going to continue our series through 1 Timothy. And you might remember two weeks ago, Pastor Josh preached through 1 Timothy, Chapter 1, verses 3 through 11. But this afternoon, we’re actually not going to move ahead in our text. We’re going to stay within this section of text one more week, because there’s a particular verse here that I’m going give focused attention to – 1 Timothy 1, verse 5, which explains the aim of our charge as Christians.

So if you haven’t already, please turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Timothy, Chapter 1, verse 5. When Pastor Josh preached on this section a couple weeks ago, he explained that the Christian church was facing some challenges. Christians were being distracted from the good news of Christianity, because there was a growing fixation on myths and personal speculations. And Pastor Josh pointed out that Paul doesn’t go into great detail about what these speculations are – because the specifics aren’t important. The important thing to realize is that the Church is in danger whenever Christ and his saving, sanctifying work are pushed into the background, and something else is given more importance.

And so that’s what Paul wants to guard against. He wants to guard against distractions, and divisions, and false doctrines. But Paul doesn’t just tell Timothy what needs to be protected. He also clarifies what should be promoted, in 1 Timothy 1, verse 5. Before I read our text, though, please pray with me:

[Pray and Read Text]

Our Goal on Offense – The Aim of Our Charge

No one would argue that it’s important for a football team to have a good defense. If you don’t, then the other team will pick apart your vulnerabilities and get a victory. But at the same time, defense really isn’t enough to win games. You can’t win, simply by limiting the other team’s ability to score. You also need to have a good offense. In fact, some people have said before that a good offense is a good defense. As long as you can outscore the other team, you’ll win every game.

And in our text, here, it’s true that Paul is concerned about defense. He’s concerned about making sure that false teachers don’t win a victory over the church. Timothy is told he needs to guard against that. But Paul is also concerned about a good offense. He’s concerned about making sure that Timothy is aimed at the right goal line, and that he’s helping to move the team toward a touchdown.

And we see Paul lay out this goal for Timothy in verse 5. He says, “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and a sincere faith.” So tonight, I want to break down our text under three points, so we can rightly understand the wisdom of what Paul is saying here.

First, I want to give attention to the End Goal of Love. Second, we’ll dig into the text to explore the Innerworkings of Love. And then third and finally, we’ll briefly consider what it means to be ambassadors of love. These will be my three main points tonight: The End Goal of Love, the Innerworkings of Love, and the Ambassadors of Love.

The End Goal of Love

We’ll turn our attention first to the End Goal of Love.

In the verses I just read, you’ll notice in verse 3, Paul has just told Timothy to “charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine” – nothing different from the truth of Christ. So it’s clear that Paul wants to guard against bad doctrine. And this makes a good deal of sense. Paul has already perceived that if people aren’t guarded from bad teaching – if they set their hearts on opinions, feelings, or speculations – that’ll throw gasoline on the fire of division and conflict. The church won’t be internally stable, and it won’t last long. So of course, guarding against this is an important part of the defensive strategy that Timothy (and other church leaders) should be engaged in.

But then in verse 5, Paul mentions this charge that he’s given to Timothy again. And he explains why this charge to guard against bad teaching has been given. He says that the reason why people need to be defended from distractions and different doctrine, is so that they’ll make progress in love. That’s what Paul’s promoting, when he says, “The aim of our charge is love.”

And so Timothy’s charge isn’t just to prevent foolishness, or to restrain conflict. But instead Paul makes it clear that Timothy’s ultimate goal should be to promote the expansion and enlargement of love among God’s people.

And what’s rather striking about Paul’s words to Timothy, here, is how he places such a high emphasis on the importance of love. I think sometimes, we can imagine that our main goal, as Christians, is to become more knowledgeable, or that our main goal is to become more rigorous in our religious activity, or that our main goal is to obtain some sort of reputation or position within the church.

But Paul tells Timothy that the aim of our charge – the goal we’re aiming at, when we preach the gospel to people for the first time, when we teach people the basics of the faith, when we charge people to hold fast to the Christian good news – Paul says that the aim of what we’re doing – the aim of our charge is this one thing – it’s love.

Now, this doesn’t mean that things like wisdom, or humility, or integrity don’t matter, but Paul is simply acknowledging that these other things aren’t as ultimate as love. In fact, the other things largely find their value, in that they contribute to the extension of love. Even our salvation – our enjoyment of blessings from God – our deepening understanding of theology and truth – all of these things are designed by God to mature us in love – First, supremely, love for God, and then subsequently, love for our neighbor. In fact, in Matthew 22, verse 40, Jesus says that the whole law of God – all the expectations God has for how people should love, and who they should be – all of those expectations are summed up in these two commands – to love God, and to love our neighbor.

In our horrific sinfulness, no one on earth has lived up to these two commands. Even though we were made to resemble God, and to reflect the glory of his love, you and I are ruined versions of what we were meant to be. We’ve loved created things, in place of the Creator. We’ve loved ourselves at the expense of our neighbor. And we’ve loved the enticements of Satan more than the encouragements of the Scriptures. But the Son of God has come down to be our Savior, to rescue us from our corruption. And he’s at work, by His Spirit, to rebuild what was destroyed – to reshape what was disfigured – to make it possible for us display God’s likeness and glory again, in how we love God and others.

That’s what Paul is reminding us of, when he tells Timothy, “The aim of our charge is love.” The aim of Timothy’s charge should be love, because that’s what God is working toward in us – that’s his goal.

And practically, this should have a major impact on how we relate to people on a daily basis, on how we teach our children, on how we prioritize our calendars. You and I are often tempted to measure human success in terms of money, popularity, physical health, or power. But growing in the consistency and capacity of our love – that’s success. That’s what God’s purpose is for you and I. A life that’s rich in love, is the life which has been lived out most successfully.

I’ll paraphrase 1 Corinthians 13 here briefly to say, if you have spiritual gifts, and great faith, and self-discipline, and religious activity – if you have all those things, but you don’t have love, you have nothing. That’s how important love is to the Christian life. And it’s important for us, in our personal life, in our parenting, in our presence with other people – it’s important for us to remember that reflecting the love of God is our greatest purpose and privilege in life. Having love, as the Bible defines and describes it – that’s the aim of Timothy’s charge, because it’s the aim of the whole Christian life.

The Innerworkings of Love

And Paul takes time to further describe what this love should look like – how it should operate, and how it should originate. This brings us to my second point, concerning the innerworkings of love. Paul adds additional details in our text, to tell Timothy about this love. And he says, “The aim of our charge is love that issues from (or that arises out of)” three things – “a pure heart, and a good conscience, and a sincere faith.”

In other words, Paul helps us to see that when Christlike love is formed in us, the way it’s supposed to be, it doesn’t just “poof” appear out of nowhere. But it flows out of a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. So let’s consider each of these things, and how they shape our understanding of love.

First, love should flow from a pure heart, or a clean heart. The Greek-speaking world at that time considered the heart to be the center of human feelings and desires – pretty similar to the way Americans think about the heart. And so Paul’s saying here that Christian love is something that should flow out of clean feelings, and innocent desires.

Because Paul is aware, our inward affections will impact what type of love flows out of us. It’s kind of like trying to install a well, that will give people access to clean water. I once knew a geologist who helped with well-drilling projects in Africa. In various places on the African continent, it can be difficult to find clean water. Part of the reason is because many places – especially around the Sahara Desert, just don’t have much groundwater in the first place. But then there are many other places – even if you drill down deep, the water you do find is contaminated with arsenic and heavy metals like lead and cadmium. And so the concern isn’t just to have water. There’s an additional concern to assess whether that that water is clean water – pure water.

And this same idea is true when it comes to assessing the condition of our love. It’s important to make sure it’s clean love – a right love that flows from a pure heart. If our innermost affections and desires are good – if we delight in God, and his Word, and the things he tells us we should delight in – then our love will be clean. But if deep down, our affections are wrapped up in self-indulgent cravings – then we may be experiencing romantic lust, or we might have idolatrous longings for something – but we won’t be loving as God loves. We won’t have the right type of love that issues from a pure heart.

And so, deep down, the condition of our heart matters. It affects our ability to produce love that’s noble and legitimate. So as a follower of Jesus, if you desire to grow in Christlike love – it’s not just about changing your behavior. It’s matter of having your heart changed, day by day, little by little. You may need to change how you spend our free time, to make sure that you’re doing things that intensify your desires for God. You’ll probably want to avoid activities that distract your heart, or that leave you feeling spiritually dull. You may also need to change the voices you’re listening to. If certain podcasts or news sources tend to push you into ungodly anger or fearful anxiety – you probably need to fill your mind with voices that will foster greater commitment and confidence in your relationship with God. But ultimately, you and I need God to graciously change our hearts. And so we shouldn’t hesitate to pray – to pray that God would give us a heart like his – a clean heart, that loves what’s good, and that hates what’s evil, and that endures in its virtue and vitality.

But Paul also acknowledges that Christian love – legitimate love – it should issue from a good conscience. There are two possible things Paul could mean by this. He could mean that our love should issue from a good conscience, that’s able to accurately discern between what’s good, and what’s evil. Or he could also be saying that our love should flow out of a good conscience, as in a clear conscience – that we should love in a way that won’t produce any moral regrets later. It’s possible, though, that Paul intended both meanings, here.

So rather than choosing between the two, I think what’s most helpful here is simply to affirm that both interpretations fit with broader wisdom of Scripture. Christian love should be guided by a discerning conscience, that can differentiate between things lovely things, and profane things that should be detested. That’s absolutely true. And we can also acknowledge that our love should come from a conscience that’s determined to do what’s upright, and that intends to have no regrets. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a good conscience.

But the last thing Paul mentions, here, is that this love is also intended to issue from a sincere faith. Love isn’t real if it’s just a form of playacting. Love isn’t just an action, or an outward behavior. But genuine love is something that, necessarily, will rise out of our faith in Christ. And when we consider that love is a fruit of sincere faith – something produced by faith – then that means that the more we do to fuel our faith into flame – the more we do to remind ourselves of God’s promises, and to seek assurance of his trustworthiness, and to walk by faith in the power of the Spirit – the greater our love for God will be. Our pleasure in loving our neighbor will be sweeter than ever before.

These are some of the observations we can make as we consider the innerworkings of love.

The Ambassadors of Love

But there’s one more point, here, I want to address in our text. I want to acknowledge how Timothy is sent out as an Ambassador of love – not too differently from the way that you and I, as Christians, are ambassadors of love. So this will be my third and final point – the Ambassadors of love.

Because you’ll remember, Paul tells Timothy, “The aim of our charge is love.” Perhaps when Paul says “our charge,” he’s just talking about himself and Timothy. That’s possible. But it seems more likely that Paul has the basic awareness that Christian leaders and Christians, more generally, are working together toward this goal of love.

And so when we’re out on a drive – and the person in front of us is driving too slow, and they have their right turn signal blinking (even though they have no intention to turn), instead of getting upset, instead of complaining to whoever is in the car with us, we should instead be asking ourselves, how can I live in this moment, to promote my own love, and the love of the people around me?

Or here’s another example. When you’re on social media, and someone has posted a comment that makes you upset, the best course of action probably isn’t to pound out a response in the heat of the moment, to question their intelligence, to try to publicly humiliate them. In fact, it may not be best to comment at all. Instead, you can pause and consider what it means to be an ambassador and promoter of Christ and his love.

If we ourselves aren’t able to walk in love, with some level of constancy and confidence, then chances are we’ll struggle to promote love in other people. But if our way of life demonstrates love, and our message in life is to declare Christ’s great love, than don’t underestimate how the Lord might use you. Because the love of Christ is a powerful love. This is a love that was willing to endure the cross, in order to set us free from the penalty of our sin. This is a love that opens the eyes of the blind, and that raises the dead. This is a love that snatches sinners from the doorstep of Hell, and that unlocks the gates of heaven. This is a love that enriches the poor, that fills the empty, and that transforms belligerent villains into God’s beloved children. The love of Jesus is glorious.

The Aim of Our Charge is Love

And the aim of our work, on Jesus’s behalf, is to advance this love – to promote the influence of Christ’s love, both in ourselves, and in the people around us. And the point of this is to draw attention, not to ourselves – not to the achievements or excellence of our own loving behaviors. After all, love isn’t something that you and I invented. But ultimately, as we love, we’re helping people see the deep, deep, love of Jesus, our King. So let’s enjoy the love of God together, and let’s be eager to glorify God – and to promote the knowledge of his love here at our church in Mt Pleasant, to people in the region around us, and to the ends of the earth. Please pray with me: