1 Timothy 1:6 Commentary and Bible Study

What is it that gives rise to a wayward or a futile ministry? That's the next consideration in the next two or three verses. ‘From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling’. The indication is, not that they did this involuntarily, we use the term swerve in an unhappy way as far as our text is concerned today. You are driving along and somebody is coming straight for you and you have got no choice: you swerve out of the way. These people haven't swerved in that way. These false teachers have deliberately steered off the path. They have deliberately turned aside. That's the charge that Paul brings against them. They ‘have turned aside unto vain jangling.’ What a statement that is, ‘vain jangling’. It means futile talk, talk devoid of force or truth, useless unproductive talk, and our translators have brought in the term jangling, ‘vain jangling’. There are false teachers; they have swerved aside from the gospel alone, and given way to futile talk: futile, because it doesn’t lead to real conversion and it doesn’t produce real holiness. He cannot use stronger language than this. There is a lot of rubbish spoken in pulpits of churches today. People have deliberately steered away from the track and are teaching absolute rubbish, which they have invented, which is not in the Scripture, which is wresting the Scripture. There are many teachers around today. They have their ideas and theories; they find one verse which they pluck out of context to build these ideas upon and they teach nonsense. You have got to be very careful. These are the last days. These are the days when the antichrist is particularly active and there is massive infiltration of the church of Jesus Christ with teachers who preach out of their own imagination, things which are not from God's word and will not lead to true love for God, true conversion. What gives rise to this kind of teaching? ‘Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.’ The word ‘desiring’ indicates that they are self-seeking. What they want to be is not those who proclaim Christ, not those who lead people to salvation, not those who deepen the love and the service of Christian people. What they want to be is teachers. The distinction is clear. They desire to be teachers of the law – the ceremonial law of the Jews and the moral law of the Ten Commandments – but in the wrong way, not understanding what they say or affirm. However much they emphasize their ideas, they don't understand what they are saying, or the significance of what they are doing. It shows us that these false teachers, if they are not Judaizers, are like them. The apostle Paul had a lot of trouble with the Judaizers. They followed his mission around, and whenever people were converted, they got into the churches and they would say, ‘Trusting in Christ is not enough. You have got to carry out the Jewish law. You men have got to be circumcised, you Gentiles who are men have got to start keeping the ceremonial law of the Jews.’