Real Bible Study

The Nugget:

1Ti 3:15  But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. (KJV)

My Comment:

This verse (1 Timothy 3:15) and its immediate context (1 Timothy 3:14-16) has been the subject of much controversy. Here is the passage as it stands in the whole pericope:

1Ti 3:14  I hope I can come to you soon. But I am writing this to you now,
1Ti 3:15  so that, even if I cannot come soon, you will know how people should live in the family of God. That family is the church of the living God. And God’s church is the support and foundation of the truth.
1Ti 3:16  Without a doubt, the secret of our life of worship is great: Christ was shown to us in human form; the Spirit proved that he was right; he was seen by angels. The message about him was told to the nations; people in the world believed in him; he was taken up to heaven in glory. (ERV, Easy to Read Version)

1Ti 3:14 These things I write to thee, hoping to come to thee shortly:
1Ti 3:15 But if I tarry, that thou mayst know how to behave in the house of God, which is the church of the living God.
1Ti 3:16 The mystery of godliness is the pillar and ground of the truth, and without controversy a great thing: God was manifested in the flesh, was justified by the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, taken up into glory. (Wesley’s NT, 1755)

THERE IS A GREAT DIFFERENCE!

To properly understand 1 Timothy 3:15, study carefully the following notes and cross references I have placed for this verse in The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury:

1 Timothy 3:15
But if. FS184C, +Mat 4:9.

I tarry long. or, delay. Gr. bradunō (S# G1019), to delay (Strong). 1Ti 4:13, Luk 24:25, *2Pe 3:9 g (be slack).

know. Gr. oida, Joh 8:55 note. 1Ti 3:2, Deut 31:23, 1Ki 2:2-4, *1Ch 22:13; 1Ch 28:9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, +*Eze 18:21, Mat 13:52, Luk 12:42, Act 1:2, *1Co 3:16.

how thou oughtest. An alternative reading, as RV (1885), “how men ought” (CB). Exo 35:35.

to behave. Gr. anastrephō (S# G390, Eph 2:3). Num 12:7; Num 18:5, Eze 44:24; Eze 48:15, 2Co 1:12.

the house. FS173, +Gen 27:44. Gen 28:17, Exo 40:18, Pro 9:1, Song 1:17; Song 3:10, Isa 56:5, Zec 14:21, *Eph 2:21; *Eph 2:22, 2Ti 2:20, Heb 3:2, 3, 4, 5, 6; Heb 10:21, 1Pe 2:5; 1Pe 4:17.

the church. Note that:

(1) This is not a reference to the Catholic Church. Especially is it not a reference to the Roman Catholic Church! There is a great difference!
(2) This is NOT a reference to the church at Rome, or the Church of Rome. This is not a reference to any supposed supremacy of the church at Rome. This is an interpretative error which those who follow the view of the Roman Catholic Church have fallen into (2Pe 1:20 note, Rule 2 “Interpret literally unless the interpretation results in a contradiction, absurdity, or nonsense,” Rule 8 “You cannot legitimately pick and choose separate statements and combine them arbitrarily [The Bible says Judas “went and hanged himself” (Mat 27:5); “go and do thou likewise” (Luk 10:37); “what thou doest, do quickly” (Joh 13:27)]. You must not “cherry pick” the evidence. Mat 4:6.”). The alleged supremacy of the Church of Rome is an idea incorrectly read back into the history from a later time when much, perhaps most, of the church had fallen into error, just as Paul warned by direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit (1Ti 4:1).
(3) Timothy was directed by Paul to stay in Ephesus (1Ti 1:3), so the reference is to the local church at Ephesus. The reference is not even to Jerusalem or Antioch (Act 11:22, 23, 24, 25, 26; Act 15:2), both of which would surely be better candidates for being the “mother church” where central teaching authority might reside if such a church and teaching authority were intended (which it never was), for Paul is speaking of the primacy of each local church as being the pillar and ground of the truth as it holds forth the Word of Life by preaching and teaching the Gospel of Christ, winning souls to Him.
(4) Even this primacy of each local independent church had been lost by the time of the close of the original apostolic age. Paul taught this was prophesied by the Holy Spirit, Who spoke expressly about this taking place “after this time” (1Ti 4:1), thus after the very time Paul then lived. Insofar as the local church no longer is true to the revealed truth in Scripture (the faith once for all delivered in complete form to the saints, Jud 1:3), it is no longer the pillar and ground of the truth, but a promulgator of falsehood and the teaching of demons (1Ti 4:1). Recall Paul predicted this much earlier in his ministry as recorded in Act 20:29, 30.
(5) It goes without saying that forming a church with a central hierarchy is an apostate development not sanctioned by Christ (Mat 20:26) or the New Testament (+2Co 1:24).
(6) Careful attention to the teaching of the New Testament will show that “church” is spoken of in two major senses:
(a) the body of all true believers in Jesus Christ who are savingly regenerated through faith in Him (Col 1:18; Col 1:24);
(b) local churches (1Th 1:1; 2Th 1:1; 2Co 1:1), in the NT most often house churches (+1Co 16:19), assemblies of called-out ones, true believers in Christ. T92 (Design of the church of God): See on +1Ti 3:5, Mat 5:13, 14, 15, 16, Act 20:28, 1Co 1:2; 1Co 3:9; 1Co 10:32; 1Co 11:22, Eph 1:22; Eph 3:10, 11.

the living God. 1Ti 4:10; 1Ti 6:16, 17, Deut 5:26, Jos 3:10, 1Sa 17:26; 1Sa 17:36, 2Ki 19:4, Psa 42:2; Psa 84:2, +Jer 10:10; Jer 23:36, Dan 6:26, Hos 1:10, +Mat 16:16, Joh 6:69, Act 14:15, Rom 9:26, 2Co 3:3; 2Co 6:16, 1Th 1:9, +*Heb 3:12; Heb 9:14; Heb 12:22, Rev 7:2.

the pillar. Gr. stulos (S# G4769, Gal 2:9). Irenaeus said, in undoubted reference to this verse, “We have learned from none others the plan of our salvation, than from those through whom the Gospel has come down to us, which they did at one time proclaim in public, and, at a later period, by the will of God, handed down to us in the Scriptures, to be the ground and pillar of our faith. For it is unlawful to assert that they preached before they possessed “perfect knowledge,” as some do even venture to say, boasting themselves as improvers of the apostles” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book III, Chapter 1, 1, p. 414, in The Writings of the Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol 1, Apostolic Fathers). In this text Irenaeus said that the Bible is the pillar and ground of the truth since the death of the Apostles. Pro 9:1, Jer 1:18, Mat 16:18, 19; Mat 18:18, Rom 3:2, Gal 2:9.

and. FS93A, +Gen 1:26. By Hendiadys, foundation pillar. 1Ti 3:9; 1Ti 3:16.

ground. or, stay. or, foundation. Gr. hedraiōma (S# G1477, only here), a support, that is, (figuratively) basis [Strong]. Reference to the fact that the church (1) contained living eye witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus Christ bodily from the dead, and (2) had received as a complete body of truth at that time, never to be supplemented later, the truth “once delivered unto the saints,” as Jude puts it (Jud 1:3). The fact that the truth was “once for all” delivered (the meaning of the particular Greek word used by Jude) indicates it was absolutely complete, not subject to further development or change; the fact that it was “delivered” (Paul uses a similar term in 1Co 15:3) means it was a complete, self-contained body of truth; the fact it was “delivered unto the saints” indicates this truth was delivered to and received by Bible believing Christians, saved individuals, not a church with a hierarchy or a denomination, but given to and received by ordinary, every-day believers. +*Deut 4:5, 2Ti 2:19, +Jud 1:3.

the truth. 1Ti 3:16, +*Deut 4:5, Joh 1:17; **Joh 14:6; Joh 18:37, +*Act 2:24 note. **Act 4:33, **1Co 15:3; **1Co 15:6, 2Co 6:7, Gal 3:1, Eph 4:21, *Col 1:5, **Jud 1:3.