1 Timothy 3:14- 4:5 - The Believer's Creed
Well, I have been looking forward to this all week. It is good to be with you to worship, to declare together as a body the truths that we sing about, to read from the Word of God, and to allow our lives to be shaped and molded by what we see and hear. My name is Mike, and I’m one of the teaching pastors here at The Well Community Church. If I have not had the privilege to meet you yet, I’m excited to get to open up God’s Word with you.
If you have your Bible with you—and I hope that you do—I’m going to invite you to turn to 1 Timothy chapter 3. We are going to pick up where we have been in the midst of our series through this letter.
As we dive into the text, I’m curious: how many of you come from a church background that is different from The Well? Maybe something more liturgical, a little bit more traditional, like a Catholic or a Methodist background? I grew up Methodist—kind of. I was the Christmas and Easter kid. When it was convenient, I showed up. But I remember a lot about that church experience. Specifically, two things stand out. One was the donuts. That was awesome. That literally got me through the service. I would think, Lord, please, just get me to the donuts; I can do this. But the second thing was singing the Doxology. I didn’t spend a ton of time growing up in that church, but today, thirty-plus years later, I can still remember those words. I remember the creeds that we would declare together as a body.
One of the potential downsides of less liturgical worship styles is that we can miss out on some of those shared confessions and creeds that we declare together. As we look at our text, that is one of the beauties of what we are going to see. Paul is going to bring our attention to things that we are to believe together as a redeemed family of God, as well as things we are to reject.
Here is our road map: we are going to finish chapter 3 and discuss the things that we hold to be true as a body of believers. Then in chapter 4, verses 1 through 5, we are going to look at the things we collectively reject—heresies of Paul’s day that we still reject two thousand years later.
The Household of God and the Pillar of Truth
Let’s begin in 1 Timothy chapter 3, starting in verse 14:
1 Timothy 3:14-15 (NASB)
I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; but in case I am delayed, [I write] so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.
Paul lays out his purpose for writing the entire letter. He tells Timothy, “I’m writing these things so that, in case I’m delayed, you know how to handle the affairs of the church.” This includes practical instructions from previous chapters—how men and women operate in the church, the qualifications for elders and deacons, and dealing with false teachers in Ephesus—as well as instructions moving forward.
Paul shows us that the church functions best when it operates according to God’s design, just like a human body. When an arm is an arm and a finger is a finger, the body works. Notice that Paul describes the church in three distinct ways in these verses.
First, he mentions that we are a family: the household of God. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been to my family reunions. I’ve got crazy aunts, drunk uncles, and wild cousins. But we are family. It is the same at The Well and across the universal body of Christ. Brad, our senior pastor, recently talked about the difference between a cruise ship mentality and a battleship mentality. Within God’s family, we have privileged roles and responsibilities. In the Sladen household, we all have chores. When someone decides they don’t want to take out the trash or clean up the dog poop, it affects the rest of the house. We all have a calling within the household of God.
Second, we are a people called out of darkness: the church of the living God. We are a redeemed people gathered under the headship of God. We do not worship a dead, powerless deity like the false gods of Ephesus. Our God defeated death and is very much alive. Together, we share a common story of redemption. That is what unites us as this big, sometimes dysfunctional, but wonderful family.
Third, we are a people who herald truth: the pillar and support of the truth. If you look at those architectural terms—pillar and support, or foundation—they represent the vital elements of a building. The foundation withstands the entire weight of the structure. The church can boldly stand because it is built on the foundation of truth. Meanwhile, the pillars rise up to uphold, exalt, and display that truth. The church exists to protect and promote the truth.
In our culture, absolute truth is often treated like a bad word. But as Paul pointed out, there is a plumb line sourced in God. Jesus declared in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” The church does not determine truth; we declare the truth that God has already established.
John 14:6 (NASB)
Jesus said to him, ’I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
The Common Confession
In verse 16, Paul points to a common declaration that binds us together by quoting an early Christian hymn or creed:
1 Timothy 3:16 (NASB)
By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.
Paul begins by noting our “common confession.” The word creed comes from the Latin credo, meaning “I believe.” A creed allows a body of believers to declare together, “This is the truth we hold in common.”
Throughout church history, creeds have affirmed our unity in Christ. In the early centuries, the church formed the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed to clarify what Scripture teaches about God and the deity of Christ in the face of rising heresies. Verse 16 gives us one of the earliest creeds of the Christian church, focusing on the person and work of Jesus.
Paul calls it the “mystery of godliness.” In the New Testament, mystery refers to God’s redemptive plan unveiled in Christ and worked out in the church age. Look at what this creed affirms about Jesus:
He was revealed in the flesh. This points to the preexistence and incarnation of Jesus. He existed eternally with the Father before taking on human flesh.
He was vindicated in the Spirit. This refers to Jesus’ resurrection. Sin and death could not hold Him down; the Holy Spirit raised Him from the dead.
He was seen by angels. Creation’s angelic realm witnessed His victory and exalted the risen Lord.
He was proclaimed among the nations. The message of the gospel is not confined to one culture; it goes out to the entire world for all times.
He was believed on in the world. Jesus is God’s redemptive plan for humanity, and throughout history, people have placed their faith in Him.
He was taken up in glory. This speaks to Christ’s ascension. Today, He sits exalted at the right hand of God the Father.
This is what the early church confessed: Jesus is eternal, incarnate, sinless, crucified, resurrected, and ascended. He is the only Redeemer for humanity. When we read these words today, we are declaring the exact same truths that believers declared two thousand years ago. That is a beautiful picture of the continuity of the body of Christ.
Rejecting Deceitful Doctrines
Having established what we hold to, Paul shifts in chapter 4 to what we must reject. He reminds Timothy of his pastoral calling to guard the flock against strange doctrines:
1 Timothy 4:1-2 (NASB)
But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron,
Paul warns that some will depart from the faith by following deceitful spirits and demonic teachings. Every lie that opposes the truth of the gospel—whether found in secularism, mysticism, or other world religions—is ultimately rooted in demonic deception. Jesus is not simply one spoke on a religious wheel that leads to the same place. Any teaching that diminishes Christ undermines the gospel.
Paul explains that these teachings are spread by hypocritical liars whose consciences are seared as with a hot iron. Genuine faith leads to a clean conscience and godly conduct. But when people repeatedly harden their hearts against God’s truth, their moral sensitivity is deadened, and their behavior follows their distorted beliefs.
In Ephesus, this distortion showed up in specific ways:
1 Timothy 4:3 (NASB)
[men] who forbid marriage [and advocate] abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.
These teachers were forbidding marriage and commanding abstinence from certain foods. This was an early form of Gnosticism, which promoted a radical dualism: the spiritual realm is good, but the physical, material world is inherently evil.
In the ancient world, Gnosticism generally led people down one of two paths: licentiousness or legalism. Some taught that since the body is evil and only the spirit matters, you can indulge every physical desire without moral consequence. Others took the opposite route—legalistic asceticism. They argued that to be truly spiritual, you must deny the physical body by abstaining from marital intimacy and certain foods. This second group is what Paul was directly confronting.
Created Good and Received with Gratitude
Paul firmly refutes this ascetic mindset by returning to the Word of God:
1 Timothy 4:4-5 (NASB)
For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.
Paul goes all the way back to Genesis. When God created the physical world—the trees, the oceans, the animals—He declared after each day that it was good. Physical creation is not inherently evil; it is God’s handiwork.
Consider marriage. In Genesis 2:18, God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone,” and He created a helper suitable for him. In Ephesians 5, Paul shows that marriage is a profound picture of Christ and the church. Marriage is not evil; it is a sacred gift.
Genesis 2:18 (NASB)
Then the LORD God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.’
Consider food. In Genesis 2, God caused every tree pleasing to the eye and good for food to grow. In Genesis 9, God gave animals for food. And in Acts 10, God told Peter in a vision to rise, kill, and eat, declaring all foods clean.
God created these tangible gifts for our enjoyment. As 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, whether you eat or drink, do it all to the glory of God. Enjoy a great steak, enjoy a glass of wine, and enjoy God’s good gifts—without letting them become idols, and without falling into gluttony or drunkenness. Paul demolishes false teaching by using the plumb line of Scripture and prayer.
1 Corinthians 10:31 (NASB)
Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Three Dangerous Traps: License, Legalism, and Moralism
While we may not face first-century Gnosticism in the exact same way today, the core distortions of the gospel remain identical. We continually wrestle with three primary traps:
1. Licentiousness (License)
License claims, “Since God’s grace covers all my sin, it doesn’t matter how I live.” People take Galatians 5:1—“It was for freedom that Christ set us free”—and use it as an excuse for compromise. They wonder, Does God really care about my language, what I watch, or how much I drink?
Galatians 5:1 (NASB)
It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.
This mindset fundamentally misunderstands Christian freedom. We were not freed so that we could indulge the flesh; we were freed from sin to serve a new Master. Paul writes in Romans 6:1-2, “Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?”
Romans 6:1-2 (NASB)
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?
My middle daughter recently finished her freshman year at Grand Canyon University. When she lived at home as an eighteen-year-old, she had house rules she followed out of duty to our household. In college, she has lived independently. When she comes home for the summer, our relationship has matured. If I treat her like a five-year-old, issuing demands, obedience becomes an irritated chore. But when she honors the family out of love and maturity, obedience flows from delight, not mere duty.
For the believer, obedience is not a “have-to”; it is a “get-to.” We obey out of delight for what Christ has done for us.
2. Legalism
Legalism is the belief that we must perform certain actions or abstain from certain things to earn God’s favor. It says, “I need Jesus, plus my own performance.”
Legalism operates on deficit thinking. It imagines our standing with God on a scale from negative ten to positive ten, assuming we start every morning at zero. If we read our Bible, we think we move up to a six. But if we lose our temper in traffic, we feel like we dropped to negative seven.
That is completely contrary to the gospel. Through the finished work of Christ, you start every day at a ten. When you spend time in the Word, your standing is a ten; when you stumble and need to repent, your standing in Christ is still a ten. Your daily performance does not dictate the Father’s love for you. You are already an adopted son or daughter of the King, seated with Christ in the heavenly places.
Legalism also manifests in imposing our personal convictions onto others. If you have a personal conviction to abstain from something, walk that out in faithfulness before the Lord. But when you demand that everyone else adopt your personal conviction as a standard of holiness, you are placing unbiblical chains on others.
3. Moralism
Perhaps the most subtle and destructive trap in the church is moralism. Moralism says, “I don’t really need a savior because I am a good person.”
We see this in the older brother from the parable of the prodigal son. The younger brother’s sins were obvious to everyone—he squandered his life in wild living and ended up in a pigpen. But the older brother was in an equally dangerous position. He believed his external rule-keeping earned his father’s love, breeding deep self-righteousness and contempt for his brother.
A few years ago, my wife asked me to smoke the Thanksgiving turkey on the barbecue grill. I took it out of the freezer, prepped it, and put it on the grill. Two hours later, I checked on it. The outside was golden brown—it looked like something straight out of a cooking magazine. I proudly brought it inside and told my wife it was finished. She looked skeptical, grabbed a meat thermometer, and stuck it into the center. The outside was cooked to perfection, but the inside was still completely frozen.
That is the moralist. On the outside, everything looks clean, respectable, and put-together. But on the inside, the heart remains cold and self-reliant.
Anchored in Christ Alone
License, legalism, and moralism all dismantle the gospel because they declare that Jesus is not enough. They either treat His grace as a license for sin, add human effort to His finished work, or bypass the need for His cross altogether.
The remedy for all three is returning to the plumb line of God’s Word and prayer. God’s truth has not shifted with cultural trends, technological advancements, or human philosophies. What He declared through His apostles remains the eternal standard for His church.
May we be a family of believers that exalts Jesus above all else. Let us be a people who hold fast to our common confession, receive God’s good gifts with gratitude, and rest completely in the sufficiency of Christ. Let us align our lives with the Word of God together.
Let’s pray.
Father, we thank You for Your Word and for the timeless truths that anchor our lives. We confess that we are prone to drift into license, legalism, and self-righteous moralism. Bring our hearts back to the purity and sufficiency of the gospel. Thank You for the gift of Your Son, Jesus—revealed in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, and exalted in glory. Help us to live as Your household, heralding Your truth to the world with love and conviction. In Jesus’ name, Amen.