Truth – Three Minute Bible

August 25, 2026August 24, 2026

1 Timothy 6:21 – The Rock

… which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith.

Summary: Paul’s closing thought is a doozy. Somewhere there is an invisible line which, once crossed, means we have departed from the faith.

Let’s begin with a review of Paul’s closing paragraph:

“Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith.” (1 Timothy 6:20-21)

1. Guard what has been entrusted to your care — the truth.

2. Turn your back on false claims of truth.

3. Because some have not and ended up leaving the faith.

This closing thought in Paul’s letter is one that has terrified church leaders for centuries. They are haunted by the question, “How can I make sure my flock never strays from the truth?” In order to answer that question, the church, over the years, has systematized and clarified the Gospel over and over again. We want to make certain that the truth is clear and that people know it.

Our understanding of “truth” has shifted, and nobody noticed.

Paul’s understanding of the Gospel is not about Jesus Christ; it is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the truth (John 14:6).

Here is the scary part:

We can drift away from the truth and not realize it. Like a boat that slips its mooring lines in the middle of the night, we drift into the night fog without noticing the change. It is only when the sun rises, burns off the fog, and shows us the truth that we realize land is no longer in sight.

The same is true for faith.

Over the centuries since Paul’s day, the church has established theologies and rules. We have to believe in words about Jesus to be saved rather than believing in Jesus.

The shift has been subtle—impossible to notice, but it is real. That is why Paul is so concerned about guarding the truth.

How do we know the difference between true knowledge and false knowledge? The answer isn’t intellectual assent. Believing something is true doesn’t make it so. Truth is true because it is real.

You don’t need a book about rocks to recognize a rock when you feel one. It is hard, cold, and heavy. Big or little, wet or dry, polished or rough—a rock is a rock. We know it, not when we see it, but when we make contact with it.

Have you ever seen one of those fake rocks used to hide a key in the yard? Have you seen displays in a museum or a zoo where the rocks look real but sound hollow and feel like fiberglass?

You know what the truth is when you touch it, or it touches you. Jesus is the truth. Turn away from false knowledge.

Application: Know Jesus.

Food for Thought: Where is the line between truth and false knowledge?

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August 24, 2026August 23, 2026

1 Timothy 6:20b – Knowing Truth

Picture of an explosion in a rock quarry (Grok)

Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge…

Summary: Paul’s instruction to Timothy is unbending.

This passage is dynamite.

The question that jumps out at us like a blast from a rock quarry is, “What is falsely called knowledge?”

Paul clearly has knowledge of the truth. We have seen it throughout his letter. In his opening sentence, he points to “God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope” (1 Timothy 1:1). A few verses later, he reminds us that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…” and that we should “believe in him and receive eternal life” (1 Timothy 1:15-16).

A little while later, he mentions that God wants “all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth,” and then he continues with “there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people” (1 Timothy 2:3-6).

So what does it mean to come to a “knowledge of the truth”? After all, isn’t that what Paul is warning us against—that which is “falsely called knowledge”?

When Jesus worked his first miracle at a wedding in Cana, he changed water into wine (John 2:1-10). But he didn’t just change water into wine—he changed it into the very best wine. How do we know? We know because the ‘master of the banquet’ tasted it, and he had knowledge of both ordinary wine and very good wine.

The same is true for the Gospel.

We know the truth because Paul and others have testified to the truth in the Bible. Paul himself reminds Timothy of this truth almost a dozen times in this letter alone. Why would Timothy listen to “godless chatter” and “opposing ideas”?

The answer is that we don’t know. Perhaps Timothy, as young as he was, was being buffaloed by older men who claimed to know things that were not true. Maybe Timothy was being gentle as Paul had demanded of overseers. Yet, Paul’s closing words are almost urgent: Don’t listen! Turn away!

That which is “falsely called knowledge” is a lie, and it is dangerous.

Application: Learn to tell the difference between knowing truth and false knowledge.

Food for Thought: What sets the truth apart from the other things we talk about?

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August 22, 2026August 21, 2026

1 Timothy 6:20a – Two Questions

Image: A young man contemplates guarding the truth (Grok)

Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care.

Summary: Paul’s instruction to Timothy in this passage leaves us with a bit of a puzzle.

When I read Paul’s closing words to Timothy, my mind has two simple questions:

1. What has been entrusted to Timothy’s care?

2. What is Timothy to guard against?

While it is tempting to generalize a response to these questions, they are worth taking a few moments to think about before we answer.

What has been entrusted to Timothy’s care? Is Paul referring to the instructions he has given Timothy in this letter? Is he referring to the people Timothy serves in Ephesus? Is he talking about something else?

One other possibility has to do with the “good confession” both Timothy and Jesus made. Paul does not tell us what words Timothy spoke when he made his good confession, but we do have a clue in Jesus’ case: Jesus made his good confession before Pilate.

What did Jesus say?

“You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” (John 18:37)

Ah, yes. Before Pilate, the Roman Governor of Judea, Jesus did not deny being a king. Instead, he simply stated that he came to testify to the truth.

What truth was that?

“Whoever believes in him [God’s Son, Jesus] is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:18)

That is a hard truth to hear for a lot of people. It certainly was for the Pharisees who plotted to kill Jesus. As far as Pilate was concerned, “What is truth?” (John 18:38)

Which brings us to the second question: What is Timothy to guard against?

Perhaps the answer is as simple as one little word: Lies. Especially lies about the Gospel.

Application: Always trust Jesus.

Food for Thought: Who decides what the truth is?

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July 22, 2026July 19, 2026

1 Timothy 6:5b – On Guard

Picture of a soldier on guard at a doorway (Grok)

… people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth…

Summary: No one likes the idea of being robbed, but what if what the robbers took was worth more than all the money in the world?

“Help! I’ve been robbed!!”

“Oh — wait. I let it happen…”

Paul’s statement that some people have been “robbed of the truth” is thought-provoking. How do you “rob” someone of the truth?

Does someone sneak into your mind at night and find where you have hidden the truth and then take it?

The human mind is a funny thing. It is a bit like a leaky bucket. People are always putting things into our minds, wagging their finger at us, and sternly warning, “Now remember what I told you!”

Sometimes, instead of waiting for whatever they put in our minds to leak out, we just toss it as soon as they are out of sight. We know what we like, and we know what we don’t like.

Unfortunately, hanging on to the truth is hard.

One reason is our tendency to forget. Those are the “leaks” we were talking about. Another is that when people come along and start pouring words in our ears, it messes with our thinking. Certain words are especially effective at stirring our mental pot and making it hard to hang on to the truth.

The Good News for believers is that we have the Holy Spirit. Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit will help us stay grounded in the truth:

”But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26)

For those who are unwilling or unable to listen to the Holy Spirit, the truth is sometimes pushed out by other “truths” that people claim are real.

I’m not suggesting that people who are easily confused are rejected by God. We are, after all, his sheep (John 10:14). But confusion about the truth can render us ineffective in our work for the Body of Christ. That is why it is important for believers to read the Bible every day; we need to stay grounded in the truth.

Application: Read your Bible every day.

Food for Thought: How do you know what the truth is, and how do you guard against losing it?

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July 20, 2026July 19, 2026

1 Timothy 6:4f – Evil Suspicions

Prescription bottle labeled "TRUTH."
(Grok)

They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in … evil suspicions…

Summary: It turns out that we have to be careful to avoid evil suspicions about what Paul’s phrase means.

Okay, I have to admit that when I first read this verse, the phrase “evil suspicions” caught my attention. I immediately wondered what an “evil suspicion” could be, and then my imagination fired up, and all sorts of “evil” thoughts came to mind.

As we often do in these meditations, after my first flurry of guesses at what “evil suspicion” might mean, I turned to the original Greek to see what Paul had actually said.

As it turns out, the meaning is a bit more nuanced than I had anticipated.

The first word, “evil,” is a translation of the Greek “poneros,” which means a ‘hurtful effect’ (Strong’s G4190). The word “evil” in English generally conveys a sense that something is immoral as well as harmful.

I mention this because it seems like “evil” is often associated with the word “bad,” but in fact it is a little more specific — it is “bad,” but in a way that is immoral, harmful, and involves causing pain.

The second word, “suspicion,” is also interesting when we look at the Greek.

Once again, the English word “suspicion” carries with it the connotation that something nefarious is afoot. The Greek version, not so much.

In Greek, the word “hyponoia” is defined as both suspicion and surmising. To surmise is to jump to a conclusion and assume your conclusion is true.

So let’s put the two words together again and see what we get. It sounds like “evil suspicions” are assumptions about others that cause pain and harm.

Now, the next question is, “How?” How do evil suspicions cause pain and harm?

The answer to that is subtle. We live in a world where things that can be measured objectively are considered “real,” and everything that can’t be measured is discounted as “in your mind.”

But things that are “in your mind” are real — to you.

This, I believe, is one of Satan’s principal tricks; he tries to subtly convince us that what he whispers in our ear isn’t “real.” But think of the damage he can do in our minds if we let him.

One “evil suspicion” can ruin a friendship forever. An “evil suspicion” can become gossip, and gossip can ruin a reputation. If evil suspicions can destroy friendships and reputations, they can destroy a church.

Do you see why Paul is insisting on strict adherence to his teachings?

Application: When evil suspicions hide in the mind, truth is the antidote.

Food for Thought: What is the difference between an ‘evil suspicion’ and a regular suspicion?

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May 19, 2026May 20, 2026

1 Timothy 4:7a – The Line

The picture illustrates the line that runs between Calvary and the Lake of Fire. We call it "Choice." — The picture illustrates the line that runs between Calvary and the Lake of Fire. We call it “Choice.”

Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales…

Summary: Paul’s challenge to avoid “godless myths and old wives’ tales” makes us wonder how we tell the difference between truth and fiction.

What is the difference between the truth and a “godless myth”?

May 18, 2026May 19, 2026

1 Timothy 4:6b – Spiritual Food

… nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed.

Summary: Nourishment is essential for healthy living. This is true for our faith as well as our bodies.

Good nourishment is essential for growth. This is true for house plants, garden vegetables, and people. People who don’t get proper nourishment struggle to survive, let alone grow.

May 9, 2026May 12, 2026

1 Timothy 4:1a – For or Against?

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith…

Summary: Paul’s statement about “later times” leads us to wonder what he means by “abandon the faith.”

Believe it or not, this passage is a troublemaker.

April 29, 2026April 30, 2026

1 Timothy 3:15b – Family Portrait

A portrait of God’s family. The picture frame is gold and ornate. The picture shows Jesus in the background, arms out, embracing his family. There is a holy glow emanating from him. The people in front of him are his family; all ages, all races. (Grok)

… God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.

Summary: God’s Word paints a picture connecting three things into one very important picture.

Personally, I enjoy the verses like this one. In this passage, Paul provides us with a definition. In fact, he provides us with three! He ties together three important points in a simple equation.

April 22, 2026April 23, 2026

1 Timothy 3:9 – The Eyes of Faith

They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience.

Summary: Paul’s reference to the “deep truths of the faith” and a “clear conscience” point to things that only the eyes of faith can see.

When we read Paul’s words, we are always looking through the lens of the translators who make it possible for us to read the Bible in English. Translating from Greek is not an easy task, and translators sometimes have to make hard choices when selecting their words.