Survey of the Letters of Paul:  1 Timothy 1:7

1 Timothy 1:7
Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.

Desiring to be teachers of the law - That is, to have the credit and reputation of being well versed in the law of Moses, and qualified to explain it to others. This was a high honor among the Jews, and these teachers laid claim to the same distinction. ~Barnes Notes

Teachers of the law - To be esteemed or celebrated as rabbins; to be reputed cunning in solving knotty questions and enigmas, which answered no end to true religion. Of such the rabbinical teaching was full. ~Adam Clarke

Teachers of the law - There are none more unlearned, and more impudent in usurping the name of holiness, than foolish babblers, who reason fallaciously. ~Geneva Bible Translation Notes

Desiring to be teachers of the law - They were very fond of being called Rabbi, Rabbi, and styled doctors of the law, and of being thought to have skill in interpreting the law, and good talents in expounding it, and preaching upon it; which was now most in vogue, and gained the greatest applause, when the preaching of the Gospel was treated with contempt, not only by the unbelieving Jews, but by judaizing Christians, and carnal professors, ~John Gill

Now some examples of this from related scriptures.

Acts 15:1
And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.

Galatians 3:1-5
1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.
5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

Galatians 4:21
Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?

Galatians 5:3-4
3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

Related to Galatians 5:3-4 is Romans 3:20

Romans 3:20
Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Titus 1:10-11
10 For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:
11 Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake.

Now the second part of the verse: "understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm."

Understanding neither what they say - That is, they do not understand the true nature and design of that law which they attempt to explain to others. This was true of the Jewish teachers, and equally so of those in the church at Ephesus, who attempted to explain it. They appear to have explained the law on the principles which commonly prevailed among the Jews, and hence their instructions tended greatly to corrupt the faith of the gospel. They made affirmations of what they knew nothing of, and though they made confident observations, yet they often pertained to things about which they had no knowledge. One needs only a slight acquaintance with the manner of teaching among Jewish rabbies, or with the things found in their traditions, to see the accuracy of this statement of the apostle. A sufficient illustration of this may be found in Allen’s “Modern Judaism.” ~Barnes Notes

Understanding neither what they say - This is evident from almost all the Jewish comments which yet remain. Things are asserted which are either false or dubious; words, the import of which they did not understand, were brought to illustrate them: so that it may be said, They understand not what they say, nor whereof they affirm. I will give one instance from the Jerusalem Targum, on Genesis 1:15 : And God made two great lights, and they were equal in splendor twenty-one years, the six hundred and seventy-second part of an hour excepted: and afterwards the moon brought a false accusation against the sun, and therefore she was lessened; and God made the sun the greater light to superintend the day, etc. I could produce a thousand of a similar complexion. ~Adam Clarke

Understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm - they did not understand the law, the nature and end, the purity and spirituality, and perfection of it, which they were so fond of teaching, and went into many foolish and unlearned questions about it; see 2 Timothy 2:23, and which they as foolishly answered: these are the ignorant and unlearned men, who, notwithstanding their vain show of learning, and pretence to skill in interpreting the law, wrested the Scriptures to their own destruction, and that of others; they were ignorant of the things they talked of, and knew not by what arguments to confirm them, and yet were very bold and confident in their assertions: and generally speaking so it is, that those who can prove least assert most, and that with the greatest assurance. ~John Gill

Now the verses related to this second half of the verse:

1 Timothy 6:4-5
4 He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,
5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

Isaiah 29:13-14
13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.

Jeremiah 8:8-9
8 How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain.
9 The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them?

Matthew 15:14 ...speaking of the Pharisees
Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

Matthew 23:16-24
16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.
22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.
23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

John 3:9-10
9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?
10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?

John 9:40-41
40 And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

Romans 1:22
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

2 Timothy 3:7
Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Summation:

Both then and now will come individuals in the congregation who will seek power or desire position, accolades and/or money.  To do this, they will devise their own teachings, doctrines and slick presentations.  Since such work is not of the Holy Spirit or by its power, they will be seen by true firstfruits as being false teachers.  For these types to proceed, they must be self-serving, seeing that nothing will come to them by the hand of God.  I have a short piece on this in the Minister's Notebook and I want to share this with you here.

Self-Promotion in God's Church?

Let’s get to the heart of this immediately. There is no room in God’s church for self-promotion! Self-promotion is one person attempting to impress another and/or to further his own agenda. It is a quest for preeminence in the congregation. This ultimately fails on all counts.

Could one gain preeminence with an entire military army by appealing to its lowest privates and sergeants? This is what a person is doing by self-promoting himself among humans in God’s Church. This is God’s Church, created and administered by Him through Christ. Self-promotion does not work with God. Both Christ and the apostle Paul condemn those that self-promote themselves.

The act of self-promotion is linked directly to the element of lying in the church [see Minister’s Notebook on Lying in the Church]. The Pharisees continually sought the preeminence and were charged by Jesus as being hypocrites, which is to say “actors” or liars. In my Bible dictionary, for the definition of “lie” I read, “…for a life lived under false pretenses, a hypocritical life.”

One cannot lie about church related elements, including business, spiritual teachings, doctrines, or administration. Ananias and Sapphira did and died, losing their salvation. They were not just lying before men, but before the Holy Spirit and, therefore God, the Father.

In the "self-promotion" or "self-serving attitude" we are talking about the church. Therefore, if such a thing were to happen, it is being done in the presence of the Holy Spirit and Christ, the Head of the Church. Unlike lying, this would not necessarily put such a person in danger of the lake of fire [losing one's salvation]. One can offer repentance. When one engages in self-promotion, it is an absolute given that this person has a poor relationship with God and the Word of God, which is the mind of that same God. He is looking for praise from MEN. In a recent Bible study I talked about the difference between the human and a spirit being, such as God or Christ. I liken the human to a penny. I liken a spirit being to a Google dollars. That is the numeral one followed by one-hundred zeros. In fact, I say that, compared to a penny [the human], a spirit being is likened to a Google dollars times a Google dollars times a Google dollars (say that for 3 full days). THEREFORE, when one engages in self-promotion, he or she is appealing to the "penny" in the church and denying the spirit beings (God and Christ) worth googles MORE. Such denial denotes gross quenching of that relationship.

There is no room for self-promotion in God's Church. The second it is done, the one doing it is proclaiming he or she lacks relationship with God. No self-promotion is worth having to face Christ on this charge, which He would surely bring if not repented of.

The Self-Serving Attitude
The self-serving attitude, which is actually “self promotion” taken a step further, the individual actually attempts to DISPLACE normal church activities to do the self-promotion. This might include one attempting to manipulate events, such as having the local church change a date or time for his sermon or other such presentation. It might be an individual canceling one commitment so as to be at another location or with people that might help him further his personal agenda. This type of person shows a marked lack of interest or concerns for other people or their needs.

Promotion of Christ
Every time an outstanding sermon, sermonette or Bible Study is given, who gets the credit? Our doctrine on the ministry says God gets the credit and praise. After all, it was CHRIST in the speaker that performed the sermon, the sermonette and the Bible study. When the congregation has a most positive response to a sermon, sermonette or Bible study, how did THAT happen? Who gets the credit there? The best sermon in the world is MEANINGLESS if there is not someone with the Holy Spirit to hear and react (2 Cor. 2:14). Therefore, when a congregation has a positive reaction to a sermon or Bible study and takes action to have the minister back, they are REACTING TO CHRIST. They are exhibiting excited hunger for the Word of God. A minister in close relationship to God could hardly take credit for what he did.

In the case of any good sermon or Bible study, Christ gets the credit for speaking through the speaker and for inspiring the hearing of the firstfruits that heard it. Christ must be promoted. We must feed the flock and we must get real excited when something most effective happens.

Which one is the counterfeit?
The reality of life in the Body of Christ is that for everything good, Satan has a negative counterfeit? Some counterfeit money has been so good as to fool long time experts at the Treasury Department. There is a fine line of discernment between a self-serving attitude and someone showing boldness and excitement in and for the Work of God. The self-promoter is not sensitive to the congregation. The sincere individual is a servant of the congregation. The self-promoter puts himself in the light. The true firstfruit gives all praise to Christ and God, the Father. One is self-centered, the other Christ-centered. One speaks to his importance and position while the other speaks to the importance of the whole congregation. The self-promoter relies on his own talent, while the Christ-promoter puts full reliance in the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through him. Both stand before the throne of God. One will produce real lasting fruit and the other will not. One will have a slick presentation and the other will humbly let Christ speak for him. The deceitful works of the self-promoter will increase until he is fully exposed.

But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. –2 Tim 3:13-15

Your attitude
The question now is how are you going to react to this situation? I had a communication with a humble, sincere member the other day and he admitted to me that his knee-jerk reaction tended toward assuming the negative. That anyone acting in a bold manner was clearly a person full of himself and a self-promoter. My encouragement to him was to assume the best until such time as the self-promoter tips his or her hand. Negative behavior is always exposed in time as shown in the above scripture. Your admonition is to "continue in the things you have learned and been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them." Immerse yourself in the Word of God and you will easily see the self-promoter from the servant of the Almighty. God has words for those who attempt to serve both Him and the self…

He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him. And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. – Luke 16:10-15

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Paul is saying in verse 7 that several false teachers will arise but that there is no room in God's church or your individual Salvation Process for any of them.

See, "Era of Slick Arguments."

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