The apostle Paul had a purpose for his teaching …

In June of 2006, renowned investor Warren Buffet announced he would donate 85 percent of his then $44 billion fortune to five charitable foundations. In response to questions about his generosity, Buffet said, “There is more than one way to get to heaven, but this is a great way.”

Buffet may have had a goal (going to heaven), but the source for accomplishing it was off. Money can’t buy you happiness, and neither can it gain you access to heaven.

It’s important in life to have the right goals, but with them we must also have the correct source for accomplishing them. We’re given a great example of this from the apostle Paul in a letter he wrote to his young “son in the faith,” Timothy …

“The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith,” 1 Timothy 1:5.

Paul didn’t teach for superfluous reasons, he had a specific goal he wanted to accomplish from teaching the Word of God, and he’s succinct in identifying it: “The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love …”

God IS love. The greatest and second greatest commands are about loving God and loving others. Paul understood that his teaching had a specific objective … love!

It can be easy for church leaders to forget the need for a purpose for our teaching. The grind of preparing sermons and lessons week in and week out, with all the other demands of ministry, can sometimes result in our wandering away from keeping focused on a specific goal for our teaching — love!

Paul not only was clear about his goal, he identifies with simplicity how that goal could be achieved:

The goal: love.

The source: “… that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith.”

A “pure heart” is one that is free of selfish desires and evil passions. You cannot entertain both the love of God and the love of the world, and so James exhorts us, “Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world,” James 4:8. To truly and fully experience God’s love for us, and to love others with the love of God, we need a pure heart, something David cried out for: “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me,” Psalm 51:10.

A “clear conscience” is the result of our being forgiven of all our sins by God, having been born again …

“He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west,” Psalm 103:12.

“Let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water,” Hebrews 10:22.

The last item in the source for the love Paul aims for is “genuine faith.” Faith may finish Paul’s short list, but it certainly isn’t “least,” for without genuine faith there can be no good conscience; without this conscience, washed by the blood of Christ, there is no pure heart.

There is a purpose for our teaching: love. To attain that goal, we must have pure hearts, clear consciences, and genuine faith. If you don’t yet know this love from God, you can see how to attain it — from a genuine faith in Jesus Christ, surrendering your life fully to Him, letting Him cleanse your minds and hearts, giving you a clear conscience with God and man.

Scotty