The key to any kind of biblical exchange is not acquiescence to maintain peace but the pursuit of a “clear conscience.”

More often than not my attempts to get a hearty “amen” regarding what I would consider sound and settled biblical doctrine have been returned with a “perhaps” rather than a “preach it brother.” Then a litany of tangential thoughts and ideas are floated that sound interesting and credible, but are actually heretical if studied closely.

This was the problem at Ephesus. Apparently, from the beginning (1 Timothy 1:3-7) Paul  was dealing with “certain men” captivated by “strange doctrines” and “myths and endless genealogies” giving rise to “mere speculation” rather than “furthering the administration of God which is by faith.” What resulted was “fruitless discussion.”

Paul reminds his disciple Timothy of the goal of biblical instruction; “love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” Nevertheless, while our time should be spent at peace with one another, there are times when we must shoot down idle speculations (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Here’s the truth. The enemy loves to obfuscate, and he does so mainly with those who want to be teachers but “do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.”

The key to any kind of biblical exchange is not acquiescence to maintain peace but the pursuit of a “clear conscience.”

Paul goes on to say that those who fail to maintain a clear conscience regarding sound teaching risk “shipwreck in regard to their faith” (1 Timothy 1:19).

The apostle was all too well acquainted with jagged rocks in uncharted waters, and we should be too!