Chapter # 5 Paragraph # 2 Study # 5
Lincolnton, NC
November 13, 2005

• I. The Issue(s) of Provision.
  • A. In 6:8 Paul commanded "contentment" on the basis of food and covering.
  • B. There can be, therefore, no "fault" in provision of "only" food and covering.
    • 1. A person has met the requirement of the "faith" when his labors provide food and covering for his "own". There is, obviously, a huge gamut of "definitions" of what is considered "food" and what is considered "covering". There are, consequently, no hard and fast "biblical definitions" for these items.
      • a. The word "provide" comes out of the issue of "thinking ahead" and being wise enough to make provisions for the eventualities.
      • b. Obviously this introduces a bit of the "tension" between "living in the present and dealing with the evil of each day", and "anticipating the future and making provision for its inevitabilities."
    • 2. This is no basis for "stinginess", but it is a basis for an absence of "constraint" to attempt to provide "the good life" (how and who defines that??) for members of the household.
  • C. This question arises: if the "church" is restrained from providing for the selfish and sluggardly, what of the individual households?
    • 1. Sin is a real issue.
    • 2. What does one do with a "widow" that is a reprobate and totally selfish? What does one do with a "widow" who is somewhat less than the worst case scenario, but still makes life miserable for the household much of the time?
    • 3. What about those who put the elderly into nursing homes and never go to see them?
• II. The Definitions of One's "Own".
  • A. There is an apparent difference in Paul's thought.
    • 1. At first he addresses the fairly wide category of "one's own".
    • 2. Then he narrows the field to "chiefly" the members of one's household.
  • B. There is the reality that often the elderly want to be maintained in their "own" household.
    • 1. This is acceptable in some cases.
    • 2. This is not a necessity in most cases.
• III. The "Denial of the Faith".
  • A. How is the failure to "provide" for one's household a "denial" of the faith?
    • 1. This is a statement that goes to "roots".
      • a. There are multitudes of ways that people "deny the faith" (i.e., 1 Corinthians 10:13).
      • b. Why does Paul pick this one out of the "multitude"? (Perhaps he had Jesus' words of Mark 7:11 et. al. in mind)
      • c. James zeroes in on this particular issue in 1:27 also.
    • 2. The "faith" is all about being qualified for entrance into the servant-Kingdom; it is not at all about getting "fire insurance so the insurer has to pick up the tab when the fire has done its destructive worst."
  • B. What does it mean to be "worse" than one without "faith"?
    • 1. Hypocrisy is always worse than overt evil.
    • 2. The forms of evil are, like the forms of good, arranged in an order of value/valuelessness.