A Gospel Person Who Keeps Faith and Conscience (1 Timothy 1)
Today, I will share the message under the title, “A Gospel person who keeps faith and conscience.”
First and Second Timothy are letters Paul wrote to Timothy, his true son in the faith.
Paul says, “Timothy, my son, fight the good fight according to the prophecies once made about you,” and especially emphasizes, “Keep faith and a good conscience.” In English, this is expressed as “holding on,” that is, holding fast to the very end. A true gospel person is one who does not let go but clings to faith and conscience to the end. Some have abandoned their conscience and, in the end, were shipwrecked regarding the faith. If you lose what is most important, you lose your life as well.
1️⃣ Keep away from false teachings
The reason Paul left Timothy in Ephesus was because of false teachers.
Some Jewish believers, fallen into legalism, were distorting the gospel and dragging people into different doctrines, endless genealogies, and disputes.
Even today, people often fall into teachings that blur the essence—boasting of knowledge, emotion-driven approaches, success-oriented faith, or prosperity gospel.
The true purpose of the gospel is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.
If you look into faith, at its core is love. If there is no love, one has not received the gospel.
Therefore, even Bible study is of no benefit if it does not lead to love. Many try to be teachers of the law and yet do not understand what they are saying.
2️⃣ Know why the Law was given
The Law is good, but it is for sinners.
It was given not for the righteous but to make sinners aware of their sin and lead them to repentance.
Those who have truly received the gospel must move beyond the Law into a life of love and grace.
The Law is like a mirror that makes you examine yourself and realize, “Without grace, I cannot stand.”
Why did the Lord take up the cross?
How great must our sin be that the Lord had to die?
When you hold firmly to this grace, you come to love rather than condemn.
3️⃣ A gospel person overflows with gratitude
Paul never forgot that he had blasphemed God and persecuted the church.
His apostleship was purely by grace.
So he was always thankful.
To say that grace overflows is to confess that God abundantly provided even amid lack.
The standard of faith is not how much you know but how grateful you are.
The deeper your gratitude, the larger your spiritual vessel.
Faith without gratitude is pride and mere formality.
When you acknowledge and confess yourself before the cross, the Holy Spirit gives you new strength daily.
4️⃣ Hold firmly to faith and conscience
Paul commands Timothy, “Hold firmly to faith and a good conscience.”
This is not optional; it is the way to live.
The most fearsome enemy is not outside but myself.
Pride, arrogance, deceit, and fleshly thinking—these are what trip us up.
When you kneel before the cross, darkness departs and the way opens.
Do not take even a small sin lightly.
A small sin that breaks the conscience becomes a reef that wrecks the ship of faith.
Even leaders like Hymenaeus and Alexander, if they abandon their conscience, will lose their faith.
They were eventually handed over to Satan. This is the most fearful outcome.
✅ Conclusion
A gospel person:
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has a pure heart,
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a good conscience, and
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a sincere faith.
They live by grace rather than condemnation, by gratitude rather than pride, and by conscience rather than mere form.
The Lord says:
“Hold firmly to faith and a good conscience.”
May we be gospel people who keep the truth, give thanks for grace, and live according to conscience in this deceitful age.
Prayer
Lord, keep us in the midst of the world’s false teachings.
Make us humble before the Law and give us faith that clings to grace.
Bless us to bear witness to the gospel with faith and a good conscience.
In Jesus Christ’s name we pray. Amen.
[Transcript]
I will speak under the title, “A gospel person who keeps faith and conscience.”
First and Second Timothy are letters Paul wrote to Timothy, his true son in the faith.
In verses 18 and 19, he says, “Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction so that you may fight the good fight according to the prophecies made about you.”
The “prophecies made about you” means the words Paul had always spoken.
Following the word that was thus testified, it means to fight the good fight by that word.
Then he says, “Have faith and a good conscience. Have faith and a good conscience.” In English, this uses the word “holding on,” so rather than merely “have a good conscience,” it means a person who keeps—who holds faith and conscience, holding on to the end.
A gospel person who holds on to faith and conscience to the end is precious.
Some have abandoned this conscience and, concerning the faith, have ultimately been shipwrecked.
If you miss what is best, you miss your whole life.
Therefore, to become a gospel person who keeps faith and conscience,
first, you must keep away from the false teachings of this world.
Today’s passage gives a strong warning about false teachings.
There is a reason Paul left Timothy in Ephesus—because of false teachers, those Jews who had converted to Christianity.
Because their attachment to the former Law was so rigid, they kept corrupting the gospel.
So he called them false teachers. They keep teaching other doctrines and become absorbed in endless genealogies. Jews, you know, are extremely particular about genealogy and tradition.
Even after receiving the gospel, they said the Law must still be kept. That sounds right, but it is wrong.
Such teaching brings no benefit to faith but only stirs up disputes.
What strengthens our faith is the gospel.
The Law is something we naturally keep as God’s children and as citizens of a nation.
To keep emphasizing the Law implies that there are far too many who are not keeping it.
People of that time were caught up in endless genealogies, boasting of knowledge, and arguments.
It’s similar today. Some try to turn Christianity into human philosophy; some add emotion; there is distorted gospel—success-oriented faith, prosperity faith, a self-centered gospel. They keep saying “gospel, gospel,” yet make it a means for their own benefit rather than the essence.
What is the purpose of the gospel? The true purpose of sound teaching is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.
You look into someone’s faith and say, “That person has great faith,” but when you go inside that faith, it is love.
That is true faith. If you go inside a person who claims to be a gospel person and find no love at all, that person has not received the gospel.
But when the gospel and the Word enter someone deeply, it all reveals itself as love.
Thus, the truth of the gospel builds us into people of love.
So Bible studies that do not focus on this are all useless and harmful; in the end they bring no benefit.
People fall into vain talk, trying to be teachers of the Law, yet they do not understand what they say or what they assert. They keep talking nonsense—words that seem right but are strange.
Second,
If the first way to keep faith and conscience is to keep away from the world’s false teachings,
the second is to know well why God gave the Law.
Why did God give us the Law?
Today’s passage speaks of the proper use of the Law. Why did God give the Law to Israel? We must understand that. The Law is good, but it was given for the lawless.
The Law truly is good, but it was given for the lawless.
Humans are sinners.
Sinners need the Law.
The Law was not given for the righteous but to make sinners aware of sin.
So until one repents, the Law is necessary. But once one truly repents before God and receives the gospel, one now lives by the gospel, and in fact, the Law is no longer needed. This is not abolishing the Law; rather, it is naturally kept—it is common sense.
What is more powerful than the Law? The power of love through the gospel.
By that love we move people; by faith we move people; by faith we please God; by love we move people. This is the essence of the gospel.
Do not use the Law as a poison to condemn others; use it as a mirror to examine yourself, and it becomes beneficial.
Instead of judging those who sin, say, “If not for God’s grace, I would fall just like that.”
Looking into the Law, say, “I am, by nature, a sinner who deserves hell.”
“And yet God gave me this gospel and allowed me to receive the Spirit’s abundant grace. I am so grateful. I am a sinner, and I need even more of Jesus’ grace.” That is the confession.
If you spread out the Law, it is all right and leads us on a good path.
But if you examine whether you truly keep it, you find that you do not.
That is why the Lord was crucified, and why faith is necessary. This faith has far greater power.
Yes, conscience has power, and the Law says “do this, don’t do that,” but far more is this: Jesus is the Christ—
Jesus, who died for me, the true Prophet who opened the way; the true Priest who resolved all sin and curse; the true King who broke the power of the kingdom of darkness—Jesus is the Christ. Entering into this faith has far greater power and strength.
Scripture lists catalogs of sins.
We need not enumerate them all here because we know them.
In those days, slavery was legal. Masters treated slaves without regard for their personhood and, from the position of “the powerful,” made the weak “the subordinate.”
They abused and exploited under the pretext that slavery was legitimate—this is that list.
But how should one who truly believes, a child of God, treat others?
With love, treating each person as a person; switching perspectives; comforting their hearts and helping them—that is powerful.
So, in those days there was exploitation using power relations, acts targeting minors, domination of slaves and the weak.
Therefore God gave the Law. But what surpasses the Law is this: “I am God’s child; He saved me.”
When you see people through faith and love, you become far more influential.
So be a gospel person who keeps faith and conscience. That is what moves many people.
Thus Paul told Timothy, “Do not be someone bound under the Law in the usual way. Stand firm in the grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ that I preached to you, and teach and help others with love. Then the Holy Spirit will help you, and you will draw many to the Lord; you will become a summit, a person of faith.”
Timothy held all this in his heart.
When we hold God’s Word, worship, and serve the church, that is when the chronic problems of the church are resolved. Is this not God’s amazing work?
All of this is beneficial to the blessed, glorious gospel of God.
Faith is beneficial; but if you go forward by the Law, you end up opposing the gospel.
So what must we be careful about? Always be cautious with “right words.”
I have seen that people hurt others while saying what is right.
If they say something wrong, we can point it out and not be misled;
but they speak “right words,” “gospel words,” and yet the content lacks love. That kills a person—kills them multiple times.
To avoid such a snare, we must be gospel people who keep faith and conscience.
If you go deep into the gospel, you find faith; and if you go deeper, you find love.
God has loved me so much; as you share that with others, all anxieties melt away.
If you live centered on yourself, no matter how “right” you are, you will be seized by darkness.
But with grace received from above—“Who am I? Christ saved me, such a sinner.”—when you are filled with that love, that love powerfully changes the other person.
Next, a gospel person who keeps faith and conscience
overflows with gratitude.
Paul’s testimony and gratitude appear in verse 12.
He always remembered grace and thanked God for the gospel.
He did not forget that he had once blasphemed God and persecuted Him.
You know, we have good things, but we must not carelessly forget our mistakes—otherwise we repeat them.
Who was I that I should be saved like this?
Though I was the very person who blasphemed and persecuted God, I received mercy and was called as an apostle.
When the Lord called me, there were no conditions; the risen Lord simply came to me.
So I was called, I was saved, and I became the Lord’s servant.
Then should not my life also extend grace and love unconditionally?
Jesus Christ came to save sinners; Paul confesses he is “the chief of sinners.”
Through this, he deeply sensed spiritually how patient God had been and how great His grace is. This is grace; ordinary people cannot realize this.
Though Paul had more knowledge than anyone, he did not cling to knowledge but to grace and mercy.
He says the Lord’s grace overflowed (v. 14).
Overflowing means it became so abundant that it spilled over.
We are usually lacking—life feels lacking—
but Paul says it was abundant: the Lord’s grace.
The path of faith does not end with knowledge; it abides in grace.
Abiding in grace is realizing, “If not for the Lord’s grace, I could not stand here.”
Would I even be alive to this day if not for grace?
Would we be alive until now if not for grace? Think about it.
Thus, the standard of faith is not how much I know but how much I give thanks.
Not how much I trained, how much Bible I read, how much I realized, but how much I thank God.
That gratitude is a person’s essence, weight, and vessel.
If one gives abundant thanks like Paul, that person is abundant and will have abundant blessing.
If gratitude is meager, the vessel is small. That must be broken.
To break it, there is no other way than to enter into and confess the faith that Jesus is the Christ.
“Lord, I am a cracked vessel. No matter how I look at it, my level makes no sense. Lord, break this and let me be immersed in the gospel of Jesus Christ; help me by the Holy Spirit.”
When you pray like that, strangely, your level changes.
All healing begins with acknowledgment—acknowledging by faith, confessing, and, when needed, openly confessing.
Paul says, “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful and appointed me to service. I was formerly a blasphemer, persecutor, and violent man.”
In my view, this is how unbelievers usually are—
but look how Paul expresses it: “I was a blasphemer and persecutor...” Many Jews were like this,
but his confession is not that of a generally awakened sinner;
standing before the bright light of the risen Christ and the gospel, seeing himself alone, he confessed he was a great sinner. That is the mark of the righteous.
“I am a sinner”—not said once but daily: “I am a sinner.”
Such a person is not a sinner but righteous—because there is grace, one realizes one’s sinfulness.
Daily kneeling before the cross, starting again and again from the cross—what answer does God give?
By the Holy Spirit, He grants the blessing of becoming newly revived by the power of the resurrection—again and again.
This does not come by cultivating another “way,” or by much study, or by the Law. It comes by entering the gospel.
Many think listening to many messages or much training is the answer—
but it is not training; it is entering the cross.
“Jesus is the Christ.” Why did He take the cross?
There you find the answer.
Why did the Lord have to be torn and shed blood and go through that process?
How great a sinner must I be before God’s holy justice that the Lord had to die?
It was for me.
When you realize this, within the cross you come to know God’s heart, the meaning of Christ, and you become soaked in the endlessly tender love of the Holy Spirit; then a new heart arises.
And the grace of the resurrection comes upon you daily—this is a mystery.
Finally, a gospel person who keeps faith and conscience obeys the command given to Timothy. What command?
“To my son in the faith—hold firmly to faith and a good conscience.”
As I said, “holding on.”
In English, Scripture says, “hold firmly.” You must grip it tightly.
Faith and a good conscience are not optional. For a saved child of God, the way to live is to hold firmly to faith and a good conscience.
This is a command—because it is that important.
Paul says, according to the prophecies made about you, keep faith and a good conscience and fight.
From that point on, you fight—to maintain a clear conscience.
You fight against injustice, against darkness, and against yourself.
The most familiar and persistent enemy is myself.
Other enemies are not scary, but this “self”—
Satan grips my pride so tightly and binds me by it. So this cannot be done by my strength.
Unless you come to the cross and kneel before Christ, Satan will never let go.
It is not that I give up on myself, but that I hand my life over fully to the Lord—
“Lord, I am a sinner.”
Then tears pour out before the cross, and darkness flees.
When darkness flees, you become sound; all worries disappear and everything opens.
And then you realize: “Lord, I thought it was because of circumstances, because of people, because of this and that—but it was because of me.”
“I am a sinner.” And you are newly set forth as God’s person.
“Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction—according to the prophecies once made about you, by them fight the good fight, holding faith and a good conscience.”
Why do we lose faith? Because we abandon conscience.
Those who lose faith have abandoned conscience.
A small sin that breaks the conscience is not small.
A small sin that breaks the conscience becomes a reef that ultimately wrecks the ship of faith.
That is exactly what happened with Hymenaeus and Alexander.
When they received the gospel, it was truly amazing, but they easily cast it away.
Hymenaeus and Alexander were leaders—church leaders.
They taught others, but they had already lost their own conscience and their faith.
Among leaders, there are many like this—
having lost inwardly both conscience and faith, yet teaching with their lips.
So people who are good talkers are truly at risk.
They are those who have abandoned faith and suffered shipwreck.
Paul mentions that he handed them over to God for discipline—this is the most fearful judgment: “I handed them over to God.”
In our spiritual life, the scariest punishment is when human words and efforts no longer avail and one is “left to God.”
It sounds good, but in truth it is terrifying.
Friends, do not earn the phrase “left to God” in that sense—rather, listen well to the visible servants of the Lord. That is the best shortcut.
Paul says that because the two opposed the truth and harmed the church, they were even “handed over to Satan.”
Handed over to Satan—
that is a curse.
We must not be handed over to Satan. Even if we fall into temptation, we must be held in the Lord’s hand.
Isn’t that true of us as well? We need God’s grace.
If we are held by God’s grace, even if we are within Satan’s snare, we will ultimately survive.
But if we lose God’s grace and are handed over to Satan, is that not the end?
Is that not the greatest curse in the world?
Why would Paul say such a thing?
That loving Paul—how angry and grieved he must have been!
Why? Because those disciples he had raised by the gospel were led astray and made to leave the gospel.
How could that not infuriate him? How frustrated he must have been!
This is truly a fearful disease.
Therefore, in conclusion, never take small sins lightly.
Because a small sin can seize a person completely.
When your heart is pricked, repent immediately—that is the way to live.
Do not hide sin; rather, bring it into the light and seek grace. “Please pray for me. Please help me.”
A gospel person has a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.
They must stand firmly on truth rather than falsehood, live by grace rather than condemnation, by gratitude rather than pride, and by basic conscience rather than mere form—then God’s grace will rest upon them.
The Lord clearly speaks to us:
“Hold firmly to faith and a good conscience.”
In this vain and ungrateful age, may you keep the true gospel, give thanks for grace, and live by conscience. I bless you in the name of the Lord.
Let us pray.
Lord, please keep me today from the world’s confusion and false teachings.
Make us humble before the Law and help us cling to grace.
Bless us to testify to the gospel with faith and a good conscience.
We thank You and pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.