Commandment here is the same word for charge in verse 3, except that here it is in the noun form (in verse 3 it was a verb). Obviously it refers to the same thing.
Why charge some? The end or goal of the charge is love. That is what we are hoping to accomplish by commanding people to hold to sound doctrine. Charging them will give them the best chance to experience love out of a pure heart. The scriptures are so practical. Doctrine isn't some worthless head knowledge. It's to change our lives for the better. If we really saw the value of God's Word we would be blown away at how much He wants to help us.
Many people will look at us as extremists when we hold people to good doctrine. They think we are somehow unloving and legalistic for taking good doctrine as seriously as this. But who is unloving? This verse tells us they are unloving- not us. They will try to put guilt trips on us, but it is they who don't experience real love. They think love is compromising in order to avoid conflict. Love sometimes brings about conflict, because love tells people what they need to hear even when they don't want to hear it. Love seeks the best for others. Remember this verse when someone tries to make you feel guilty about standing for good doctrine. Bad doctrine is a big deal.
At the same time, we desperately need to make sure our goal is love, as opposed to showing off how smart we are. We need to be caring about people's best interests, which is exactly what charging them can do. It is the help they need. If we hold to God's Word (with the right attitude ourselves) we will be helping them. Many people, including religious people, will become angry, and think we are being picky or unreasonable to hold totally to God's Word. But they are not seeing the proper value of listening to the One who really knows what's best for us. They are the ones off track- not us.
At some point in our life, most every one of us has been told to do something a certain way, and we thought we were not being told the best way to do it. We may have known a better way. But when it comes to God telling us how to do something, we need to listen to Him and do exactly what He says. He isn't like a man who is wrong sometimes. We need to recognize that He knows way more than we do. Otherwise we are like the foolish child who thinks he knows better than mommy does, only to find out the hard way that it's not good to touch a hot stove.
These people have missed it. They are holding to something other than God's Word. They don't have the good qualities mentioned here when they have bad doctrine. We want everyone to experience these things (below), therefore we need to charge those who teach otherwise.
Love: True love exists only when these three qualities are present. We only have these qualities when we want to obey God in every area of our life. A pure heart (they are allowing impurities in) and a good conscience (theirs is messed up) and of faith unfeigned (they are walking in fake faith).
Pure heart: Good doctrine shows us the real state of our heart so we can deal with it. It shows us how we are missing it so we can change. Most people judge the Word of God, and make it conform to what they think. A pure heart realizes that the Word judges us, and makes any and all changes to line up with what God wants.
Who shall see God? Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. To see God we need a pure heart. So how is our heart made pure? This passage tells us it is made pure by submitting to good doctrine. Seeing God for who He is and having a pure heart comes only from us aligning ourselves to God's Word.
When two people fall in love, they listen to what the other person has to say. Let our heart be pure in front of God and listen to everything He has to say. That is love out of a pure heart. Let's not tell Him to shut up at certain parts of His Word (for that is not love).
Good conscience: following good doctrine reassures us that we are doing the right thing. There is freedom in knowing we are obeying God, which comes from adhering to good doctrine. It ministers peace between God and us. Cutting corners, or not knowing what He wants, messes up our conscience. It's great to have a good conscience when the boss walks in, and we experience that by adhering to what He says. Don't ignore and overlook things and just hope it all works out in the end. That's the bondage of a bad conscience. It makes us feel bad and clouds up our vision.
Before I was saved I lived for the pleasures of sin. In the process, I broke a lot of laws (like being on drugs). I was always looking out for policemen, so I could avoid them. I was afraid I would get caught doing something wrong. Having been on both sides, I want to tell you that the pleasures of sin, at the expense of my conscious, was nothing compared to experiencing a clear conscience in the sight of God. We don't have to hide in the bushes like Adam. We can experience free and open fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ! Freedom is so much better than paranoia. Real love is free from fear and hiding, and God wants us to be free to serve Him with a good conscience.
Faith that isn't faked: When we lean on our own understanding, we're faking it, trying to convince ourselves that we're trusting in God. If we aren't willing to obey God in all things, then neither our faith nor our love is real. Loving God is to trust Him. Trust says “everything you say, Lord, is absolutely true; I will obey you." If we're making excuses to not follow a certain “small" doctrine, then we are faking it. If we hear and receive all of God's Word, then we can have a confidence that will stand even in His presence! We must allow Him to be God in every area of our life, while we die to ourselves.
Fake faith shows itself when we're not honest. If someone asks us how we are doing, for example, we ought to answer honestly. If we say we're doing good when we're really not then we're putting up a fake, which is acting in a bad conscience, which is not from a pure heart. Yuck!
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Having clear goals has been proven to help people achieve success. Goals help us in our day to day decisions, because we can test each decision against our goal, to see if something is really helping us attain our desire. For example, if our goal is to save $300 for a suit of clothes, it can help us choose to eat at home more until we are able to buy the suit. The goal or purpose for commanding people to follow good doctrine is to help them experience love. Focusing on this goal will help us reach out to them the best way. They don't need to hear about our pet doctrines just because we like to talk about them. They need to experience God's love!
Should we ever bring up controversial issues that can cause division, since the goal is love? On the one hand we should never argue with people just for the fun of it. On the other hand, if we use this verse to avoid controversy we are going totally against the context. It boils down to loving our neighbor as ourselves, and helping them with bad doctrine is part of that.