1 Timothy 6: Misc. Guidance teaching

• v.1-2 Employees
• v.3-10 How to spot False Teachers and avoiding the love of money
• v.11-21 A Variety of Instructions to Timothy

[Chapter 6 Synopsis: Ensuring workers hold right attitudes, rejecting false teachers and their deceptive teaching and running after affluence, and go with the goals of a good leader.]

v.1-2 Employees

[Passage Synopsis: Honour and respect employers.)

v.1 All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God’s name and our teaching may not be slandered.

v.2 Those who have believing masters should not show them disrespect just because they are fellow believers. Instead, they should serve them even better because their masters are dear to them as fellow believers and are devoted to the welfare of their slaves.

These are the things you are to teach and insist on.

[Note: Employees are to respect employers for Gods name’s sake. Even if you know them well, do it.]

v.3-10 How to spot False Teachers and avoiding the love of money

[Passage Synopsis: Beware teachers who do not follow sound doctrine and who are more concerned with financial gain.]

v.3-5 If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.

v.6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.

v.7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.

v.8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

v.9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

v.10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

[Note: Beware any teacher who teaches anything contrary to our teaching and who seeks controversies. Aim for contented godliness for you can’t take wealth with you when you die, be content with the essentials. Yearning to get rich breeds trouble and putting seeking money first will lead you astray.]

v.11-21 A Variety of Instructions to Timothy 

[Passage Synopsis: A number of goals set before Timothy.]

v.11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.

• [negatively] flee evil and seeking after money
• [positively] pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness

v.12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

• fight for and with faith
• apprehend the reality of eternal life that we experience now

v.13 In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge

v.14 you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,

v.15 which God will bring about in his own time – God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords,

• God who is unique, holy
• God who is supreme, ruler over all things

v.16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might for ever. Amen.

• God who lives for ever
• God who is gloriously out of our sight

v.17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

• [negatively] instruct the affluent not to be arrogant or trust their wealth
• [positively] put their hope in God

v.18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.

• command them to do good, and be generous

v.19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

v.20,21 Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith.

• [positively] guard your ministry
• [negatively] avoid meaningless chatter and pointless debate

Grace be with you all.   

[Note: Leave the bad in the past, aim for the good today. Work hard for the faith and for eternal life and a good testimony before God. Teach the well-off to trust in God and make sure their goal is to do good. Good works are the real treasure of the eternal kingdom. Timothy, hold fast your faith and calling.]

For those who may wish to make a study of this chapter, to perhaps think some more about what you have been reading, use the link below: