Summary:

The “charge” Paul is telling Timothy to keep is to “fight the good fight of the faith” (v.12). He reminded Timothy he professed he’d keep it “before many witnesses,” and now he reminds him God is watching to see if he’ll keep it too.

Knowing Timothy probably feared he might be killed for keeping Paul’s commandment, Paul reminds him that God “quickeneth all things.” But “all things” would include the living as well, who need quickening if they live in sin (Rom.8:11,13). Sin mortifies spiritual life to where it needs to wake up and rise from the “dead” (Eph.5:14), but fear can do the same thing (Ps. 119:25). The psalmist knew that quickening in such cases is done with the Word (cf.John6: 63). This quickening by the Word helped the psalmist keep God’s commandment (119:88), and being quickened by the Word could help Timothy keep His commandment as well.

Paul also reminded Timothy that the Lord Jesus Christ was watching him, the Lord who confessed a good confession before Pilate. The first thing the Lord confessed before Pilate was that He was Israel’s king (Mt.27:11). Paul cites this to remind Timothy that He was his king as well, and that he should keep His King’s commandment. The Lord said this to Pilate, who served the Roman emperor, and the emperors were known to kill rival kings (Mt.2:16). So Timothy could also learn from the Lord’s example to tell the truth even if it cost him his life. The Lord also confessed that His kingdom was not “now” of this world, so His servants wouldn’t fight to protect Him (Jo.18:35,36), teaching Timothy to similarly fight to keep the truth alive, not to fight to keep himself alive. The Lord also confessed He had been born to bear witness to the truth (John 18:37), reminding Timothy that he had been born again to bear witness to the truth. That was the Lord’s purpose in life. He fulfilled it, and now He’s watching to see if we’ll fulfill it.

Paul tells Timothy to keep the commandment “without spot,” i.e., flawlessly (Num.28:3 cf. I Pe.1:19). We can’t, every once in a while we’re going to drop the ball, but that should be our goal. You see, while not all spots are leprosy, all leprosy starts out as a spot (Lev.13:1,8). And not everyone who drops the ball about keeping the commandment to fight the good fight of the faith ends up in apostasy, but every apostate started down the road of apostasy by dropping the ball once. You might compare it to how Paul said to “pray without ceasing” (I Thes. 5:17) but the Lord ceased praying (Luke 11:1). It means never quit coming to God in prayer. And similarly, keeping Paul’s commandment without spot means to never stop fighting the good fight of the faith. If you drop the ball, pick it up and keep on running! That’s what it means to keep it “unrebukeable.” You don’t rebuke a man for dropping the ball once, but you rebuke him for quitting.

At the second coming, Christ will show He’s the only “Potentate,” meaning He’s more potent than the kings who will oppose Him in that day (Dan.2:44). The Greek word is dynastes, and dynasties are a succession of kings. The king of Babylon left his kingdom to the Medes when he died, who left theirs to the Greeks, who left theirs to the Romans, but Christ won’t leave His to others because He “only hath immortality” (v.16). Every other man on earth is capable of dying, but not the Lord (Rom. 6:9). But at the Rapture, He plans to give us immortality (ICor. 15:53).

The Christ “whom no man hath seen” is the Christ of judgment. John saw Him in a vision as one shining as the sun in his strength (Rev.1:12-17). Doesn’t that sound like One who dwells in the light that “no man can approach unto”? Can you approach the sun? Many people saw the Lord in humility, but no one has seen Him in judgment-yet!

Does “whom no man can see” mean no one will see the Lord when He comes in judgment? Only in the Exodus 33:20 sense; that is, no one can see Him in judgment and live. Remember, it says of Antichrist, “whom the Lord…shall destroy with the brightness of His coming” (ITh.2:8). Antichrist and all the people allied with him will try to approach the One who dwells in the light whom no man can approach unto, and it won’t end well for them. In the meantime, Christ is worthy to receive honor and power everlastingly (v.16) because He was slain for us (Rev.5:12).

Summary:

The “things” Paul tells Timothy to “flee” (v.11) are the things he just mentioned, the desire to be rich and the love of money (v.9,10). Timothy was a “man of God” like Moses (Deut.33:1) but even men of God weren’t perfect (IKi.13:26) and had to be told what to do, as here.

To “flee” means to run from danger, so these things must be as dangerous as fornication, which Paul also says to flee (ICor.6:18). No one thinks a rabbit is a coward for running from a wolf, since he is not equipped to deal with it, and no one should think Joseph a coward for running from fornication (Gen.39:7-12). Idolatry, which is covetousness (Col.3:5) must be just as dangerous if we are told to flee it (ICor.10:14). We aren’t equipped to deal with these things and must flee them.

Since Paul says to flee the profit of money and follow these other things instead, in that context he is saying to flee the profit of money and follow things that will profit you eternally. So lets focus on the profit of these things.

“Righteousness” is doing right, like helping the poor (IICor. 9:9). That kind of righteousness endures forever, unlike the profit of riches (ITim.6:7). “Godliness” is also something you can take with you (ITim.4:8). Since Timothy already had saving “faith,” the word faith here must refer to the profit of faithfulness (Pr.28:20). “Abound” is the verb form of “abundance,” a word used mostly in Scripture to describe Solomon’s abundance. But not even Solomon could take his riches with him—but a faithful man could, and still can.

Paul also says to flee the profit of money and follow “love,” another thing that profits eternally (Col.2:2). There is also eternal profit in “patience” (Ps.37:7) if you wait for the Lord. “Meekness” means not easily provoked and there was profit for it under the kingdom program (Mt. 5:5), for if you gained the world you gained everything in it. And there must be eternal profit in it for us as well if Paul tells us to follow it.

Now that you know what to flee and follow, you’re ready to fight (ITim.6:12) against those who teach error. If you’ll do these things, you’ll “lay hold on eternal life.” Some teach that this means the way to be saved is to flee bad things, follow good things and fight the fight of faith, and can quote Isaiah 56:1,2 to prove it. But while it is good to define Scripture by comparing Scripture, you have to be careful when comparing prophetic Scripture with mystery Scripture. So what does it mean to lay hold on eternal life?

First, you need to know it is possible to lay hold on some-thing you already own (Mt.12:11). A sheep in a pit is still yours, but it can’t benefit you until you lay hold on it. When you fall in the pit of sin, salvation is still yours, but you can’t benefit from it until you lay hold on it by fleeing bad things, following good things and fighting the fight of the faith. But if you do, you’ll “live” (Ro.8:13), really live, live it up, spiritually speaking. Why wait until the next life to enjoy your eternal life when you can lay hold on it now? If you live in sin you’ll continue to live in eternal life, but you’ll just be eeking out a living, and God wants so much more for you. He doesn’t want you to just survive the Christian life, he wants you to thrive and live it to the fullest.

Did you notice that this is what you are called to? (ITim. 6:12). God didn’t call you to desire to be rich and love money, you were doing that just fine before He saved you!

If you’re not fleeing, following and fighting, don’t be wondering why all things don’t work together for good (Rom.8:28), for God’s purpose for you is to flee, follow and fight, and He called you according to that purpose.

If you need help in doing these things, notice Paul reminded Timothy he had professed a good profession before many witnesses at his ordination (6:12). He reminds him of this because he knows Timothy will feel spiritual pressure to live up to the profession he made at that time that he would flee, follow and fight. You may not be ordained, but if you start telling people you’re saved, you too will feel the pressure of living up to your profession. This is the reason many Christians remain silent about being saved, they don’t want that pressure.

Summary:

It was the Jews who supposed “that gain is godliness” (6:5) since under the Law God blessed them with gain if they were godly (Deut.28:1-11). But while that was once the truth of God, men who taught that to Gentiles were “destitute of the truth.” Paul calls that thinking “perverse disputings” because the law was now a perversion of the truth. The legalizers in Galatia perverted the gospel (Gal.1:7).

It was no longer true that gain was godliness, but it was now true that godliness is gain (v.6). It gains the profit of a rich and satisfying life in this life and rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ (ITim.4:8).

“Contentment” (v.6) means not wanting more (Lu.3:14). Being content with your wages makes it easier to obey Hebrews 13:5a. If you’re not content with what you have, you won’t find life satisfying because you’ll always want more, and that will affect your rewards in the next life. But if you’re not content, you can learn to be (Phil.3:11). Paul learned by being “instructed” (v.12) that if Christ couldn’t leave him he should be content (cf. Heb.13:5b). You can lose riches (Pr.23:5), so you shouldn’t be content in them.

If you’re thinking it was easy for a great apostle to learn to be content, remember he was profiting financially above many in his day (Gal.1:13,14) but walked away from it. If he could learn contentment, you can. We’re entering into the biggest merchandising season of the year, but the merchandise of wisdom is better than that of silver (Pr.3: 15). The sales of “durable goods” goes up and down, but “durable riches and righteousness” is something of “sub-stance” (Pr.8:12-21). Silver and gold are good sources of gain, but if you want to talk about “great gain” (6:6) you have to stop talking money and start talking godliness.

It’s still true that you can’t take it with you (6:7 cf. Ps.49:16,17). This is “a sore evil” to the unsaved (Eccl.5:15,16), for it means they have “labored for the wind.” You feel the wind a few seconds and it is gone. That’s what life is compared to eternity. So you have to ask yourself, when you die, will you be leaving your treasures or going to them (Mt. 6:20). Of course, if you had riches and lost them, bless the Lord like Job (Job 1:20,21).

You should be content with food and clothing (6:8) because they aren’t guaranteed in the dispensation of grace. Jacob could bank on it after he pitched a deal with God (Gen.28: 20,21) and God honored it (48:15), but He won’t honor it today. After what God did for you at Calvary, you it be easy to be content with no more than food and clothing. By the way, God made the same agreement with Israel (Deut.8:3,4), but your clothes wear out and you have to buy food, so you should be content if you have them. Also by the way, housing isn’t part of contentment. Abraham lived in tents (Heb.11:8) and some lived in caves (Heb.11:38).

There’s nothing wrong with being rich, but those who “desire” to be rich fall into temptation (6:9), the temptation to steal (Pr.28:20). And they fall into “a snare,” something that looks like it will be for your “welfare” (Ps.69:22), but ends up being against your welfare. Like riches. This desire can “drown” men (6:9). People say, “But I only want to be a little rich,” but you can drown in a bathtub as well as in an ocean. Judas drowned in 30 pieces of silver.

The Bible doesn’t say that money is the root of all evil, as the world criticizes it for saying, it says the love of money is the root of all evil (6:10). The world then says the love of money isn’t the root of rape, etc., but when Lucifer wanted to be like the most High (Is.14:14) it meant he wanted to possess heaven and earth (Gen.14:19,22) and all therein (Deut.10:14) including all the money, lands and possessions. And his love of money was the root of all evil.

And it still is. Paul says some coveted after it in the minis-try and “erred from the faith.” Men who corrupt God’s Word for gain, as Satan did in Eden to gain the world, teach all kinds of evil things that lead to all kinds of evil.

The unseen rulers who pierced the Lord thought they were gaining the world, but “pierced themselves through with many sorrows” instead (6:10), as do all false teachers since.

Summary:

When we try to convince people the words the Lord spoke on earth were to Israel (Mt.15:24), so we should pay more attention to Paul’s words, people often quote Verse 3 to say that even Paul said to consent to the Lord’s words. But the last 5 words of Verse 2 say, “These things teach and exhort.” So when Paul then says not to teach “otherwise,” he means other than what he taught in that epistle.

You see, if you believe in the verbal inspiration of the Bible, you know Paul’s words were the words of the Lord, in all his epistles (IThes.4:2). People sometimes say, “Paul was just a man, so we shouldn’t take his words over the Lord’s,” but Paul says they aren’t despising a man, they are despising God (ITh.4:8), who inspired Paul to write. This is nothing new, the Jews preferred Moses to the Lord (Jo.9:28,29). People are slow to accept a new spokesman from God, prompting the Lord to say Luke 5:39.

But the question is never who spoke God’s words, the question is always who they are spoken to. The Lord spoke to the Jews (Ro.15:8), Paul spoke His words to us Gentiles (Rom.15:16). To teach “otherwise” than Paul was to teach some “other” doctrine (ITim.1:3), and to deny Paul’s words were the Lord’s words is very Corinthian! (IICor.13:2,3).

“Wholesome” words are words that make you whole. The Lord spoke words that made people whole from sickness (Mt.9:22). Today His words through Paul can make us whole from spiritual death when we get saved (Eph.2:1). Then when our spiritual vitality “dies” due to living in sin (Rom.8:13), we don’t need more salvation, we just need more of his wholesome words! That’s what Paul means when he says his doctrine is “according to godliness” (6:3).

Paul’s doctrine can also save us from the ungodliness of false doctrine (II Tim. 2:17,18). It’ll be godly to say the resurrection is past in the Tribulation, but now it is ungodly, so Paul’s doctrine is according to godliness. The only way to be truly godly is to know where you stand in the program of God (II Tim. 2:15).

Saying the resurrection is past takes doctrine from the future and applies it to today, but here Paul is talking about those who took the Law from the past and were applying it to today (ITim.1:7), another dispensational error. Teaching the Law was godly in time past, but not today. It has a form of godliness, but denies grace, the power of godliness (IITim. 3:5). You know he’s talking about the same people because he says to withdraw from both (ITi.6:5; IITi.3:5).

Jews were “proud” of the law (ITim.6:4), and they were the ones teaching the law in Paul’s day (Tit.2:10-14). “Knowing nothing” (v.4) should remind you of I Timothy 1:7. Any time you teach undispensationally it raises questions (v.4 cf.IITim.2:17,18,23). When Paul says the law causes “strifes of words” (6:4) that’s what the law always does (Tit.3:9). When Paul says the Law causes “envy” (6:4), it did in the legalistic Galatians (5:26). “Railings” (6:4) are tauntings that say someone can’t do something (IIChron.32: 17; Mark 15:29), and lawkeepers always say you can’t keep it as well as they can, and rail on you about it (Isa.65:5).

“Perverse” (6:5) comes from “pervert,” something the law does to grace (Gal.1:7). When the Law was part of God’s program, it was taught by men of sound mind, but now by men of “corrupt minds” (6:5cf.Tit. 2:14-16). When Paul says those who teach it are “destitute of the truth,” the Jews felt they were the only ones who had the truth (Gen.24:27) and all other nations were destitute of it. But there’s been a dispensational change. The law was once the truth, but now the Jews desiring to teach it are destitute of the truth.

“Supposing that gain is godliness” is what Paul thought about the things he thought were gain (Phil.3:5-7), that they made him godly. But with these words, Paul is seguing into talking about financial gain, the subject of the rest of this passage. When Jews were godly, they gained that too (Gen.13:2; Deut.8:18). Today they know God isn’t honoring that promise any more, but many Gentiles who think we are spiritual Israel are teaching that in the prosperity movement. The only thing to do with men like that is “withdraw” from them (ITim.6:5).

Summary:

A “yoke” (6:1) was a symbol of slavery (Lev.26:13). Since slaves couldn’t change their circumstances, Paul’s advice was was to change how they thought about their circumstances (I Cor. 7:21,22). It’s the secret of life, since oftentimes our circumstances can’t be changed.

Slaves are often told to obey their masters (Eph. 6:5; Col.3: 22; Titus 2:9), but here Paul goes further and tells servants to “count” their masters “worthy” of the honor of their service. You could honor a master with your service with-out counting him worthy of it. But all that did was make a slave miserable, since he had to obey. So Paul told slaves to serve their masters as they served Christ (Eph.6:5,6). If you feel good about serving the Lord, you can feel the same about serving your boss, if you serve him as unto the Lord. We’re about to elect a new boss of our country. We all have to obey him. But if we don’t count him worthy of our obedience, all it will do is make us miserable.

Slaves that didn’t count their masters worthy of their service were more likely to serve poorly, and that would cause God to be blasphemed (6:1). When men don’t serve their bosses well, or women don’t do what God says they should do, God is blasphemed as well (Tit. 2:3-5). When Paul says not serving well would cause God’s doctrine to be blasphemed, he’s talking about the doctrine that said that “there is neither bond nor free” (Gal. 3:27,28). If you were a master who didn’t know anything about the Bible and you read that, you’d think Christianity was all about freeing slaves. And then if your servant was slothful that would confirm his wrong understanding of God’s doctrine.

It would be tempted for believing slaves to despise a believing master who wouldn’t free them, but men were servants for legitimate reasons, such as when a man would run up too much debt and had to work it off, so it wouldn’t be right to free them. Slaves might also resent a believing master if he didn’t give them preferential treatment, but masters were told to give all servants what was “just and equal” (Col. 4:1). This was lest unbelieving slaves resent Christianity when they didn’t get preferential treatment.

A slave might also despise a believing master for the reason Hagar “despised” her mistress when she could do what her mistress couldn’t. When you think you can do your master’s job better than he can, it’s easy to despise him.

The Jews thought they could do the job of leading Israel as well as Moses and Aaron (Num.16:3). But Moses and Aaron didn’t lift themselves up to be leaders as the Jews said, God lifted them. And whoever wins our election, we know that God lifted them up (Rom.13:1). To despise them would be “presumptuous” (II Pe.2:10), i.e., we would be presuming we could govern better. Hagar proved she could do a better job than her master, but when she despised her, her mistress “dealt hardly with her” (Gen.16:6), and the same might happen to us if we despise government.

It is said our leaders aren’t following the constitution, the law of our land, and so aren’t worthy of the honor of our service. But the Law of Moses was the law of the land of Israel, and it said “thou shalt not kill,” and Saul wasn’t honoring it when he was trying to kill David. But David felt bad when he despised him for it (I Sam.24:5,6).

God forbid that we should despise our leaders for not following the law of the land. God is all about order. He has let Satan himself sit on the throne of this planet for 6,000 years, knowing Christ will someday return and fix all our governments. All He asks of us is to do the same, and focus instead on the ministry He’s focusing on.

Masters are “faithful,” full of faith in Christ (Eph.1:1) and “beloved” of the Lord (cf. Rom.1:7; IITh.2:13), and despite their faults masers should be obeyed because they were.

Believing masters were “partakers of the benefit” of having a saved slave. If Onesimus served Paul in Philemon’s stead, he would “benefit” at the Judgment Seat (Phile.1:14). If Onesimus served Philemon, he’d be a partaker of the benefit of a believing slave. But either one would only be so if Onesimus chose to serve his master.