Art Toombs Ministries 

Online Bible Commentary

Follow the Money
1 Timothy 6:1 Let as many bondservants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and His doctrine may not be blasphemed. 2 And those who have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren, but rather serve them because those who are benefited are believers and beloved. Teach and exhort these things. 3 If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, 4 he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions,5 useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself.6 Now godliness with contentment is great gain.7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (NKJV)

 

Paul’s letter to Timothy is coming to a close. The whole reason for writing this letter was to address the false teaching spreading among believers, specifically at the house churches in Ephesus.

Timothy is helping in Ephesus and Paul has charged him with the task of exposing the false teachers and removing them. Up until this passage Paul has been giving instructions to the church leaders on how to eliminate this false teaching.

He gave instructions for proper prayer and worship, qualifications for selecting church leaders and deacons, and instructions on godliness. In this passage, he begins by giving instructions on godliness to workers and their employers.

He writes “Let as many bondservants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and His doctrine may not be blasphemed” (v. 1). Christian employees should honor their employers as an act of obedience to the Gospel and to reflect well on Christians.

Next, Paul writes “And those who have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren, but rather serve them because those who are benefited are believers and beloved. Teach and exhort these things” (v. 2). Here Paul instructs that Christian employees should not take advantage of their Christian employers just because they are brothers and sisters in Christ. He then instructs that these instructions be taught and preached to the church.

Next, Paul turns again to the main theme by describing false teaching. He writes “If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness” (v. 3).

Paul then describes those who become false teachers. He writes “he is proud, knowing nothing” (v.4a). These are people that think they know better than everyone else.

They were the “elitists” of the day. They had no regard for the established teachings.

They considered themselves to be enlightened. It was the nature of the false teachers then, and continues to be today.

Paul contradicts their self-evaluations by describing them as understanding nothing. They were not mature in the faith.

They had a little bit of knowledge, which is deadly. This is why he set down his qualifications for church leaders.

Paul continues “but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions” (v. 4b). Paul continues his description of false teachers.

He writes that they are “obsessed” in creating all kinds of discord among believers. The word translated “obsessed” comes from the Greek verb “noseo”, which means “to be sick”.

False teachers are literally sick people. Their false teaching is merely the symptom of their sickness.

Paul continues his description of false teachers by writing “useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth” (v. 5a). Their sickness has corrupted their minds, robbing them of “the truth” of the Gospel. They do not know the truth of the gospel because they have incorrectly interpreted it to suit their own selfish desires, their sickness.

Paul continues “who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself” (v. 5b). So, what is this “sickness” of false teachers? It is that godliness is a means to financial gain.

Next, Paul writes “Now godliness with contentment is great gain” (v. 6). So, he does not disagree that godliness is a means to gain. But it is a means to Christian “contentment”, not financial gain.

Paul continues “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out” (v. 7). We cannot take financial gain, and whatever it buys, with us when we die.

Next, he writes “And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content” (v. 8). We should be content with having our needs met by God.

Paul continues “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts” (v.9a). People who want to get rich ultimately fall into temptation, which results in them being in bondage to lust.

He writes which drown men in destruction and perdition” (v. 9b). The word translated “destruction” is the Greek word “olethros”.

It is the same word used in 2 Thessalonians 1:9 referring to Hell: “They will be punished with everlasting ‘destruction’ and shut out from the presence of the Lord. This lust leads to an eternity in Hell.

Paul completes this passage by writing “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (v. 10). People who want to get rich fall into all kinds of evil.

They wander from the faith, the true Gospel, Paul’s gospel. They follow a different gospel, and cause themselves “many sorrows”.

In conclusion, Paul is saying “follow the money”. The motivation for false teaching is for financial gain.

We see this in our society today. We see those who preach a “prosperity gospel”.

We see others, including churches, who curry favor with certain interest groups by bowing to them.

An example of this is those who bow down to the homosexual agenda. This interest group controls vast amounts of money, multiple times the one percent population of homosexuals in this country.

 We see corporations “following the money”. We see the Government “following the money”. And, unfortunately, we see churches “following the money”.

They try to deceive us as did the false teachers of Ephesus. They think of themselves as “elitists”.

They claim to know better than those of past generations. They claim to be enlightened.

They use terms like “equality” and “love”. They fool a lot of people, especially the young.

But they do not fool God. God, in this passage, has shown His light upon them.

False teachers are motivated by the love of money. They and those who support them are out of step with God.

They may prosper for awhile, but they will suffer ruin and destruction in the end.

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