When the Apostle Paul was reaching the end of his life, he felt compelled to write to a young pastor named Timothy. There are two letters that were preserved and passed down throughout Christian history. In these letters we discover that the Church in Ephesus which Timothy pastored had some significant issues. Parts of the congregation were caught up in false teaching and being distracted from the gospel of Jesus Christ by the lure of obtaining wealth and power.
In last month’s Bible study we saw that Ephesus was the center of a Roman province with a dynamic and bustling harbor. It was also a place prevalent with pagan idolatry, which included a center for the worship of Artemis who was also called Diana. And it was a wealthy commercial center. And there was a strong Jewish community there.
When we looked at the first chapter of 1Timothy we saw that the Apostle Paul was greatly concerned about this young pastor and the people of this church. Now as we look at one of the last portions of the first letter to Timothy, we get the sense that Paul needed to wrap things up. He felt the need to reiterate some of the teaching previously found in this letter. As we look at 1 Timothy 6:2-16 We can glean from it important and encouraging things that can be applied to current situations and Christian living. Not all of us are pastors or teachers, but the greatness of God's holy Word is that he can speak to all of us through it. In fact, many of these ancient letters were read publicly in the Christian churches and circulated throughout the Mediterranean. So, let’s look at some of these final words of this letter to Pastor Timothy from the Apostle Paul.
The last part of verse 6 states, “These are the things you are to teach and insist on.” These previous things included earnest instruction for combating heresy and urging Timothy to defend the truth that was based in Jesus Christ alone. Part of that defense was making sure that there were godly leaders in place who modeled what it was like to live like Jesus and to become more like him. There were also instructions for how people in certain roles were to live in Ephesus as witnesses to the presence and power of Jesus Christ in their lives. While many of our own cultures are so different than what was found in Ephesus, great truths can be derived from these instructions today if we dig deeply and not try to impose our present cultures on an ancient Ephesian culture. Just as the Apostle Paul was teaching Timothy, we are to avoid heresy and division as well as avoid abuses of Scripture to support ungodly things in our age.
So, we focus today’s study on the following realities as articulated in 1 Timothy 6.
1 Timothy 6:3-5
3 If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4 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 5 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.
One of the first things we see here is that sound instruction is from the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the source and the ongoing power that is available to every Christian everywhere all the time. As long as believers stay focused on the Lord Jesus Christ their teaching will be godly. In addition to this they will remain humble and understand things that are given to them by the Holy Spirit. They were to avoid controversies and quarrels that are just about words. Often times as humans we get into these verbal battles that then divide and conquer Christians. This is not necessary nor is it inevitable. David Ackerman wrote: “Elevating opinions to the level of doctrine opens the door to thinking that speculations are also true. This digression can open the door to heresy.” [1]
How do we discern between opinion and truth? In our present culture with loud voices and even louder digital words, how can we ever understand what is truth? William Malas, Jr. wrote: “The Christian life can be more than a day-to-day struggle with what seems urgent…it starts with a healthy spiritual diet that is centered on spiritually “healthy words” [variously translated as sound words, sound instruction, Godly teaching].[2]
Part of the work of Satan is to lead people into lies. And if those lies are believed then the only result is chaos and confusion. Be sure to know if chaos and confusion are reigning in a congregation then Jesus Christ is not the center of that body. Only the presence of Jesus Christ keeps followers focused and able to live together in truth and to be powerful witnesses to the world looking on.
Let’s imagine what it must have been like for the heretical teachers in the Ephesian Church to hear this letter written aloud. Would the false teachers recognize that they are conceited and understand nothing? Perhaps they would not because they were blinded by lies. But what we can see is that by declaring the truth to and among heretical teachers they too can be re-exposed to the truth. Verse 5 describes these people as having been robbed. This means that they once followed the truth, held it in their minds, were transformed by its power and knew who Jesus was and is! So how did they go so awry? The other question is how might we go awry? Both of these questions are important. And there are answers.
The last part of verse 5 helps us understand one of the many reasons that these teachers went off of the path. Quite simply it was financial gain. Now financial gain can be a problem only if it detracts and distracts from a relationship with Jesus Christ. It must be acknowledged that having a vital and thriving relationship with Jesus is the weapon against heresy and material greed. While we cannot know exactly what the makeup of the Ephesian congregation was, we can see that greed was a major factor for many of the people who were causing problems in that church. The goal of financial gain was replacing the goal of being like Jesus Christ. And out of that misplaced hunger, that misplaced and wrong love, grew terrible spiritual destruction. What was at stake was the eternal souls of the people.
Now why can financial gain so important? What rests beneath that question is really the greater matter. For if we trust God through Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit to provide everything we need, then we find contentment. And that is what Paul writes about next.
1 Timothy 6: 6-8
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
The Apostle Paul points to the premier virtue of a Christian life—godliness. To be a godly person is to be like Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came into the world to demonstrate and teach how it was possible to live as a human in this world. Jesus was perfect in that representation and his very life called us to live that way even if we never achieve his perfection. But he does not call us to perfection. He calls us to follow him, to do our best to live as he lived, to recognize that there is an enemy of our souls that must be guarded against. So, while we may recognize that we are imperfect, the Apostle Paul teaches us that contentment is a weapon against ungodly lust for wealth and power and falling away.
There certainly are times in our lives when things are not going as we hoped they would go and we suffer for being a Christian or just living in a fallen world. But inside of that struggle we can find contentment. Take a moment now and think about where you are most discontent. Is your desire to be free from trouble, either financial or physical, keeping you from trusting God more? Or perhaps you are buying into the secular economy of more. And your desire to have more is overcoming your desire to be in a deeper relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you where the distractions are coming from. And be ready to face those distractions and turn away from them. Then, as the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, you can discover great gain!
Let’s think about great gain. Who taught you the things that you consider great gain? Where did your value system emerge from? We are taught from our parents, family, and the culture around us what are things of value. While there are bad things we may have been taught, not all that is taught are not necessarily bad things. Now as Christians, we are called to a radically different value system. How is godliness of greater value then the things that we long for? This is the work of discovering how to become content as a Christian. William Malas, Jr. wrote: “Contentment arises when we allow ourselves to be satisfied when we receive what we need each day…Only regular doses of contentment keep believers from trading a healthy love for God and His ways for an unhealthy love of money and selfish gain.”[3] Paul ends verse 8 with “we will be content with that” and God has given us powerful wills. When our daily choices and commitments are combined with the teaching of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, our value systems can be radically reorganized! Then the good things can be put in the right order under the priority of Jesus Christ and the destructive things can simply fall away. The Apostle Paul wrote about this in another letter.
Philippians 4:12-13
“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
Next, we see how Paul described the consequences of not clinging to the truth and finding contentment.
1 Timothy 6:9-10
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. 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.
The drive for and the love of money can be a distraction for both the poor and the rich alike. It may appear for a time that getting rich solves all the problems, but at what cost?! Money and wealth themselves are neutral. Having money and being wealthy is not ungodly. It is what we do with it that matters. Does it take first place in our life? Do we use what we have to help others? Do we squander it on selfish activities or hoarding? Only God can direct each person to the right use of any resources that we have been given. Let’s be careful that we’re not judging others while our own hearts might be focused on our own selfish gain.
The Apostle Paul then addressed Timothy in a very powerful and poignant way about the value system of God.
11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 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.
He first calls Timothy to his highest goal – man of God. What an incredible declaration spoken over a young pastor working in a difficult situation. Yes, Timothy was already a man of God. And Paul did not want him to lose that standing with the Lord. That would include active steps that must be taken.
1. Flee – Timothy must run away from the things that would drag him off of the path of God.
2. Pursue – He must, instead, set his mind and heart on obtaining righteousness (rightness with God and others), godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. These are the things of value to God and that can save us from heresy and discontent.
3. Fight – The original Greek of the term used here by Paul is one of wrestling and an athletic match, not war.[4] As an athlete has to prepare and then engage, so also do we need to do the same things in a spiritual sense. These things include prayer, Bible reading and study, worship, fellowship and encouragement with and among fellow believers and acts of service.
4. Take Hold – Timothy and we need to cling to, to grasp, to grip onto the Truth and hold contentment firmly so that we do not fall away.
The Apostle Paul certainly served as a great example to Timothy and all of the Christians he engaged with and ministered to. Take time to read Acts 9-28 to see how Paul could confidently urge Timothy from his own lived experience, just not noble platitudes or philosophies.
But greater than Paul’s own life and experience was the person of Jesus Christ. Paul had Someone greater to point to.
1 Timothy 6:13-16
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 you 14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 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 forever. Amen.
In the Gospels, we see that the religious leaders had arrested Jesus in an illegal, night-time, fraudulent trial and because they could not put anyone to death, had then taken him to the secular Roman ruler to act on this matter.
In John 18:33-37 we read of the power of Jesus’ self-proclamation.
33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
34 “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”
35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”
36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
The testimony of Truth was what Paul had taken hold of and would not let go. Jesus Christ was who he said he was without hesitation or trickery. The value system of the world, Roman government, material wealth, human powers and deceitfulness had no authority over the One who gave his life for the salvation of souls. Paul’s declaration in 1 Timothy 6:15-16 is one of the most profound and moving descriptions of the Truth.
God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 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 forever. Amen.
© M.R.Hyde 2026
[1] Illustrated Bible Life – Spring 2026, The Foundry Publishing, Kansas City, MO, 2026.
[2] Faith Connections Bible Study Guide, Summer 2026, The Foundry Publishing, Kansas City, MO, p. 54.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Craig Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL, p. 620.
