AM Bible Study Group; August 20, 2014
1 Timothy 6:6-10
Theme: Paul sets before Timothy the godly necessity of seeking contentment and shunning covetousness.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
Paul was writing instructions to Timothy regarding the godly conduct that was to characterize the saints—both inside and outside the church walls. He had just spoken to Timothy about those who deviate from sound doctrine, and who focus inordinately on controversies and debates. And in verse 5—as if to illustrate the depths they will go in their spiritual delusion—he wrote that they were “men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.”
The man of God, he will go on later to tell Timothy in verse 11, should ‘flee these things’; and he urges later in the letter that those who are rich should make sure they are “rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life” (vv. 18-19).
In this morning’s section, we explore the way that Paul expanded the warning about those who seek to turn godliness into a means of gain.
I. THE NECESSITY OF ‘CONTENTMENT’ (vv. 6-8).
A. Paul goes on to argue that there is a sense in which godliness truly is a great gain. But it is a gain only when it is properly connected to true contentment. Paul writes, “Now godliness with contentment is great gain . . .” (v. 6). The word that Paul used for “contentment” is one that speaks of “self-sufficiency” (the same as is used in Philippians 4:11 and 2 Corinthians 9:8). But it is not the self-sufficiency that comes from pride that Paul is speaking of, or from making one’s way with one’s own hands in a spirit of independence. Rather, it is an inner attitude of contentment that says, “In spite of what I may or may not have on the outside, I am happy and content and satisfied in the Lord on the inside.” It was a word that was used in Greek philosophy of the wise person’s sense of independence from circumstances. To have that kind of contentment without true godliness would, of course, be a very wicked kind of presumption. But to have it with godliness—with reverence toward and dependence upon God—truly is great gain! It’s to possess an inner state of being that no amount of money can buy.
B. It’s good to have that sort of contentment with godliness because of what Paul goes on to tell us about the temporal nature of earthly riches. He writes, “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out” (v. 7). We come into this world, as someone once said, with our hands clenched and grasping; but leave it with our hands open and empty. “Money talks—and it usually says ‘Goodbye’!” When Job suffered the loss of all his possessions, he prayed, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). And we’re told, “In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong” (v. 22). That’s why such contentment is worthy of having. It is wise not to love too much what we can by no means keep.
C. Paul puts this into the form of a definite and practical resolve to be content. He says, “And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content” (v. 8). Perhaps Paul was drawing here from what the Lord Jesus said in the Sermon on The Mount; “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25). Jesus taught that we should seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness—trusting that He Himself Himself will provide all these things to us. If we have these, then we have the promise of God fulfilled; and we therefore have every reason to be satisfied in Him. Where more than that is needed, more will be given by our Father. But we shouldn’t make it our misguided effort in life to secure for ourselves what the Father has already promised to give to those who trust Him. True contentment, then, is an expression of true godliness.
II. THE DANGER OF ‘COVETOUSNESS’ (vv. 9-10).
A. The words that Paul speaks concerning godliness and contentment should not be seen as meaning that riches in themselves are wrong. As one great preacher has put it, a truly godly saint can be extremely rich in this world . . . and even richer in the next! Rather, his warning concerns our attitude toward riches that are contrary to the idea of the inner“self-sufficient joy” and true “contentment” that come from a completely devoted relationship with Jesus. He is here warning about “those who desire to be rich” (v. 9; that is—as implied in the word that is used—those who make it their intentional plan and purpose in life to be rich), and who are captivated and controlled by “the love of money” (v. 10; not that the money itself is wrong, but the inordinate love of it is).
B. Notice the dangers that come from loving money too much and making it one’s purpose to become rich.
1. Paul warns, “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation” (v. 9). It is hard enough to resist temptation. But to ‘desire’ (that is, to make it one’s intended goal) to become rich makes it much harder to resist temptation—much easier to fall into it. People will compromise their God-given values in order to obtain money. Jesus warned, “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Luke 16:13).
2. Those who seek to be rich also fall into “a snare” (v. 9). We see a downward spiral involved—from temptation to a snare and beyond. A snare catches us before we know we’re caught. Remember the man who’s riches expanded, and he built barns to hold more, and contented himself with ease? “But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’” (Luke 12:20).
3. And it’s not as if the money itself is enough. It’s a means to an end—making it possible to satisfy other desires. Paul says that those who desire to be rich fall “into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition” (v. 9). The prodigal son squandered his wealth in wasteful and sinful pleasures.
4. Paul tells us that “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (v. 10). Note carefully that it’s not the money itself that’s the problem. Rather, it’s the love of it. That “love” is a “root”—a decisive starting point—for other forms of evil. Out of a desire for it, men will be envious and covetous and jealous and hateful toward others. In order to get it, men will lie and cheat and kill and steal and oppress. And once they have it, they will use it to gratify materialism and sensuality and pride over others—often covering up their sin with religious hypocrisy as they ‘devour widow’s houses, and for a pretense make long prayers’ (Mark 12:40).
5. The love of money is something “for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness” (v. 10). Jesus warned in His parable of the soils that some were among the thorns—as the one ”who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful” (Matthew 13:22). Paul suffered loss from his friend Demas—who, he said, “has forsaken me, having loved this present world” (2 Timothy 4:10).
6. And those who give themselves over to the love of riches always suffer in the end—having “pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (v. 10). Certainly, there is the loss one feels at the end of being unsatisfied with that which one pursued. But perhaps more, Paul means the eternal loss that Jesus spoke of: “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Mark 8:36).
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May God, in mercy, grant to each of us the precious treasure of godliness with true contentment!