1 Timothy 6:11–21

6:11 Paul addresses his command to the “man of God,” which refers to Timothy specifically but applies also to everyone in the congregation, as Timothy is to be an example among those who believe. Paul’s exhortation is for Timothy to “flee these things,” referring to the vices of the false teachers outlined in the previous paragraph: their conceit, greediness, desire to be rich, love of money, and wandering away from the faith. Paul tells Timothy to “flee”—which has the idea of seeking safety through flight (BDAG). The best way to be free is to flee.

Fleeing from evil, however, is of little value if it is not accompanied by an active pursuit of the good. So Paul tells Timothy to “pursue” six character qualities: righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness.

“Righteousness” refers to “conduct that is in accord with God’s will and pleasing to him.”¹ “Godliness” is closely related to righteousness. It denotes the “duty that man owes to God,” perhaps even “piety.”² “Faith” refers to trust in God, not to faithfulness. “Love” refers to the affection for one another that the Spirit of Christ works in his disciples (cf. John 13:35). “Steadfastness” refers to the attitude of patience and trust that a person has when bearing up under unjust treatment. This attitude is one of faith and confidence in the final outcome that God has ordained.³ “Gentleness” is the opposite of an overbearing attitude.

6:12 Believing in Christ is a fight. It is a bona fide struggle. There will be many trials that will tempt the “man of God” to abandon faith in Christ. But the man of God must fight to maintain his faith. It will be a lifelong struggle, but at the end, the man of God will have the opportunity to take hold of immortality. So this is a call to persevere to the end. The “good confession” is Timothy’s confession of Christ that he made either at his baptism or at his ordination, a “public acknowledgement of Jesus (Mt. 10:32; Lk. 12:8) as the resurrected Lord (Rom. 10:9–10).”⁴

6:13 Paul’s making his charge in the presence of the creator God and the presence of Christ adds solemnity and gravity to his command. It also reminds Timothy that his “good confession” is nothing other than what Jesus himself declared in “his affirmative answer to Pilate’s question ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ (Mt. 27:11; Mk. 15:2; Lk. 23:3; John 18:33–37).”⁵ Jesus gave an affirmative answer to a question that he knew would cost him. Nevertheless, he was faithful to bear witness. Timothy must do likewise.

6:14–16 Paul orders Timothy to “keep the commandment.” Most likely Paul speaks of the Christian faith itself as a kind of command—a “body of ethical teaching.”⁶ So to keep the commandment is to guard or keep the apostolic deposit entrusted to him.

At the mention of the “appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,” Paul digresses into expressions of exultation in the person and work of God through Christ. When Christ appears at his second advent, it will be according to the sovereign plan of God who controls the timing of all the events of the end times. God is the unrivaled, sovereign, conquering King “who alone has immortality” and thus is the source of resurrection life and the final judge. He has appointed his Son to preside over the final resurrection of the just and the unjust (John 5:27–29). In keeping with OT themes, Paul says that God dwells “in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see” (cf. Ex. 33:20). To this God, Paul offers an exultant doxology: “To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.”

6:17 Paul next instructs Timothy concerning the “rich in this present age.” Such people are already wealthy and are a part of the congregation. They contrast with those in verse 9 who are seeking to get rich for all the wrong reasons. Those in verse 9 fall into temptation, ruin, and destruction because they do not really love God. They love money, and it is impossible to love both God and money (Matt. 6:24). In this verse, however, Paul acknowledges that it is possible to possess wealth in a God-honoring way. Again, Paul does not treat wealth as the problem; the problem is with the sinful attitudes that exploit and use wealth in the wrong way.

He instructs the rich not to be “haughty.” Such pride is the root of the vices displayed in the false teachers (cf. comment on 1 Tim. 6:4–5). Nor are they to put their “hopes” in the “uncertainty of riches.” No one should expect riches to provide ultimate happiness or contentment. Riches are uncertain, and the security they provide is illusory (Prov. 18:11; 23:4–5).

There is a temptation to believe that wealth will provide security and happiness. The wealthy must not think this way but rather must put their hope in the God who can provide those things and who provides the material wealth they currently enjoy. It is not a sin to enjoy God’s gifts—it is only a sin to enjoy them more than the Giver.

6:18–19 Paul warns not against the possession of wealth but against its misuse. He identifies several practices for the right use of wealth:

(1) Recognize the source of the wealth. God himself “richly provides us with everything to enjoy” (v. 17).

(2) Recognize the goodness of wealth. The false teachers were the ones who rejected creational goods (cf. comments on 4:1–5). There is nothing inherently evil about material blessing.

(3) Recognize that God intends for his people to enjoy his gifts. There is nothing wrong with using and enjoying the material blessing God gives (cf. Eccles. 2:24–25).

(4) Recognize the priority of using wealth to bless others. The wealthy “are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share.” An unwillingness to be generous with others in need reveals to what extent idolatry has entered into a wealthy person’s heart.

(5) Recognize where true wealth resides. Disciples of Jesus understand that it is not their possessions that make them happy.

6:20–21 Timothy is to guard the “deposit,” which is simply a word for “property entrusted to another” (BDAG, s.v. παραθήκη). In this case, the deposit Timothy guards is the Christian faith itself. A faithful steward must do two things with this faith: (1) pass on the message as is, and (2) protect the message from threats.

Sometimes the man of God preaches the Word; other times the man of God defends the Word. Sometimes he exhorts with sound doctrine; other times he has to refute those who contradict (Titus 1:9). The man of God devotes himself to the Scriptures, and a “yes” to the Scriptures always means a “no” to rival authorities. Thus Timothy must “avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called ‘knowledge.’” The faithful pastor must discipline his own heart to stay true to the faith once for all delivered to the saints and must not allow himself to be enticed by another message. A “yes” to rival authorities amounts to a “no” to God’s authority. And a “no” to God’s authority can only end in apostasy—or, in Paul’s words, “swerv[ing] from the faith.”

The letter ends where it began, with grace: “Grace be with you.” If mercy is sinners’ not getting what they deserve, then grace is sinners’ getting what they plainly do not deserve. Paul ends by wishing this grace for his audience. The “you” is plural in Greek, which means that Paul’s final benediction is a wish not merely for Timothy but for the entire church. It is also an indication that he intends this letter to be read before the entire congregation (cf. Col. 4:16; 1 Thess. 5:27). Paul desires the entire congregation to be sustained by the unmerited favor of God.