Chapter Six

Concerning servants (1–2). Against the desire for wealth (3–16). Exhortations to the rich (17–19). Conclusion of the letter (20–21).

1 Timothy 6:1. Slaves who are under the yoke must consider their masters worthy of all honor, lest the name of God and the teaching be blasphemed. 1 Timothy 6:2. Those who have believing masters should not despise them because they are brothers; rather, they should serve them even better because those who benefit from their good service are believers and beloved. Teach and urge these things. The apostle does not oppose the relationships established in society, by which society was divided into masters and servants. He exhorts Christian servants to obey their masters and show them honor, so that the Christian teaching should not be reproached in the eyes of pagans, as if leading its followers to a destruction of the relationships recognized by the laws of the state. With even greater zeal Christian servants have reason to serve their Christian masters, because these latter, of course, treat their servants with love. See 1 Cor 7:21-22.

1 Timothy 6:3. Whoever teaches otherwise and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that is in accordance with godliness, 1 Timothy 6:4. is conceited, understanding nothing, and has a morbid craving for controversy and for disputes about words. These give rise to envy, dissension, slander, base suspicions, 1 Timothy 6:5. and wrangling among those who are depraved in mind and bereft of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. Avoid such people. There are people who understand the task of Christianity differently. They think that Christ came to change the socioeconomic structures of life (“imagining that godliness is a means of gain” v. 5). But to speak thus about Christianity is to fail to understand it entirely. Why do some express such thoughts? Because they have departed from the true path and their minds have become corrupted. Here we have a clear refutation of the idea that Christianity and socialism are one and the same.

1 Timothy 6:6. Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; 1 Timothy 6:7. for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it either. 1 Timothy 6:8. but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. No, Christianity wants to make people pious and content with their position (compare Matt 6:33). And indeed, as we have brought nothing with us into earthly life—no possessions—so we will take nothing with us when we die. Why then be excessively concerned with the acquisition of that which has only temporal significance? It is enough for us if we have only what is necessary for existence. “Food and clothing”—symbols of all that is needed for existence.

1 Timothy 6:9. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction; 1 Timothy 6:10. for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many painful experiences. Whoever has decided (“those who want”—oi de boulomenoi) to acquire wealth for himself subjects himself to various temptations; in him are awakened various lusts that draw a person toward moral ruin. Many who have strived for wealth have already departed from the faith, because wealth led them in another direction—they began freely to satisfy all their desires, often unclean ones.

1 Timothy 6:11. But you, man of God, shun all this; and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. Timothy, as a Christian, stands in close communion with God (“man of God”). Therefore his only wealth is in God—there is no reason for him to seek money. His striving should be directed toward the acquisition of virtues, six of which the Apostle Paul lists here. “Righteousness”—proper relations in general toward God and people (Matt 5:20). “Godliness”—reverence before God. “Faith”—as comforting in all troubles and expressing itself in firm confession. “Love”—through which faith manifests itself. “Endurance”—which shows itself in bearing sufferings. “Gentleness”—when a person accepts even insults without being troubled.

1 Timothy 6:12. Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. Faith, which itself has already come to birth in a person not without struggle, requires for its establishment also a struggle against various temptations. The reward for such a struggle, which constitutes the object of striving for every good Christian, will be eternal life, to the attainment of which Timothy is called through the Gospel and a desire for which he bore witness when entering the Church, receiving holy baptism, in the presence of many witnesses who heard his confession of faith read aloud. The apostle calls this confession “good” or fine, as expressing a clear conviction in the existence of afterlife blessedness with Christ.

1 Timothy 6:13. In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 1 Timothy 6:14. to keep the commandment unstained and irreproachable until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, To further strengthen Timothy in unwavering piety, the apostle places him before the face of God Himself, who gives life to all things and consequently is able to restore to his servant the life of which he might be deprived for firm confession of faith. The apostle places Timothy also before the face of Christ, who before the unbelieving Pilate firmly declared his confession about himself as the Son of God. Finally the apostle indicates to Timothy that he should keep the commandment given to him by the apostle until the very manifestation of Christ on earth. Some say that the apostle here has in mind Timothy’s death (Polansky), but such an interpretation seems quite inappropriate to the direct meaning of the expression: “until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The apostle was not unfamiliar with the thought of the possibility of living until the second coming of Christ. See Col 3:3-4; 1 Thess 4:17.

1 Timothy 6:15. which he will bring about at the right time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 1 Timothy 6:16. it is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen. The manifestation of Christ will come about at the time appointed for this by God (compare Acts 1:7). God is called “blessed” here in contrast to earthly rulers, who are often forced to undergo various sufferings. He is the only Sovereign (dynastes), because properly speaking all other rulers in themselves, without God, are powerless (Ps 145:3) and are entirely dependent on God. Like all other people they are also subject to the law of death, from which God alone is free. He is “alone immortal” in the proper sense of the word, by virtue of his own nature: all other living beings, even the angels, have immortality which they received when they came into being from God. God cannot be approached and seen—of course, in the ordinary way (visionary seeing of God is not meant here). The apostle says all this to convince Timothy to bear firmly all trials which God may send him, and particularly to convince him that he should not fear earthly rulers, who before God are nothing.

1 Timothy 6:17. As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 1 Timothy 6:18. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, 1 Timothy 6:19. thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life. Here the apostle addresses those who have already succeeded in becoming rich. Such people should not boast of acquired wealth, but should humbly acknowledge that their wealth is a gift from God. Nor should they see in wealth something permanent: wealth is uncertain, that is, quickly disappears. True wealth, or rather, contentment comes only from God, who often sends people even something more than necessary so that they might sometimes find pleasures in life, of course, completely innocent ones (compare Acts 14:17). The rich should be concerned that others also live well, and share their means with the poor: through this they prepare for themselves a treasure of eternal life (compare Matt 6:20).

1 Timothy 6:20. O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. Avoid the profane chatter and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge, 1 Timothy 6:21. for by professing it some have swerved from the faith. Grace be with you. The apostle concludes his letter with an appeal to Timothy to preserve the pure gospel teaching entrusted to him, turning away from empty disputes, which have already led some to abandon the faith (see 1 Tim 1:4-7).