1 Timothy 6 begins the way 1 Timothy 1 begins, with a call to “teach according to godliness.”
If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. (1 Timothy 6.3 – 5, ESV)
If we’re not teaching according to godliness, what’s the point? Moreover, what’s the alternative? Controversy and quarrels which produce:
- Envy
- Dissension
- Slander
- Evil suspicions
- Constant friction
There are two other themes in chapter six which reinforce recent blogs, so stay tuned. But this issue of teaching for controversy instead of for love and godliness must have been a pervasive problem in Ephesus, where Timothy was. Paul closes the letter with one last appeal:
O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” for by professing it some have swerved from the faith. Grace be with you. (1 Timothy 6.20, 21, ESV)