CHAPTER VI. _Of the duty of servants_, 1, 2. _Of false teachers, who suppose gain to be godliness_, 3-5. _Of true godliness, and contentment_, 6-8. _Of those, and their dangerous state, who determine to be rich;_ _and of the love of money_, 9,10. _Timothy is exhorted to fight the good fight of... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Timothy 6:2. _AND THEY THAT HAVE BELIEVING MASTERS_] Who have been lately converted as well as themselves. _LET THEM NOT DESPISE_ THEM] Supposing themselves to be their equals, because they are their brethren in Christ; and grounding their opinion on this, that in _him there is neither male... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Timothy 6:3. _IF ANY MAN TEACH OTHERWISE_] It appears that there were teachers of a different kind in the Church, a sort of _religious levellers_, who preached that the converted servant had as much right to the master's service as the master had to his. Teachers of this kind have been in vo... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Timothy 6:4. _HE IS PROUD_] τετυφωται. He is _blown up_, or _inflated_ with a vain opinion of his own knowledge; whereas his knowledge is foolishness, for he knows nothing. _DOTING ABOUT QUESTIONS_] He is _sick, distempered_, about these questions relative to the Mosaic law and the traditio... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Timothy 6:5. _PERVERSE DISPUTINGS OF MEN OF CORRUPT MINDS_] Disputations that cannot be settled, because their partisans will not listen to the truth; and they will not listen to the truth because their _minds_ are _corrupt_. Both under the _law_ and under the _Gospel_ the true religion was:... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Timothy 6:6. _BUT GODLINESS WITH CONTENTMENT IS GREAT GAIN._] The word _godliness_, ευσεβεια, here, and in several other places of this epistle, signifies the _true_ religion, _Christianity_; and the word _contentment_, αυταρκεια, signifies a _competency_, a _sufficiency_; that measure or p... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 7. _WE BROUGHT NOTHING INTO THIS WORLD_] There are some sayings in _Seneca_ which are almost verbatim with this of St. Paul: _Nemo nascitur dives; quisquis exit in lucem jussus est_ _lacte et panno esse contentus_; Epist. xx, "No man is born rich; every one that comes into the world is command... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 8. _HAVING FOOD AND RAIMENT, LET US BE THEREWITH CONTENT._] αρκεσθησομεθα. Let us consider this a _competency_. And it is evident that the apostle considers this a competency, and by these words explains what he said 1 Timothy 6:6. The word ακεπασματα, which we translate _raiment_, signifies... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 9. _BUT THEY THAT WILL BE RICH_] οι δε βουλομενοι πλουτειν. The words are _emphatic_, and refer to persons who are _determined_ to get riches; who make this their _object_ and _aim_ in life; who live to get money; who get all they can, save all they can, and keep all they get; and yet are appr... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 10. _THE LOVE OF MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL_] Perhaps it would be better to translate παντωντωνκακων, _of all these_ _evils_; i.e. the evils enumerated above; for it cannot be true that the love of money is the root of _all evil_, it certainly was not the root whence the transgression of Ad... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 11. _BUT THOU, O MAN OF GOD_] Thou, who hast taken God for thy portion, and art seeking a city that hath foundations, whose builder is the living God, _flee these things_. Escape for thy life. Even _thou_ art not out of the reach of the _love of_ _money_. How many of the ministers of religion... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 12. _FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH_] "Agonize the good agony." Thou hast a _contest_ to sustain in which thy honour, thy life, thy soul, are at stake. Live the Gospel, and defend the cause of God. Unmask hypocrites, expel the profligate, purge and build up the Church, live in the spirit of thy... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 13. _I GIVE THEE CHARGE_] This is similar to that in 1 Timothy 5:21 of the preceding chapter, where see the note. _WHO QUICKENETH ALL THINGS_] God, who is the fountain of life, and who is the resurrection; and who will raise thee up at the last day to a life of ineffable glory, if thou be fai... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 14. _THAT THOU KEEP_ THIS _COMMANDMENT WITHOUT SPOT_] _Two_ things are mentioned here: 1. That the _commandment_ itself - the whole _doctrine of Christ_, should be kept _entire_. 2. That his _life_ should be agreeable to that doctrine. Keep it _without_ _spot _- let there be no _blot_ on the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 15. _WHICH IN HIS TIMES HE SHALL SHOW_] Jesus will appear in the _most proper time_; the time which the infinite God in his wisdom has appointed for the second coming of his Son. _THE BLESSED AND ONLY POTENTATE_] δυναστης, _Potentate_, is applied to _secular governors_; but none of these can... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 16. _WHO ONLY HATH IMMORTALITY_] All beings that are not _eternal_ must be _mutable_; but there can be only _one eternal_ Being, that is God; and he only can have _immortality_. _DWELLING IN THE LIGHT WHICH NO MAN CAN APPROACH UNTO_] All this is said by the apostle in three words φως οικων απ... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 17. _CHARGE THEM THAT ARE RICH_] He had before, in 1 Timothy 6:9, given them a very awful lesson concerning their _obtaining riches_; and now he gives them one equally so concerning their _use_ of them. _THAT THEY BE NOT HIGH-MINDED_] That they do not value themselves on account of their weal... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 18. _THAT THEY DO GOOD_] That they relieve the wants of their fellow creatures, according to the abundance which God has given them. The highest luxury a human being can enjoy on this side of the grave. _RICH IN GOOD WORKS_] That their good works may be as abundant as their riches. _READY TO... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 19. _LAYING UP IN STORE FOR THEMSELVES A GOOD FOUNDATION_] St. Paul seems to have borrowed this form of speech from Tobit. See chap. iv. 8, 9: _If thou hast abundance, give alms accordingly:_ _if thou hast but a little, be not afraid to give according to_ _that little: for thou treasurest up... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 20. _O TIMOTHY, KEEP THAT WHICH IS COMMITTED TO THY_ _TRUST_] This is another repetition of the apostolic charge. (See 1 Timothy 1:5; 1 Timothy 1:18; 1 Timothy 4:6; 1 Timothy 4:14; 1 Timothy 5:21; 1 Timothy 6:13.) Carefully preserve that doctrine which I have delivered to thee. Nothing can be... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Timothy 6:21. _WHICH SOME PROFESSING_] Which _inspired knowledge_ some pretending to, have set up _Levitical rites_ in opposition to the great _Christian sacrifice_, and consequently _have erred_ _concerning the faith_ - have completely mistaken the whole design of the Gospel. See 1 Timothy... [ Continue Reading ]