1 Timothy 6:10
For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
(a) The love of money. Money is not intrinsically evil. It is simply a tool, and a useful one at that. Money can be used to build and destroy, to bless and to curse. But the love of money can lead to all sorts of trouble and distract us from things that matter. As Jesus warned, “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:15).
(b) Wandered away from the faith. You can wander or stray from the faith without wandering out of the kingdom. The Galatians famously cut themselves off from Christ, but he never cut them off (Gal. 5:4). Even when you are faithless, he remains faithful (2 Tim. 2:13). See entry for 1 Tim 6:21.
(c) Pierced with many griefs. Run after money and sorrow will be the result. Greed destroys lives, marriages, friendships, businesses, nations, and our planet.
1 Timothy 6:11
But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.
(a) You man of God. A Christian is not merely forgiven sinner, but a man or woman of God. In Christ, you are as godly as you can be.
(b) Pursue righteousness, not to get righteous, but because you are already righteous. The moment you were put into Christ, you became as righteous as he is (2 Cor. 5:21). Paul is saying, “Become who you truly are.” Flee from those dead works that make you self-righteous, and run after those things that help you grow into the righteousness you already possess in Christ Jesus.
(c) Pursue faith and love. Every believer has encountered the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 1:14, 2 Tim. 1:13). Run after nothing else. If you allow yourself to get distracted by inferior things (such as the love of money), you may wander from the faith (1 Tim. 6:10).
1 Timothy 6:12
Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
(a) Fight the good fight of faith; see entry for 1 Tim. 1:18
(b) Take hold of the eternal life is the equivalent of work out your salvation (Php. 2:12) or walk in the newness of life (Rom. 6:4). Christian, you are a brand new creation and you already possess eternal life. Live like it. Don’t live like the sinner you used to be; live like the dearly-loved child of God that you are.
(c) Eternal life is living forever in union with Jesus; see entry for John 3:15.
1 Timothy 6:15
which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
He will bring about at the proper time. Jesus will return to earth when the time is right.
It is natural to wonder when the Lord will return. The disciples asked Jesus when he would come back and he replied, “I don’t know” (see Matthew 24:36). After Jesus rose from the dead, they asked him again (Acts 1:6). This time Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by his own authority.” (Acts 1:7). In other words, “I still don’t know and it’s not your concern.” (Paul said something similar to the Thessalonians; see entry for 1 Th. 5:1.)
The timing of the Lord’s coming is the Father’s business. It is not our business. Anyone who says they know when the Lord will return is fooling themselves. If someone asks you when he will return, tell them “God will bring about at the proper time.”
1 Timothy 6:19
storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.
(a) Treasure… for the future. People are the treasure that moth and rust can’t touch and thieves can’t steal.
When the Bible talks about storing up heavenly treasure, it is referring to raising spiritual offspring or making eternal friends. See entry for Heavenly Treasure.
(b) Life indeed. The life God has for us is meant to be shared. As we receive the love of God, we give it away and the result is God’s family grows. When Paul saw his Thessalonian sons and daughters standing firm in the Lord, he rejoiced. “Now we really live” (1 Th. 3:8).
1 Timothy 6:20
O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge”—
(a) Guard what has been entrusted to you. If we fail to guard the revelation of grace that God has given us, there is a danger we will stray from the faith (see next verse).
(b) What has been entrusted to you is the treasure or revelation of grace. See entry for 2 Tim. 1:14.
1 Timothy 6:21
which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith.
Grace be with you.
(a) Gone astray from the faith. To stray or wander from the faith is to fall from the faith (1 Tim. 4:1). It is trusting in your own efforts instead of the grace of God.
The Bible identifies many bad things that can happen when we wander from the faith: we lose sight of God’s love (Rev. 2:4); we get suckered into dead works and rule-keeping (Gal. 3:3); we feel unworthy (Col. 2:18); our consciences condemn us and shipwreck our faith (1 Tim. 1:18-19); and we fall from grace (Gal. 5:2-4). But one thing that cannot happen when we stray is we cause our Father to reject us and lose our salvation.
Further reading: “What happens to Christians who stray?”
(b) Grace be with you. Paul sometimes finishes his letters by saying “the Lord be with you” (2 Th. 3:16), and sometimes he closes by saying “grace be with you” (Eph. 6:24; Col. 4:18). There is no difference (Phm. 1:25; 2 Tim 4:22). To have the Lord is to have his grace.
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