1 Tim. 6:13-16 - Jesus is the One

13 I charge you before God who gives life to all things and Christ Jesus who made his good confession before Pontius Pilate,
14 to obey this command without fault or failure until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ
15 - whose appearing the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, will reveal at the right time.
16 He alone possesses immortality and lives in unapproachable light, whom no human has ever seen or is able to see. To him be honor and eternal power! Amen.

Obey This Command

Vs. 13: - “I charge you before God who gives life to all things and Christ Jesus who made his good confession before Pontius Pilate,”

"charge you before God" - This is the second time Paul has used this exhortation in this letter. (See: 1 Tim. 5:21). The charge is similar to "As God is my witness..." or, “ Your mission, should you choose to accept it... “ However, this instruction does not self-destruct; it is always with us. You do not answer to your pastor or the elders or the missions committee. No, you are being sent by God. God, who spoke the universe into existence. God who gave Himself to save you from your sin. Jesus Christ, who stood before the most powerful ruling authority on earth and did not back down, stating plainly His mission here on earth.

"Christ Jesus... good confession" - See: Mark 15:2 Pilate questioned Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?" And He answered him, "It is as you say." And: Luke 23:3; Matt. 27:11; John 18:37 "Therefore Pilate said to Him, "So You are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."

Vs. 14: - “to obey this command without fault or failure until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ”

"obey this command" - The basic sentence in verses 13 and 14 is as follows: "I charge you to obey this command until Christ returns." All the rest is window dressing. Important window dressing, but still descriptive phrases that only add to the main thought.

Okay, which command is Timothy exhorted to keep? 1 Tim. 6:12, or 11?
There are commands throughout this letter, see: 1 Tim. 2:8; 4:7, 14, 16; 5:11, 19, 22.
I am confident the command to be kept is: fight the good fight and lay hold of the faith. (Yup. That's two commands. In one sentence.)

Vs. 15: - “whose appearing the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, will reveal at the right time.”

"whose appearing... the King... will reveal at the right time." - Grab and hold onto your faith in Jesus until He returns. No, we don't know when that will happen. Only One knows. He will make it happen when He decides the time is right. Just as the first appearing happened when it was appropriate. Gal. 4:4. See Matt. 24:36; Mark 13:32 "But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone", and Luke 10:22. Since we don't know, we must always be prepared to meet the Lord. See Matt. 24:44 "For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will." Also: Luke 12:40.

Vs. 16: - “He alone possesses immortality and lives in unapproachable light, whom no human has ever seen or is able to see. To him be honor and eternal power! Amen.”

"He alone" - This verse is really a stand-alone verse - a hymn of praise to Jesus our Lord. "Worthy art thou our Lord and our God to receive glory, honor and power. For Thou have created all things, and by thy will they did exist and were created." Rev. 4:11. See also 1 Tim. 1:17; 1 Cor. 15:53-54; 2 Tim. 1:10.

“Light” - See: Col. 1:13; John 1:4-5, 8:12, 2 Cor. 4:6; 2 Tim.1:10; 1 Pet. 2:9; 1 John 1:5; Jam. 1:17.

“unapproachable light, whom no man has seen” - No one (human) has seen God in all his glory. See: John 1:8; 1 John 4:12. Remember, Moses asked God to look upon His glory. Moses spent more time with God than almost any other human, before or sense. He wanted to see who he was talking with. God denies the request in order to spare Moses. Exo. 33:17-23. But, we will! We will see God face to face. See: 1 John 3:2-3; Rev. 7:17, 21:4, 22;4-5.

1 Tim. 6:11-12 - A charge to Timothy

11 But you, as a person dedicated to God, keep away from all that. Instead pursue righteousness, godliness, faithfulness, love, endurance, and gentleness.
12 Compete well for the faith and lay hold of that eternal life you were called for and made your good confession for in the presence of many witnesses.

Pursue Righteousness

Vs. 11: - But you, as a person dedicated to God, keep away from all that. Instead pursue righteousness, godliness, faithfulness, love, endurance, and gentleness.

"keep away from all that" - Look back at verses 6-10 where we are warned of the danger of wanting more and more. A person of God does not serve Him in order to get lots of money. Treasures in heaven, that is to be our long range investment goal. See Matt. 6:20. It might be said (this may not be theologically sound) that a preacher, teacher, or evangelist that gets rich while serving the Lord may not be serving Jesus. If the money comes in due to the preaching and teaching it must immediately be put to work in the church community. There will always be people who need help with food, clothing, jobs, and housing. If the means are there, the needs must be met. See James 2:15-17.
In Acts 2:42-47 the church that sprung up during the Pentecost became a commune, where each member sold their goods, and pooled their earnings to share with all the believers. This does not mean each church body is to become a commune. The message of the gospel so attracted the poor, the downtrodden, the widows and orphans, that the church determined it could demonstrate the love for one another by serving their needs.

"pursue" - The list resembles the fruit of the Spirit (See Gal. 5:22, 23).

• "righteousness" - Matt. 5:6, 10; 6:33.
• "godliness" - 2 Pet. 1:5-8, Titus 1:1.
• "faithfulness" - compare to Matt. 23:23, (there were problems there).
• "love" - Mark 12:30,31, John 14:21, 23-24; 15:9-13.
• "endurance" - Luk. 21:19; 2 Cor. 6:4; Heb. 10:36; Heb. 12:1; Jam. 1:3.
• "gentleness" - Eph. 4:2; Col. 3:12.

Vs. 12: - Compete well for the faith and lay hold of that eternal life you were called for and made your good confession for in the presence of many witnesses.

"Compete well for the faith" - Other translations say, "fight the good fight". 'Compete well' is too weak. Think of the Olympic Games. Athletes train their whole lives for a few minutes or seconds of competition. They lay it all out there, holding nothing back. It is close to going into battle. This is the sense of 'compete well' - spiritual battle. See Eph. 6:12.

"lay hold of that eternal life" - Grasp with both hands! Don't let go! Hold on for dear life - it is your life! God, through the Holy Spirit has called you, beckoned you. He does not coerce.

“In the presence of many witnesses“ Oh, by the way, you've told a lot of people that your life is now Jesus'. The question is asked “Do you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?” In public, or at least to another person, you said, “I do.” They know what you professed. They are watching you live out your Christian life. Plus, there is a great cloud of witnesses looking down from heaven. (Heb. 12:1)

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1 Tim. 6:6-10 - The love of money...

6 Now godliness combined with contentment brings great profit.
7 For we have brought nothing into this world and so we cannot take a single thing out either.
8 But if we have food and shelter, we will be satisfied with that.
9 But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.
10 For the love of money is the root of all evils. Some people in reaching for it have strayed from the faith and stabbed themselves with many pains.

If I Were a Rich Man...

Vs. 6: - Now godliness combined with contentment brings great profit.

"godliness combined with contentment" - Today's devotional in "Jesus Calling" was about living victoriously as you live in deep dependence on Jesus - about not worrying or fretting about what is to come. It struck me as I read and pondered: it is about being content in Jesus. Sometimes life seems like a hard scrabble, or maybe bumper cars. As circumstances blow by us, we are buffeted - heads snapping right or left, abrupt stops with our chest slammed against the steering wheel. Jesus invites us to 'live life abundantly'. (John 10:10) He was very clear that this does not mean having lots of money and stuff. (Luke 12:15-21)

My son listened to some pretty 'interesting' music when he was a teenager. One group, ‘Sisters of Mercy’, did a song named "More". It is in the 'Techno/Industrial' genre, so it is a hard driving beat, and goes on for 8-1/2 minutes. (It's a great running song!) However, the lyrics show someone who is not content:

Some people get by - with a little understanding. Some people get by - with a whole lot more. I don't know why you have to be so undemanding. This one thing I know. I WANT MORE. Chorus: I need all the love I can get. I need all the love I can't get, too.

The verses are sung fairly quietly, but with intensity. The last line of the verse is a scream. The chorus is done by a choir, repeated multiple times like a worship song. One of the verses tells us you are not what you live with, but what you take. Not an uplifting spiritual song, it is someone who is not content with what they have. Being content with what you have gives you more time to focus on Jesus. Compare "I want more" with "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you." (Phil. 4:6-9)

Where would you rather be: screaming "I want more", or in the peace of God that is beyond understanding? It's your choice.

Vs. 7: - For we have brought nothing into this world and so we cannot take a single thing out either.

"brought nothing... " - We can't take it with us, either. Lack of contentment, at least in this case, is lusting for more money and possessions. Jesus warns us about greed. See Luk. 12:15-21. The parable shows a man who is not interested in godliness. One of the political themes in the last few years was to question the wealth of rich people. The conclusion of this theme is the government should take more taxes because the rich have 'more than enough'. The rich aren't paying their 'fair share'. That's not exactly what Jesus is saying in this parable. Note there is no mention of tithing by the rich man. There is no acknowledgement that his good fortune is the result of God's grace. It is not clear that God is anti-rich, anti-wealth. He opposes the proud. See: Jam. 4:6; Deut. 8:14. He expects the rich to help those in need. It is to be a personal commitment, not leaving it to the government. I call the latter attitude Vicarious Altruism. You don’t actually have to do anything, but yet you get to feel good about yourself.

Is it possible the rich man would have survived the night if he had thanked and glorified the Lord for his successful farming? Is it likely the judgment would have been mitigated had the man given thanks for the largess and decided to give to the Lord to care for those who needed? That is for us to speculate based on our understanding of God's love for the widow, the orphan, the needy, the stranger and the poor. (See: Exo. 22:22; Deut. 16:11; Zech. 7:9-10)
It would be better for the rich man to use his riches to benefit others. Not through the government, but personally, as a witness to the grace of God. Is God glorified when a person says, "God has blessed me. I am sharing that with you."? Most likely, yes. Is God glorified if a person does it in secret? (The caveat is beware of the pride of the Pharisees, "See what good I am doing, because I am so good, so much better than others.") Again, probably, yes. See: Matt. 6:19-21, 24.

Vs. 8: - But if we have food and shelter, we will be satisfied with that.

"food and shelter" - We want too much. We expect too much. You were born with your soul and spirit as your only possessions of value. When you die, that is all you'll take with you. God wants to focus on what is important, necessary, (Luke 10:38-42) and not to fret about collecting things. See: Matt. 6:25, 31-34

Vs. 9: - But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.

"long to be rich" - These are people whose main desire is to be rich. This is more than earning a lot because they provide a better product or service. You have heard the presumptuous saying, “You can never be too rich, or too thin” used to justify excessive pride. Think of the movie "Wolf of Wall Street" , or crime lords, drug gangs, Ponzi scheme perpetrators, etc. (Okay, crime gangs are also after power and control. They are not in it for the good of others.) When the goal is money alone, God warns us that temptation, traps, senseless and harmful desires will drag us to destruction.
In the movie "The Great Gatsby" (latest version) - the wild and mindless parties with booze and sex flowing equally, harmed many lives. Our own lustful nature draws us away to death (lust is not just about sex!). "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death." Jam. 1:13-15. It is too easy for us to rationalize wrong behaviors because we want something enough to turn our backs on God.

Vs.10: - For the love of money is the root of all evils. Some people in reaching for it have strayed from the faith and stabbed themselves with many pains.

"the love of money is the root of all evils" - Having money, being rich, is not evil, nor a sin. Avarice is more than wanting money. It is an overweening desire to get money, no matter how much you have now. Some commentaries have asked, "There is no sin that won't be committed for monetary gain." That is almost beside the point. Some people will commit sins because their hearts are as hard as stone, and money-for-sin is a perk. Some will commit crimes out of desperation, thinking they no other choice.
The 'love of money' shows a decision to turn away from a dependence on God. That is the 'root'. The declaration of independence from God puts your self on the throne of your life. "Sin is active rebellion or passive indifference to God" (See note 1) Self on the throne is deciding to do what you will in defiance of Jesus. That defiance is the source of all sin, beginning with Satan, then Adam. It is of a mode of thinking, feeling, acting that is base, wrong, and wicked. It leads to behaviors that are troublesome, injurious, pernicious, and destructive.

"strayed from the faith" - No where in the Gospels, or any of the letters is there an encouragement to take care of yourself first. In grasping for money we can forget the commands to love one another. (1 Cor. 12:25; Gal. 5:15; John 13:34; Rom. 12:10, 13:8) This not about earning because you provide a good product or a good service (remember the old saying: if you invent a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door). This is falling prey to 'lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the boastful pride of life.' (1 John 2:15, 16)

"stabbed themselves" - Basically, committing spiritual suicide. (Gal. 5:7; Col. 2:8)

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Note 1: (Campus Crusade for Christ - 'Four Spiritual Laws'.)
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1 Tim. 6:3-5 - Fruit of False Teaching

3 If someone spreads false teachings and does not agree with sound words (that is, those of our Lord Jesus Christ) and with the teaching that accords with godliness,
4 he is conceited and understands nothing, but has an unhealthy interest in controversies and verbal disputes. This gives rise to envy, dissension, slanders, evil suspicions,
5 and constant bickering by people corrupted in their minds and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a way of making a profit.

The Source of False Teachings

Vs. 3: - If someone spreads false teachings and does not agree with sound words (that is, those of our Lord Jesus Christ) and with the teaching that accords with godliness,

"spreads false teachings" - This boils down to any teaching that contradicts the Lord Jesus Christ, that of Paul, Peter, John, and James. Here we are 2000 years after Christ's resurrection, and we know there are heresies. Sometimes it is hard to imagine that less than 30 years after the world changing 'Easter' event, the church could be bedeviled by false teachings. In reality, lies started almost immediately.

For example:

'Gnosticism', which denied that Jesus existed as a physical being (an extremely simplified version) was one the first heresies. The Jewish leaders, at the time of the crucifixion, attempted to deny Christ had risen from the dead and the body was stolen. (O.K. Imagine a couple of fishermen taking out a squad of Roman soldiers guarding the tomb. These are equivalent to U.S. Army Rangers or Marines - the best in the world. It ain't happening!)
Today we have people saying it can’t be proved scientifically. Probably not. But look at the lives changed - the proof is there.
Unfortunately, there are people claiming to have the answers, or claiming to be the return of the Messiah. Be careful for they are making claims that cannot be supported by Jesus' teaching, or that of the apostles.

Vs. 4-5: - he is conceited and understands nothing, but has an unhealthy interest in controversies and verbal disputes. This gives rise to envy, dissension, slanders, evil suspicions, and constant bickering by people corrupted in their minds and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a way of making a profit.

"conceited and understands nothing" - The teaching of those of us who are not the apostles or Jesus, must be compared to the words of the Lord and the apostles. Look in the gospels and the writings in the New Testament. There are people who claim to have new and previously hidden knowledge. They claim to have the answers. If the new and previously hidden knowledge contradicts Christ's words - it is wrong. What is 'known' by these people is not known at all. See: 1 Cor. 8:2. False knowledge is not knowledge at all, but lies. That way leads to death. Those who lead you to death obviously do not understand the gospel, and who Christ is. See: Acts 4:12, 20:32.

"unhealthy interest" - The reasons for preaching and teaching doctrines that contradict Scripture are hardly ever for your benefit. The reasons are usually for personal gain. Sometimes the 'gain' is self-aggrandizement, seeing if you and other people can be bent to 'their way of thinking'.

"controversies and verbal disputes" - Some of our biggest disagreements come from trying to determine the meaning of words. And then there are people who delight in being contrary. I have worked with people that do this. One guy, "Jim", seemed to have the contrarianism down to a science. He had an objection to whatever engineering decisions were forwarded. Sometimes it seemed his objections were unfounded, and sometimes they were just plain frustrating. One time Jim so frustrated a fellow engineer, that engineer shoved Jim up against a wall and shouted in his face. Jim had crossed the line, and was quiet for a while (only for a while.) Sometimes the purpose for the controversies are to create division in the body, and pull people away.

"envy" - A growing root of bitterness toward others because of a desire. If you can make people want something they don't have, especially if they think it was gotten unfairly - envy can grow. (This is profoundly different than living the Christian life in such a way that people will want to know Jesus because of the joy in your heart.)

"dissension" - This is the kind of upset in a church that would seem to come from Satan. One of the best things (in terms of destroying the witness of the church) Satan can do is promote dissension, division, arguments, and quarrels within the church body. Note: these arguments are seldom over important doctrinal issues, but more over the color of the cushions on the chairs, or robes for the choir, or guitar versus organ and piano for worship. Dissension can rip a church asunder.

"slanders" - Dissension leads to gossip and slander. "Have you heard about 'X'? He doesn't believe in the virgin birth!" "Well. What about 'Y’? She doesn't believe in baptism!" I know from personal experience how these rumors (lies) can hurt and harm.

"evil suspicions" - All of this comes from the heart of Satan. If Satan can get the church arguing over suspicion, slander, and meaningless controversy he has slithered between us and Jesus. Our witness is defeated.

"corrupted in their minds" - Slander, suspicion, controversy are rot that starts on the inside and finds it way out into the church body. See: Matt. 15:18; Prov 23:7. It doesn't take much cause a breakdown. See Gal. 5:7-9 "You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough."

"making a profit" - Some will choose any opportunity to make a buck. The church is a non-profit operation. The preacher and teacher is worthy of their pay. Salary to meet their needs - food, clothing, shelter. What is 'enough'? What is 'excessive'? You'll know it when you see it.

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