Lesson for December 5, 2021
The Book of I Timothy
Chapter 6:9-12
Verses 9-10
“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. 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.”
The Scriptures warn time and again about having an attitude of greed. God has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. Therefore, we should be content with what we have. When the time comes, God in His sovereignty will pour out greater blessings into our lives, as He sees fit. God knows even before it happens what each of us will face in life, and He has made every provision for us. Our responsibility is to exercise our faith by always giving thanks regardless of circumstances, knowing that God is working things out to benefit us. (Philippians 4:11; Ephesians 5:20; Romans 8:28)
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. If our primary goal in life is to acquire wealth, it will come at the expense (ruin and destruction) of our spiritual lives. God’s Word says, “What shall it profit (benefit) a man if he gains the whole world and loses (forfeits) his own soul?” (Mark 8:36) We know that as believers in Jesus Christ we can’t lose our soul. However, we can lose our victory in the Christian Way of Life by wrong priorities. Instead, we are told, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.” What is it that we have that we have not received from God? We came into this world with no material wealth, and we will depart the same way. The real gain in life is to know Jesus Christ and to glorify Him as His ambassadors (godliness with happiness is great gain). (Matthew 6:24-34, 16:26; Hebrews 13:5, I Timothy 6:6-7)
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.” The love of money includes lust for power, material wealth, success, and status. These desires are described as injurious and harmful (wandered away and pierced themselves) because lust for these things is not compatible with the will of God for believers. When doctrine is rejected, material wealth becomes a trap of self-induced misery because a believer is never satisfied with what they accumulate. When Bible doctrine and spiritual growth are a believer’s desire, they will develop the capacity to receive greater blessings from God. These blessings may or may not include material wealth and success. Either way, this believer will be content because of the knowledge and application of Bible doctrine, and they will enjoy spiritual prosperity. A believer’s objective in life should be to glorify God. When God is not being glorified, a believer is never satisfied or happy, but becomes a miserable person with wealth, a miserable person with success, a miserable person with status symbols, and nothing ever makes them happy. Money itself is not evil. We need money to provide for ourselves, our families, and the work of God. It is only when accumulating money becomes number one priority to the exclusion of God and Bible doctrine does it become evil. And it also brings self-induced misery on the one who gets caught up in the pursuit of it (the love of it).
Verses 11-12
“But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. 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.”
But flee from these things, you man of God. The Greek word for flee is “feugo,” which means to escape, to avoid, or to guard against. Here it means to avoid or escape falling into the trap of material lust (the love of money). The Greek word for pursue is “parakoloutheo,” which means to follow close, to follow side by side, to accompany or to conform to. By pursuing God and His Word, the love of material possessions can be reversed. The divine discipline that has resulted can be stopped, and the spiritual life restored.
And pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. Righteousness is the Greek word “dikaiosune,”which means righteousness in the sense of honor and integrity and is the righteousness of experiential sanctification, the righteousness that comes from accurate doctrine in the soul. It is what we often call practical righteousness, which is making your experience in life align with who you are as Royal Family of God.
Godliness is the Greek word “eusebeia,” which means developing the character of God through the consistent study and application of Bible doctrine. It means becoming conformed to the image of Christ by means of the power and filling of God the Holy Spirit. It means advancing in the Christian life to reach spiritual maturity and beyond. Godliness encompasses the entire Christian Way of Life when lived within God’s power system, the Divine Dynasphere. This is what is meant by the Problem-Solving Device, “Occupation with the Person of Christ.” You become occupied with Christ when you obey the same mandates that He obeyed, concentrate on what He concentrated on (Divine Viewpoint Thinking), make positive decisions from a position of strength as He did and use the Problem-Solving Devices constantly, as He did.
Faith is the Greek word “pistis,” referring to Bible doctrine. Bible doctrine is the word of God the Father. (Hebrews 4:12) It is the mind of Christ (I Corinthians 2:16) and the voice of God the Holy Spirit. (Hebrews 3:7) The Word of God is profitable for doctrine (the body of teaching that we believe), for reproof (the Word of God is a mirror into our souls so that we can evaluate ourselves before God), for correction (once we evaluate ourselves and find there needs to be corrective action, the Word of God gives the correct course of action), and for instruction in righteousness (once we discover the right course of action, the Word of God gives us a blueprint of how to accomplish our goal). (II Timothy 3:16)
Love is the Greek word “agape,” which is the unconditional (impersonal) love developed through the study and application of Bible doctrine. Application of impersonal love is having a relaxed mental attitude toward yourself, others, and circumstances. We must learn to have a relaxed mental attitude, to “live and let live.” A relaxed mental attitude towards others contributes to both our health and our happiness. (I Thessalonians 4:9-12; I Peter 3:8-16; James 2:1-9)
Perseverance is the Greek word “hupomone,” which means patience or consistency, which is the characteristic of a self-disciplined believer and is absolutely necessary for spiritual growth. It takes a lot of self-discipline to study God’s Word consistently by whatever means are available to you. Perseverance means making Bible doctrine and its application number one priority in your life.
Gentleness is the Greek word “praupathia,” which means a mental attitude of humility or grace orientation. Grace orientation means to become familiar with God’s grace plan and grace policies found in the Word of God, which puts you in correct relation to God and others. This is just another part of God’s ingenious grace plan. In the Christian life, God the Holy Spirit does all the work of producing the character of Jesus Christ in a believer. Our focus should always be on what God is doing for us. (Romans 8:29, Galatians 5:22-23)
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. Fight is the Greek word “agonizomai,” which means to engage in competition, to struggle, to labor, or to strive. Paul uses it in an athletic connotation. Faith is the Greek word “pistis,” which means Bible doctrine. This then is an athletic metaphor for living the spiritual life. To qualify for the Olympic games for example, an athlete had to train for months prior to the contest. The athlete had to begin a regimen of self-discipline under very strict rules enforced by the game marshals. This is analogous to a believer disciplining themselves in learning and applying Bible doctrine.
Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called. And you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. Take hold is the Greek word “epilambano,” which means to seize, to grasp, to obtain, to be concerned with, or to take an interest in. Since Timothy already had eternal life, this is not a command of works to obtain eternal life. What this means is that Timothy was to take an interest in all that eternal life entails, which is the Christian life. It is a command from Paul to remember all the things that accompany eternal life and take an interest in them and teach them, which Timothy had been faithful in doing (the good confession). (Philippians 3:12-16)