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1 Timothy 6:3-10 False doctrine and material gain

1 Timothy 6:3-10

False doctrine and material gain

Introduction
Why I'm even writing this!
- Preparing for session tomorrow morning (in like.. 10 hours?)
- Cos this helps me structure stuff much better. (though seriously this is so different from what I've been doing with Psalms)
Paul writes to Timothy on false doctrine and the value of godliness in his last section of his letter to Timothy.

Summary
v1-5 False teachers
v6-8 Value of godliness
v9-10 Lack of value of material gain

False teachers
Paul starts of by identifying these people that he has already ordered Timothy to silence (1 Tim 1:3). There are 4 identifiers:

1. Their teaching does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ
- What Paul meant here was to point out that all doctrine must have Christ either at its' center or its' source. Christ cannot be excluded from any doctrine, for the Bible itself - the whole history and future of mankind is centered around Christ.

2. Their teaching does not accord with godliness
- Although it looks similar to the previous point, the teaching Paul is trying to point out is teaching that does not help people grow in godliness, but instead causes them to become part of the next 2 identifiers.

3. Puffed up with conceit and understand nothing
- Paul doesn't elaborate his point here, but he means to say that they become proud of their "knowledge", despite knowing nothing of God, but only ungodly knowledge. Possibly he compares these false teachers to the Pharisees.

4. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and quarrels about words
- He produces envy, dissension, slander and evil suspicions - causing division within the church. This is prevalent in our modern day churches. Some examples of divisive ideas are things like the prosperity gospel, charismatic practices (speaking in tongues? slaying by the spirit?), infant baptism and the concept of works earning salvation. These things fail either of the criteria listed by Paul above. They are false teachings, and must be silenced.
(I'm not going to defend all these statements here. But I strongly believe in these things. If you should read this and strongly disagree please contact me and tell me why.)
- He causes constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth. People deprived of the truth are not the ones who have not been offered the truth - they are the ones who have rejected it.
- Causes controversy over godliness being a means of gain. I list this as a separate point because it links to the next section!

Value of godliness
Paul tells us there is great gain in godliness with contentment.
- Contentment is not self sufficiency. Contentment is the satisfaction in Christ who strengthens us and gives us competence for our ministry.
- We brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything from it, so be content if we have been provided with food and clothing. Read Matthew 6:31-33. Jesus tells us to seek first the Kingdom of God.

Lack of value in material gain
Paul then tells us those who seek to be rich fall into temptation.
- The "seeking" is not a passive desire to have material wealth, but instead is an active and deliberate exercise of man's God-given free will to obtain material wealth.
- They fall into a snare - Paul uses this analogy to describe an animal caught in a hunting trap - a situation hard to escape.
- They fall into senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. People tend to hoard money for the sake of having it - a feel-good factor to have, say, $100000 in our bank accounts? (no, I don't have that much, it's just a random figure.) It becomes harmful later in the passage!
He finishes off by saying the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils
- In the 10 commandments, it is already stated for us - "You shall not covet".
- Paul warns that through this craving for financial gain some have wandered away from the faith - they have loved money more than they have loved God. (Matt 6:24)
- Paul also warns that they have pierced themselves with many pangs.
Together with the ruin and destruction mentioned earlier, Paul points out that the love for money destroys a person - because money is temporal. Worse still, it is not even guaranteed for the rest of your life - it could be here today, and gone tomorrow. Only then do we see how much we love money, and how much we shouldn't value it. Go back to 1 Tim 4:8, and it applies again - "For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come".

Takeaway
1. Be very wary of false teachers. False teachers can be very subtle, and they can be very attractive. We must keep in mind the Christ-centric-ness of doctrine and its' purpose.
2. Godliness is of far greater value than material gain - we must not fall into the snare of the love of money, for the love of money will cause us to fall from righteousness - as a root to all kinds of evils.
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