Commentary - 1 Timothy 6:3-10

Bird's-eye view

In this potent conclusion to the central body of his letter, the apostle Paul provides Timothy with a diagnostic toolkit for identifying spiritual rot. He draws a stark, black-and-white contrast between two kinds of teaching, two kinds of teachers, and two definitions of "gain." On one side stands the man of God, armed with the "sound words" of Jesus Christ, teaching a doctrine that produces actual, robust godliness. On the other side stands the theological entrepreneur, the false teacher who is puffed up with pride, intellectually bankrupt, and morally corrupt. Paul reveals that the root of this false teaching is a diseased heart, one that is morbidly fascinated with pointless debates and, most tellingly, sees religion as a business opportunity. The passage pivots on a brilliant redefinition of wealth, contrasting the ruinous pursuit of riches with the "great gain" of godly contentment. This is not a gentle suggestion; it is a sharp-edged warning about the soul-destroying power of greed when it masquerades as piety.

Paul's central argument is that theology is never abstract; it always bears fruit in the character and conduct of the teacher and his disciples. Healthy doctrine produces healthy souls. Sickly doctrine, characterized by arrogance and an obsession with verbal squabbles, produces envy, strife, and a mind so depraved it can look at the cross of Christ and see a career path. The climax of the passage is the famous declaration that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, a love that has led many to apostatize from the faith and impale themselves on the very thing they craved. It is a timeless diagnosis of the prosperity gospel in all its forms and a powerful summons to the simple, contented life of faith.

Outline

Context In 1 Timothy

This passage serves as a powerful summation of many of the themes Paul has been addressing throughout his letter to Timothy. The entire epistle is a charge to a young pastor on how to ensure right conduct in the household of God (1 Tim 3:15), which is the church. A significant part of that charge involves confronting and refuting false teachers who were active in Ephesus. Paul has already addressed their fascination with myths and endless genealogies (1 Tim 1:4), their desire to be teachers of the law without understanding it (1 Tim 1:7), and their hypocritical asceticism (1 Tim 4:1-3). Here in chapter 6, he brings the issue to a head by exposing the moral and spiritual bankruptcy at the heart of their ministry. This section directly precedes Paul's final, personal charge to Timothy to "fight the good fight of faith" (1 Tim 6:12) and to guard the deposit of truth entrusted to him (1 Tim 6:20). The diagnosis of the false teachers' sickness in verses 3-10 provides the dark backdrop against which Timothy's own faithfulness is meant to shine.

Key Issues

The Sickness of Unsound Words

Paul, under the inspiration of the Spirit, frequently uses medical language to describe the state of the church's doctrine. Truth is not just a collection of accurate propositions; it is living and active. Right doctrine is sound, which comes from the Greek word from which we get "hygiene." It is healthy. It promotes spiritual life and vigor. Consequently, false doctrine is a sickness, a pathology. It is a disease that infects the mind and corrupts the heart. The false teachers Paul describes here are not just mistaken; they are spiritually ill. They have a "morbid interest" in controversies. Their minds are "depraved." This passage is a divine diagnosis of a spiritual cancer, and it reveals that the presenting symptoms are pride and a love for pointless arguments, while the underlying tumor is the love of money.

Verse by Verse Commentary

3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness,

Paul lays down the foundational standard. The problem begins when someone introduces a "different doctrine," something heterodox, something other than what was delivered by the apostles. He defines the true doctrine in two ways. First, it consists of "sound words," specifically the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. This refers to the whole body of apostolic teaching, which is Christ's teaching. The word for "sound" is hygiainousin, meaning healthy, wholesome, life-giving. This is not weak, sentimental, flimsy teaching. It is robust and sinew-building. Second, it is the "doctrine conforming to godliness." True theology always, always produces piety. There is no such thing as orthodox doctrine that results in ungodly living. If the fruit is ungodliness, the doctrine is false. The two are inextricably tied together.

4 he is conceited, understanding nothing but having a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, slander, evil suspicions,

Here are the symptoms of the man who has rejected the standard. First, he is "conceited," literally "puffed up in a cloud of smoke." He is arrogant, full of hot air, yet he understands nothing. His intellectual pride is a complete sham, a cover for his profound ignorance of God. Second, he has a "morbid interest" in controversies. The Greek is noson, meaning he has a sickness, a disease for arguments. He is not a truth-seeker; he is a troublemaker. He loves "disputes about words," or logomachy. This is the fellow who loves to argue about the precise definition of a word in a context where the meaning is perfectly plain, all so he can display his supposed intellectual superiority. Paul then lists the inevitable results of this disease: envy, strife, slander (literally blasphemies, or abusive speech), and evil suspicions. This kind of teaching does not build the church; it tears it apart. It atomizes the body of Christ into a collection of warring, suspicious factions.

5 and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.

The strife is not occasional; it is "constant friction." These men are like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing against each other. And why? Because they are men of "depraved mind." Their intellect has been corrupted by sin. And they are "deprived of the truth." They have been robbed of the truth, or perhaps have robbed themselves of it. They have rejected the objective standard, and so their minds are left to fester. Then Paul lands the knockout blow, exposing their core motive. They "suppose that godliness is a means of gain." The word for gain is porismos, which refers to a source of revenue, a business. They see the ministry not as a calling, but as a career. They view godliness as a commodity to be marketed for financial profit. This is the first-century prosperity gospel, raw and undisguised.

6 But godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment.

Paul takes their greedy premise and turns it on its head with a magnificent correction. He agrees that godliness is a means of gain, but it is a "great gain," a mega-gain. But there is a crucial condition, a non-negotiable addendum: "when accompanied by contentment." Godliness without contentment is not gain at all; it becomes the very hypocrisy Paul is condemning. Contentment is the secret sauce. It is the internal disposition of satisfaction in God's provision, regardless of the amount. A man who has godliness and contentment is the richest man in the world, even if he has nothing else. A man who has the whole world but lacks these two things is the poorest of all paupers.

7 For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.

Paul undergirds his doctrine of contentment with a dose of stark, creational reality. This is the great equalizer. You arrived on planet earth with nothing, and your hearse will not have a luggage rack. The richest billionaire and the poorest beggar share the same entry and exit status: naked. This reality should radically relativize our pursuit of material possessions. Since you can't keep any of it, it is utter foolishness to make its acquisition the central project of your life.

8 And if we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.

Here is the practical definition of contentment, and it is a floor, not a ceiling. The baseline for Christian contentment is "food and covering." Basic sustenance and basic protection from the elements. If you have that, Paul says, you have sufficient grounds to be content. In our affluent society, this is a deeply counter-cultural and convicting statement. We have defined "needs" as something far beyond this. Paul is calling us back to a radical dependence on God's simple provision and to find our satisfaction in Him, not in our stuff.

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.

Now Paul returns to the false teachers and all who follow their greedy desires. Notice the object of his warning: "those who want to get rich." The desire itself is the problem. This desire is a gateway drug. It leads a man into temptation and a "snare," like an animal trap that springs shut on his leg. This desire breeds other desires, which Paul describes as "foolish and harmful." They are foolish because they cannot deliver the happiness they promise, and they are harmful because they actively destroy the soul. The end result of this path is that men are plunged, as though thrown into a stormy sea, into "ruin and destruction." This is not just about bankruptcy; it is about damnation.

10 For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evils, and some by aspiring to it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

This is the capstone, the summary diagnosis. The "love of money", not money itself, is a root from which all kinds of evil can sprout. It is not "the" only root of evil, but it is a foundational one. Avarice is a fertile soil for dishonesty, idolatry, envy, oppression, and a thousand other sins. Paul then provides the tragic evidence. He knows of some who, because they aspired to be rich, have "wandered away from the faith." Their love for Mammon led them into full-blown apostasy. They made a choice between two masters. And the result was not the happiness they sought, but a horrific self-inflicted wound. They "pierced themselves with many griefs." The love of money is a sharp stick, and those who grasp it will only succeed in running themselves through.

Application

This passage is a bucket of ice water for the modern Western church, much of which is drunk on the wine of materialism. The slick television preacher promising health and wealth is simply a more polished version of the conceited, ignorant teacher Paul describes here. The spirit of the age tells us that gain is godliness, that the blessing of God can be measured by the size of our bank account. Paul tells us this is a damnable lie from men with depraved minds.

We must therefore apply this text as a diagnostic tool to our own hearts and our own churches. Do we embrace "sound words," or are we tickled by novelties and controversies? Does our doctrine produce rugged godliness, or does it produce strife and suspicion? And most pointedly, what is our definition of gain? Have we bought into the lie that godliness is a means to get stuff, or have we learned the secret of "great gain," which is godliness plus contentment?

The call here is to a radical reorientation of our desires. We are to stop wanting to be rich. We are to cultivate contentment with the simple provisions of God: food and covering. We are to work diligently, yes, but for the glory of God and the good of our neighbor, not to amass a hoard that will be useless to us a moment after we die. The love of money is a snare that leads to apostasy and ultimate sorrow. The only true treasure is Christ Himself. To have Him is to have everything. He is the great gain, and beside Him, all the gold in the world is just so much dust.